Bank manager

“ Canadian bank managers are anxious to put out their money where it is most wanted, for there they get the best possible rate of interest and obtain paper of the best quality. No matter where a manager's headquarters may be, he is most deeply concerned in three questions: (1) Where is idle money accumulating? (2) How can he best draw it into his bank? (3) In what parts of the Dominion is money most needed? In localities of both kinds he establishes branches; in the one the branches accumulate deposits often much in excess of their loans, in the others the loans exceed the deposits. ”

“ We need not discuss here whether or not this policy be essential to modern banking; but it is quite evident that the small man of business has lost a good friend in the old-fashioned country banker, whose place has not been taken by that person of peculiar views and training—the bank-manager or clerk-in-charge, whose urbanity must be more than painful to those would-be borrowers without security who ask for bread and are politely offered—a stone. ”

“ A really large tradesman, however, whose securities consist of this variety, will sometimes find a bank-manager anxious to secure his account, because he thinks he may influence others in his favour, and such a man will not pay high rates before he has at least sounded two or three managers of well-known banks and discovered that their terms are not more liberal. ”

“ The only organisation which I can imagine to be effectual is that which exists in the antagonistic establishments. The great private banks will have, I believe, to appoint in some form or other, and under some name or; other, some species of general manager who will watch, contrive, and arrange the detail for them. The precise shape of the organisation is immaterial; each bank may have its own shape, but the man must be there. The true business of the private partners in such a bank is much that of the directors in a joint stock bank. ”

“ In the country it is considered that an average balance of £50 upon a small account pays expenses. However, the bank-manager, who is as human as the gentleman who sells one a dog, seldom neglects to make a small charge upon these accounts when he considers that their owners will stand 10s. ”

“ In small and remote centres of population such as Talmorah the bank manager is, even more than the clergyman or the doctor, the 'guide, philosopher, and friend' of the humbler classes, whom he chiefly advises for their good, and, in moderation, aids pecuniarily, if he can do so, with safety to the bank. ”

“ If, on the other hand, his business is unexpectedly large, giving opportunity to make bigger profits and creating the need for more capital, he will find the bank ready to increase his line of credit, provided the manager is satisfied that business conditions and prospects warrant expansion. Under no circumstances, however, must the customer of a bank seek to raise funds elsewhere unless he first gets the consent of his bank. If he sells his notes in the open market, he must do it with the [Pg 429] full knowledge of his bank or run the risk of being placed upon the "black list." ”

“ And all the rest of the knowledge requisite for a banker can easily be obtained by any one who has the sort of mind which takes to it. No doubt there is a vast routine of work to be learned, and the manager of a large bank must have a great facility in transacting business rapidly. ”

“ As a rule he and the accountant go through the books together; and as there is no recognized scale by which the charges are regulated it follows that they consider the man as well as the nature of his account. The business of the manager is to make his branch pay; therefore, if you do not criticize your commission rate, you may rest assured that he will succeed brilliantly at your expense. Should he think that the customer lacks experience, and is not acquainted with the fact that [43] competition between bank and bank for creditor accounts is active, then he charges him 1⁄8 per cent. ”

“ This class of business, of course, is absolutely safe; so the customer, if he cannot come to terms with the manager, is able to take his account to the cheapest market, always remembering that it is never wise to bank with a second-rate firm, whatever advantages may be offered. ”

“ A lot of this talk about the great opportunities of banking originates in head office and is peddled around the country for a purpose. The bank has the greatest advertising system in the country and the least expensive. It carries the biggest bluff on earth. The bank's on a par with political flag-wavers when it comes to handing the people the bunco."
About five o'clock Mr. Willis, the old general-ledger clerk and ex-manager, edged over toward the cash book, with his hat on and a pipe in his mouth. ”

“ The choice of secretary was made unwisely, and under the weak administration of this gentleman, and the careless supervision of the directors, the conduct of the business of the bank was mainly conducted by a native broker named Premchund Roychund, who drew unlimited advances for himself and his friends without either offering or being asked for the proper security. Rumours of the reckless conduct of the bank managers were current in London and Calcutta before they reached the ears of Frere on the spot. ”

“ In a word, the putting false news upon us is nothing but an old trade revived,—though, it must be confessed, this of the Pretender has been a masterpiece,—and the worthy projector who has the credit of it must pass for a dexterous manager as any the university of Exchange Alley has bred up for thirty years past. ”

“ The unique powers of commercial banks to accept demand deposits, provide checking account services, and lend against fractional reserves permit the banking system as a whole to create a supply of 'money,' a function which is indispensable to the maintenance of the structure of our national economy. ”

“ The poor and less intelligent portion of the community, lured by terms which had never before tempted them, took their spare cash and invested it in the West Middlesex. Rich men were not less dazzled by the golden promises; and one, disposed to sink a large sum in so profitable a concern, desired his solicitor to inquire about its solidity. The solicitor went to the manager, and questioned him as to the directors and the capital. ”

“ An average balance of $1,000.00 should entitle the depositor to loans of $10,000.00 and so on. Experience proves that if the banker does not keep this important point in mind, his machinery will be "out of gear."
Speaking generally, it will pay any concern to borrow money, if necessary, to show a fair balance to its credit. Bankers are only human, and all business is selfish. Every bank will be disposed to take care of its best paying customers first in times of financial storms. Every merchant looks out for his best customers first. ”

