Evening star., 1922-09-03

chairman of Corn Exchange Bank,
was the father of the branch bank
Ing idea now 80 common in New
York. He originated the idea him
self. In 1893. sixteen years after
Mr.. Nash became president Of the
bank, the Corn Exchange began to
expand. 1t purchased two banks, the
Astor Place and tho Hudson River,
merged them with its own organixa-
tion and opened them as branches.
that time, but Nash saw 1t as q con-
servative one, says tho Wall Street
Journal.
I'VE proved it as we went along"
admit ! thought 1t out in my own
head. but we bought slowly. We
averaged not more than two or
three banks a year. The first test
Of branch banking came in 1907 and
We weathered 1t. Today we have
fifty-three branches with this build
ing as the parent bank"
Nash was the originator Of q form
Of bank statement which has done
much to bring within the UNDER
standing Of the general public just
what the bank owes depositors and
how 1t is prepared to pay that
Each item Of the statement 10 put
in the simplest terms. SO that any
adult can understand It. This form
of statement has been used as a
model by banks all over the country.
The better everybody understands
a bank, the better its chances for
success" said Nash. 1t was upon
this principle that the bank of which
he was head grew from deposits Of
$2,000,000 into an organization with
well over 5000, ,o00, 900 deposits, ffty-
three branches and over 100000 de-
positors.
During the manic Of 1se3 Mr..
Nash's real ability was shown. He
was appointed a member Of loan
committee of the clearing house, and
with four other bankers 1t was his
duty to pass upon s,,s the value and and
were offered as collateral for clear
ing-house certificates.
Nash's work as member Of loan
committee OF the clearing house
made him one of tho controlling in
q member Of the clearing house un-
til his death.
Gain In Cotton Value
The National City Bank Of Chi
cago says:
"The nation will gain an immense
amount of new wealth from the har-
vest now under way. On the basis
of the governments official August
figures tho most important crops this
valuation of more than $7,134. .654. 600,
as compared with an aggregate
valuation represented by the same
crops last year Of $5.935.sS1, 900. The
indications are that this apparent
gain Of more than $1.2oo.ooo.ooo in
terially increased when the final ig
ures are available and the countrys
harvest has been completed.
This represents real wealth and
brings to the great agricultural
states ,,anss a @ heavily y, incrsased ,',s buying
The most astonishing gain in crop
values has been the apparent in
crease in the value OF the cotton
crop from $3s2.000.00o in the closing
days of August, 1891, to $1.17s.s00.-
900 on the basis Of last months
valuation.
1T is fortunate for the country
that the crop situation has improved
so much within q year. because there
In likely to be an enormous foreign
demand for whatever production we
have to spare. This largely increased
prosperity OF the farming classes
will be of direct benefit in enlarging
the country's purchasing power
Europe is the darkest cloud on
the horizon. The difficulty of reach
ing a satisfactory agreement in the
German reparations dispute has been
an unsettling factor in the foreign
exchange market.
Great Britain has made remark
able progress in many directions and
1t Is evident that she is fast regain
ing her place in foreign trade. but
tho weakness of some Of the smaller
states. as we'll as the very serious
complications growing out of the
badly demoralized currency systems
have developed complicated prob
lens which may take some time to
solve"