Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-30
BRANCH BANKING
VIEWS ARE AIRED
LensdaIe, Pole and Young
Among Speakers at Com
merCe Session.

Outstanding American bankers, Fed
eral officials of higher responsibilities
in bank regulation and bank experts
all joined yesterday afternoon in the
round-table discussion of national
trends in banking before delegates to
the annual meeting of the United
States Chamber of Commerce. They
proved substantially unanimous in
sharing the opinion that modern con-
ditionS are steadily pushing the multi
tude of independent unit banks now
serving the country into grand scale
combinations, by grouping in semi-in-
dependence under common manage
rnent, or by straight-out adherence to
great city banks as branches.
John G. LonSdale, president OF the
American Bankers Association and
chairman, said the meeting sought no
conclusions and asked no resolutions,
but did seek exchange of views. John
w. Pole, controller of the currency, said
that today the American banking sys-
tenn is under query" and suggested
that bank merger movements had
gained such momentum that reshaping
of Federal law might he necessitated
and certainly should be considered.
Pleads for Unit Banks.
Max B. Hahn, director of the Fed
eral Reserve Bank of st. Louis and
officer of a Bowling Green, KY, insti-
tuition, though stating the opinion that
restricted branch banking is on its
way in this country" pleaded for re-
tention of the unit banking system to
the greatest degree possible, because of
its traditional suitability to the char
acter of the country and the aids it
had given to development. Bank fail
ures in recent years, he declared, af-
fected only small-siZed and badly To-
Gated institutions. He opposed any I'M
necessary surrender to the concentra-
ton trend, on the ground that it would
replace in smaller cities "resourceful,
individual, bank presidents, with man
aging clerks
G. F. Jaffrey, who, in addition to be-
ing president of the Minneapolis, St
Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, is
prominent in the affairs of banking or
CARNATIONS which have grouped 200
local Northwestern banks under COM
mon management, declared himself
completely in favor of branch banking
and of the opinion that the group sys-
TEN was the best thing that had come
to the Northwest" after the failures OF
local banks during the last decade. Two
head OF the Wachovie Bank & Trust
Co., at Winston-Salem N. c., and Mills
B. Lane of the Citizens & Southern
Bank of Atlanta, told of experience with
branch operation and predicted both
success and advance for the system.
Views of Gov. Young.
Though personally sympathetic to-
ward the plight of the unit banker. Roy
A. Young, governor of the Federal Re-
serve Bank, declared himself OF the
opinion that the great development OF
group and chain institutions in recent
years had been an inevitable outgrowth
of changing conditions. AS matter OF
legislative action, he suggested that the
enactment of legislation permitting the
establishment of branches by national
banks was perhaps sounder move than
would be the leaving of the new posi-
bilities to organization of groups. In the
end the chief purpose of Federal law
he said, should be to maintain the
strength of the Federal Reserve sys-
tenn, which should be weakened by the
withdrawal of great banks from it, be-
cause in 1t their powers of expansion
, might be limited by present legislation
Prof. o. M. w. Sprague of Harvard
banking expert, suggested that in case
of new legislation to facilitate branch
banking limits should be placed upor
the extension of such institutions. They
should neither be allowed to extend al
over the Nation from single centra
office, he said, nor allowed to create
more branches within a territory thar
population could be deemed to require