At first sight it may seem that the study of principles and methods of Banking and Finance might be confined to those engaged in the business of banking or concerned with the actual problems of high finance; but a brief consideration of the matter will soon enable the student of modern business to decide for himself that the more he knows about banking and financial manage-ment of concerns large and small, the better equipped he will be to seize the fleeting opportunities of twentieth-century business life.

It is not only bankers and young men who aspire to become bankers or financiers, therefore, they may profitably study the theories, history and practice of banking and finance. Business men of all classes, and ambitious young men generally, may devote time and attention to these subjects with almost absolute certainty that the knowledge thus acquired will greatly profit them sooner or later.

Every business man has more or less to do with banks and banking. It stands to reason, therefore, that he cannot obtain too much knowledge of banking methods. The greater his business, the more need he has of specialized knowledge on the subject. It is an important part of a liberal education in Business Administration.

It may be remarked in passing, that the opportunities offered to young men trained in matters of finance were never so great or so numerous as they are at the present day. The general demand for specialized knowledge in business is fully exemplified by the strong demand for young men fitted by study to enter the employ of the great banks and financial houses that are a notable outgrowth of modern business. It is realized by financiers generally that the young men thus partially equipped for their service afford splendid material for the practical training in banking and financial management which can be obtained only by actual experience in the bank, trust company, or other financial institution.

It must never be forgotten that the bases of all success in the business world of today are Character and Knowledge. These may well be linked together side by side, since it takes a man of character to enter upon the conscientious pursuit of knowledge. The young man who possesses this combination - character and knowledge - is the young man bankers and financiers are looking for.

Economics

As the groundwork for study of Banking and Finance, some knowledge of economics is desirable, especially that portion of the science which deals with the theory of money, the standards of value, and the relation of commerce and credit. The student should fully realize the importance of the subject of finance, and this can hardly be over-estimated; for, as a French writer sagely remarks. "It must be said, and said whatever men may think of it that the finances touch everything,help everything,conclude everything. They are in the state what blood is in the veins of the human body; if it circulates, it carries along with it motion and life; if it stops, paralysis and death supervene. Good organization, good administration, a good condition of the finances, exert therefore imperiously, everywhere and always, a positive, healthful and vivifying action upon the government of a country and the prosperity of its people."

Realizing the importance of the finances in the public economy, the student will readily understand the utility of banking in all commercial communities. He will learn how the banker stands between the capitalist and the borrower, as the medium whereby arrangements are made for carrying on and expanding domestic trade and international commerce. He will see why the banker becomes a prominent and esteemed citizen of the community, and how great is the banker's influence, individually and collectively, in keeping business on a safe basis; checking the over-enthusiastic and the purely speculative, but ever promoting enterprise on the part of worthy men.