Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1919-02-07
PRAISES WORK OF
VIM. H. PORTER


and students.
You can have nothing in this life bet
ter than men. All great work in the
spiritual world, in the ethical and civic
relations of society, in industrial al
fairs, in the development and pro-
motion of commerce and in that
greater science, banking and finance,
which is fundamental to all human
activity, is done by men. Success
/ depends upon the character, the
ability, and the devoted work of men.
Every plan, every system depends,n
the last analysis, upon the honesty and
efficiency of men. The great industrial
enterprises, the great banking insti-
buttons, represent the devoted work of
smaller or larger group of men.
The very great growth in the re-
cources and banking power OF the
Chase National Bank is not surprising
when you consider the men who have
been connected Herewith. In 1856
Henry w. Cannon became the presl-
dent, and William H. Porter, cashier, of
the Chase National Bank. At that
time its capital was 100000, its sur
plus Sl50,000, and the amount due de-
postors was S5,0l5,764l0 In a for
mer issue we dealt with the services OF
the Chase of Mr.. Henry W. Cannon.
Now we wish to pay tribute to Mr..
William H. Porter and the very great
work he did in behalf of the Chase. At
the age of twenty-five, Mr.. Porter be-
came the active executive officer OF
this institution, destined to become one
of the great banking institutions OF the
country and even of the world.
Mr.. Porter was born in Middlebury,
Vermont, and holds degree from Mid
dlebury College. He came to New York
with a New England conscience and
with a physical constitution as rugged
as the hills that surround the place OF
his nativity, and with an ambition to
achieve as great results and as high dis
tinction as hard work, inteligently and
persistently applied, might be able to
accomplish. His first banking expert
ence was gained in the Fifth Avenue
Bank, an institution which has given
many of our prominent downtown IL
nanciers their groundwork in practical
finance. Mr. Porter had great capac-
ty for details and looked after every
transaction with painstaking care and,
what is better still and more efficaclous
in achieving power and progress, ne
looked after the men with whom he
came in contact and with whom ne
had business transactions. Hours were
no consideration with him; results were
what he strove for. He never left his
desk until the days work was salts
factorily completed. Every new ac-
quaintance he made was one added to
the already rapidly growing list OF
friends and admirers.
His twelve years of earnest, success
full labor devoted to building up the
clientele of the Chase National was one
of the most important factors i'll the
growth of that institution. A very
large number of small accounts, espsc-
tally small banking accounts, distrib-
uted throughout the country, which he
secured, gave the Bank an opportun-
ity to profit by the growing popula-
ton and growing business activities OF
the whole country, and accounts with
meager balances at their inception have
grown larger as the institutions have
grown older and become the staid and
strong financial institutions OF their
respective localities.
The statistical is sometimes the most
eloquent form OF expression, and the
force of the above sentences may be
fully appreciated by contrasting the
condition of the Bank at the time MIR.
Porter became cashier, with its condi-
ton when he retired. When Mr.. Por-
ter was made cashier the capital sur
plus and undivided profits OF the Chase
National Bank were S49S, 006.l2 the
amount due depostors was S5,Olo,I64,
10. At the time of his retirement the
capital, surplus and undivided profits
were 2,252, 1865 and the amount due
depositors was $40, 440,6 054S. The con-
tinued prosperity of the Bank is shown
by the fact that at the last report to
the Comptroller of the Currency the
capital, surplus and undivided profits
of the Chase National Bank were S25,-
522, 1886 600, and the amount due de-
positors was $500 635 S7289.
Mr.. Porter not only achieved popu-
larity with the customers OF the Chase
National, but with competitors as well.
His services were sought by various
institutions. In 1898 he went to the
Chemical National Bank for the pur-
pose of succeeding the late George G.
Williams as president. Mr.. Porter was
good Judge of men, very happy in
his representations of future business
conditions and a shrewd analyst of
business statements. In other words,
he was an excellent judge of credit.
The Chemical National Bank pros
pered under his administration and his
success there added to his already well
established reputation as a business
man and banker. His capacity to &C.
cupy a wider field and assume greater
responsibilities was recognized by the
greatest and strongest banking house
in the country and he was offered a
partnership in J. P. Morgan & Co,
which he accepted January |, 1911.
The great work which that banking
house did before the United States en-
tered the recent war, in acting as fis
cal agent and purchasing agent for