The Detroit times., 1910-11-29
|CR0O[ CHILDREN
TURN BANKERS
they Deposit and Borrow Money
Like Grown Ups and Institution
Is Run on Business Lines.
BY w. q. SHEPHERD.

NEW YORK. Nov. 2s.-when
school is out at. $3.50 In public school
No. ~ the kids don't rust into the
yard; they rush down to the basement
X where the school bank, the only one
Of Its kind In the world. Ia located.
Everybody has business TO do down
there, IL he or she--for the girls ave
as much interested In the bank as are
the boys--can summon even a penny
It's lots more fun TO put penny In
he bank than TO 60 to a candy store
and buy suckers with It,
In every detail the small basement
room has ben fitted up like a bank
At various rallied w'ud rvs stand the
tash;er. re paying teller. the receiv
iag teller and tile bookkccEer. Al
81 they are al IL their places and
banking hours begin.
There isn't grown-up person about
The place, yet. from $50 TO 800 chill
dren will transact banking business
until S p. m. handling real money and
balancing. Accounts without any more
errors than real bank might make.
The president OF the bank Is Af-
teen years Old; he was elected by n
board OF directors. who were chosen
by the depesitors at an election. He
mas a private office, where he confers
with clients of the bank. He has a
secretary and a guardian at his door.
lust like any other bank president, and
ike any bank president, he likes TO
make q good loan. at 8 per cent inter
est
There Is a police department In the
school, and the chief needed stars for
ais officers He went to the bank and
borrowed 81 on a promissory note for
30 days at per cent. Then the chief
bought the stars for As cents and sold
them to his policemen for so cents.
With the profit he paid OF the note
and started bank account for the
police department.
william Berwind. eight years old,
wanted to 60 to the school athletic
games. The admission was 10 cents
and he didn't have the money. He
went to the bank with his problem.
'TIl loan you the money on a prom
issory note for 80 or so days, at 6 per
cent" said the president. but the
note must be Endorsed by some de.
positor who has more than 10 cents
I'm the bank"
William went to his friend, Isador
Kingston, who had 68 cents in the
bank Isador signed the note In very
vertical handwriting. But the note
was al. good as any millionaire ever
made out In the unreadable scribble
that millionaires often use.
William got his Is cents and saw
the game He made good" too, for
before the 80 days had rolled around
he had . bank balance OF his own of
T. cents.
The aver age deposits in the bank
are running up this year, which Ia
the second In the banks history. to-
ward ~ and there are nearly 400 de-
positors.
A iittle problem that is a very big
problem In the country at large has
come up I'm the bank recently.
When, the hank was started its by
laws provided that the depositors. in
selecting q board of directors, should
have one vote for each 80 cents IN
their accounts. II wasn't long before
the dop0sitors with the largest nc
counts were beginning to control the
bank. Mr.. Mandelstam wouldn't help
the small depositors, telling them they
would have to work out for them
selves this big question OF the dollar
and the man.
The small depositors are working
1t out They are getting together as
many present depositors as thev can
and ~ many new ones as possible.
hoping that their combined VOC as
50-cent depositors will outweigh the
combined votes Of the depositors who
haye three and four votes each Then
they'll change the bylaws so that the
vote OF one depositor will count as
much a. the vote OF any other.