The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-10
LABOR BANKS GET Q. K. FROM WALL STREET LEADER
Remarkable Progress Is Made By New Institu-
 tiOns In Three Years

NEW YORK, Aug. 9.-The millen- nium is close at hanf-the lion has stretched itself amicably beside the lamb. Capital has extended a welcom- ing hand to labor and has not been re. buffed. Contrary to popular concep- tion, the gesture of friendship has been accepted in like spirit.
 It took Charles B. Mitchell to break the illusion of antipathy between what Mayor Hylan jocularly terms the in trests" and the common ''peepul." Per haps Mir. Mitchell's ability to do things despite traditions is one of the factors which made him the president of our largest financial institution the National City bank, representing, to the radical clements, all that is most cordially hated. At any rate, the head of that bank, billion-dollar stronghold of capitalistic Wall street, has made a very signal move toward allaying the old feeling of antagonism.
 Through an article in the Labor Banker, official organ of the Brother hood of Locomotive Engineers, he extends his felicitations to the unions, commenting their activities in estab- fishing labor banks. He sees in the inception of these institutions not com petition but a decided help to social progress. He forsees the stimulation of thrift and savings among the labor unionists, and labor tendency toward a larger part in all kinds of business on an ownership basis. From a if nancial viewpoint he expects more cap ital for industry and more industry and employment for labor, a concep- tion which if materialized will do much toward the elimination of the many unsatisfactory conditions of the day.
 Surprising Progress
 This latter expectation is well under way. The surprising progress made by the labor banks connotes a still more amazing growth in the future. They are fast becoming a power with which finance must reckon. That their pO- tency is recognized is amply illustrated by the fact that the National City bank and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Cooperative Trust company of New York, headed by that intrepid leader, Warren S. Stone, have already co-operated in the distribution of se- curities, signifying, at least, the recog- milton of the lesser bank.
 Exact statistics are not available. Labor banks, like mushrooms, seem to spring up over night, bringing a com plete revisal of totals. A brief resume of the movement, in which the Brother hood of Locomotive Engineers played a conspicuous paM, is enlightening.
 For over 20 years the finances and policies of the Brotherhood of Locomo- tive Engineers have been guided by its grand chief, Warren s. Stone, with headquarters at Cleveland, and with such success that many millions of dol lars have been added to the treasury through wise investments and under takings. It was natural that MT. Stone, farmer boy, fireman and engi- neer, but evidently born with a talent for banking, should conclude to use the organizations credit for the benefit of his own people. In the matter of banks he had always thought that the depositor and not the stockholder was the greatest factor for consideration and that it was manifestly unfair to build on the depositors' creative powers for the exclusive gain of the owners i; in other words, he voiced for the first time the idea that the mutual or CO., operative plan of procedure could be demonstrated by a ''stock owned" bank.
 First Bank In Cleveland
 AccOEuluSIy ne organized the IlrSt of the banks now existing under the Lo- comotive Engineers ownership. This was at Cleveland in 1920, when a na- tional bank charter was obtained and that institution was formed as a model for others, some of which have, how ever, adopted trust company charters for the express purpose of establish ing branches in their respective com munities as has been done in New York city.
 In four years time the banks have proven themselves no Utopian dream, the actual profits distributed to their savings depositors bringing a net re- turn on their accounts of per cent for the year ended December 31, 1923, after payment of dividends to stock holders and after placing what the law requires in the surplus account" The total assets of the Cleveland bank are now in excess of $30,OO0,0OO, mute testimony to it's success.
 The whole move has prospered. There are on file nearly a hundred ap- plications from labor groups in about