The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-07-17

then, again, many of these farmers who
have sold out have been men who
have been in the state for twenty or
twenty-five years. We know them
better than it is possible for US to
know the new people who have taken
their places, at least for sometime. 1t
takes a long time for a banker and
his customers to come into close re-
lationship with each other; and as we
become older it is harder for us to
make new friends and acquaintance.
North Dakota in the past few years
has had wonderful growth in every
thing and in every way. New towns
have sprung up all over the state.
The railroad growth has been great
er than for years. The income in the
number of new banks has been phen-
omenal. The general prosperity of
the whole state has been wonder.
Our banks for the past year. and. in
fact, for several years. have moved on
with scarcely a cloud to mar their pros
perity and progress: and l think that
as bankers of this state We may pride
ourselves upon the showing which we
have made. A meeting such as we are
having here today is a good thing
for MS. that we may exchange ideas.
and thereby better fit us for the bust
ness in which We are engaged.
This coming winter the legislature
of the state will meet: and there
should be some legislation asked for
which will strengthen our banks.
The minimum capital which ma
tional bank can be capitalized at is
$25.000.00: and believe that the
minimum capital of state bank
should be not less than $4,000. 1t is
now 100000: and making the capital
so small has tendency to make
weaker banks than We should have,
and does not give the security to de-
positors to which they are entitled;
and it also has tendency to encour-
age banks going into the communities
where the field is not large enough to
warrant putting in a bank. should
times tighten from what they are now.
and which they are almost sure to do
sooner or later. And then there is the
tendency to put in second banks, and
sometimes the third banks in towns
where the business conditions real
ly do not warrant it. I believe that
If the minimum capital were raised to
$4,000. it would to a great extent cor
rect this. Senator Pierce. one of our
members. made splendid fight for
this increase in capital in the last
legislature. and would have won out
had the bankers of the state taken
more interest in the matter.
There is another thing that I think
We should call the attention of our
legislatures to, and that is the ques-
ton of taxation. The banks of the
state are not taxed through the var
ious counties on an equal basis; and
they should be. Again, banks are
taxed upon their capital, surplus, and
undivided profits, from which they are
allowed to deduct from the surplus
and undivided profits five per cent. of
their bills receivable The undivided
profits of bank should be taxed.
They are built up, or should be, to
take care of interest on certificates,
expenses, and also for bad debts.
which are bound to creep in to a great
err or less extent in every bank, and
which will show up when times get
hard. With taxes as high as they are
in the state, the tendency among
bankers is to declare dividends great
er as a rule than, l believe, they
should be, and the dividing of their
profits among their stock holders.
think that every bank in the state
should build up in these days of pros
perity large sum in proportion to
their capital in the way of undivided
profits; especially is this true where