Q. When you establish a branch in a small town, you generally find a local independent bank there. Can this local bank compete with you?
A. There are certain places where the private banks have kept on, but the tendency is for the private banker to disappear. We take small sums and have numerous branches. One great distinction is that the private bank is always in the hands of a family. A man who originally starts a private bank may be a good banker, financier, and business man, but it does not always follow that his son, who in all likelihood will inherit the business, will be capable of running it. Our joint-stock banks do not go from father to son, but are always under efficient management.
Q. What proportion of your own payments are made in gold?
A. A very small proportion. The people prefer notes.
Q. Do the French people hoard money as much as formerly?
A. No; it is becoming more the custom to put money in the banks. Thirty years ago they kept the money at home.
Comptoir d'Escompte
INTERVIEW WITH M. ULLMANN, DIRECTOR OF THE COMPTOIR D'ESCOMPTE[179]
Q. One of the things that we have in mind is to inquire in regard to the character of the business done by your branches.