The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-26
SALARY TAKES
 PLACE OF BONUSES
By HOLLAND

 salaries bonuses would be given to the employees the amount of which being equivalent to 25 per cent of the sal aries. The bank which did not delight it's employees by announcing that d
 bonus would be paid to them in this holiday season is the largest in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It has been able to re- port to the comptrollers of the treas
 ury that it is now past the billion dol lar mark in its aggregate resources The years are not many when a report trade by this bank to the comptroller was spoken of as a marvel because it showed the resources somewhat in &C., cess of $10O, GOO. It is only a lit tie more than quarter of 8 century ago when its aggregate deposits were slightly in excess of s10,000,000, This bank has set examples which so many other American banks have followed in securing a highly developed organiza7 ton and in taking proper advantage of opportunities for increasing busi- ness which heretofore had been neg lected by the banks of new York and other cities.
 It is the National City bank. AL though this bank abandoned the meth cd which was adopted two years ago of giving 25 per cent of the amount of the salaries as bonus to the em- ployes it did something which is prob ably even more gratifying to it's em- ployes than a gift of a bonus equal to 25 per cent of the salary. For it de- cided, instead of gift of this kind, to increase each salary by as much as 25 per cent The difference between this new method and the old should be ob vious
 A bonus is gratuity. It may or
 may not be granted every year. An l increase of salary is permanent and the clerk who was receiving $4000 this the understanding that if he merits further increase he will be sure to get it.
 The bonuses which have been given to the employees of the financial insti- tutions, are not exclusive gifts of money to employees of banks. Almost all the large industries made Christ mas presents of gifts of money to their employees. These kindly offerings seem to have been the rule and not the ex- ception.
 | w nlle IL mas D6SH CuSlOmdIy IOl some years to make gifts in the form 1 of bonuses to employees in the financial | districts it was not until two years ago that these gifts were of such large amount as to stimulate the imagina- l tion. They were made ayowdedly tt meet the high cost of living. The Ma | tional City bank in 1917 began to re- ward their faithful employees by giving 1 to each of them bonus equivalent l to 25 per cent of the salary. At the 1 end of the year 1913 like bonus was given. The directors of the bank, how ever, were of the opinion that 1t would l be of the better part this year to in- ] crease the salaries permanently in. l stead of giving a bonus.
 | Of course, from one point of view the 1 clerks are not quite as well off for the income tax collector will levy an addi- 1 tional tax, which will cover the 25 per ! cent increase in salary, whereas bonus, being a gift, is not liable to l taxation
 SEVENTY-F FIVE BRANCH BANKS Very likely this change in the city 1 banks method of remunerating its em- 1 p1cyes reflects in some measure the re- n,arkable expansion of this bank. .Tt has now 75 branches, As 2 whole they cover practically the entire commer- cial world. These branches. together with the parent bank, are certain tc l be occupied with the work of stabiliz- | ing foreign exchange. This, however | is only one feature among the many l associated with the world encompassins | activities of the bank. It was the first l American banking institution to enter l the foreign field.
 DRAIN UPON THE RESOURCES I Tn order to secure competent man. agement for the various branch banks 4 it has been necessary to draw upor | the highly competent employees of tht | bank. They have been trained especial | ly for this world work. No one ii sent out to branch banks unless ht has mastered the language of the coun-
 try in which the branch bank is situ. ated. Spanish and Portuguese are tht | languages which are chiefly 1earnef because in South America the Spanisi i speaking nations, and Brazil, where
 l the Portuguese speech is used, some ol T the largest and most important of thu l Branch banks are situated. Thes,
 banks will, when normal times return I stimulate and facilitate our interna
 I tional trade relations. The bank main | tains a school of instruction in its of
 fees where Spanish and Portuguese
 are taught,
 Of course the drain upon the home
 ] office for competent men to serve il
 the branch banks makes it necessary I to replenish the home bank service ! There is one fundimental principa
 insisted upon as one of the qualified
 tions for entering the service of thii
 bank and that is that the applicant fc'
 place must be a native born Ameri
 can and his Americanism must be 10'
 per cent The building up of th'
 branch banks and the placing in thu
 home service of competent young mer
 to fill the places which were mad
 ! vacant when other employees were sen
 to branch banks of course has made i
 impossible to accomplish the highl,
 perfected organization which th' banks directors have in mind. Thi
 consideration, together with the ab
 normal financial conditions which now
 prevail have retarded the contemplatet
 organization which, when completed
 will probably serve to maintain in tn :, United States with New York as cen
 ter, our prestige as an internationa
 money center and when this is accom-
 plished there will be established her
 one of the most, if not absolutely tn most, influential credit markets in tn world.