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THE CHICAGO BANKER
August 21, /pop]
William A. Tilden President
Nelson N. Lampert Vice Prest.
Henry R. Kent Cashier
George H. Wilson Asst. Cashier
Charles Fernald Asst. Cashier
Colin 8. Campbell Asst. Cashier
MONROE AND CLARK STREETS
O H I C A G О
Capital, $1,000,000 Surplus and Profits, $400,000
Your Business Solicited
THE
LIBERTY NATIONAL BANK
OF NEW YORK
FREDERICK B. SCHENCK, President
CHARLES W. RIECKS
Vice-Pres. & Cashier
FRED’K P. McGLYNN Ass’t Cashier
HENRY S. BARTOW
Ass’t Cashier
DANIEL G. REID
Vice-President
Z0HETH S. FREEMAN
Vice-President
HENRY P־ DAVISON Chairman Ex. Com.
CAPITAL, SURPLUS AND UNDIVIDED PROFITS
S 3,500,000.00
charge of the cashier’s chair in his new bank Mr. McLane will spend some time with his family outing in Wisconsin. He expects to begin his new signature about September 1st. E. L. Matt-, son, assistant cashier of the Northwestern National, is up to his eyebrows straightening the preliminary sales of box seats for the annual Minnesota state fair which begins September 6th. Mr. Mattson is treasurer of the association that operates the fair for the state and he has no small duty handling the cash that comes in, for the Minnesota state fair is really a tri-state institution and averages 50,000 daily attendance for six days, which means something like an average of $50,000 a day to take care of.
Lincoln pennies are making a stir in the Twin Cities. The banks have practically exhausted their first allotments and the second shipments prove to be coins of the new mint, without the designer’s initials. George F. Orde, cashier of the First National, on his return from the Montana Bankers Association convention and a trip on to the Pacific Coast, says the West has seen none of the new coins and is anxious to get a sample shipment. Correspondents of the Twin City banks are writing in from the Dakotas and the rural parts of the state for the pennies. The First National received one hundred and twenty-five mail requests in one day. George A. Lyon, assistant cashier, says: “The country banks have not only written letters urging that the pennies be sent them, but have also called up over the long distance telephone.”
George F. Orde on Pacific Crops
George F. Orde of the First National, Minneapolis, reports that crops on the Pacific Coast are the largest that have been raised there and that the same is true of Western Canada and North Dakota. Mr. Orde visited in the far West the cities of Seattle, Portland, and Tacoma.
S. E. Morris, president of the Western National Bank at Mitchell, S. D., makes in the Twin Cities a crop statement that is representative of the talk by the bankers through the Northwest. He was returning from the Pacific Coast. He said that from the Pacific Coast over the Canadian Pacific Railroad to Winnipeg and thence to Minneapolis the crop talk is all favorable. Except for occasional local damage the crops, as far as they may be observed from the line, look well. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and British Columbia have good grain crops where grain is produced, and there is a general expecta-(Continued on page 15)
ing room has been idle most of the time since, except when it was used temporarily by the Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Bank. The remainder of the building, however, is rented continuously in offices. The structure is a huge brown stone building which promises a good investor to its buyer. The liquidation committee will receive bids for the property until September 1st, and it reserves the usual privilege of refusing any or all bids. Although no minimum figure is set for the bids, it is expected that they will range around $300,000.
Union State’s New Quarters
The Union State Bank opened its new quarters in Minneapolis on Monday morning. The books and valuables were safely transferred four blocks through the business streets without difficulty. It was the last of nearly a dozen banks that have moved in the last few years without the loss of a penny or of a paper. Lauritz S. Swenson, vice-president, took personal charge of the transfer to the new and handsome banking room, which was made in a transformed club building. Whether the bank has not made an excellent move from a strategic view point is now being discussed by the bankers. Third Street was formerly the limit of banking establishments. Later the line was moved to Fourth Street. The Northwestern National then moved a few feet beyond the Fourth Street line, and the First National went to Sixth Street two years ago. It was then said that the First had the permanent outpost, and that business would not require banking facilities nearer than the First’s corner. The Union State has now invaded the shopping district by going 330 feet farther out.
The Union State Bank, on June 23d, showed deposits of $270,218.84; loans and discounts, $271,705.37; capital, $50,000. Since then the deposits have increased and the bank has doubled its capital stock. Officers are F. FI. Peterson, president; Lauritz S. Swenson, vice-president; O. O׳. Tollefson, second vice-president, and O. E. Nelson, cashier.
W. F. McLane’s New Watch
W. F. McLane, cashier of the Hennepin County Savings Bank, is wearing a new watch. As he was about to leave his position as assistant cashier of the Northwestern National to take up the new work he was lured into the private office of Vice-President E. W. Decker and presented with the time piece. Before taking official
management of all banks is of the highest order. Of course it would be impossible for each of the directors to pass upon all loans, but it is safe to say that every transaction of any importance is fully considered by the directors as well as the management. I do not see how it would be possible for the national bank examiner to pass any criticism upon the St. Paul methods. It would be an excellent thing to have a detailed statement of all the large borrowers with the list open for the information of the bankers, but it would be a big job. Anything which enables the banks to keep in close touch with the credits of the country is a valuable aid and will be gratefully accepted.”
Financing the Crop
In a summary of the financial end of the crop moving situation the St. Paul Dispatch says of the method of financing the crop in 1909:
The leading St. Paul bankers say the Northwest will ask no assistance of the East in financing the crop movement this year. All the currency that is being brought into this section for this purpose is money that Western banks had on deposit in New York and Chicago.
Between fifty and sixty million dollars will be available from September 1st to December 1st, at which period the movement of grain is heaviest. This will all be furnished by the banks in this vicinity. The Minneapolis and St. Paul concerns are working together on the plan.
While streams of currency flow continuously East or West from the Twin Cities, the Westward flow has been pronounced for several days and will continue increasingly for two or three weeks. By September 1st the banks of this community will have drawn in much of their supply in the East and will be fully prepared for any demands.
Shipments of currency are coming in daily. Most of the money used in the crop movement is in bills of small denomination; a very small percentage is gold, the cost of moving gold or silver being too great for profit. The cost of bringing currency from Chicago to St. Paul is 40 cents a thousand and from New York 75 cents.
Commerce Bank Building for Sale
The Bank of Commerce Building is to be sold. It is the largest remaining asset of the national bank which was absorbed two years ago by the Northwestern National. The bank-