Milford chronicle., 1931-04-03
STATE BANKERS
HOLD MEETING
IN WILMINGTON
rConfinned from Fra Pa0rl

to the same COHultlOHS dS illlCll lCSo
fortunate neishbOrs. They were adj
ministered by men who had no di-
vine protection from the fallibilities
of human judgment.
"Howcver. there must have been
something in the attitudes of these
men and in the policies of their
banks which especially fortified
them against the common difficulties
that beset banking. The clear-cut
effort Of bankers. therefore should
unduestionably be to carry over
from those banks whose earnings
Oshow them to be sound and prosper
Gus the principles and policies hy
which they have achieved those re-
suits into the operation of all banks
whose records are not what they
should he. There is no doubt If in
all banks in 1890 there had prevailed
the average standards of manage
mcnt that characterized the opera
tions of American banking as a
whole during that difficult period
the failure figures would have pre-
scntcd very different picture.
Good Management
THE job of getting good bank
management into all banks is the
Jobs of organized banking. 1t is a
community problem. Our RESPONSE
bilities to ourselves and to the pub
lie demand that we march in solid
ranks against the difficulties this job
presents and we are proud to say
that the promotion of good bank
management is great task to
which the American Bankers AssO
citation has premeditatedly set itself.
"It has done good work already in
this field, but much remains to be
done, and the Association is going
to do it, Every one of its manifold
activities cOnvergcs upon this. cen
tral idea of good bank management.
No class of American business has
developed the applications Of Scien-
tifiC study to its own problems of
operation and management more
than has American banking through
the American Bankers Association.
"The fact that this is possible is
pre-eminently attributable to the
spirit of cooperation that exists
among our bankers. From one end
of the country to the other bankers
are continually bringing to the work
of the Association contributions of
their experience and skill for the
common good. A fine disregard of
self-interest with unhestating frank
ness about their own particular ac-
IL, 80, In
which American bankers are giving
without reserve or self-seeking
wealth of the material to the AssO-
ciatiOn's research laboratories from
which il can develop beneficial
methods and suggestions to be pass
cd along for the betterment of al
banking and the common welfare OF
all banking" ..
Delaware. located in the Third
Federal Reserve District, was a por-
.tion Of this group that had 1he. Least
inumher of bank failures last year of
sany district in the federal system IN
the United States, according TO
George w. Norris. Governor Of the
Federal Bank of Philadelphia, in his
uUui zoo UClUtG IIlC UdHhCt0.
AR. Norris opened his address by
calling attention to the fact that in
dhe calendar year 1880, 1,345 banks
suspended and 147 re-opened, leav-
ing a net failure of LBS banks in
the entire United States. He added
that the Third Federal Reserve Dis
trict, embracing the State Of Della
Warn mara fboO I,o1f IF NTO,, IOrcov
and about threc-quarters Of Penn
sylvania, with only ten failures, had
the distinction of having the lowest
number of failures of any OnciOf the
IL Federal Reserve Districts into
which the country is divided, there
having been II failures in the New
York District, - in the Boston Dis
trict, running up to 35S in the ST.
Louis District.
or the 10 failures in this district, .
there were two out of the 752 banks
that were members of the Federal I
Reserve System, and eight out of the I.
442 nOn-mCmbCr banks. He then |
went on to say that if this enviable |!
record was to be maintained |
through a period of high taxes and |
low interest rates, there were GER
tain things to which all bank off
GERS must give close attention. In .
the first place, they must avoid pay
ing high rates of interest on depos-
its.
!. This item represents As per cent
OF the total operating expenses of
banks, and was therefore the point
where the greatest savings were
possible. He added that high rates
paid to depOSitOrs neccssitatcd the
eXaction of still higher rates of in
IereSt on loans to borrowers, and
was also a constant temptation to
invest any surplus funds i'll bonds
bearing high rates of interest, which
necessarily had less security and
were more liable to depreciation
han higher grade bonds which paid
lower rate of interest.
Urged Service Charge
Ills second recommendation was
hat service charge be required on
profitable accounts. A small account
Upon which many checks were
irawn, and where occasionally there
would be an Overdraft, represented
IN actual loss to the bank carrying
bt account. A bank was better off
With profitable accounts than with
800 accounts, 500 of which were
Improbable. In almost any bank, an
lnalysis of the accounts would re-
cal the fact that a very consider
lblc proportion of them were unpro-
ifrI,fo