21
THE CHICAGO BANKER
August g, 1909]
Our thoroughlyjorganizedjBoncl ¡Department furnishes railroad, municipal and other high grade bonds, and the facilities of this department are cordially placed at the disposal of financial institutions. Correspondence invited.
WILLIAM M. RICHARDS, Asst. Cashier LEVERETT THOMPSON, Secretary
OFFICERS JOHN A. McCORMICK, Vice-President HOUSTON JONES, Cashier
LUCIUS TETER, President EDWARD P. BAILEY, Vice-Pres.
RESOURCES OVER FT VC kî Г f- Г- Г О Гчг РОГ-UARS.
Mining output.......................$58,747,000
Live Stock.............•............ 30,000,000
Agriculture......................... 60,000,000
Lumber............................... 3,500,000
Manufactures ....................... 66,415,000
A total product of $218,662,000, to be apportioned among a population of 323,655, or $675 per capita.
Take as a total product of the United States for a }׳ear twenty-five billion dollars, and it will cover the output in every avenue of industry and divide it among eighty-four million people. You have a per capita product of $298—less than half the showing made for Montana. In this estimate manufactures which give the opportunities for duplications, are less than one-third the Montana total, while they are three-fifths that for the United States. The fair assumption is that we Montana people are actually turning out and receiving the money for a product that is per capita nearly three times as great as the average for the country. And everyone feels the effect. The laborer gets more. On a basis of the investment of the stock-man and farmer as at present valued, he is making from 15 to 35 per cent. Unless the mine promises to do equally as well no one will expend any money on it.
The merchant marks up a higher percentage of profit on his goods and, if he is a live fellow, either gets it or goes into the ranch business. The banker gets a higher rate of interest on his money or puts it into cattle and sheep on h;s own account. It costs more to live in Montana, but we have more to live on, and we live better than the common people elsewhere.
Now, until the surplus land of our state is taken up, until the price of our farms and cattle plants rises to where they are yielding only around 10 per cent upon their valuation, until our mining districts are prospected and developed, so they are on a like basis, until we get where our per capita product is somewhere within hailing distance of that of other sections of the country, we can not hope to be very aggressive competitors in manufacturing. Capital will seek investment, and labor will be employed in the more profitable fields. The reason for the lack of manufacturing in Montana is not because the field is less profitable than elsewhere, but because we have other fields much more profitable.
Within the past year, more miles of railroad have been built in Montana than in any other state in the Union, and the work is still going on.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound has finished a line which traverses our state from one end to the other. It has opened up a large section of country, particularly in the central portion of the state, which heretofore has been remote from railroad communications. To the whole state, it affords another outlet both East and West for its products. The company has shown inspiring enterprise in advertising the advantages of the territory through which the road passes. Its pamphlet, “Montana Along the New Line to the Pacific Coast,” is a gem,—ex-
The Resources of Montana by A. L. Stone
(Continued from page 6)
To the same category belongs bee and poultry raising.
In agriculture, as in mining, we have merely scratched the surface. We have fenced up the water courses, irrigated the convenient places and cultivated a few spots. The showing I have outlined has been made no less than 4 per cent of the agricultural land of the state.
The lumber business is confined almost exclusively to the northwestern portion of the state. In 1907 it amounted to $3,500,000. While not a large percentage of Montana is wooded, we have some of as good timber as there is anywhere. The disposition to conserve our natural resources tends to make us cautious about pushing this industry, notwithstanding the fact that our statistician tells us that we have enough timber to last 180 years.
Manufacturing in Montana is almost nil. We have the raw material, unlimited water power, and although limited, the highest market for manufactured articles. We have a sugar factory at Billings, which I understand has proved a very satisfactory investment. At Three Forks there is a large deposit of exceptionally fine material for the manufacture of cement. A factory is in course of construction, and will be running before the end of the year. As freight represents a large percentage of the cost of cement in Montana, and our present improvements make a large demand for the article, the business should prove lucrative. But these enterprises are the exception—the pioneers in this field of industry.
We grind somewhat more than half our wheat; we malt less than half our barley; we scour and manufacture none of our wool; we refine and make up none of our copper; we ship 85 per cent of our live stock out of the state on foot. And yet, we need find no fault with the conditions. 'Mills and factories will come to us later. For us that era has not yet arrived. In the course of natural development, our land must be first settled and cultivated. The opportunities for capital and labor in mining, stock raising and farming are still too great for any considerable proportion of our people to embark in other pursuits.
A side light is thrown on conditions by making a few comparisons. In 1905 a census was taken of manufactures in the United States. Among other items tabulated are the number of people employed, amount of their annual wage and value of their product. Montana stands at the head of this list with an average yearly wage of $977, and an output per man of $7,426. The yearly wage in New York state is $501.50 and the average product $2,904, while that for the United States is a trifle less than that for New York. But these figures may not be regarded as fair for I suspect from the size of them that they have called our copper smelting manufacturing. Let us then take the following items for Montana:
ideas. Corbett Lawyers, a full blooded Indian and graduate of Carlisle, was the promoter of the Indian bank, but was unable to give it his attention.
Bankers’ Investment Company to Build
Bankers’ Investment Company of Spokane, which was organized several months ago, with & Eastern Trust Company, will erect a three-story building costing $30,000 at Nora Avenue and Division Street, where it has bought a site for $10,500. There will be store rooms on the ground floor and the upper stories will be used for hotel purposes. The officers of the company are: President, Frank W. Williams ; vice-president, W. W. Tolman ; secretary, Ernest Weins, and treasurer, E. J. Armstrong. The building will be ready for occupancy in July, 1910. Nebraska Senator Invests in Spokane Country
C. A. Randall, until recently president of the First National of Newman Grove, Neb., and state senator from his district, has come to the Spokane country and expects to make some investments in this part of the country. He has disposed of his holdings in the bank in his home town.
Entertain Guest from the East
J. Grier Long, president of the Washington Trust Company of Spokane, had as his guests this week Brade Robinson of Oil City, Pa., chief engineer of the Standard Oil Company, members of his family and a party of Philadelphia friends. They will visit Alaska after making a tour of the cities on Puget Sound. It is expected that extensive changes and additions will be made to improve the position of the Standard Oil Company in the Inland Empire.
Bought a Spokane Home
William Hetherington, a retired eastern banker, has bought an eight-room residence in Spokane for $6,600, and will make his home in this city.
Stockholders Elect Officers
Stockholders of the National Bank of Palouse, Wash., elected these officers at their annual meeting on July 22d:	E. T. Coman, president Ex-
change National, Spokane; E. A. Child, Spokane; R. P. Ward and C. F. Konantz, St. Paul; Andrew L. Hill, J. A. Miller and C. W. Waters, Palouse. Mr. Waters is receiver for the defunct Palouse State Bank. The officers of the new bank are: R. P. Ward, president; C. F. Konantz, vice-president; A. L. Hill, second vice-president; George C. Jewett, cashier. The capital stock of $50,000 was paid in full at the meeting and it is expected that the bank will open its doors for business on August 2d. It will occupy the building formerly occupied by the Palouse State Bank, now defunct, which has been purchased by the new institution for $16,000.
,V*
Mr. Sparks is the cashier of the Bank of of Hiawassee, Ga.
The Ironbound Trust, Newark, N. J-, will probably erect a building,