The Topeka state journal., 1922-12-26
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKN, DireOesr.
washington, ID. G.
BANKS AS PUBLISHERS


of such institutions have come to the
conclusion that they can keep them
selves and their business facilities IN
the minds of the public by the pub
lication of books and so have not let
the seeming incongruity of the prac-
tice stand in the way.
l. To be sure. banks do not publish
novels and books of that character,
but sometimes tEey do not fall much
/ short of such popular publications.
For instance. the Old Colony Trust
I company of Boston recently published
an interesting history of the landing
of the Pilgrims and the early settle
l ments of Massachusetts. A hundred
| thousand copies of this book were dis
/ trfbuted. The Mercantile Trust COM
pany of San Francisco is publishing
| serially in it's monthly magazine, q
history of trade and commerce and
development of the Pacific coast from
| the earliest times to the present
/ Doubtless this will be issued in hook
! form when the serial publication is
completed. as in the case of novels
published in inStallments. To cite an
/ even more unusual case, the COntinen-
/ tai and Commercial bank of Chicago
/ not long ago published a book of nur-
| sery~ rhymes, profusely illustrated. in
color.
4 AS a rule the books published by
\ banks relate more especially to sub
jects allied with banking or with bust
ness activities having to do directly or
I indirectly with banking.
Many banks publish books in the
form of manuals on federal taxation
Such books interpret the income tax
laws in a manner which will make the
filing of returns and the paying of
taxes easier for persons not expert in
such work. These books, in the hands
of the depositOrS and customers of
the bank, assist materially in the diff
ficult task of making tax returns and
the intended result is that the per-
son receiving such assistance will
have a good word to say-fOr the bank
from which he obtained his book.
Books Are Given Away.
Books published by banks almost
invariably are given away. Many
banks give their books away broad
cast; others are more particular and
give them only to favored customers.
In practically no case does a bank
the fact that the volume would cost
the customers from 81 to $5 if pur-
chased at a bookstore.
The First National bank of Boston
this winter is distributing a book on
the markets of the world to rs IA
vored customers which would in all
probability. bring a price oN SO or
81 in a bookstore.
The war was largely responsible for
the entrance of the Am merican- banks
into the book publishing business. The
war increased the habit of reading
among the American people. The fact
that there was SO much of importance
to read, if one was to keep up with q
rapidly changing world, had much to
do with this SO far as the people left
at home were concerned As for the
soldiers, the activities of such bodies
as the American Library association,
the Y. w. c. a. and other societies
which did welfare work. increased
their reading. Hundreds of thousands
of young men who previously had not
had time or inclination for reading,
fhnr,1GalrraS
in cantonments, rest camps, or billets
where time hung heavy. The welfare
societies placed books at their disposal
ard many turned TO reading who
never had read much before. Some
even learned to read in these camps.
when these men returned. a liberal
proportion of them retained the read
ing habit with the result that the
American people are readers now as
never %before.
This gave the banks an opportunity
to present their story whenever they
had a story to present which would
be helpful to customers or prospective
Gust oIners. They capitalized the IN
creased habit of reading to get people
to read about business affairs. The
benefits to the banks from such a pol
icy is indirect, but the banks have felt
that the effort and expense is worth
sunaking. Certainly the entrance of the
banks into the book publishing bust
ness has added substantially to the Ii
braries of theTcountry and to the IN
formation of the citizens.
The educational factor in this pub
Iication business is not inconsiderable.
For instance, group OF Amerlcan
banks published a book giving ac-
curate dicests of the German and
those historic documents We're made
available. Thousands of citizens prob
ably never would have come into pos
session of full reviews of the treaty
-fs7rs Tad hnnl< hRRn
published. Similarly, a group of
banks published a book embodying
the more important statistics OF the
Fourteenth Census of the United
ernment issued tho statistics in book
form. Such enterprises were expen-
sive and brought no direct return to
the publishing banks.
seeking Good Will.
What the banks expect to get from
their enterprise is the intangible thing
called in business good will" Busi-
ness experience has taught that this
good will is worth more than splen-
did bank building.
Several of the larger banks have
established whole series of books
which gradually will be built into sub
stantial libraries. Suck institutions is
sue all their books in uniform bind |
the Bankers Trust company of Newt
York is typical. A recent volume of
the Bankers Trust series as n S60-page |
book entitled French Public Finance
in the Great War and Today This /
work traces the early beginnings Of
organized French public finance. III
has an interesting chapter on the
finances of Napoleon's wars. Tracing 1
the French debt and financial opera /
tions thru the European war. itNgives
an analysis of the existing SITUATIONS
a similar work is entitled English /
Public Finance from the Revolution
of 1858. The story OF the Bank 0f
England, as weh as many other i'm
portant chapters in British Rationaft
finance! is told iD this volume
Among other Bankers Trust books I
are Our Public Debt. which traces the
American finances, from Alexander