Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-04-27
BANKS ARE BEING
 WELL REGULATED
More Effective Supervision
 Is Established

The comptroller of the currency has certainly scored effectively in his work for the past year. About twelve months ago, out of the six thousand odd bank ing institutions doing business under na- tional charters, several hundred were on the bad list and had been there for some time, says the American Bank er This did not mean that they should be deprived of their right to do busi- ness-it merely meant that they were not managed with thorough efficiency and indulged in dealings which did not meet with the approval of Washington.
 Mir. Murray, in recent talk with treasury officials, stated that there was not one national bank in the United States today that could be considered badly managed or in any way unsafe or eligible for a position on the hereto fore well filled "bad list.' The an- nouncement was received with great satisfaction by the treasury department and all other officials. They realized that had former conditions been fully appreciated, banking confidence would have been somewhat shaken. The gov ernment naturally appreciates the feel ing of security which Mir. Murray's as surance gives.
 The credit for the work, however, en- tirely belongs to the controller person. ally. No laws have been changed and no legislative assistance given to en able this official to secure the helpful results which he has accomplished.
 Controller Murray first began by i'm proving the personnel of his examining force. He got the national bank ex- aminers together and discussed improv- ed methods of supervision. He divided the country into geographical districts and thereby concentrated examinations and placed examiners at-large in charge of them. He used those political rari- ties, common sense and business judg- ment, in the beneficial efforts he put forthwith gratifying results for the country.
 Among other things, Controller Mur- ray inaugurated credit reports. He fol lowed this with the getting together of national and state bank examiners and secured the cooperation between national and clearing house examiners. This organization soon became so com plete that there could be no question and no mistake concerning the condi- tions of the various banks, and those not considered up to the standard were so notified and in every instance the officials and the directors promptly remedied the difficulties.
 Controller Murray's own words are worth repeating. He said:
 CT propose to supervise the national banks in reasonable, effective and bus inesslike way while their doors are open, rather than to see how much can be paid to creditors after they have been closed, because of lack of effective su- pervision. If 1 were to criticise the con- troller's office, it would be broadly that it is too highly technical in trivial mat ters and not vigorous enough in vital essentials. l have determined that while am controller, well managed banks are not to be annoyed by the receipt of critical letters on trivial, unimportant non essentials. '
 The work which Controller Murray has accomplished cannot be too highly commended, especially as much of it was done in the face of criticism and oppo- sition. Nevertheless he has shown what efficiency can do and he has also dem onstrated exactly how useful govern. ment control is, if the right man is only at the head of it. The uselessness, and worse, of the situation, if the right man is not looking after the work, is also the more apparent. For the demonstra- tion of this, as well as for the work he has done, we have to thank Mir. Murray. This IS suggestion which those who see an aid for all ills in government SUI pervision would do well to ponder upon. The whole of the millennium is not as. sured when the law is passed.