Fergus County Democrat. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-1919, 1912-06-04
GIVEN
PLEASANT TIME
BUSINESS AND PLEASURE EVEN
lY DIVIDED AT MEETING
HERE LAST WEEK,
PRAISE FOR THE BASIN
Visiting Bankers Marvel at Many Evi-
dences of Development and Pros.
perity In This Favored Section q.
the Treasure State-Reception He;t
Wednesday Evening.

'HS 'TcdSuTe otdte-HeCepttOn f7eir
Wednesday Evening.
After tOtaling up the figures repre-.
sentlng the hours of business and the
hours OF pleasure, the Central GrouL
OF the Montana Bankers association,
who held their second annual meeting
In this city last Wednesday, found !.
balance in favor OF pleasure. But this
does not indicate that business MADE
II poor showing. On the contrary, the
meeting was productive of some
splendid addresses and many helpful
suggestions.
Observe Banking Hour.
The usual hour for the opening q,
banks, $ o'clock in the morning, was
adopted as the time of meeting Wed.
nesday morning. At that time the
president of the Central Group, Pres
dent A. G. Johnson, Of the First NJ.
tiOnal Bank of Helena called tb.
meeting to order in the court room
at the court house. The Rev. Ernes,
w. Wright offered prayer and Mayo
John $. Marshall made neat az.
dress of welcome. The response w.N
made by President Johnson
Legislation Needed.
The first subject discussed was tha,
of banking legislation. David Hilgey
asked for an expression of opinion az
to the effectiveness of the present
banking laws and National Bank Ey.
aminer Harry Yaeger replied that til.
law is fairly effective 50 far as 1t goes
Under the new law passed at the last
session, which compels publicity as t.
the condition of all banks, 26 private
banks have gone out of business il
this state. He thought, however, tina.
the law should be amended so as L.
give to examiners the power to com
pei all banks to conform to desirable
conditions.
A. w. War; stated that the difficulty
in securing good banking legislation
is due to the fact that nothing is done
untll the legislature assemblies and
that he thought more effective plan
to pursue would be to have the legis.
lative committee get busy several
weeks before the session is to begin
A motion by Mr.. War; to that effeo,
prevailed.
Favors "BIue Sky" Law.
r. O. Hedrick, of Moore, briefly dis.
cussed the great losses sustained
throughout the country through buncc
stock schemes and outlined the new
Kansas blue sky" law, which places
an effective restraint on such opera.
tions. He favored the enactment oi
such a law in this state and recon.
mendation to tnat effect was made tc
the legislative committee.
"Seeing-the-Bas Trip.
The morning session was hurried
through, SO that the visitors nigh,
have an opportunity to see Lewistown
and at least Il small section of the
Judith Basin by autos. Upon the re-
turn, luncheon was taken at the
Bright, and the afternoon session war
opened with an address by A. w. War;
on "ReciprOcal Relations" This ad
dress was one of the features of the
convention, it's more serious portions
being illustrated here and there with
witty anecdote or telling story.
II. p. Reckards, of Great Falls, dir
cussed Exchange Charges" and f. Q
Hedrick, of Moore, gave good talk
on Taxation of Banks"
John P. Schmit, of this city, MADE
a most interesting address on Back
to the Farm" John modestly dis.
claimed any great knowledge of the
banking business, but demonstrated
that he is thoroughly conversant with
the farming business. AS usual, the
speaker took advantage of the Oppor.
tunity to give the Judith Basin a sui.
stantial boost.
i Questions Answered.
r. o. Kaufman, of Helena, read an.
swers to number of questions per
tanning to the banking business, after
which a general discussion was en-.
| gagged in.
Officers Chosen.
The final order of business was the
election of officers. A. w. War;, OF
this city, was chosen president; H
p. Reckards, of Great Falls, vice pres,-
dent; w. M. Buckles, of Buffalo, sec.
retary-treasurer; H. P. Lambert, OF
Roundup, and Samuel H. Hodges, Of
Martinsdale, members of the execn.
tive committee
Banquet at the Bright.
Early in the evening banquet was
rendered the visitors at the Bright
hotel. There was a large attendance.
a number of ladies being present. @.
w. Belden, of this city, acted as toast
master and performed the duties OF
that position in his usual gifted man
ner. Short addresses, appropriate to
the occasion, were made by John F.
Schmit, David Hilger, J. D. Waite.
Samuel Phillips, and Frank BOgart, OF
Helena.
Reception at the Club.
Following the banquet, a reception
was held at the Judith club and a