close supervision on all of these state institutions, making a bank failure almost 

 impossible. The state inspectors visit the banks for inspection twice each year. 

 They verify the books and records of the business transactions of the bank and 

 otherwise see that the bank is living up to the letter of the law. They have per- 

 formed their duties so well that there has not been a single bank failure in the last 

 four years. 



The state banks are required to take out state charters before engaging in 

 business. The law requires that they keep on hand as a reserve fund, 15 per cent 

 of their liabilities, which is made up of the demand deposits, time deposits, the 

 amount due to other banks and cashier's checks. The amount of reserve on hand 

 in the state banks June 29, 1918 averaged 24.21 per cent or $8,386,130 surplus over 

 the required amount. 



A feature of the state banking laws, which protects the depositors is the 

 prohibition against the buying of the stocks of other corporations by the banks of 

 the state. The banks can purchase United States bonds, state bonds, county bonds, 

 city bonds and school bonds. 



An amendment to the national banking law in June, 1917 made it possible for 

 the state banks to enter the federal reserve system. Fifteen of the Montana state 

 banks have entered this system during the year and are now federal reserve banks 

 under state supervision. 



The footing of the state and private banks on June 29, 1918 were $108,285,464, 

 the total deposits were $85,367,9S5.67, the capital stock, $11,400,000, the loans and 

 bonds aggregated $81,260,540, and the cash on hand totaled $17,72S,6S8. 



Private Banks. 



There are nine private banks in the state as compared with thirteen last year, 

 the other four having become state banks. It is expected that the rest will enter the 

 list of state banks in the near future. 



The private banks are also under the supervision of the State Superintendent 

 of Banks. These banks do not operate under state charters but under permits. 

 They are required to keep the same reserve on hand as the state banks. 



An idea of the enormous growth of the banking business of Montana in the 

 last few years may be had from the increase shown on the books or the banks of 

 Helena, the capital city. In 1913 the clearings of the Helena banks were $51,821,056. 

 In 1917 the amount was $102,713,491, showing that the clearings had doubled in the 

 four year period. 



Growth in Five Tears. 



The following table gives the increase in the number of banks of all kinds in 

 Montana in the last five years: 



National State Private Total 



1913 (April 4) 55 144 23 222 



1918 (June 29) 126 268 9 403 



The following comparison shows the growth in the state banks, 

 total resources, in individual deposits and in savings deposits in the 

 from April 4, 1913 to May 10, 1918: 



Total Individual Savings 



Resources Deposits Deposits 



$ 56,088,371 $30,321,818 $11,845,650 



106,959,566 52,470,147 30,609,596 



This table shows the total resources and total deposits to have 

 during the five years, the individual deposits to have increased by 

 the savings deposits to have increased nearly three times. 



the increase in 

 five year period 



Total Deposits 

 All Kinds 



$45,202,508 



86,437,455 



nearly doubled 

 two-thirds and 



