Every young man who goes into a bank, whether from the schoolroom or from some other business, should make up his mind very early that the work is not easy and the only way he may succeed is to begin a systematic study of banking as a science. This study, supplemented by diligent attention to his work, will secure to him that success which is the only sure kind of success, built upon his own ability rather than upon the favor of his superior officers. Those personal qualities such as honesty, courtesy, cleanliness and punctuality, which have been impressed upon him as abstract virtues in the everyday walks of life, in the banking business become concrete necessities.

Physical strength, endurance, a clear eye, speed and stamina are sought after by every manly youth, whatever his occupation, but to the professional ball player they are his stock in trade. So it is with banking. The commonest daily transactions are of such a nature that virtues which we would admire in the average individual are absolutely necessary to the banker, whether he be officer or clerk. The bank will be successful to the extent that its depositors and other clients have confidence in it and those associated with it, not only as regards their judgment in business matters, but also their moral character. It, therefore, becomes a part of the education of the bank man to fix in his mind certain rules of conduct which may be here set down as a sort of ten commandments.

1. Keep clean physically, mentally and morally.

2. Cultivate a wide acquaintance, but choose your associates from among those known to be of good character.

3. Live within your income and look upon money saved as a part of your fixed expenses.

4. Be exact in all your dealings and always keep your word.

5. Pay your debts and meet your obligations when they are due.

6. Pay strict attention to orders and obey them implicitly.

7. Show a willingness to do more, rather than less, than is expected of you.

8. Know your job and don't be content with less than all there is to know about it.

9. Spend a part of each year in systematic study and reading on banking subjects.

10. Keep in strict confidence every transaction of the bank of whatever nature.

There are many other such rules that might be suggested, but these must not be passed over as mere platitudes. Nearly all large financial institutions have similar instructions prominently posted and any infraction of the regulations is met with immediate dismissal. One large Canadian bank hands to each employee a bound copy of rules that are to govern his conduct in all matters.

The next important fact that must be accepted is that banking is a profession based upon scientific data. The physician cannot hope to learn medicine through personal experience and experiment upon his own body in curing all the diseases and disasters that flesh is heir to. Many bankers, and especially the younger and inexperienced, deceive themselves with the idea that they can learn all they need to know by close application to their own immediate desks, counters and communities. Just as the science of surgery and medicine is based upon the natural laws of the human body, so the science of banking grows out of economic laws that are at the base of all business activity.

The young man who has adopted banking as a career, must decide, therefore, what his attitude will be toward these conditions which he can not escape although they can be mastered. Every town, if indeed not every bank, can furnish at least one example of the man who thought otherwise until it was too late. It is not to be imagined that by following a certain formula of conduct any clerk may rise by regular stages until he will become cashier or president of his bank. By increasing his own efficiency, he unconsciously is elevating banking standards, which in turn, will react upon him to his lasting benefit. Every man in the bank should be a banker, although in different degrees of development, whether he be messenger or chairman of the board of directors.

In the thickly settled and highly developed countries of Europe, it is said that it is the aim of all those who work for salaries or wages, not to try to secure better positions, but to hold what they already have. Fortunately, we are not confronted with this condition in America, but we are fast approaching it. Efficiency will ultimately determine every man's status whether he be banker or bricklayer.