dumb-bell slots in the sheets enable one to offset the sheets on the flat part of the arch file on binder, if it be desired to mark the place in the ledger or otherwise call attention to an account. Identifying tags are pasted on heavy division sheets and all forms used in that trust are filed just above them. These tags contain the name and number of the estate, and the accounts are filed alphabetically in the binder. We number our estates in the order of their receipt, and on probate court trusts we use the probate number as further identification.

At present we have fifteen or more active estates and a number of agency accounts. The aggregate value of the property held by our trust department is easily in excess of $500,000, and we have been informed that our bank has the largest trust department of any national bank in Federal Reserve District No. 8 outside the city of St. Louis. It would not surprise me to have this statement challenged, however, so I do not boast of it as a fact.

Estate Administration and Tax Returns The form of our annual accounts current in administration of estates has been the subject of favorable comment from our lo

cal court, as we commence our account with the total of the inventory, charge ourselves with additional funds received, take credit for expenditures, then show the complete detailed list of the assets and cash on hand at the close of the period, thus balancing out against the inventory. It appears that in many cases only the receipts and disbursements of cash have been shown, leaving the detailed accounting to the closing of the estate.

On receiving appointment as administrator or executor, after qualifying and filing the usual inventory and appraisal, one of the first duties, if the estate be in excess of $50,000 net value, is to make up the Federal estate tax return, so we have adopted that form as our model in analyzing and classifying the holdings of our trusts. Perhaps another reason for adopting this as our guide is the habit of following the Comptroller's forms in all my banking experience, as all save the very earliest has been with national banks.

While it is desirable from every standpoint to hold estate taxes down to a minimum, it is very important to give due consideration to all values set up in these returns if it be anticipated that any assets of the estate may

(Fora 2)

Total Exten si on Jack ar 11,258.76 4,149.95

1,200.00

660,00

1,880,08 1,860.00

855.70 1,024.80

217.00

855.70

6,600.00 6,600.00

FEW THEATRE:

Robert McIntosh

DISBURSEMENTS:

Re-roofing Studio, and

136.50

be thereafter sold, for it has come to our attention that one set of beneficiaries has taken a substantial loss on account of their federal return showing an extremely low valuation on a business building which was destroyed by fire within a year. Their trustee having adequately insured it, it now develops that they will have to pay an income tax on a substantial profit in the loss of the building. all because of the low valuation they "got by" with in their federal return, and the rate in the estate tax was less than half that which they will have to pay on the profit shown in the transaction. The old principle of "save at the spigot and lose at the bung" is applicable in this case.

In selecting appraisers to set the values on the property of an estate we may not just step out and get three well posted men to serve, for the law specifies that the appraisal shall be made by "three householders" resident of the county. This bars gay bachelors from serving as appraisers, and some courts hold that it limits the field to married men who own their own dwellings.

All banks in Arkansas have to exercise discretion in filing claims against the estates of decedents, as the law provides that the affidavit to the claim must be executed by the cashier, and a claim verified by any other officer is in danger of being disallowed hy the court.

Cash Record on Ledger Sheets

We start with our cash record, which we call Form 1, which is ruled to show receipts of principal and receipts of income in separate columns, with disbursements similarly divided; the last two columns being to show balance of principal and balance of income.

In some estates only the income is payable to the beneficiaries, which makes it imperative to keep income receipts separate from principal, while it is desirable in all, and is accomplished with little extra effort by use of this specially ruled record.

Real estate, notes, bonds, stock and personal property other than cash, are appropriately described on white sheets, which we

call Form 2, space being provided in "IN"(Debit) and "OUT"-(Credit) entries and the last column for the balance. In our practice separate sheets are used for each of these classes of asset, this record being kept in typewriting, while the cash record, Form 1, is posted in pen and ink.

