Year: 1864

eUCCo.


OFFICERS


Pay your officers such salaries as will
enable them to life comfortably and re-
specially Misunderstanding; and require
of them their entire. ses~'"es. II an Off
Ger lives beyond his income, dismiss him;
even if his excess of expenditures can be
explained consistently with bic lily
Extravagance, if not a crime, very
naturally leads to crime. A man can
not be safe officer of a bank who spends
more than he earns H##


CAPITAL


The capital of bank should be a re-
atty, not a fiction; and it should be
owned by those who ha re money to lend,
and not by borrowers Tbs Comptroller
will endeavor, by all mans within his
control, to prevent tie creation of a
nominal capital by National Banks, By
the useof their circulation, or any other
artificial means; and in his efforts 10
do this, he confidently expects the CO..
operation of weIl-managed banks.


GENERAL MANAGEMENT


Every banker under the national sys
TEN should feel that the reputation of
the system, in measure, depends upon
the manner in which his particular in
stitution is conducted, and that, as far
as his influence and management ex-
tend, he is responsible for lis success
that he is engaged in an experiment
which, if successful, will reflect the high
est honor upon all who are connected
with it, and be of incalcuable benefit to
the country but which if unsuccessful,
will be a reproach to its advocates and a
calamity to the people. 1t should be a
chief aim, therefore, of the managers of
the banks to make their respective insti-
tutions strong not only to keep their
capital from being impaired, but gradu-
ally to create surplus that will be a
protection to their capital and to their
creditors in the trying timessthat sooner
or later hapens to all banking institu-
tons. There are few items that have q
better look upon the balance sheet, and
none that is better calculated to give aid
and comfort to the manager Of a. bank,
and to secure for it the confidence of the
people, than azlarge surplus fund
Create, then, a good surplus, even il
you have for time to keep your stock
holders on short commons in the way oi
dividends to doit.


Pursue straightforward, upright, le
gitimate banking business. Never be
tempted by the prospect of large returns
to do anything but what may be prop,
IL L.. Al Nat;or.1 Hrr,ox n =
Act. "Splendid fnanciering is moi
legitimate banking, and splendid inan.
ciers in banking are generally either
hnmbugs or rascals.


Recollect, especially at the present
time, that it should be the object Of al
honorable bankers to expedite, as far as
possible, rather than postpone a re-
turn to specie payments. While the ex
igencies of the nation have required
that the issues of the Government should
be legal tender, it must never be for
cotton that the business of the country
rests upon an unsound basis, or rather
is without a proper basis as long as the
Government and the banks are not meet
ing their obligations in coin.


The eyes of the people are turned to
the National Banks. The indications
are strong that if they are well managed
they viii furnish the country with its
bank-note circulation, 1t is of the las
importance, then, that they should be 81
managed.
| The sincere efforts Of the Comptroller
will not be wanting to make the system
benefit to the country. May he no
expect that these efforts on his part will
be sustained by the efforts of the man
ayers Of the banks that have been o
may be organized under it2


HuGH MCULLocH, Comptroller.