Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

90 HISTORY OF THE BANKof the Province of Ontario. Mr. John J. Arnton, of Montreal,also retired at this time, owing to ill-health, and at theannual meeting in July his place at the Board was filled by theelection of Mr. James Crathern,1a member of the firm ofCrathern and Caverhill, Montreal. In September, 1883,occurred the sudden death of Mr. Noah Barnhart, who wassucceeded at the following annual meeting by Mr. W. B.Hamilton. 2The improvement in general business, which first began tobe felt towards the close of 1879, is referred to in the annualreport of 1881, as follows: "The bountiful harvest of lastyear, together with the active demand for timber and lumberat greatly increased prices, have produced a marked improvementin almost every branch of industry. In consequence,however, of the large reduction in the value of money, theprofits do not bear the same proportion to the extent of businesstransacted as in former years, but they have enabled yourdirectors to pay the usual dividend of eight per cent, andprovide for all the bad and doubtful debts of the year, leavinga surplus of $105,819.14."As a natural result of the improved state of trade, thecirculation of the bank has materially increased, and althoughthe directors were obliged by the unusual cheapness of moneyto reduce the rate of interest on deposits, these also have beenconsiderably augmented."In view of the tendency of deposits to increase largely,while loans were decreasing, the banks had been forced to1James Crathern (1830-1910) was president of the Merchants Cotton Company,the Royal Victoria Life Insurance Company and Keewatin Flour Milling Company,and a director of the St. Lawrence Sugar Refineries, Dominion Coal Company, NationalTrust Company, Limited, and Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company. Hewas a governor of McGill University and president of the Montreal General Hospital,and a member of the governing committee of the Alexandra Hospital.William B. Hamilton (1823-1906) was born in Montreal, and came to Toronto in1849, where he was engaged in the clothing business. In 1858 he became interested inthe firm of Brown and Childs, of Montreal, and opened a branch in Toronto for thepurpose of carrying on a wholesale business in boots and shoes. In 1860, on the deathof Mr. Childs, he became sole proprietor. Mr. Hamilton was president of the TorontoBoard of Trade in 1881, and was also a director of the London and Ontario InvestmentCompany and the Fire Insurance Exchange.