The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-03-10


eral information on a theme wilh
which every one should have some ae
quaintance, but of which a very largt
number of persons know very little
The points covered are presented so
simply and clearly that nearly any
child of twelve or fourteen years OF
age can grasp them.
What is a Bank?" is the title
of the little primer, which deals sue
cessively with depositors, stockholders
and borrowers, and describes in de-
tail the manner in which banks serve
various classes of people. 1t is shown
at the outset that it is not the rich and
bloated bondholder who is chiefly in
terested in or benefited by banks. In
the first place the depositors have a
large and vital interest in them, and
depositors are not, as rule, rich peo-
pie. They include laborers, workmen,
;iiccii~iii0s, farmers, stSoI1noopers,
doctors, lawyers, ministers and clerks,
and number in the United States
about ten millions of persons, whose
deposits amount to five thousand thres
hundred and fifty millions of dollars.
If a bank is hurt, says the primer, all
its depositors are hurt. The money
of these depositors is left in charge of
a man who is called banker. HE
is paid a salary or wages for taking
care of the money, just as another
man is paid wages for taking care of
horse. He is hired man. The
bank itself must have money of its
own before depositors will put in their
money, so that they may feel that their
money is safe. The banks own money
is called capital This is put in by
a number of people-sometimes by a
very large number-each of whom
puts in little. The money put in
is stock money and cannot be drawn
out, but must stay in at the risk of
business. The people who put in are
called stockholders. The number of
people in the United States who have
put up money in this way to start
banks now in operation is estimated
at 500, 900. They have putin altogether
one thousand and fifty millions of
dollars. These people are the banks.
The banker is hired by these peo-
pie"
The primer then goes on to show
how the banks serve the public and
grease the wheels of commerce, agri-
culture, manufactures, mining, and,
in fact, of all enterprises, big and lit
tie. Among the practical illustrations
is one showing how the country Dor
rover is helped. The stock of the
county storekeeper at certain seasons
of the year needs replenishing. But
he hasn't money to buy the goods he
wants because his customers and 9TH
ers have not paid their bills. There
are two ways in which he can get the
money. HE can crowd the people
who owe him and make them pay up"
which would probably result in losing
their custom, or 'he can borrow the
money to buy new goods with He,
therefore, goes to his customers and
gets them to give him their notes for
the amount of their Indebtedness.
He takes these notes to the bank and
the banker lends the storekeeper the
money, deducting the interest, and,
thus, because of his banker in the
neighborhood, the storekeeper can
buy more goods and pay his bills with
out crowding the farmers, the labor
same illustration holds good as to the
farmer who wants fertilizer for his
lands, but has not cash to buy it, The
dealer in fertilizer takes the farmers
note, payable in three or four months,
and the farmer gets what he wants
at once. The note is sent by the deal
er ''as a payment to the wholesaler
from whom he purchased the ferti-
lizer the wholesale dealer sends it to
the manufacturer of fertilizer, the
manufacturer takes it to his bank and
borrows the money on it" and uses ii
to keep his business going. Thus the
bank is a sort of monetary engine
which distributes financial motive
power to hundreds of enterprises that
form connection with it through such
transactions as are described above
Although everybody cannot get
money at bank, even those who
cannot are benefited by it. money
is put in circulation by loans to mer-
chants, business men and farmers
who employ labor. The more they
can borrow safely, the more labor they
can use. And the more labor that is
employed at good wages, the more
prosperity there is The banks
money in circulation wakes up and
puts in motion business all along the
line. 1t is. in another form, the nur
sery story of the old woman and the
pig-the dog begins to worry the cat
the cat hepinS IN worry tho rat tbe