The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-08-23
Frederick Haskin's Letter
BANKERS GO INTO TRADE
ecured could not be paid

0CSuA C0 NV0Au AVt JIG R0l0b
The great New York banks have
even found it necessary to estah-
lish separate merchandising do.
partments and ct least one Nev
York banking institution has what
almost amounts to a department
store, 20 many kinds of goods has
it come into possession of through
defaulted loans. 1t maintains .
staff of statesmen to sell shoes
automobiles, hairpins, steam
shovels, chemicals and a wide va.
riety Of other commodities.
A notably Wrious example NJ
this bank merchandising took place
in New York when the depression
was at its worst. One of the larger
manufacturers of sweet chocola.e
was forced by the business situa.
ton into a position where it could
not mes promptly note for
someN$2,000,000 which was secured
by the product of the plant. When
the loan was made, the bank mere.
ly named he product as a matter
of form. zhe resr&. was that when
the manufacturing company could
not pay, this bank found itself IN
the possession of what to anv
American small boy would seem
the greatest treasure of which the
human mind could dream-$2. 600.
coo worth of savory and succulent
sweet chocolate, all done up in tin
foil packages Of 5 and 10 cent
sizes.
Unloading CanG5.
In the slang of trade, the bark
was stuck If ever bank was. What
a bank could do with $2,OOO,OoO
worth of sweet chocolate was to
much for the staff q competent
financiers at the head of the insti.
tuition. First they turned to the
usual channels Of trade. the Job
bers and wholesalers. There was
no market; the stores were not buy.
ing chocolate They were stocked
up.
Finally, in despair, some brilliant
executive of the bank conceived an
idea. He thought of the army Of
the unemployed concerning which
there had been much publicity. He
realized that while it would be
hard to sell anyone 100000 worth
of chocolate, he might sell 5 or 10
cents worth at a time. He ar
ranged with employment agencies
and through want ads for workers.
Within a short time, literally thou
sands of people, out of work be-
cause of the depression, and eager
to do something, were standing on
the street corners of New York
Offering sweet chocolate for sale at
cut rates. The bank took on any
body that would turn up. The me-
, tropolis was thronged with sales
men waving punches of the tooth
some sweet at the passing crowds.
One could not walk down the
streets without being offered sweet
chocolates little or as much as
might be wanted.
1t took only a few weeks. The
public was accustomed to buying
an occasional bar of chocolate al
a newsstand or at a candy store.
In such normal times the desire
on the part of the customer created
the sale. Here things were re-
versed. The chocolate came to the
customer. 1t met him in the sub
way, on the elevated, in theatre lob
bies, on every street corner, in
/ short 1t was next to impossible to
! walk a block without being offered
chocolate at bargain. 1t was in
evitable that the psychology of the
situation succeeded in selling ire
sweetmeat. New York surrendered
Its millions of people bought the
chocolate in and 10 cent lots. The
, bank got out with little if any
loss and employment had been
given for a brief period to many
, people,
! Instances could be multiplied. A
great Chicago bank became an e1-
porter OF IOOu pGOIuCtS, 50 Husn
! of this sort of security came ihto
its possession. 1t sent great ship
loads of goods abroad. Other banks
became auctioneers.
Those times are passed. The
government figures show that
liquidation--the paying up Of loans
lis practically complete and the
banks are in perhaps a stronger
position than ever before in thelr
j history. But thousands Of bank
ers have learned that banking Is
not always a mahogany desk ana
marble counter job. Some bankers
get into the fur business whether
they want to or not