Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

1901 TO 1914 209Ontario branches were during this period continually obligedto importune the head office for more assistance, and concurrentlywould come urgent representations from Sir JohnAird that a new branch ought to be opened at some westernpoint if The Canadian Bank of Commerce was not to lag in therace to occupy remunerative territory. The query, "Whereare the men to come from?" was an almost daily torment tothose in charge of appointments, but somehow or other theymanaged to worry through.In 1905 the limit of possible effort seemed to have beenreached, when a happy inspiration came to the management.The abilities of Scottish youths trained in accounting had longbeen traditional in Canadian financial circles, and it was decidedto see what assistance could be obtained from that source.The officer who was deputed to make the annual inspection ofthe London, England, branch was authorized by the generalmanager to visit Scotland for the purpose. Arrangementswere made beforehand with a prominent Writer to the Signetin Edinburgh to act as agent for receiving applications, andadvertisements were inserted in the newspapers of leadingScottish cities. When the officer arrived in Edinburgh, hefound that the number of applications awaiting him ran intothe thousands. The offer of a salary ranging from 50 perannum for inexperienced beginners, to 100 for clerks withsome training, had proved very alluring in a country where thestandardized salary for bank clerks was 20 the first year, 30the second and 40 the third. The applications were subjectedto a process of elimination until the number was reduced to afew hundred of the more promising, and the officer set out for atour of Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Perth, Stirling and Glasgowto interview applicants personally and to enquire into theirThe result was the immediatecapabilities and antecedents.appointment of seventy-five applicants of a most satisfactorycharacter and a steady stream of promising applications untilthe outbreak of the late war. When the news first becameknown, there was some criticism in Canada from the parents of