The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-09-22
Vanderlip Will Soon Have Branch Banks All Over
 the World
EVERY MAN IN BANK
 UP FROM THE RANKS
Successful Institutions Are Now Con ducted on This Principle-Co- operation Dominating Note
 at National City
By HOLLAND

By HOLLAND
 i New York, September 2t-(Special.) Within two or three years Frank A. Vanderlip as president of the National
 City bank will in all probability have es-
 tablished branch banks in all parts of
 the world, or at least in those parts
 where there are opportunities for build
 ing up American trade. From this point
 of view, the institution is national and
 not merely a large bank in New York l city. In London, several years ago. at-
 tention was called to the rapid accumu-
 lation of deposits and resources of this 1 institution and it was reported that Sir l Felix Schuster, one of the great bank l ing authorities of London-said to his
 business associates after he had returned 1 from a visit to the United States that
 in the course of three or four years the ] National City bank he was persuaded, l would take rank among the 10 greatest
 banks of the world.
 l The growth of this institution reflects | in high degree the modern American ] spirit. In the early nineties, it was a flourishing, but not very large, bank l and stood far behind one or two other | banks in New York city with respect to i deposits and resources. It's management
 
 Moses Taylor who in his day was one l of the leading banking authorities of | the United States and was often said to 1 have been the banker who was chiefly l instrumental in organizing upon broad principles the clearing house association l of New York city.
 l There came a time just before the sec- ond inauguration of Grover Cleveland as l President when it seemed advisable to l stockholders and directors that soma | changes in the methods of the bank be | established. In order to secure these l changes, James G. Stillman, a man of l wealth, all his life occupied with the cot | ton business, not protesting any pro- | found acquaintance with banking princi- 1 ples or methods, was asked if he would | take the presidency. At first he was dis | posed to decline the offer. but there was i a sentimental reason which decided him 1 in favor of the proposition. His father | had long been interested in this bank-in | it's welfare and it's administrations The senior Stillman, however, was not known | as banker, but had a nationwide repu-
 tation as cotton merchant. He was
 almost as we'll known in Texas as in New l York city, and his name was an authori- tative one in the cotton markets of Flu
 rope. It was his fathers association with this bank that influenced Mir. Still
 man to accept the presidency.
 LIQUIDATING AN OLD BANK | A few months after MT. Stillman took the presidency of the bank, there came
 an opportunity which he shrewdly per
 ceived and accepted The Third Ma l tional bank of New York had become dry
 routed, although perfectly sound. The
 stockholders, in the hope of putting new
 life into it. made choice of A. Barton Hepburn as president. MT. Hepburn had
 a few weeks earlier retired as comptroller | of the currency at Washington. The latest successes of MT. Hepburn's career
 as banker made it clear that it was
 due to no fault of his that the Third National bank could not be quickened into 1 vigorous life. Therefore he proposed to put it in liquidation. MT Stilman as president of the National City bank l grasped the opportunity opened by this
 proposed liquidation of the Third Na- | tional. He offered to liquidate the bank
 through the National City, and did so quickly and very satisfactorily Although
 it was not part of the proposition. never theless almost all of the depositors of
 the Third National opened accounts with | the National City, and the deposits of l this institution were nearly doubled by | that action. MT. Hepburn became for
 time vice president of the National City
 bank and went thence to the Chase Ma. tional where his triumphs have been | 1 York bankers
 l The business grew so that at the time | when the government was preparing to l vacate it's long occupied custom house | on Wall street, the new custom house at l the lower end of the city having been finished, MT. Stillman made proposition ] to the government to take over the old | custom house. Some thought there were 1 sentimental reasons behind this proposi- l tion. The building which was of bastard Egyptian architecture, was sometimes | thought to resemble the Bank of London. | But there were no sentimental reasons, I but purely business ones. behind this 1 transaction. How far ahead Mir. Stillman l saw when he purchased the custom house l for the city bank is now made clear by | the statement that there are nearly 1900 | employees of the bank in the building and. large as this old custom house was, nevertheless with the growth of this in- I stitution it may be necessary in a few 1 years to acquire additional property.
 ORGANIZATION AND DEFICIENCY | When the American Banking associa- l ton, some 10 years ago. met in New ] York city, MT. Stillman was asked to make speech of welcome to the bank | CTS. He reluctantly accepted the invi- 1 tation, for he is a man of few words 1 He spoke for not more than five minutes | His central thought was the modern ne- l cessity of cooperation, and that spirit ! he believed to be especially needed by | the American banks. Cooperation with 1 MT. Stillman meant also high organiza- 1 tion and great efficiency. The remark l able organization of this now truly na- l tional institution reflects Mir Stilman's l policy and counsel, so, also, does it's eff
 ciency. Organization has made it pos | sible for the institution to establish l branch banks in South America, in Gen. l tral America in Europe and speedily in l Russia, and it has already been observed l that with the establishment of these | branch institutions our international | commerce has increased. Efficiency is
 also strikingly demonstrated by the fact I that transactions each day average i'll the course of a year s40,000,0o0 and these are perfected without an error of so much as one cent.
 l MT. Stillman's policy of cooperation 1 was illustrated at the time of the San i Francisco earthquake and fire. Within a few hours after the telegraph reported this disaster. William A. Smonson, one of the vice presidents of the bank. in ac- cord with the counsels of Mir Stillman. started for San Francisco with $5,0O0,00o, which was to be made available to the, banks of San Francisco so that they could carry on their business.
 Cooperation of this kind also prevented panic in Baltimore when that city and its banking institutions were placed in great emergency on account of the fire.