The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-09-11

business man expects Of his bank.
I. I. Sporting, Cleveland 90 Trust
Company vice president, presided.
The answer" said Mr.. Powell,
referring TO the bankers question
as TO what newspaper men want
TO know about banking, may be
stated in one word-everything."
Blaming "grewsome mistakes" by
newspaper men on banking stories
as well as fragrant errors" on the
part of bankers, Mr.. Powell de-
clared that banking at present was
suffering from poor press notices.
This, he felt, was foolish and re-
grettable since, while the two might
appear far apart, actually, no two
enterprises are more mutually inter-
dependent.
In a broad sense, the continu-
snce and progress Of American
civilization rests with the two of us.
The average mans only contact
with the great economic forces out
side his own personal experience is
through his bank.
His only liaison with the whole
sweep of human affairs is through
his newspaper. One of us has stew
ardship over what goes into his
purse; the other over what goes into
his mind. Both are sober RESPONSE
bilities.
But, we are dependent on each
other in a much narrower sense, y
Mr.. Powell continued. Banking,
because it is the core Of our eco
nomic life, has great power to dam
age a newspaper. The newspaper,
because it is the prime element in
contemporary thought, has equally
great power to cripple banking.
Thus, there is an extremely prac-
tical reason why our two professions
should arrive at complete under
standing"
Mr.. Powell placed a considerable
portion of the blame for banking's
poor press" on the bankers atti-
tude toward reporters in the past,
making pointed references to spe-
cific treatment given reporters seek
ing stories from bank officers.
The Indianapolis editor empha-
sized to the bankers that they made
a mistake in bringing their news
stories to editors and suggested that
they cultivate reporters as well.
He warned, too, against attempts
to use Whao he called 1.-The lineage
club" of advertising in attempts to
influence or suppress news. These,
he said, could not succeed with
newspapers worth using as adver-
Using media.
Still another problem which, 1
believe, needs solution by the
banker" Mr. Powell said at another
point, lis the matter of adequate
and understandable statements.
In all bank failures which I
have observed at close range, the
statements before the collapse
showed the institution to be in
sound condition.
Nov any reporter, or depositor
for that matter, easily can figure
the value of assets listed as cash
government securities or owing
from other banks He can discover
nothing of any real Importance
from such listings as loans on COL
lateral, loans on real estate and
other securities
In this connection, Mr.. Powell
told of banks which, to his knowl-
edge, had overvalued their real
estate by hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
He urged that bankers acknowl-
edge the necessity of being fully
frank with newspapers at all times
in the conduct of their business.
In conclusion, after repeating his
plea for closer cooperation between
banking and journalism, Mr.. Powell
said he believed newspaper men had
a right to expect that bankers would
be men of broad social vision, work.
ing for the welfare of their COM
munities.