TULSA DAILY WORLD THURSDAY AUGUST IS 10121
A Progressive Path to Normal Conditions
r
Society is built upon trust and trust upon
confidence in one another's integrity" South
Prosperity for the whole people is the result of confidence of
nil people in all people.
For a few year we have been passing through nn era of
tremendous material( prosperity; it has been a material prosperity
or n money prosperity rather than n real prosperity.
There can be no prosperity when millions of people arc im-
properly clothed improperly fed or inadequately housed.
It was the great Bishop Homo who said "Prosperity too often
has the same effect upon its possessor that a calm at sea has on a
Dutch mariner who frequently it is said in these circumstances lies
up the rudder gets drunk and goes to sleep." Present conditions
indicate that some people have been playing the part of the Dutch
mariner and drunk with prosperity have tied up the rudder and
gone to sleep forgetting that there may be others floating about
on the sea of life without n rudder who might need assistance.
Prosperity begets selfishness and the sudden increase in
'wealth of many people has made them inordinately selfish. The
prosperity of yesterday which today seems somewhat on the wane
may prove to be the adversity of tomorrow unless we wake up untie
the rudder and steer m clear course away from the rocks which
threaten us.
The words of Admiral Lord Nelson preceding a great navalj
battle when the only order he gave was "England expects every man
to do his duty" might well be paraphrased to fit the present situation
for today the order which should be issued by our Country is
"America expects every man to do his duty" to his Country to society
to commerce and to the world.
The duty of every man today is to work to help and to boost
to work for the dollars he expects to get and to do an honest dollar's
work for each one of them; to help every man who is not as successful
as himself to help the unemployed and the needy and particularly
to help ex-service men to find themselves and to take their proper
place in tHe Country's affairs; to boost their friends their community
and their Country in every possible way.
The immediate situation cal's for financial boosting. Business is
(not as great in volume as it was n few months ago but it is great
enough to demand the rapid circulation of every dollar we possess.
Tho total capital surplus and deposits of our banks exceed fifty
billion dollars while the total amount of money in the Country is
only eight billion dollars. The amount of money theoretically in cir-
culation is considerably less than six billion dollars. No less an au-
thority than the Postmaster General of the United States has jusL
staled that one billion dollars of this amount is hidden away in safo
deposit boxes stockings mattresses tin cans and places of doubtful
safety.
When it became necessary to open some safe deposit boxes in
Chicago recently one of these boxes was found to contain a quarter
of n million dollars' in money. This money had been taken out of
circulation by a man who had made so much money he had lost all
sense of honor and proportion lie failed to realize that if tho Coun-
try was to prosper this money must not lie idle in a safe deposit box
but must be kept in constant and rapid circulation.
As shown by the volume of bank deposits compared with tho
total amount of money in the Country each dollar of actual money
is a basis for $6 to $7 of credit transactions and all of these credits-
must be paid. It has been estimated that every dollar must change
hands every thrcctdays in order to carry on the ordinary business and
financial operations of the Country. Money in safe deposit boxes or
hidden away in corners is not doing its part in hnudling the Country's
business. A total of seven or eight billion dollar in transactions is
being destroyed through the hoarding of this billion dollars in cash.
No other country in the world provides such safo accommo-
dations for the people's money ns may be found in the United States.
More than 25000 national and stale hanks trust companies and sav-
ings banks accept deposits and most of them allow interest on such
deposits without mentioning tho postal savings banks operated by tho
Federal Government. All of the money deposited in these banks is
used as a basis for the Country's credit anil every dollar of increase in
the deposits is a distinct benefit to every one. It creates a market for
the farmer's crops sales of merchandise for the manufacturer and tho
merchant and work for the skilled artisan and the common laborer.
The crops cannot be sold the merchandise cannot be bought and tho
working man cannot be paid without this money.
Every man who hides a dollar away which might be in tho
bank is not only an enemy to his Country and to society but is his)
own worst enemy. He is not only losing interest on the money hidden
away but is losing the benefit which that money would be to thd
business of the Country and is therefore losing his part of the income
from that business. The volume of business would be larger today if
more money and more credit were available and the return of thc
billion dollars which is now hidden away to the ordinary channels
of trade would insure a general improvement in business which would'
probably be permanent.
If this reaches the eye of any person who is carrying in
his pocket or has stored away in safe deposit boxes or hiding places
any gold or paper money we trust that person will stop whatever ho
may be doing at the moment nnd let nothing duler him from bringing
his hoarded money direct to our Bank or taking it to some other good
bank and placing it in a Savings Account where it will not only draw
intcrcct for him but will he where it can do its part in helping to
transact the Country's business.
It will be a distinct and immediate benefit to our town if every
one in this community will put every dollar in money that he possesses
in the bank today. Unfortunately banks have failed and depositors
have lost some money through such failures but this is no argument
against keeping your money in the bank. People have been killed
on railroad trains but we continue to ride on them; people have been
injured in automobile accidents but we still use the automobiles; pcoplo
have fallen down stairs but we still put stairs in our houses; pcoplo
have been burned on stoves but we continue to use stoves.
It has been statistically estimated that all of the money lost lyj
depositors in all of the bank failures of the past fifty years was less
than ihc amount of money lost stolen and burned through not being
in a bank during the year 1920. Think of it one year's loss through
carrying money in a pocket or keeping it in hiding places exceeded
the loss of fifty years in all of the banks in tho United States.'
A grave matter is in our hands. Whether we shall have pros-J
pcrity of adversity in this community depends in large measure upon
ourselves. Shall we dig up all of the currency wo can get our hands
nn and put it in the bank today or shall wo keep it in our pockets and'
hinder if not wholly prevent the return of complete prosperity? It
is up to you.
The banks of this town will keep your money safe pny you'
interest on it nnd return it to you when you have use for it. As for
our own bank we will receive your money in sacred trust and render
you every service consistent with sound and modern banking.
To rejoice in the prosperity of another
is to partake of WW. Austin
The Central National
Bank
of
DIRECTORS
J. E. CROSBIE
G. M. RANSOM
A. E. DURAN
- C. A. MAYO
J. W. SLOAN
J. M. BERRY
H. P. ANDERSON
L. G. BRADSTREET
C. H. SWEET
J. E. SWINDLER
F. W. BRYANT
B. F. COLLEY
J. E. WADE
G. S. DAVIS
II. F. WILCOX
W. O. BUCK
M. MORAN
G. T. BRAD EN
D. VENSEL
It-
lulsa