The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-30
All Banks Report Big h. crease in Deposits. THE CITY'S BEST YEAR Year Was Marked by Excel.
 lent Collections. The Banks show a Prosperity no Less Remarkable Than the Stores--Due
 Primarily to High Cotton and
 widened Territory.
THE CITY's BEST YEAR

Tbe business year of Montgomery, drawing to a close has been as iuil ano ss fruitful to the bank as 1t mas been to the store.
 What it has been commercially. what if has been to the merchants. has been told and set down in print. The banks of Montgomery have quite as me story to tell. It is general, uniform story, on account of increased deposlts. and splendid collections: N2t q r nanN tn add gl to the fine record of prosperity wntc's f was written by the business year oi
 Bankers are proverbially conserva- tive. It is no business for butteriy chaser. It is not the avocation of the enthusiast who is liable to fly on at a tangent or to see visions or 10 ureaii, dreams. The mirage hunter urops "ut of it because there is no place TOT H except for the man who sees the real and the material.
 For that reason what they have t" say of the business, health. of the gem eral prosperity and of the piled up de- posits carries more of weight perhaps than anything which might be said oy any other class of business men.
 And so when one banker says. our deposits have icreased fifty per cent in the past twelve months" there is whole sermon in the statement. NOT Is his bank an exception to the general rule. It Is in truth. an example nor an exception, for every banker had something of the same sort to say. ;i little guardedly and little conserva- lively but nevertheless convincingly, Tor all that
 Increased Deposits.
 In every bank it was the same Tnere was no dissent, no reserve ~Whlon might lead one to believe something was held back which might modify the Hea or the splendid business, the splendid monetary conditions which prevail in and around Montgomery It's been the best year we ever had" Our collec- lions have been the best we ever had "ColIections have been so good. that turing the year our bank has not lost a single dollar by bad debts. We have 8 large increase. a big increase in de- posits nd you know that deposits are the life blood of bank" It's the best year we ever had.
 These were common assertions heard in a round among the banks. Exact figures were not obtainable, just now. It is perhaps we'll that they are not be- Ing given out. for undoubtedly they would seem too big to be true. Finan- cial statements are made by National banks when called for by the Comptrol- Ter of the Currency and no call has been issued just now. But regardless of the absence of positive figures. tn" statements made by the various bank CTS go far enough to convince anyone, should there be anyone who doubt 1t that tho banks of Montgomery are stronger and better than ever before.
 Of course a search for the cause of the general prosperity of both the bank and the store goes no further back than the fine price of cotton It is chiefly responsib for the red blooded financial condition of Montgomery and It's territory. There are some other things which have almost escaped tions. For one thing the average Montgomery does not fully appreciate how rapidly the business territory of Montgomery is widening. This augmentation of its trade has largely had to do with what the city is now enjoying
 The deposits of the First National Bank of Montgomery increased 50 per cent. in one year. This bare statement is in itself a remarkable showing for the business prosperity of Montgomery. It was perhaps the most eloquent fact brought out by a round among the banks.
 When asked as to the banks share in the general good times, Cashier A. s. Woolfolk said: ''Ill have to refer to the books. Now, let me see and figure a moment. Fifty per cent That's it. That's rather big statement. Let me go over my figures again. Yes. That $ true; the deposits in our bank have i'm creased 50 per cent. in the past twelve months. It may be somewhat of a large statement to make. but 1t is neV- ertheless true one.
 And altogether the year has been a satisfactory one to us. It has beon at