The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-10-15
BANKERS TASK
NOT A SINECURE
Must Have Vast Fund of Inf0r-
nation at Finger Tips
Constantly.
PITFALLS ARE NUMEROUS
COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF
BUSINESS LAW ESSENTIAL.

There are snareS and pitfalls i'm the
banking business into which, unless the
banker is exceedingly vigilant he will
tail and lose large amounts of money"
said local banker yesterday.
Banking as an occupation has ever
held a high place in the estimation of
business men and probabl more
money has been made in that line than
in any other branch of business. The
failures of banking institutions in pro-
portion TO the number of banking
houses in existence are few and ear
between, under normal conditions. The
stock Of an established banl S always
regarded as a gilt edge security.
THE banker must, If he is success
full in the business, know more than
he is given credit for. He has more TO
do than to sit at his rosewood or ma
hOgany desk and put his signature on
the papers that are presented to him
by clerk. He must be able to do more
than stand behind the brass lattice and
hand out currency, gold and silver in
exchange for negotiable paper.
Among other things, he must be
able TO add and subtract both mentally
and with written figures, and must
never become confused. He must know
at a glance the signature of every one
Of the banks patrons. He must have
working knowledge every minute in
the day of the approximate balance of
the majority of the customers, not on
paper, but in his head, and on top of
it all he must be perpetually on the
lookout for bad bills, bad or irregular
paper, and what is even harder to de-
tect, forgeries and alterations.
First Lesson Is Learned.
when I first entered the banking
business the Inv of commercial paper,
much of it Inwritten, was a source Of
never failing mystery TO ME. l had al
ways been taught to regard cash.. cur
rency or bills as personal property in
the same sense that anything else a
man OWNS is personal property, but it
didn't take me long to find out that
vast difference exists.
Here is a case which will to some
extent illustrate my meaning. A mer-
chant owed George P. Bent the sum
! of $133.50. The debtor drew a check
| for this amount. but through mistake
made it payable to George A. Bent.
| He placed it in an envelope and mailed
| it to George A. Bent. Now, a third per
son whose name was George A. Bent,
| duly received the check, endorsed it
and received payment of it at the
! bank. The error was soon discovered.
What do you suppose happened? Did
! George A. Bent, who certainly re-
| ceived the money which he had no
! right to, become liable for the amount?
Not at alls The courts held that the
| middle initial letter of a mans name is
not in law part of his name, and that
! the check was in law payable to George
Bent, ana if there are two people of
| that name, the hank or merchant cash
| ing the check is required TO know that
| he is paying the money to the right
| one In this case the bank lost the
money.
Another Experience Told.
Here is another case which illus
! trates the trials of a bankers life. A
man intending to be absent from his
| place of business for few days, and
until after April %, the regular payday
| for all his employees, drew his check
on his bank, dated April %. payable
| to the order of his clerk, and directed
| the clerk to draw the money on that
| date if he, the owner, Old not return.
! He did not return until April %. On
| pril q the clerk altered the date of the
| check 70 that date, drew the money
and absconded. The check was
| charged to the account Of the drawer,
but the bank had to make the amount
good. It was claimed that in this case
| the change in the date was immaterial,
| but the courts have held that the date
of a note or check is material part
of the instrument and that any altera-
| ton nullifies it, and any bank cashing
such paper stands liable for the
amount.
| Dozens of cases of this kind can be
| cited in support of the claim that
banking as a business presents more
pitfalls for the unwary than almost
any other occupation in the world"