The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-10-31
Who's to Blame.


hives with member of the board OF
directors of a bank. The other direc
tors pay no attention TO bank affairs
They are too busy making money. A
change in the administration is made
by the unexpected retirement of the old
cashier and the scheming subordinate il
put in his place. The directors are still
busy with their own individual business
affairs. They have not only been instru'
mental by their Indifference in putting
into responsible position man who
may injure them more than they could
even dream but they by their continued
indifference make it possible for him to
so manipulate his books that a crisis
finally becomes imminent through the
improper conduct of the business of the
bank. Who is going to suffer if some
morning the cashier is absent, the one
director who was posted gone, and the
bank ruined? Who is to blame be-
cause every stakeholder and every de-
position loses little OF much according to
what he has invested? Is anyone much
more to blame than the directors who
did not direct?
Next Tuesday it will be time to elect
officers in an institution bigger than the
biggest bank. If you are citizen of
the United States you are at least one of
the stockholders, you may as well even
consider that you are one of the direc-
tors of the which is the
United States government The adj
ministration of Theodore Roosevelt
compose the officers of the institution at
this time. The board of directors of
which you are member is going to
pass on the retention of number of the
highest officers both in the great, the
parent institution and in the branch Of
it known in this part of the country as
the state of Michigan. Some of the
men who have much to do with the
shaping of the policies of both institu-
tions and all of them having to do with
the smaller institution are not hired
permanently. The time for which they
were hired is almostup You members
of the board are going to reengage them
OF you are going to put new men in their
places. Some of your number have an
ak to grind. They have new men for
the places which have been so well filed
by those now working for you. What
are you going to do about it?
The big parent institution never has
failed yet but you remember that there
have been times when its affairs were in
such shape that if you had not wakened
to the responsibilities which you had al
most forgotten it seemed that almost
the whole country must haye been in
volved in one tangled mass of financial
ruin. You felt considerably to blame
then didn't you. You looked up COM
petent, reliable men to lake the places
of those you had let slip in then,
didn't you? Just now things have been
going on so well for 50 long time that
you had almost forgotten what a scare
your carelessness gave you then, hadn't
you? Are you going to keep right on
forgetting and then wake up to see
what you have done after it is too late?
The meeting of the board is next Tues
day. You have had your notice. Are
e,pi,,fr fn 1Na thnnar NA,,,.
may not all be in this institution and
you may have some other important
affairs to look after next Tuesday but do
not dare to stay away from this meet
ing? What will all your other interests
amount to if you let this establishment
get into bad hands? Suppose you hire
a man to succeed Joseph w. Fordney
who will work against the good plans of
the president of the institution, Theo-
dore Rooseveltl Suppose you elect a
new manager for the smaller institution
to succeed the business-like and tax-re-
ducing, tax-saving Aaron T. Bliss!
Suppose you let new set of paying
telleps, receiving tellers, bookkeepers,
accountants, collectors, cashiers and as
sistant cashiers, an en- tire new lot slip
inl Who will be to blame if you did
not attend the directors meeting at
which all this was doneY Do you sup
pose it will be a pleasant thing to tell
your children that the hard times which
then come upon you and your family
and your neighbor were caused because
you did not attend meeting of the
board of directors of which you had
been made member Do you suppose
your boy or in years to come your
grandchildren will be proud to think
that you were a director who did not
direct2
Then remember the meeting. Re-
the old officers who have proved
their trust. Commend them for their
years work. Engage them for another
period. Be a director in this magni-
ficent old business and banking institu-
ton, the largest in the world, who at
tends the directors meetings and knows
what is going on and what men are be-
ing reengaged. You know who are to
blame when an institution goes wrong.