Copies of the will, inventory, appraisal, accounts current, and, in fact, every report or petition made or filed with the court or beneficiaries, are made up on these Form 2 sheets and duplicates kept in our trust ledger. On the recent suggestion of the national bank examiner we have our duplicates certified by the court clerk after the originals have been approved and recorded, so that in case of loss from court files, fire or other emergency we have duly authenticated copies of all these court documents in our own possession.

While, as above stated, the form of ruling on our ledger sheet Form 1 is not new, our original use of it, so far as we know, is that we stub all checks or vouchers on the ledger sheet, stating fully the purpose for which drawn, name of payee, etc., with special column for the consecutive numbering of vouchers right in the book of original and final entry, eliminating any duplication of record, save on the voucher itself, on which a full history of the transaction is likewise set out. Should one voucher cover expense on several properties belonging to the same estate, we are not stingy with the

record, but write in full and detailed description, so that in posting the expense to the individual property records the possibility of error may be minimized. Form 1 is also utilized for these property records, the income columns showing rental receipts and regular disbursements for repairs, etc., while the principal columns are for unusual items, such as recoveries on fire insurance, receipts from sales, or other items which should not be confused or merged with the rental receipts.

In keeping the cash records on Form 1 our individual bookkeepers post all credits on this trust department ledger from the full description of the credit which must be written on the deposit slip, but it is not necessary for them to post any checks to this record, as they are stubbed by the trust officer on date of issue rather than date of payment.

Balance and Control Sheet

Balances are extended on the ledger sheets daily or at frequent intervals and proven against the machine statement kept by the individual bookkeeper. To the balance on the cash sheet may be added the several balances on Form 2 sheets, representing notes, bonds, stock, real estate, personal, etc., which will give the total value (appraised) of the estate. If desired a control sheet, may be maintained for each estate as well as the general trust department control sheet which represents the entire worth of the trust department.

cash,

On the control sheet we show debit-creditbalance for the three classifications, stocks, bonds and notes, and real and personal, together with grand balance column showing total value of all three classes. As to the first column, cash, the debits and credits are posted from the deposit tickets and checks by the individual bookkeeper, while the trust officers must post the changes in the other columns as these entries do not necessarily have to go through the bank's cash account.

In maintaining a strict balance of this general control it is necessary to frequently add the white sheets, Form 2, in the various estates and prove against the totals shown in columns 2 and 3, while the individual ledger of bank is the real control of cash, column 1. We have our individual bookkeepers list their proof of checks and deposits on special long sheets, this proof being run after the day's items have all been posted on the ledgers and are in alphabetical order, and these sheets are filed as permanent records. Our trust department depos

its with the bank are kept as a separate division or section of the individual ledgers, the total debit and credit to trust funds going through the bank's daily journal and being posted to the bank's general ledger and daily statement as would any other general ledger entry.

We only recently learned that trust funds, being secured by deposit of U. S. bonds by the commercial department, and being under I control of the bank's officers, who know when they will be withdrawn, are not subject to reserve requirements, hence in our statement we show them in the section with cashiers' checks, letters of credit, U. S. deposits and bank deposits.

Corporate Trust Forms.

Special forms have been prepared as occasion demanded. On our one bond issue we are trustee and registrar for 1,000 $100 bonds issued by a negro lodge, the Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and secured by mortgage on a fine bathhouse and sanitarium bearing their name. With the Form 2 sheets and an adding machine we have made up a complete record of these, showing each bond and its five coupons by number, denomination of bond and coupon, and have space left for insertion of name and address of holder if that be desirable. When coupons are paid the date is stamped opposite.

From our rent record we have a special ruling showing name of tenant, location of build ng, date of expiration of lease, rate per month, and columns for six months across the page. As the payments are made the date and amount of same are written in the column for the correct month, and if any tenant be delinquent a glance down the column will disclose it.

A combination receipt-deposit ticket is accomplished by the use of a sheet of carbon paper, receipts for the entire roll of tenants being made out in advance, and when one calls to pay rent we have but to deliver his receipt, post the payment opposite his name and hand his money to the teller with the duplicate which serves as a deposit ticket.

