Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-26

Washington, ID. c., Dec. E3.-Ihe
ranks Of book publishers in the
United States have been greatly ug-
mented in the last few years by the
banks. A bank may not appear to be
a logical book publisher, but the man
ayers of such institutions have come to
the. conclusion that they can keep
themselves and their business facilities
IN the minds of the public by the pub
lication of books and SO have not let
the seeming i%ncongruity Of the prac-
tice stand in the way.
To be sure, banks do not publish
novels n books of that character,
but sometimes they do not fall much
short Of such popular publications.
For instance, the Old Colony Trust
company of Boston recently published
an interesting history of the landing of
the Pilgrims and the early settlements
of Massachusetts. 4 hundred thou
sand copies of this book were dis
tributed. The Mercantile Trust com
pany Of San Francisco is publishing
serially in its monthly magazine a
history of trade and commerce n
development of the Pacific coast from
the earliest times to the present.
Doubtless this will be issued in book
form when the serial publication is
completed, as in the east of novels
published in instalIments. To cite an
even more unusual case, the CONT
mental & Commercial bank of Chi
cago not long g published & book
of nursery rhymes, profusely Illus
trated in color.
AS a rule the books published by
| hankc ra1afo morn aSroaiaf1v 10 SJIn-
| jects allied with banking or with bust
ness activities having to do directly
or Indirectly with banking.
Many banks publish books IN the
form of manuals on federal taxation.
! Such books interpret the income tax
laws in a name 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 dif1i,
| cult task of making tax returns INC
the intended result is that the person
| receiving such assistance will ave a
| good word to say for the bank from
which he obtained the book.
Books Are Given Away
Books published by banks almost in
yariably are given away. Many banks
| give their books away broadcast;
| others are more particular and give
| them only to favored customers. In
| practically no case does Il bank make
any charge for a book, despite the
fact that the volume would cost the
| customers from 81 to IS if purchased
at a bookstore.
The First National bank of Boston
| this winter is distributing a book on
the markets of the world to lts
| favored customers which would, IN al
probab ility. bring a price Of % or p
in q bookstore.
The war was largely responsible for
| the entrance of the American banks
| into the book publishing business. lhe
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 win
a rapidly changing world: had much TO
do with this so far as the people ieit
at home were concerned. AS Tor nhe
soldiers, the activities OF sucn oonies
as the American Library associatlon,
the y. M. c. A. and other societies
which did welfare work, increased their
reading. Hundreds of thousands or
yo,,ng men who previously had not mao
time or inclination for reading, found
themselves frequentk lmmured IN
cantonments rest amps or Dlliets
where time hung heavy. The welfare
societies placed books at their disposal
and MANY turned to reading VINO never
boa road much before. Some even
learned to read in these camps. when
these men returned. a liberal proper
tiou of them retained the reading haoit
with the result that the American
neople are readers now as never
before.
n.his gives the banks an opportunity
TO present their story whenever thsS
had a story 10 present when Wouia oe
helpful to customers o. prospective
c,stomers. They capitalized the in
creased habit of reading to get people
n read about business affairs. Inc
harefit to the banks from such a poi
lev is indirect. but the banks have felt
thar the effort and expense is worth
making. Certainly the entrance OF the
banks into the book publishing busl-
ness has added substantially 70 the
libraries of the country and 10 the
information Of the citizens.
The educational factor in this pub
l~ication business is not nconsiderabie
For instance, a group OF American
hanks published q book giving accurate
digests of the German and Austrian
peace treaties as Q 0 as those historic
documents were made available. Thou
sands of citizens probably never would
have come into possession of fun re-
views Of the treaty provisions had this
book not been published. Similarly. a
group Of banks published q book en-
bodying the more important statistics
of the fourteenth census of the United
States some mouths before the govern
ment issued the statistics in. book form.
Such enterprises were expensive and
brought no direct return to the pub
fishing banks.
Seeking Good VIII
What the banks expect to get from
their enterprise is the intangible thing
called in business good WILL" Bus
mess experience has taught that this
good will is worth more than Il splen-
did bank building.
Several Of the larger banks have es-
tablished whole series of books which
gradually will be built into substan-
tial libraries. Such institutions issue
Prices also have ceased to fall and
are either stable or rising. Clearing