THE CHICAGO BANKER
July 3, 1909־]
sense but ability as a banker, for a man may be possessed of much ability along other lines and be devoid of this particular kind. We sometimes, though not often I am glad to say, see a man posing at the head of one of our institutions, a man in active charge who possesses an abundance of ability but not along the line of a banker. He has been placed there perhaps because he is a good fellow and stands well in the community. A man perhaps who has a large following and can draw patronage. This may be all right so far as it goes but the man who lacks ability as a banker, no matter how wide his influence, the man who has not made it a study and familiarized himself with its workings in all its details is very apt to bring failure in his tracks. I look upon the banking business as a profession, one of the most important professions, and see no reason why a man should be elevated to so responsible a position until he has studied it as a profession and has demonstrated _ his ability. The lawyer before he can take his first case must devote several years to hard and tedious study. The doctor before he is permitted to prescribe must go to college, and so on throughout all of the professions. Our army officers who are chosen to protect the physical conditions of our country must represent the highest type of manhood, men who have demonstrated their ability as soldiers and which has only resulted from study and application, then why should it not follow that the men who in a large measure have in hand the safety of the financial conditions of our country
confidence of the public which is so essentially necessary that he have in order that his institution may thrive.
Sound judgment backed by a strong will are two other very necessary qualifications for as we all know the banker during the business day has many important and intricate questions to decide. He therefore must have judgment as on his decisions rests the success or downfall of his bank, and a strong will that he may conquer any desire to act contrary to his judgment as is sometimes the case, for his judgment may be correct but a lack of will power to exercise it leads him to fall. Such I believe to be the case with such men as Bigelow, Walsh, Stensland, and with others whom we could name.
He should possess reasonable good health as without health he is disqualified to impart that atmosphere of aggressiveness into his institution which should pervade.
The faculty of acquiring knowledge should not be overlooked and it should be his constant endeavor to exert this faculty to the extent of informing himself as much as is practicable to meet the demands of his patrons. In a measure he must be the professional man, the merchant, the manufacturer, and the farmer.
These I believe to be the more stable qualifications necessary for the successful bank officer of to-day, but before concluding I desire to name another. One which I consider equally as important. It is ability as a banker. By this I do not mean ability in the broad
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ILLINOIS
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Peoples Savings Bank & Trust Co.
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Solicits Accounts and Collections from Banks, Firms and Individuals on Favorable Terms.
0. W. LUNDAHL, CA8H. AND 8E0.
NEL80N H. GREENE, VICE PRE8.
M. BUTTERWORTH, PRES.
F. M. Lockwood’s Address Group Five, Illinois
We are assembled here to-day in this, the third annual convention of our group and before proceeding with my remarks I would like to say to the bankers and citizens of Ottawa that we are glad, very glad, to be with you to-day and we thank you heartily for the very cordial reception accorded us and also for the royal entertainment that you have prepared and which it will be our pleasure to enjoy. You have convinced us beyond a doubt that, in having your city chosen as the meeting place of so representative a body of men you fully appreciate the honor that has been conferred and I hope that we may again have the pleasure of meeting in your city.
As a basis of my few remarks I am going to ask, what is a bank? Webster defines a bank as the place where a collection of money is deposited, a common repository of the money of individuals or of companies, also a house used for a bank. In the days of Daniel Webster this was, no doubt, all that the name implied. In our day, however, it means all of that and a great deal more.
It would perhaps be interesting to revert back to the origin of modern banking to the time during the twelfth century when the money lenders of Florence were in high repute and to follow its progress through the succeeding ages up to the present time but that at this time is impossible owing to our limited time. Suffice it to say however that the bank of to-day and the functions which it has to perform have grown to enormous proportions until it is the very hub of the financial and commercial world into which the spokes of the various enterprises of the world are centered and it would require a wonderful imagination to comprehend the strain that rests thereon. It is the medium through which the vast business of the world is carried on. It is in fact the caretaker and distributer of money, that one thing that makes the great wheel of commerce go round, that one thing that has the peculiar property of bringing happiness to some and sorrow to others, fortune to some and misfortune to others, that one thing that can accomplish so much good and at the same time produce unlimited evil. The bank I say is the medium for the circulation of money, and it has a most important part to play in the prosperity of a country.
This being true, what are the qualifications necessary that the men by whom our banks are officered to-day should possess? There are many and I will not attempt to enumerate them all as time will not permit but I will endeavor to name a few of the more essential ones.
In the first place the bank officer to-day should־ be one whose integrity is unquestionable, a man who understands the meaning of the word in its fullest sense and whose sense of honor exceeds his desire for ill-gotten gain.
He should possess character for without character he is powerless to command that