Rental Trusteeships

In rental trusteeships or agencies the principal columns of Form 1 are utilized for recording special receipts on which no commission may be charged, and for payments to beneficiaries, withdrawals for investment and any other items not chargeable to income account. Thus it is easy to reconcile and compute commission charges and the prepa

ration of income tax returns by the fiduciary is simplified. In our annual report of rental properties we have found the wide white sheets, Form 2, well adapted to the construction of a comprehensive and detailed statement. On these we show under the heading of each different property the name of tenants, rate of rental, number of months, total collected from each tenant and total from entire building.

Repairs and expenditures are described in detail with total of same extended in the column under total receipts, with the difference, or net return from the property, in the last column. At the foot of statement of each property. we insert between ruled lines, for comparison, the totals of last year's report on this same property, so that the owner may see at a glance whether his return has increased or decreased. If it were desired. comparison with more than one previous year might be made by simply using another line or lines.

"Tickler" Cards

We have no elaborate system of index or signal cards, the only one we have found necessary being a small old-fashioned "tickler" box containing sub-division cards tabbed with the 12 monthly and 31 daily guides. These are size 3in.x5in., so that the plain white cards are thin enough to be easily filled out by typewriter. We make cards showing maturity of all loans belonging to our trusts, collection date of coupons on bonds, divided dates on stocks, date for filing accounts current, mailing checks to beneficiaries, expiration of fire insurance policies, or in fact, any detail that may require attention at a future date; file these cards in the proper month and they automatically bring their subject matter to the attention of the trust officer when that date arrives. The current month is subdivided with daily tabs and as days pass the tabs are set forward into the following month, etc. In the case of interest coupons on U. S. bonds, for instance, we make out a card "June 15th and December 15th. Collect interest on First Liberty Bonds Jones Estate." When June 15th arrives and the coupons have been duly clipped, we set the same card up to December 15th. So with payments which have to be made at regular intervals we repeatedly use the same cards, and the labor of keeping up the signal system is reduced.

Reviewing our experience, it seems to me that we are embarked in a class of business that is just as essential and necessary as

life insurance is considered in this enlightened age, and the money we spend in advertising this branch is a form of philanthropy, even though we do not expect to do the work except for our legal fees. The only special advertising we use is a series of booklets describing our bank, its history, its personnel, its conservatism and safety and its equipment to render good service in handling trust business. More space and emphasis is given the educational feature, that all people should make wills and provide an executor, preferably a corporate one, and more preferably, ourselves. The inquiries resulting from the mailing of the first three out of the series of twelve booklets which are to go out to a picked list of three hundred names have been numerous, and our attorney has been asked to write several wills naming our bank as executor.

We try to cooperate with the legal fraternity by advising consultation with one's own attorney, and we intend, where consistent, to employ that attorney in any legal matters connected with handling the estate that may be turned to us through his influence.

FROM CLERKSHIP TO PRESIDENT OF CORN EXCHANGE BANK

A recent issue of the American Magazine contains an interesting biographical study of the banking career of Mr. Walter E. Frew, president of the Corn Exchange Bank of New York. He began work at the age of sixteen as a clerk with a brokerage firm, where he worked for five years. His salary was five dollars a week. At the age of twenty-one he took a position with the Eleventh Ward Bank of Brooklyn, where he rose to assistant cashier. Next he became cashier of the Queen's County Bank of Long Island City, and then its president. This bank was subsequently bought by the Corn Exchange Bank, and in 1911 Mr. Frew was elected to his present position.

The March 20th statement of the Corn Exchange Bank shows total resources of $240,297,838; deposits, $215.068,000; capital, $10,000,000; surplus, $10,000,000 and undivided profits of $3,082,582. The bank conducts over fifty branches in Greater New York. To provide additional accommodation the Corn Exchange has leased the premises at 1 and 3 East Forty-second street for a new building in which the the Grand Central branch will be located.