Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-11-20
j. 8. BANKERS IN
ANARROW RUT,
SAYSFORbES~
Business Expert Declares Europe
an Financiers Have Much Wider
Training Than Americans,
By B. G. FORBES.

most prominent pdnheTs eoio INC Jee-
terdsy.
He added: European bankers know
oil about Indian affairs, all about
Australia, all about what is going
o, in Africa, all about developments
n / attn America, all about conditions
d., Canada, all about the Orient, and
some things about the United States
that we ourselves don't know"
How do you account for this?" |
asked.
Because of their excellent system
Of branch banks" he Immediately re-
olled. These branches provide the
means Of educating young bankers in
IN. affairs of different countries. A
youna man may serve in one place
for year or two, then he may be
shifted to another branch, moved to
: third later. and so on, until finally,
when he has received thorough d.
yersifed, on-the- spot, practical edu-
cation, he is called back to London,
or t may be Berlin or Paris.
"A banker thus trained has a
breadth Of vision, breadth Of un-
Outstanding that we American bank
ers never can acquire. The foreign
banker learns not to be insular, not
TO be narrow, not to glue his eyes on
his own little desk, and think only
and solely of the papers that are
placed on it.
"An that we American bankers
bother about is whether customer
will pay off his loan when it falls
due, whether his paper is safe,
whether his credit is good. We are
not taught to look or think beyond
our own narrow rut; We are IN con
trast with your European banker,
vvofulIy provinclsIc In fact, we are
simply ignorant"
Curiously enough, il was only a
week or so ago that another leading
New York banker, Mr.. A. Barton
Hepburn, remarked to me that he
ound certain French bank could
Awe him more information about
American companies than he could
obtain at home! When the head Of
The French bank first told him Of
heir wonderful system of gathering
and tabuIatng information, Mr.. Hep
ourn was a trife sceptical, but" he
added, 81 have since learned that what
ne said was absolutely the truth"
My own experience has been that
rot more than half a dozen New York
national or State bankers are men
- of nj
ing in the large, men of cosmopolitan
knowledge, men versed in the swing
Of the worlds pendulum. May | add
without giving offense that have
found bankers from Chicago and sew
ersl other cities, as we'll as not few
rural bankers, more alive to the ne
eessty of looking beyond their own
desks?"
Your average New York banker is
afraid to call his soul his own. He
sits in awe of "the interests" He
keeps one eye on his desk and the
other on his directors or on the
clique that controls his institution
Let newspaper representative ask
nun for an expression of his opinion
on some important subject germane
to the bankers business and he will
stare in amazement. "Oh! no. |
MUST NOT taIk-for quotation" he
will reply. The poor fellow is not al
lowed to have opinions.
The most timid and scare headed
Of all our metropolitan bankers are
those under the heel Of j. p. Morgan
& Co. There are one or two notable
exceptions to this rule, but in all the
other cases the so called "heads" OF
Morgan owned trust companies and
banks act like frightened schoolboys
VINO live in constant dread of incur
ring the ire Of the schoolmaster.
could relate incidents on this score
that would maks the public laugh
and the gods weep. Some of these
fgureheads would be better off as ar
tisans or farm laborers, for then they
could retain their self respect and
preserve their manhood.
Perhaps may be more specific
oy-and by.
Meanwhile let me relate an eHpe
rienee typical of the narrowness OF
View York bankers in comparison with
their brethren throughout the coun-
ny | have sent requests to all the
principal banks and trust companies,
as we'll as to insurance companies,
steamship companies and express
companies, for information that would
Enable the Hearst newspapers to COM
pile Americas international balance
sheet The response from Chicago,
5oston, San Francisco, Philadelphia
md other important cities has been
prompt and cordial. Nothing but
"1ole-hearted approval Of Hearst
7ewspapers' purpose has been eH-
)ressed.
But what, don you think, has been
he result in New York; Not as
many replies have been received from
he whole of New York's financial IN
'ututions as have come TO hand IN
me mail from out Of town!
The childish attitude OF many New
York bankers is that their business
S their business and il is, none OF
anybody else's business what their |
business is. Despite all that has oe- !
CURED in recent years, many New |
York bankers are still blind pnheads' /
still ignorant Of their respons bllties, /
'tll lnsensible to the need Of getting |
nto step with the worlds progress
When one of the leaders OF the |
New York bankers eonfesses that ne
ashamed OF his own ignorance ev-
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