Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

232 HISTORY OF THE BANKSome years previously the bank, in order to cope with oneof the problems brought into being by its rapid growth,had decided to establish a subsidiary company, owned andcontrolled by itself, to erect and own many of its branchbuildings. The reasons underlying this decision were explainedat length by the president, the Hon. George A. Cox, at theannual meeting held in 1907. Only brief mention need bemade of them here. While it had long been recognized thatin the larger cities it was wise for the bank to have buildingsin keeping with its standing, which could only be done byowning them, the problem of obtaining suitable housing forthe bank at country points was exceedingly difficult. Inaddition, it had been found that desirable living accommodationfor the officers was hard to obtain at country points, and thepolicy was adopted of seeking to provide the staff with apartmentsover the bank. This could rarely be done in rentedbuildings, and it became necessary to undertake buildingoperations on an extensive scale. It was felt that the annualoutlay for this purpose must necessarily be larger than theshareholders could reasonably be expected to provide whollyout of the earnings of each year, and in order to take care ofit, and to have all building operations conducted under anefficient organization, the Dominion Realty Company, Limited,had been formed. Its shares were owned entirely by the bank,the cost thereof being written off each year, and the Companyobtained the balance of the moneys required for its operationsby the sale of its bonds in the open market, the rentals of thebuildings being more than sufficient to pay the bond interestand to retire the issues at maturity. 1Among the events of 1906 was one which caused asensation in Canadian financial circles. This was the failureof the Ontario Bank, a long-established institution, with itshead office in Toronto and many branches scattered throughthe province from which it derived its name. At the time ofthe failure the assets of the bank amounted to $16,000,000.See Appendix IV, p. 486.