The Washington times., 1912-08-18
-Antpah4y of Congress to the Railroads Depresses
IN LOCAL FINANCIAL CIRCLES
By I. A. FLEMING.

"The savings bank is the thing" said
national bank man yesterday, tnere
is more money to be made In stralsht
savings bank with modest capital,
good location and careful management
than in any other form Of banking.
Perhaps there is.
A tour of the larger savings banks
OF the city will disclose the fact that
two tellers behind the. rails are doing
all the work, that one or two book
keepers have plenty of time to read
the daily papers, keep their records
and get away from business, save on
late days when an effort Is made to
gather In the dollars OF the Government
employees, while yet the tellers In the
commercial banks are counting their
cash and looking for shortages or wor-
rying about overs.
The few checks that come over the
counter during the day. with the pass
book. or pass book attached. are easily
paid of; there Is rarely any necessity
for looking up the account to see
u,bether the balance is sufficient to pay
the check, the book tells the story. AS
n result there are never overdrafss un-
Iess with the consent of the bank; no
rood checks are turned down by error
! OF the clerical force, and, therefore,
there are no grounds for suits from that
large bank following that seems to be
always looking for a chance to get
damages from a bank for dishonoring
checks.
The savings bank makes it's loans on
collateral.
washington has a number of borrow
ers who are more anxious to ret ac-
commodations than to make payment
| thereon: indorsers who are perfectly
| willing to write their names on the
| back of a slip OF paper but VINO nave
deep adherence of meeting' their
| agreement to care for 1t when the prin-
cipal negiects to pay II.
The savings bank, protects itself by
liberal margin and when payment Is de-
| manded, obtains the cash or sells the
collateral 1t is rarely forced to sacri-
fice collateral. and may in times OF
stress take advantage Of the sixty-day
clause. Other banks must have the
cash on the presentation Of the check
or close the doors.
Washington banks, as a rule, have
1
of opening checking accounts 1t Is an
excellent practice to pay bills by check
II is a check against being called upon
| for repayment and II is in itself a
| record of the expenses or the maker
provided the checks, after cancellation
| are carefully preserved.
| But IL Is not fair that the depositor
| should do his banking business at the
expense of the bank Banks are par
TALLY. but not altogether, for the ac-
| 80 he rthliN--thaV
primarily for the profit of the share
holders, good compensation for the offi.
cials. usually large Shareholders aho
then, for the accommodation or those
| whose accounts accrue 10 the earning
power of the institution.
But there are thousands of depositors
In local banks whose accounts are ex'
pensive rather than revenue producing
Every check presented direct or through
the clearing house must be~closely yizec
up to the moment; the proper receiving
teller must be consulted. to see II
deposit to cover has been made; anc
the check that is paid carelessly is tn.
one that will bring the over draft anc
the transfer of the account, while the
| refusal to paw a check, without con
sulting the receiving teller, may leac
my y check" Only caseless fatchfui
ness will prevent trouble.
Washington is about the only cit.
where these kind of accounts are per
| Ullltcu ElSc"Htit lIiVJ "ouiu Dc Si'Aii
mated as soon as discovered, nor woul'
ldepositors be permitted to open check
ing accounts with such small deposits.
The expenses attached to the averag
account. check books, bass books, en-
tries on ledgers, etc. amount to consider
able. "It costs US 10 cents to open al
account" said one banker.
I'VE can afford to do the bookkeeping
and clerical work for an account aver
aging 500 balance, but when II gets be
low that It is an expense to the insti