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An Open Letter
The men who are interested in the consolidation of the banks of Slater feel that the matter in this letter is timely and of interest to the people of Slater and the community. The contents give a true picture of conditions that have obtained in other communities and of their solution, all applicable to this community.
This paragraph is taken from the current issue of The Saturday Evening Post:
ARE YOU AFRAID OF YOUR BANK? Many of you have been, and a pretty mess you have made of it by your senseless runs on sound and solvent institutions. For a majority of the banks that you have closed were just that. In pulling down your deposits you have pulled down the pillars of your bank and sent it crashing down on your own heads. You have injured yourselves, your merchants and your neighborhood. For with the local bank closed, you are without any place to keep your money that is safer than a stocking or a mattress, your merchants are cramped for credit, and you have lost a place from which to borrow for business purposes and neighborhood improvements. A run usually begins with timid souls silently sneaking their deposits out of a bank, bragging about their cleverness and whispering about the bank; then the mob and the deluge. But it would be perfectly simple, as soon as the first rumors began to circulate, for a number of responsible depositors to meet together, to go to headquarters for the facts, and SO to be in a position to stand behind the bank and to reassure all comers. Mobs are the outcome of ignorance and fear. They can almost invariably be dispersed with facts and courage. But bankers in blaming the hoarders must remember that they themselves have not been blameless. The way to engender confidence is to take people into your confidence. One cannot demand confidence, one must give sound reasoning for deserving it.
This is an account of the reopening of the Citizens Bank of Atchinson county at Rock Port:
Rock Port, Mo., Oct. 31.-The Citizens Bank of- Atchison County, which doors here September 26, by order of the board of directors, re-opened today. The bank was filled with well wishers throughout the day.
The reopening of this institution, which has served Atchison County's finacial needs more than forty years, is a personal tribute to Joseph Durfee, president of the bank. The day the bank closed a depositors' committee took matters into its hands looking towards its reopening. This committee learned from the state finance department representative,
R. E. Shelby, the requirements necessary to re-establish the bank and immediately went into action. The state department asked that $75,000 be subscribed to eliminate slow and doubtful paper from the bank's files. Within ten days after the bank closed this amount had been subscribed, not as new capital or for the purpose of stock in a reorganized bank, but largely in the nature of contributions to strengthen the bank's position.
This money was subscribed with the distinct understanding that it would be paid only with the agreement that Mr. Durfee and his associated officers and directors were to continue in charge of the bank when it again opened.
The doubtful notes have become the property of subscribers to the fund, in addition to the $75,000 subscription. Depositors carrying more than $100 balance at the time the bank suspended operations have signed agreements they will allow two-thirds of these deposits to remain with the bank for a specified time. No opposition was experienced in securing signatures to this agreement.
The bank reopened with its old corps of officers, directors and employees. Josepn Durfee is president; W. A. Rupe, vice-president; John T. Wells, cashier; James F. Gore, Jr., assistant cashier, and Eilert G. Cooper, W. C. Scamman and Carl Hunter on the board of directors. In addition to the active officers the other employees are Herbert Spurlock, Gordon Clifton and Miss Gladys Cooper, all of whom were on the working force when the bank closed its doors.
The revival of the Citizens Bank thru the efforts of its friends is a demonstration of faith in Mr. Durfee's integrity.
Here is the account of the re-opening of a bank at Morgantown, W. Va., which closed September 29.
Morgantown, W. Va., Nov. 5.-The Bank of Morgantown closed September 29, reopened today with nearly all of $1,400,000 on deposit when it closed, pledged to a "mutually protective" agreement which guarantees the bank against withdrawals for twelve months and for an additional months at its option. Less than $40,000 of the deposits was not pledged to the agreement..
D. R. Richards, vice president and cashier of the bank, said new deposits before noon today totaled $100,000. New deposits will be kept wholly liquid, he said, and may be withdrawn without restrictions.
These articles are quoted that you may see what other sections have done to restore confidence, and done without loss to the individual or to the community.
The Committee
