SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 877 



A bank can be of great service to those who wish to borrow money, 

 tl often happens that the roads are so bad that the farmer cannot haul 

 his grain to market when he wishes to pay certain debts, or it is possible 

 that the markets are so low that it would be sacrifice to sell, or it is 

 possible that there may be no market at all for his produce, or it may be 

 that he has not the time to haul it, and there may be many things which 

 would make it not only inconvenient, but cause a loss of money to sen 

 when he had to meet the debt. It is in cases like this that the banker 

 should help his farmer friend until conditions are more favorable. No 

 banker who values the patronage of a customer will refuse help in such 

 cases. The interest he pays for the amount borrowed is nothing com- 

 pared with the loss he would sustain if he had to sell under unfavorble 

 circumstances. 



If it were not for being able to borrow money of the banker for long- 

 time at low rates interest it would be almost impossible to buy land, for 

 very few land purchases are made without some bank furnishing part of 

 the money because not one man in a hundred has sufficient money to 

 pay all cash. There are very few farms that have no mortgage on them 

 and when one stops to consider how many farms there are in this coun- 

 try, one has a good idea of how important a part a bank plays in the 

 progress and development of the country. It is astonishing, however, to 

 note how many farmers have been able to pay off the last cent of debt 

 on their farms in the last five years. It speaks very highly for the 

 ability and good management of the farmer who is so fortunate. 



The greatest problem with which bankers have to deal is how to loan 

 money safely; in fact the strength and success of the bank depends mainly 

 upon this one point. In order to pay interest on deposits, pay taxes and 

 salaries, it is necessary that the funds be loaned without loss. To do this 

 the banker must use his best judgment, so that he may be able at all 

 times to meet any demand made upon him by his depositoi's. This is 

 no small trick and if the man behind the counter has not the nerve to 

 say "No," he is a dangerous man for the bank and its depositors, and 

 has no respect for those who have taken enough faith in him to leave 

 their hard earned money in his care. To betray the trust reposed in 

 him would be worse than treason. 



Many people think it is a snap to run a bank and that the banker's 

 path is strewn with roses knee deep. He is often pictured as sitting 

 in his office with heels upon the desk, with a cigar in his mouth and 

 looking at the world through the soles of his feet, content with clipping 

 interest coupons off his many bonds. Truly this is an optical illusion of 

 the worst kind. Many people worry themselves greatly over the one 

 little note they may hold against somebody, but the banker has thous- 

 sands of such notes with perhaps as many different borrowers and if he 

 was not gifted with good judgment and had not a good supply of that 

 wonderful thing, confidence, he would pass many a sleepless night. It 

 seems to be a popular idea that bankers reap a harvest during hard times, 

 but nothing could be farther from the truth. Hard times affect the banker 

 like poor crops do the farmer. Deposits are much lower in hard times 

 and the banker has less money to loan at interest. 



