The Red Cloud chief., 1881-12-29

Assthes Ssrprise.
The gres. hank d~efaieasioa ia xeS-
ark. n. j.. r. another illustration OF the
utterly unbgssness-hke MAYS Of business
men. An old and prosperous ban king
institution has been ruined by uss ssan-
donmcnt Of their duties by Tire DIRECTORS
Of the bank. Tie theory o! The man.
agemeni Of q sound hank j. fhat the
Directors know something ~ the Affairs
and accounts Of the institution With
whose management they are intristei
Now and again. like a~thuaderssyii frvm
. clear sky, comes the explosion 81 =
bank Then j; appears that the bsree-
tors had no real knoxledge OF shas was
being done with the funds Of the con-
cern and with the money II the deDos-
itors- Their apparent knowiedge sas
derived from one OF the under officers
or employees OF the hank. The Direc-
tors implicitly trusted che man-pcr-
haps two men-with The managsmeat.
which. in theory, was wholly in IA
own hands In such caseA no allow
ance is made for deception OF disson-
es;y. none Tor errors In this yzy The
Bulls Head Bank was brought ~ IGI
some years since. Aud in this YsY.
business men 10 on ~neSlectins their du-
ties. secure in the belief that Jcir con
Germ. nj least, is far above all human
wickedness and accidents. only To be
astounded when their mistake is dis
covered.
The ruin OF the Mechanics National
Bank of Newark is. possibly. n little
more complete in its war. and the lin
plicit confidence" CT the directors in
the Cashier a little more obvi-
ously bottomlcss fhsn usual I;
otherwise, tho ease Is not unique.
The Cashier Was the cause of the ruin.
a. other Cash'ersS endowed with fun
powers and unchecked by my Directors.
have been. from time immemortal. Per
haps the apparent strength Of the bank.
the bgness OF the theft. and the spot.
less Character Of ihe thief constitute un-
usual features of tbs latest ~defalcation.
But il need not be expected that any OF
these things VIII rouse an body tO new
vigilance. or will remind anybody that
the duties they are shirSing as Trns ees
or Directors ought not To be any longer
delegated TO another person. These
things are constantly happening. The
newspapers take up the obvious lesson
and read q wholesome lecture TO the
men who take so nnch pride in what
they call their business me hods,'
Then matters move on as before. IL
does not appear whether anybody has
profited BY the exposure of the humhug
of the aforesaid business methods"
The Newark defaplters method was
simple. He was the Cashier of n strong
and popular bank. There was a paid
up capital Of $500. 600, n surplus o.
$500. 900. undivided profits OF moro
than sos. 600, and heavy depositors In
plenty. The concern Kept a deposit
account in ttis city. the balance TO It's
cred being sometimes ~ much rs 81
5000 Baldwin, the Cashier. wa 81
lowed 10 draw on that balance when
cver he chose. Nobody connected With
this admirably managed Newark bank,
but Baldwin. knew the condition Of the
balance to the banks credit in the
New York institution. If anybody aver
had any curiosity about the matter.
he asked Baldwin. and this excellent
and highly respectable Cashier gave
such answer rs suited his plans And
all the while, the Cashier was checking
out of the New YORK baik the balance
of the Newark bank and usiG-jt for his
own purposes. While he was reporting
to the amiable Directors OF the Newark
concern that q million and n half Of
money was on deposit TO their credit.
he was tampering with that ceouat.
Finally. when he had muddfrd away
the handsome sum OF 81. 900. 90 or so.
and there was n deficiency OF 100000
where there should have been q ~
plus of 81. SOC. 900. the explosion anne.
The Directors of the bank-good easy
souls-had known Baldwin ever since
he was n boy. They repeat, with GER
tain p~laintiveness. that they had inn
plicit confidence in him: as if he WAS
very much to b'ame for their Implicit
confidence. and as if thev arc wholly.
eNonerated from responsibility because
they have been deceived. So Baldwin
went on with his game. using the de-
posters money for pur oSes which he
has Sc: forth. There does not seems
TO be much TO add 10 this sad and
~disgraceful story. The sum and SUBJ
stance of the matter is that certain re-
putable citizens built up a b1nk, at
tracted the deposits OF many people,
poor and rich. and then left the man
agement of the handsome accumula-
lions. to all intents and purposes. in the
hands of one man. Snccumbing To
temptation, this man has betrayed his
trust and hrs Incorporated tho
ev. And vet. the Directors of the bank
are shrewd business men.-E. T.9Tsnts.