Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1904-09-15

more drastic and scourging time of
| youth. and have now arrived at strong
and capable manhood. We have spent
our forty days in the wilderness in
| fasting and prayer and are now en-
| titled to the fruits of our labor. Dur
| ing the most trying period of his ex-
| istence the western banker was aided
| in his work by the wise counsel and
prudent management of one of the abb
lest men who had until that time. oc-
cupied the office of comptroller of the
currency, the Hon. James II. Eckles.
He was helpful in every possible way.
| and saved the bank to the people and
the people to the bank. James II.
Eckles seemed to have been peculiarly
fitted for the place and for that special
, time. He was a Moses, saved for that
purpose. He was one of the great
Grover Cleveland's wise and prudent
selectiOns-a western product and to-
day a successful western banker. He
has been succeeded by the Hon. Will
liam b. Rdgeley, a sagacious and safe
leader, who had been. with his father
before him, among the most prominent
western bankers. The west feels COM
plimented in having among the presi
dents cabinets such men as Lyman J.
Gage. Leslie NJ. Shaw. j. Sterling
Morton and his distinguished son.
Paul Morton. The first two We're prom
inent western bankers. What a quar-
tet of strong, capable, sturdy men. OF
all of these, the west is eminently
proud. The western banker has al
ways been right on economic questions.
He did his full part in the great battles
of 1896 and 1900, when our money
standard was at stake The western
banker has always been a firm believer
in the full value of the dollar, and that
the dollar of any stamp should be
worth one hundred cents. When the
great free silver champion was looking
for a prominent banker for his service
and cooperation he passed the west
ern banker and found his man in this
| great city. For the one, hundred cent
dollar. the western banker has always
talked and worked and voted, and to-
day he stands right on the questions of
branch banks and asset currency. He
on its own foundation; he does not be-
lieve that the western town should be
satisfied with bank. the branch of
some great city bank. He believes.
too, that our currency, today, is suffi-
cient to handle the great business of
our country, and that good crops and
confidential relations between the
banks and the people are the proper
and full solution of the currency ques-
ton. He is also a firm believer in the
efficiency and perfect adaptation of our
present national banking system to the
wants Of the country and our times.
| The converting of the bankers OF the
United States in the greatest city Of
the world Is an event of no small inn
port. Ont of it ought to come results
commensurate with the individuals
composing the gathering and the city
/ that is the magnificent host. 1t repre-
sents the choicest business minds Of
this great commercial country. The
good achieved by this convention ought
to be UNNECESSARILY great. The bank
ers OF our country ought to be. and are,
the cream OF the business world. For
integrity and uprightness of character
no class of men outrank them. 1t must
be SO. or the business of this country
would not be so successfully handled.
The banker. to the community. is like
the priest to his parishioners. He is
the arbiter of their differences: he is
the altar upon which confessions are
made; ne Is the weighmaster. with his
supposed fairness. his comprehensive
Information and his undOubted integ-
rity, the scales upon which transactions
are weighed. Such then Ia this assem-
bly, and without egOtism we ought to
and must accept this situation. And
this great and marvellous and continu-
ously growing city that Is entertaining
us! What shall we say of her? Eng
land has her London; France has her
Paris: Scotland has her Edinburgh;
Germany has her Berlin: Russia has
her St. Petersburg: Italy has her
Rome: but New York City belongs to
the world. BY her prominence. her
prestige. her situation and her ability
she rules the world. She Is great in
every way and every day becoming
greater. Every part Of the world justly
pays her tribute.