The Washington times., 1912-01-07
IN LOCAL FINANCIAL CIRCLES
By I. A. FLEMING.

Mclean and the February election
mlent have been avoided to give the
stcekholders an unbiased chance 10 |.
h ame their executive. The prestige u I
on '1 I'M tl,e office and Of having the cal /
vi .ne oincial proxies 10 q handicap -.1t
o,rsr htnirants for the position.
me salary Of the head OF tho corr
s" ops.'o ,n. $4,000 a year. has caused,
T,ent a mar, or less unfavorabie COM
Of sys s, this, this proportion paid to heads /
s ssnyv cv =; Furthermore. the tloOpO.a-yssrt
Tered Mr.. Mclean il generally be,yeved.
a.thougii u 10 admitted By directors that
NO r, sucn cut was contemplated.
r.,.t are seven positic MS en- the d.
rectory OF the corporation. 1t Ia UNDER
stood In financial circles that eaa n of {
the seven directors are Candidates FOR
re.eiet ton. TIL an there are seven more
y ,;,,n Tor each OF the seven posi- Z
,,ons ana three avowCd candidates for
me presidency. II Is said that there ,
luck In odd numbers; 1912 ought 10 B 81
a good year for the ,;as Company
for years and the attends nee at lin
meeting correspondinriy larger.
The admission of w. w. Spaid to-
ia % n sanap n the firm q W. B. HibbsS
pie employee. whose efforts have BEEN
TO advance the best interest of his em-t
ployers. Mr.. Spaid has Lesion OF;
friends and his well.earned advances
ment Is source of keen satisfactton
to them.
Wonder IL there win be any SURPRISES
av the annual elections this week n
are simply rumors. 1t would not be
surprising II something broke loofe.
Comptroller Murray is asking certain
NATIONAL banks to elect a board Of de
rectors near enough to the bank -
that the examiner can meet with them
at each examination, as Is now re-
Quired, and asking them to amend, II
necessary. their articles Of association.i
Increasing the number of directors, 90
that majority may be local residents.s
AS all matters subject to criticism are
now brought to the attention Of the
board by the examiner. It is highly im-s
portant that at least a majority Of the
board be available. In many cases.
however. majority cannot be assem-
bIed without one or two days, and int
1t Is pratt ically impossible for tn. ex-,
aIniner 10 meet these bcai DIS a. the time
OF the examination.
While the national bank act only re-
quires that every director must, during,
his whole term of service, be a citizen
of the United States and at least three
fourths of the directors must have re-
sided In the State. Territory. or Dis
| for at least one year Immediately pre-
| ceding their election. the Comptroller
believes that the intention of the law.
was to require the control of each.
bank to be in the hands of local direc-:
tors, and in this belief he Is sustained
by a decision of the United States
supreme Court. in which. In connection
WITH hnt this requirement req s,I II Is stated:
enactment is to confine the management;
Of each bank to persons who live In the
neighborhood. and who may for that
worthiness OF those who are to be ap-Ss
pointed officers of the bank, and the
character and financial ability of those
who may seek to borrow Its money"
One of the. very strongest reasons for
the election of local directors Is based
upon the necessity that sometimes
arises, for quick action In emergencies
when the united efforts Of all the Oh
or. helk tide II over temporary en-
! barrassment. At such time there IS
no opportunity for notice to be sent and
! hundreds of miles, and few days de-
lay might prove fatal. The strongest,
banks in time of danger are those with
representative local directors In whom
the people of the community have en-
tire confidence. and to these banks dis
aster rarely comes. rs
Each bank In required to report inn
mediately after its annual meeting the
names and addresses of every director
| elected These lists will be carefully
checked up in the Comptroller's office
and letter will be written to each
bank, a majority Of whose directors are
non-residents. strongly urging them 70
1 take immediate steps to bring about
such an arrangement.
Examiners are also required to report
! to the Comptroller's office all cases in
| which they are unable to get meetings
| of the board of directors because there
are not sufficient local residents. and
| in these cases the question of a read
| justment of the board will also be inns
| mediateIy taken up with the banks.