Banks and Banking 



The Financial Resources of Montana Are Shown by the 



Statements of the 403 National, State and Private 



Banks, Whose Footings Totaled $20(V 



352,464 On June 29, 1918 



O OTHER business enterprise so well illustrates the remarkable 

 growth of Montana and the development of its natural resources 

 as does that of banking. The increase in the number of banks 

 during the past fiscal year and the increase in deposits and 

 capital stock of the institutions, show clearly the great wealth 

 of the state. From June 20, 1917 to June 29, 1918 there were 

 forty-nine new banks established in Montana. Of this number 

 thirty-one were national banks and eighteen were state banks 

 Ten of the former state banks became nationalized and four of the private banks- 

 became state banks during the year. This made an increase in the number of 

 national banks of forty-one, and an increase of twelve in the number of state banks 

 while the number of private banks decreased from thirteen to nine. 



The different sections of the state are all served by these banks, in fact man) 

 towns of small size have a bank or two, which are often patronized and maintained 

 largely by the farming community. Nothing so well illustrates the prosperity of the 

 state and its agricultural resources as the fact that the farmers have large deposit? 

 in the banks and in many cases the stock holders are well-to-do farmers of the 

 community. The state banks alone are located in 221 different towns in the state 

 According to the report of the Comptroller of the Currency for May, 1918 and 

 to the report of the Superintendent of Banks of Montana for June 29, 1918, there are 

 within the state a total of 403 banks. Of these, 126 are national banks, 268 are state 

 banks, trust companies and investment companies and 9 are private banks. 



National Banks. 



The 126 national banks are well distributed in the towns throughout the state 

 The increase of forty-one national banks during the year is a remarkable record. 

 Montana led the nation in the number of new national banks chartered in the 

 past year. 



These banks are under the supervision of the national government and come 

 under the national bank inspectors. Under thorough and efficient inspection a bank 

 failure is practically impossible. The national banks are all under the federal reserve 

 system. The total footings of the national banks in Montana in May were $92,067,000 



State Banks and Trust Companies. 



More than two-thirds of all the banks of the state are under state supervision 

 Of these there are state banks, trust companies, investment companies and private 

 banks. The report of June 29, 1918 shows that there are 268 state banks, trust 

 companies and investment companies and 9 private banks in the state, as compared 

 with 256 state banks, trust companies and investment companies and 13 private 

 banks in 1917. 



These banks come under the supervision of the Superintendent of Banks and his 

 assistants. One assistant superintendent and four deputy bank examiners keep a 



