The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-11
BIRMINGHAM MAN IS PLACED ON BANKING
 BOARD OF ALABAMA
w. H. Manly and Birmingham Trust Active in Securing States Present Banking Laws

The announcement comes from Mont
 gonery that Governor Kilby has ap- pointed as a member of the state bank ing board W. H. Manly, cashier of the Birmingham Trust and Savings com pany. The board is made up of the state superintendent of banks and two practical bankers and it's principal duty is to investigate the condition of banks when they get into trouble of any sort and to decide whether the condition warrants a receivership, and to exer- else supervision of the banks affairs
 until it is either restored to solvency or liquidated.
 This Is regarded as one of the most
 important functions Of the state bank
 ing department, and membership of the
 board is appreciated among the fra
 ternity as one of the highest honors
 that can come to an Alabama banker.
 Aside from his high position in
 the banking world ana his well earned personal reputation as practical bank
 er.' said E. w. Finch, assistant cash fer of the Birmingham Trust yesterday, ; "Mr. Manly has done much to recom-
 mend him to his fellow bankers of the state. As chairman of the legislative committee of the Alabama Bankers as- SoCldllol anu ldler as pfeSluSul, ne WdS unremitting in his active. efforts to pro mote the profession of banking in every way, and is entitled to very much of 1 tho credit for the high standard to which banking in Alabama has been raised
 'The appointment of the cashier of | the Birmin gEam Trust and Savings company as a member of the banking board recalls the active and, in fact, Iaa po art Ia hxyt ic inc fnt in
 the successive legislative steps by
 which banking in Alabama has been ! raised to an organized and regulated profession, with all the safeguards and | aids that governmental supervision can | bestow
 "As late as 1903 there was not the l scratch of pen in the code so much | as pretending to protect depositors in the state banks and there were many | scandals. A number of the leading l state banks at the session of the legis- | lature of 1903-4, after most success l full fight against active and relentless
 opposition by many banks to any regu- 1 lation at all, succeeded in forcing
 through little bill that did little more
 than recognize the principle that banks | are trustees in their relation to deposit tors, and as such should be regulated as | are all other trustees.
 l "The Birmingham Trust and Savings 1 company lent both Its then secretary | and it's present vice president for weeks | to the effort required for this breaking of the ice.
 | Under the next administration, that
 of Governor Comer the bank shouldered
 the responsibility of framing a code
 regulating trust companies and of get | ting it passed, with the aid of the leg 1 islative committee of the bankers as I sociation, of which Chapel Cory. then secretary of the banks trust depart
 ment, was chairman.
 "The same committee and the same lobby also got through the code known
 as the uniform negotiable instruments l bill,' the Birmingham Trust and Say [ ings company contributing its full share , of the expense and all its secretary s l time to the general cause.
 During the administration of Gov
 ernor O'Neal, MT. Manly. then cashier | of the Birmingham Trust and Savings 1 company, and chairman of the legisla- , tive committee, gave his time flor one 1 session to framing and getting passed | the present law, which, with the amend 1 ments made in 1915, constitutes one of the best banking codes in the union. Ut may be truly said that but for 1 the Birmingham Trust and Savings /. company's active leadership, begun ear ly by Col. T. O. Smith. vice president. and carried forward by MT. Manley as | cashier Alabama would still be, not | without a banking system, indeed, but, ] still in the birth throes of one really worthy while"