The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-10-09
Ghe 9emorrat,
Oooke's Bank at washington.

LANAI NAO - 80
National Bank at Washington, which was
the peculiar pet of the President and the
Administration generally, exceeds in enor-
nifty that of all others, and stands excep-
tional in its barefaced yillany. This cri-
sis has not developed thus far any paral-
lei to it.
On the day of the explosion that bank
was opened a. usual. and continued 50 I'M
til noon. There was no run upon 1t, no
sudden demand of any kind, and no crowd
whatever. While all was apparently still
without a rush, or the least indication OF a
pressure by depositors or creditors, the
doors were suddenly closed. No warning
was given, and a notice was posted up Of
suspension. That was followed by prom
ises through the Ring organs ofimmediate
resumption, and a prompt statement ofthe
condition of the bank. Neither have been
fulfilled. Like all the other promises OF
Gov. Cooke, they were Wilful f~alsehoods,
invented to deceive. -. d.
He knew perfectly well hat the whole
concern was rotten to the core. He knew
it when he went to Long Branch to APP
point his confederate Shepherd as Cover
nor, and he knew it when his brother en-
tertained the President as his guest the
very night before the smash. Now what
became of the money which credulOus and
confding depositors placed in the First
National, tempted by exorbitant rates Of
interest which no honest bank couldSor
would pay?
1t is pretty well ascertained that when
that thieving concern closed up there was
not much moro han ten or twenty thosand
dollars in the vaults. The tiIis had been
emptied days before, and the contents car
ried to Philadelphia to prop up another
rotten bank there, in the desperate hope
of weatheriag the storm which had been
created by these worthless shaving shops.
In plain terms, for there is no use of DIS
gulsing the fact. the money of the people
of Washington was literally stolen from
the place where it was deposited In good
faith and transported to a distant city, to
be used or appropriated there for other and
wholly different purposes.
If Cooke had entered the residences of
his victims, opened their desks or drawers,
and taken off the bank bills which he found
In them, the crime would not haYe been as
great as that which he p~erpetrated. In
that case he would only have been an ex-
pert thief; bat In this case he received the
deposits with a certain pledge of honor,
fortified by his professions of religion and
membership with the Young Mems Chris
tian Association, and he stole them DELHI
erately, knowing that they could never be
returned.
And yet 80 far as the banking law is
concerned there is no punishment for an
offence like this. A banker may rob his
clients at ease, pocket every dollar entrust-
ed to him as deposits, violate even the most
sacred confidence, and yet escape the pen
itentiary, to which a starving wretch who
might steal q loaf of bread or a pound Of
meat would be sent for years. Surely this
is not right. There must be no discrimi-
nation among rogues. If anybody Is to be
punished severely, let it be him who offends
against the community, sets a pernicious
example, and becomes q dangerous mem
Der OF society by the influence Of supposed
wealth.
There Is q general belief that the
Cookies are to be screened from exposure
and protected against the penalties which
they have incurred by the influence of the
President. An additional reason for this
protection perhaps exists in the fact that
a thorough Interrogation would disclose
the extent and origin of a system of ia
.voritism by which the public money has
been diverted from the Treasury into their
vaults, and used as private capital for the
widest speculation.
II, as Is alleged upon responsible author
ity, the Secretary of the Treasury allowed
the First National Bank at Washington to
draw $lS7, DOC, without any security what
ever, against the remonstrance of the
Treasurer of the United States, aud in the
face of the last bank examination showing
its worthless condition, then, indeed, nc
man car put . limit upon the gross par
tiality which may have been extended to
this bankrupt concern and its branches
No faith can be reposed in q public officer
who, for partisan, personal or private rea-
sens, thus shamefully botrays his trust.
Whether Mr.. Richardson has covered up
h;s tracks or not In this business it must
he investigated as soon As Congress comes
tooether. in order that the country may
see the completely of the Treasury with
desperate spectators who use the peoples
money to float bubbles ON the market, ana
end by d~efrauding poor widows and or
phans out of their hard savings. If the
Secretary OF the Treasury hss offended
against the Sub-Treasury law he must be
prosecuted, even if the President should
retain him in Office after committing such
a crime.
This thing has gone far enough. Let
those IN Office beware how they trltle with
the patience Of q people who, after beng
outraged, are now robbed. There has been
more than enough of corruption and fraud
under the protecting shadow of the White
House and the venal crew that surround
it. The time mas ecme to cry cut halt
and if the courts at Washington are the
bribed or pensioned tools of this ring of
thieves, there is behind them a power
which, once reused, will make the Presi-
dent, his Cabinet, and their whole tribe Of
official mIniops QUAIL with the fear Of its
wrath.-M y. Sun. -