Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-22

separate Investments companies and
separate acceptance companies. These
have been organized by many of the
larger banks and most of them are
operating successfully. Banks are find
Ing these investment companies more
profitable at the moment than their
foreign trade adventure.
The banks are gradually coming to
the opinion, however, that they can
recover their influence with the country
districts only with organization OF
branch banks. Hence. there is a drive
at present to have the national bank
laws amended so that a city bank can
W q system of branch banks in the
surrounding cities and towns. Whether
this is in line with democracy is a
very debatable question, but the drive
is on and my guess is that such
branch banks are as inevitable as the
chain store.
All the banking systemms of Europe
are developed on the branch bank idea.
The big banks of England, France and
Germany have their branches IN hun
dreds of cities and towns. One Of the
finest branch systems In the world
exists in Canada, just over the United
States line. In Montreal there are
several big banks, and each of these
have from one hundred to three hun
dred branches in different Canadian
cities and towns. As already stated,
| doubt seriously whether the branch
bank system IS as good for the country
as the present system. On the other
hand, we know that the present tend
ency Of eliminating the small farmer
and substituting the renter in place OF
the owner is not for the good of the
on,-fr- M IornJoH.,n- - nbotr
store systems which are slowly crowd
ing out the individual retailer is not
good for the country.
Zone Christmas Henry Ford sent
me an autographed photograph on
which he wrote these words: Eliminate
absentee ownership and industrial pro-
blems will solve themselves He is cor
rect in that absentee ownership is q
great difficulty with our industrial or
ganization. As the chain store grows,
a similar difficulty will develop which
we do not now have with our indivi-
dual retail system, and as a system OF
branch banks grows, there will be that
same difficulty with our banking sys-
TEN. Yet i believe these changes are
inevitable. Branch banks will be estab-
lished throughout the country, and
congress will enact such legislation as
is needed to make this possible"
Mr.. Babson was her asked what the
effect of this would be on bank stocks
and he replied that it should be q
benefit to bank stocks. There arc
enough banks in the country districts
at the present time. Hence, the city
banks will be wise enough not to start
new ones to serve as their branches,
Instead the city banks will buy control
| of the better country banks. This will
develop q new and active market for
| country bank stocks. Small banks in
growing communities will be in special
demand. Their stocks sell on book
value without any consideration of the
value of good viii. As soon as city
/! banks bid against one another for the
country banks, the good will feature
will at once be Of value. With banks
of small capital stock, this will ut once
become a valuable asset. Banks which
have a. small capital stock and banks
| which hEve a virtual monopoly Of the
banking interests in a community, viii