The Marshall republican., 1908-10-02


as n rule, kept out Of the banking busi-
ness by the unwllllngness of the public
to entrast money to their care.
Careful Banking Best.
Under present conditions there are
compcnsations in favor of careful and
conservative banking. There are PEG,
l pie who are not Influenced In their Sc
lection Of q bank by the highest rate of
interest offered on deposits, and who
have their suspicious aroused by the
tender Of exceptional Inducements.
They know that such offers put q
strain upon the business, and they de-
NbcTatcly prefer to place their money
with a banker who will not subject
himself to ouch strain. These deposit
ors esteem safety above all other con-.
siderations, and they are numerous
enough TO exercise a very wholesome
restraint upOa reckless Tendencies In
the business. A banker now prizes the
reputation Of doing q nafe business,
and cannot afford to have q reputation
for %imprudence end speculative In
clinations. And yet, although held IN
check by there powerful considerations
the pressure OF competition carries the
business near tee CANCER Inc even
now. There 10 too much competition
for deposits, ana The ambitions Of the
more venturcsome members Of the fra
ternity, and the pace they set, puts the
I whole systtrn HnSpr strain,
But what e9c l,ksIy TO be- the ron
dltions IN the business when the public
10 no longer concerned about the man
agemeAt 81 @ bank, aGS Sal the re-
wards fer conservatism and restraints
upon r~ecAiS9areSo are removed? The
considerations which h the past have
tonds5 10 safeguard tAa business and
advance it's standar2a would be gone.
The public wol.ia cEFo ngthing for the
personality " tss banker. Instead Of
looking to tiuP lastitStloR which reccic-
&C eAe deposits, the espssisSr would re-
~ On "a outside fsuf. A banker
might egt sll the 6cpusits on hose
races without Gre fact becoming n
matter Of any cSscoRo 20 his custom
orr.
Ana Nrw woald tho conservative,
prudent banker fare 1Hter these CON
ditions? The legitimate reward for
maintaining thet character would be
lost to hRa. He would get no deposits
unle15 he hid az high for them as his
rivals. fer the government would stand
behind the latter, ead assure the pub
nc that they were 5nst as safe 40 ne.
and tax hiTa to make them 20. In
short the reckless ana incompetent PEG
pie, who are now either excluded from
the banking business, or held in check
by the dlstrust wkich a discriminating
public fe1lS towards them, would make
the pace to which everybody else in
the banking business would be obliged
to conform or get OSt CR the business.
Would Dem0rRRiEo 2~uS,neAs.
The hardest competitor in any line
Of business Is the incompetent or dis
honest MIN who doeB anything to get
business. such people get into the
Banking business even now, but their
number aud influence for mischief
would be greatly increased If they
were backed up by unlimited credit. In
other lines there may be some question
as to the quality or service offered by
rivals, but all bankers deal in the same
kind Of money, and If deposits We're
made n Joint liability, there Is no rea-
son why thsT should not go to the
bankers who offer the greatest induce.
meuts to attract them. The careful
banker would have no offset or protec-
ton against demorllizing competition,
ard he would BIZ placed in the strange
. position OF being liable for his COM
petitOr's obligations.
All efforts TO make It appear that the
interests Of bankers are on one side Of
this question and the interests Of de-
p~ositOrs ON the other are untrue to tho
facts. Nothing that in the long run IS
harmful to the banking business, that
puts it under strain and tends to low
err it's standards, can be beneficial to
; dcpositors or the public. 1t cannot be
advantageous to the community to have
It's savings and working capital pass
into the hands Of the venturesume
class Of bankers who will bid most for
them. The actual waste and loss
through unwisc investments would in
evitably increase. 1t would fall at first
on the conservative bankers and penal
ize them. Instead Of az elimination "
the unfit, which is the true process u
evolution, the tendency would be to an
elimination Of the best. Eventually the
burden Of increasing waste would have
to be borne by all depositors and the
whole community.
Oklahoma Trial In~concIusIve.
The fact that the 1rst bank failure
In Oklahoma after the law went into
effect, was followed by Immediate re-
Endorsement Of the de9ositors, proves
nothing us to the practlcabillty Of the
system In the long run. The fact that
the State banks Of Oklahoma have