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In the above pages the writer has attempted to give the principal kinds of records and forms used by the average trust company to record the history of its business in the trust department. There are of course companies undertaking special lines of work which call for varieties of forms not included in the above sketch; and besides forms for such special lines of work, the individual preferences of the officers in different companies add many forms of greater or less utility which from the nature of the case it would be neither possible nor useful to attempt to include here. There is also a class of forms, legal or semi-legal in character, which the trust company uses constantly in its trust department, but

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which it has not seemed best to discuss in the present articles. These include forms of bonds, stock certificates, voting trust certificates, certificates of participation and so forth. The exact form of such documents depends in the first instance upon the particular contract involved, and in the second instance upon the individual views and preferences of the lawyer or lawyers who prepare them. And while there is of course a general similarity in the forms used, the considerations just named result in such differences in details in documents of this character that it would be difficult to fix upon what could be called standard forms.

CHAPTER VIII.

FORMS AND RECORDS FOR THE SAFE DEPOSIT DEPARTMENT.

HE necessary forms and records for the safe deposit department

are comparatively few in number. The business of the department involves the renting of individual safes or boxes, and the caring for packages left for safe-keeping. In theory, the business is simple; but experience demonstrates that complicated situations are apt to arise; and it is important that the few forms needed should be prepared with care, and those affecting the contract into which the company enters should be approved by competent counsel. The Trust Company Section of the American Bankers' Association in 1904, and again in 1905, appointed a special committee to report on various matters affecting the safe deposit department, and including a compilation of forms. The reports of the two committees, bound under one cover, have been issued by the association, and contain valuable information. The forms there given, thirty in number, provide for the needs of the largest companies, but of course include many that are not needed by the safe deposit department of the average trust company. A few of these forms, together with others collected from different sources, are given here.

The identity of prospective customers of this department should be established with care. When the applicant is an entire stranger, some companies send to persons named as references a printed letter reading as follows:

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whose signature is attached, as an honest

has mentioned you as a reference. If you consider and reliable person, will you kindly affix your signature and return to us at your earliest convenience? It is understood and agreed by us that this will in no way make you liable for any damages. Yours very truly,

Sign here
Signature of

Manager.

Whatever the method used for the purpose, the company should satisfy itself that every applicant for a box in the vaults is the person he claims to be. Should he rent a box under an assumed name, in case of his death the company might be put to considerable expense and certainly would be put to some trouble, in determining to whom the box should be surrendered. It is also important that the customers of this department

as of all departments, for that matter-be known to be persons of ordinary honesty; for while every precaution is taken to conduct the business with care, the possible presence in the vaults of a designing and dishonest person involves too much risk for the company.

Assuming a prospective customer of this department to have been identified as a proper person to become a renter of a box in the company's vaults, the first forms needed are the receipts mutually given by the company and by the renter. The company gives a receipt for the payment of the rent of the box, a form of which with stub is shown in Figure 88. Upon the back of this form are printed the rules and regulations of the department, which the renter, by the acceptance of this receipt and by the terms of the receipt which he gives to the company (see Figure 89), agrees to abide by. Some companies prefer not to print the rules and regulations on the back of the receipt, but simply to include in the receipt some such words as these: "Subject to the rules and regulations made by this company." This is intended to include not only the present rules and regulations, but also any that the company may see fit to make in the future.

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Dollars, for rent of a safe in the Vault of this Company,
30
--1902, to

during which term, subject to the rules and regulations endongol hereon, it shall be the property of the lessee.
The ability of the Company, by reason of the letting, is LIMITED to the EXERCISE OF THEIR ACCUSTOMED
DILIGENCE TO PREVENT THE OPENING OF SAID SAFE BY ANY PERSON OTHER THAN THE LESSER OR HIS DULY
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE, AND IS ASSUMED UPON THE EXPRESS AGREEMENT THAT SUCH OPENING SHALL
NOT BE INPERABLE FROM PROOF OF PARTIAL OR TOTAL LO OF THE CONTENTS

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FIG. 88.-RECEIPT FOR SAFE RENT.

When the keys are turned over to the renter, a receipt is taken from him, in which he acknowledges the receipt of the keys and agrees to the rules and regulations of the company. His signature to this receipt also serves as a means of identification in the future. For many obvious reasons, however, this should not be relied upon as the only means of identification; and it is customary to record other information for this purpose. Such information may refer to personal appearance-height, complexion, color of hair and eyes and especially any visible scars or marked peculiarities. In the case of a person who continues to be a customer for a long term of years, however, such information may become a source of confusion, because one's personal appearance may change. Of more value are such facts as the date and place of birth, father's name and mother's maiden name. Many companies also give to each renter a password, although such passwords are rarely used, being easily forgotten, and of doubtful utility. Except in the cases of those who rarely visit their boxes, the attendants soon become familiar with the customers, so that resort to special means of identification is not needed.

It is convenient to have this information recorded in the same place as the signature of the renter, and in the form shown in Figure 89 a eard 6 by 4 inches in size is used for the receipt from the renter and for his description. The card also contains the business address, the home address, the number of safe, the password, the date when rent becomes due, name of person who introduced the renter, and a form for surrender of the safe and keys. It also contains the signatures of the deputies, if any. These cards are filed in alphabetical order, and thus provide an index of the renters of safes.

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Very frequently the renter wishes to appoint some person or persons to be his deputy or deputies to have access to his box. It is convenient to have such appointments on the same card as the signature and description of the renter; and in the system here described the forms for the appointment of deputies, shown in Figure 90, are printed on the back of the card whose face is shown in Figure 89. Some companies have the appointment of deputies, in practically the same wording as shown in the figure, on a separate card which is filed alphabetically after the card which contains the renter's signature. Information for the identification of the deputy should appear on the card which contains his appointment.

Figure 91 shows a form used to revoke a deputy-ship.

Figure 92 shows a safe deposit register in book form. As in the case of the card register, it contains on each sheet the signature and receipt of the renter, his identification, appointment of deputy and final receipt. The book may be either permanently bound or in loose-leaf form. If permanently bound, a separate alphabetical index of renters will be needed.

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January 7, 1906
George Washington

deputy to have access to and control of the con-
now rented by in the vault of
TRUST COMPANY, at all times, with the same
would have if personally present, until this au-
thority is revoked by me in writing to the Company.

power that

Thomas Jefferson
adams

Witnessed by.

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Where two or more persons rent a safe as joint tenants, in place of the form shown in Figure 89 there is used a card form which is identical with it except that the receipt for keys reads as follows:

"We hereby acknowledge to have received from The Blank Trust Company of Buffalo, New York, a receipt for rent of safe No., with rules and regulations of said company. Also — keys of said safe.

And it is hereby understood and agreed as follows: viz.,-Either of us may at any time surrender said safe without the presence of the other. Either of us shall have the power to deputize, in writing, any third party or parties to have access to the said safe, and the signature of only one of us shall be necessary to such deputization. And any such deputy or deputies shall also have full power to surrender said safe at any time. The

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