. He always went to the haberdasher who treated him best. Other
men he knew did the same thing. Would not the same principle work in a
bank? Would not people come to the place which gave them the best
service? He decided to try it. Not only would they give efficient
service, they would give it pleasantly. It was their last card but it
was a trump. It won. The bank began to prosper. People who were annoyed
by rude, brusque, or indifferent treatment in other banks came to this
one. The cashier was raised to a position of importance and in an
incredibly short time was made president of a trust company in New York.
He carried with him exactly the same principle that had worked so well
in the little bank and the result in the big one was exactly the same.

In a leaflet which is in circulation among the employees at this
institution there are these paragraphs:

We ask you to remember:

That our customers _can_ get along without us.

(There are in Greater New York nearly one hundred banks and trust
companies, every one of them actively seeking business.)

We _cannot_ get along without our customers.

A connection which, perhaps, it has taken us several months to
establish, can be terminated by one careless or discourteous act.

Our customers are asked to maintain balances of certain
proportions. If they wish to borrow money, they must deposit
collateral. They must repay loans when they mature; or arrange
for their extension.

If a bank errs, it must err on the side of safety, for the money
it loans is not its own money but the money of its depositors. We
(and every other bank and trust company) operate almost entirely
on money which our customers have deposited with us. The least we
can do, then, is to serve them courteously. They really are our
employers.

Ours is a semi-public institution.

Every day, men try to interest us in matters with which we have
no concern. It is our duty to tell these men, very courteously,
why their proposals do not appeal to us. But they are entitled to
a hearing. It may be that they are not in a position to benefit
us, and never will be. But almost every man can harm us, if he
tries to do so. And a pleasantly expressed declination invariably
makes a better impression than a favor grudgingly granted. We ask
you, then, to remember that our growth--and your