[Volume XXVII
THE CHICAGO BANKER
12
How many rented farms are there in your district?
What reason can you assign for there being so many rented farms?
Are there any abandoned farms in your district?
What is the best way to interest the farmers in the matter of diversifying their crops and increasing the yield to the acre?
Do farmers read the agricultural papers?
Is there any organization in your district which has for its purpose the betterment of roads?
Does there appear to be continuity in the plans of such organizations having this matter in charge?
W. A. Miller on Directoral Management
What the relation of the directors to the St. Paul banks is, and that stockholders take an active part in the workings of the financial institutions, is shown by W. A. Miller, vice-president of the First National. He makes his statement following the campaign begun by Comptroller L. O. Murray to get more active co-operation between directors and bank managements. Mr. Miller said: “I don’t think any of the banks in St. Paul could be given anything but the highest rating. There is no financial center in the country where there is less speculating than there is here and the
GRAHAM & SONS
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ignored, while the papers are full of the success of Rockfeller, Carnegie, and others, which creates the belief that it is necessary to go to the city when seeking one’s future.
“Rare opportunities await young men who are willing to work if they go back to the farms. It is to encourage this that the committee is in existence. There is no doubt that our cities are crowded with youths who have no business there and they are sacrificing their own future and permitting the vast resources of the country to go to waste by remaining there.”
Gunning for Information
Questions which the committee will send to the twelve members of the executive council for reply may prove of value in other Western states which have been giving up population to the Western, Southwestern, and Canadian farming districts to their own detriment.
Each member of the council is expected to inquire as to conditions about him before answering the questions which read thus :
What is the percentage of young men and young women educated in agricultural schools?
What is the opinion of your district regarding the practicability of sending boys and girls to agricultural schools? Does it pay?
Has your district either an agricultural college or agricultural high school?
Are the teachers within your district practical agriculturists?
If the agricultural teachers in your district are not graduates of agricultural schools, or practical agriculturists, are the results obtained satisfactory?.
What agricultural instruction is given in your normal school, if you have one in your district?
Is there any instruction in agriculture given in your common or district schools?
Is there a tendency among the young men and women in rural sections of your district to go to the larger cities?
The beginning of the bankers’ campaign to promote the agricultural interests of the state of Minnesota, following a resolution passed at the recent Tonka Bay convention, was made at a recent meeting of the committee at the Minneapolis Club. The committee is made up of chairman, Joseph Chapman, Jr.; secretary, C. R. Frost, George C. Power of St. Paul, president; W. I. Prince of Duluth, L. A. Huntoon of Moorhead, and W. E. Lee of Long Prairie. The committee is to assist the state immigration board to bring upon the land the additional population which it can support. Drainage will be urged as part of economical farming.
“At present nothing is done by the common school system of the state toward encouraging boys to remain on the farm,” said Mr. Chapman. “The subject of agriculture is absolutely
If Your Vacation
should lead you to or through Pittsburgh, the officers of this Bank will consider it a great favor if you will call and allow them to show you the points of interest in our city, or to add in some way to the pleasure of your visit We hope that bankers everywhere will consider this a personal invitation.
OLUMBIA NATIONAL BANK
OF PITTSBURGH
Depositary oj
United States, State of Pennsylvania, City of Pittsburgh