“ In Chapter II, on the choice of a banker, an attempt was made to show why a customer should select a strong institution whose working resources are plentiful, and whose reserve of liquid assets is large enough to enable it to meet a drain of deposits during a run or a panic. The shareholder who guarantees the customers of a bank against loss to a limited extent will naturally take care that he is a partner in a company which maintains an adequate reserve of cash and securities as an insurance fund against those accidents which are quite beyond the control of the most able board of directors. ”

“ A. I am quite convinced of that, if only for one reason, that I do believe the indiscriminate granting of credits to the individual is injurious to himself, the private bankers being too much in the habit of regarding old family associations and not so careful as the joint-stock company would be, and he has accustomed people to trade on the credit that they get from the banker. I do not think that is banking business. The bank ought never to supply the trader with working capital. ”

“ He usually receives directly, or through the subordinate officers of the bank, all moneys and notes of the bank, delivers up all discounted notes and other securities when they have been paid, draws checks to withdraw the funds of the bank where they have been deposited, and, as the executive officer of the bank, transacts most of its business. ”

“ Competition among banks exists at every level price, variety of credit arrangements, convenience of location, attractiveness of physical surroundings, credit information, investment advice, service charges, personal accommodations, advertising, miscellaneous special and extra services-and it is keen; on this appellees' own witnesses were emphatic. [45] There is no reason to think that concentration is less inimical to the free play of competition in banking than in other service industries. ”

“ Few villages of 500 people can complain that their banking facilities are less than they deserve, and many of them, with barely enough business to pay the expenses of one branch, are supplied with two. The recent rapid increase in the number of branches has been caused by the great expansion of the West and by the competition among the more progressive and energetic general managers, each desiring that his bank shall be the first in a promising field, even though his enterprise lead him to establish branches which at first do not pay expenses. ”

“ By vote of the directors, and the approval of the comptroller of the currency, the bank will reopen for business on Saturday, the 18th. Every effort has been made to put the bank again into a sound and solvent condition, and the stockholders have been called upon to pay an assessment of 100 per cent. on their stock, thus making the depositors' balances secure and available. The bank will be run on strict business principles and in the interest of its customers and stockholders, and, while thanking you for past favors, we solicit your confidence and support for the future. ”

“ Now, this institution is not a 'bank,' by which term, in an unqualified presentation of it, is meant a bank of the ordinary kind. It is a Bank for Savings only. But if it still be a tank, that is to say, a common repository for people's money, having a bench or counter,-it is assuredly not a bank 'engaged in the business of banking.' The business of banking consists in buying, selling, and discounting commercial paper, with or without collaterals; in issuing notes; in making collections, and in receiving deposits of money and in paying them out on check, at call. ”

“ The mass of the Bank directors are merchants of experience, employing a considerable capital in trades in which they have been brought up, and with which they are well acquainted. Many of them have information as to the present course of trade, and as to the character and wealth of merchants, which is most valuable, or rather is all but invaluable, to the Bank. Many of them, too, are quiet, serious men, who, by habit and nature, watch with some kind of care every kind of business in which they are engaged, and give an anxious opinion on it. ”

“ The banks in consequence have less to lend to the brokers, who are then bound to apply to the Bank of England, which compels them to discount their bills at its own terms, and the rate in the outside market, of course, advances. ”

“ An officer of a bank there asserts that banking in the north coast countries is not to any great extent a matter of handling currency or money funds. The intermediary system of brokers, merchants, and other middlemen between the producer and his market, to which we are accustomed, is lacking, and the banker must take the place of all of them. ”

“ If a man granted one on a fine estate for a consideration, that consideration was rarely paid in money. The unhappy borrower was obliged to take whatever he could get. Thus the stock-jobber made his prey receive consols at a price much above that of the market. The merchant gave him a bill of lading for some indifferent kind of merchandise. The banker handed him long-dated bills, and sometimes was a bankrupt before they were due. The large tradesmen—many of whom then, as now, surreptitiously carried on the trade of money lending—got rid of goods which were otherwise unsaleable. ”

“ And it is furthermore evident, that the Bank, which is met at every turn as an agent in all transactions, which governs credit, regulates the currency, animates or checks at will the activity of commerce by narrowing or widening the channels of circulation, the Bank, which by its numerous branches is, like the fabled polypus, everywhere present, the Bank with its funds, its centralisation, its trusty creatures, is certainly an anomaly, which may become big with danger. ”

“ Deposit banking operations affect not only the volume of money and credit, but also the value of the dollar and the stability of the currency system. In this field, considerations other than simply the preservation of competition are relevant. ”

“ It said it is not the duty of the cashier and president to make such contracts, nor have they power to bind the bank, except in the discharge of their ordinary duties. All discounts are made under the authority of the directors, and it is for them to fix any conditions which they may think proper in loaning money. The court defines the cashier of the bank to be an executive officer, by whom its debts are received and paid, and its securities taken and transferred, and that his acts, to be binding upon a bank, must be done within the ordinary course of his duties. ”

“ He immediately took the omnium to other brokers, represented to them an urgent necessity for money, sold it, and having been paid checks for the amount, immediately presented them to the bankers on whom they were drawn, and received the amount in cash. He then went to all whom he knew, or would trust him, borrowed money on the security of his own checks,—a common practice on the Stock Exchange,—with remarkable boldness, remained in London until near the hour when he knew his own draught would be presented and refused, and then left, laden alike with gold and a guilty conscience. ”