The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-06-28


underwater of every loan he makes-a
partner with all his debtors and guar
antor 10 all his depositors He is at the
nerve centre of industry and feels every
\ pulsation of life about him
i The average mind scarcely conceiyes
II the fearful responsibilities with which he
4 is invested by the confidence of his fellow
men, Surely his is a position which de-
mands the daily exercise OF the highest
/ qualities of manhood
The average layman loses but little
sleep over his pastor; he needs his physi-
/ clan perhaps once month; he consults
his lawyer possibly twice year, but how
j different with his banker. The banker
is expected to know the law and the Cos
| pei, he is expected to know every quota
| ton twenty-four hours in advance; he is
| expected to know the financial weight OF
| every neighbor and the strength of every
corporation from the Northern Securities
down to the smallest Of the community
4 he is expected to know the day, if not
the hour when the next panic will strike
! us: he is expected to know whether Cleve-
| land or Roosevelt viii be elected Presi-
dent in 1904; he is supposed to know what
your prospective fatherin-law is WORTH
! he must know how much rain will fall
and how many bales of cotton will grow
1 this season In short, he Is expected to
know a little of everything and every
/ body's business,
This is only part Of the burden he car
I RES in the face OF fierce and sometimes
unfair competition, and is only a mere
suggestion of the trying exactions levied
/ upon his time and labor, which in season
and out OF season require clean figures,
cool brain, a clear head, heart of gold
and a nerve of iron Indeed in this hot
struggle he who wins and lives must be
i built of the stuff of which heroes are
made
This is true when competitor is legit-
mate, fair, clean and white, and it is to
be said to the credit OF the bankers of
North Carolina that, as a rule, the com
| petition between them is clean and legi-
| innate. But there are occasional excep-
| lions to this rule and these exceptions are
symptoms of disease, if / may so term
! it. upon our business life, which, If I'M
checked in its incipiency must grow and
| spread and which must eventually prove
| to be dangerous if not fatal.
! In the wild eagerness in our day for
| business-for the accumulation and con-
centration of wealth-in the fierce rivalry
| for the prize of success in every line
of effort and in the reckless and desper-
ate contests in all fields of endeavor, the
| temptation for the banker to 60 beyond
the limit of legitimate competition was
I, never so great as it is today.
/ 1t is, therefore, the business as we'll
as the duty it seems to me, of this as
ISOLATION to watch carefully the growing
temptations along this line and to dis
! courage same as much as possible.
/ In all the varied channels and in all
! the strenuous activities of modern COM
mercial life, the banker must meet and
could not. if he would, avoid legitimate
competition. There is no reason why
/ there should not be competition among
banks but there is reason why this com
! petition should be clean and fair and
honest.
/ As the treasurer Of society and as the
! trusted agent of the community the bank
! er owes it to himself and to those who
pin their faith to his institution to keep
and maintain in both private and business
life a record as clear as the unsoiIed coin
,1r-free from suspicion and fawless The
bank is the depository of the confidence
! of community made sacred by the i'm
! pIcit faith therein placed. The widow
i and orphan, the magnate and the pauper
place their all upon its open counters.
There il no place more sacred i'm the eye
and faith of the public. Let not competi
ton desecrate it with Cheap John"
methods and nigh cuts" Let US keep it
clean
There is no higher obligation devolving
upon this association, to my mind, than
| that of seeing to it, in so far az it may
! be able that this competition shall be
safeguarded by upright conduct, exalted
! integrity, the most rigid rules of honesty
and stainless methods.
1t is fit Mr. President, that our at
/ tention should be directed to this ques
tion of competition. / am free to declare
that the most insidious danger that be-
sets the average banker today is to be
| found in the open field of keen and in
discriminate competition among our
| banks.
/ The average bankers profits are made
i by Titles and on the other hand leaks
may be by Titles, and finally the small
losses which in the mad eagerness for
business are lost aight OF may weaken, it
it does not demoralize, what would other
wise be strong financial institution.
Already the banker is forced to do
more business for nothing than almost
any other man in the community, and all
| ready he is tempted not to charge ex
change OH paper and TO pay too high a
rate of interest for money on deposit by
reason of the competition he meets. Here
il the danger line and the dangerous prac-
tees engendered or produced by compet-
ton must be guarded with unceasing vigi-
lance. The successful banker needs not
to resort to nigh cuts" He needs not
the poison of prejudice nor the weapons
OF envy to compete with an honest neigh
Dor. The trickster may flourish Tor
day in the banking business but IN the
long run an intelligent and discriminating
public will discover his methods and I'M
cover his record
The strength of the bank az with an
Individual is in its character and II IN It's
ldealings it fails or refuses to observe the
highest ethics of life it should be con
demned as the individual. There IS one
law and only one which IN the last
analysis should obtain in the broad field
of competition, and that Is the Golden
Law from Holy Writ, do unto others
as you would have them do unto you