The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1923-03-15

Last week we had a column or two
about banks and the relation oil
banks to the people of the commun-
ity; also the influence and relation
of the people to the bank or banks
of their community, and after it was
read and studied by our bankers and
bank stockholders, it was suggested
to us that there was one thing left
out of it that is source of pride to
banks in this county, and we explain,
We said that in our Judgment
there we're three things that stood
out most important in banks, and we
named them. The other item is by
the bankers considered so important
that four matters should have been
mentioned as of chief Importance,
and here they are, the first three
being named last week, and the
fourth one suggested to us after
publication:
The amount of capital and surplus
belonging to and kept sustaining the
institution; the wealth and loyalty
of it's depOsitors; the character and
horse sense of the people of the
community; the character and finan-
cial strength of its stockholders.
Men do not usually put all they
have into bank stock. They usually
have other property and some of
them have fortunes independent of
the investment in the bank or banks
When the principal stockholders in
a bank are so situated, it adds much
to the strength of the bank, since
they would, in case of emergency,
back the bank to the limit of their
ability. Men of good character and
ambition to make everything succeed
that they are connected with, will go
to limits that men without character
and ambition would not do.
1t is said of a fire insurance COM
pany that went broke in the San
Francisco quake, that when they had
paid out all they had in the company
treasury and all their personal for
tunes paying up fire losses, they
borrowed on their characters as men,
and reorganized to make money to
pay off more claims. Such men as
that may be down, but they are
never out They die unconquered,
and that is the kind of men who
make successes in any line and are
needed in banks. 1t is the spirit
that prompts men to do their best up
to the last minute of life 1t is ex-
emplified in the case of the Iowa
bank when there was a run on it and
people standing in line in front of
the bank and some distance down the
street, waiting to get in to withdraw
their money. 1t began to rain, and
looked as if it might continue. An
officer of the bank hurried out and
bought an armload of umbrellas and
supplied everybody in the line, say
ing, "Our bank protects it's custom
ers." Such thoughtfulness and such
craftsmanship command respect and
confidence, and it is needless to say,
the people in the line thanked him
for the umbrellas and thcn began
to do some thinking and one by one
left their places and went away and !
the run on the bank was broken 4
That move on their part removed the |
only danger confronting the bank, |
and removed an impending danger |
and loss to the community and the |
schools.
We want to emphasize the fourth |
point, the one we omitted last week,
that the stability of bank depends
partly on the wealth and character of
the officers and directors and the
From legal stand
point, stockholders in a national
bank are held liable for double the
amount Of their capital stock, but