The Red Cloud chief., 1881-08-25
MONTH THE THIRD-AuGUsr.
THE BOSTON LADIES' Deposit.

soH tCol.j Acrs.
THE BOSTON LADIES' Deposit.
The trick. il is 10 be noted, is not a
new one, but has been played success
fully at least once with the past TWEEN
ty-five years in each of the countries of
France, Italy and Bavaria. Its latest
European form, the '.Dachau Bank OF
an ex-actress. Adele Spitzcder, which was
operated in Munich from 1869 TO 1872,
and by which the Bavarians were cheat
ed ont OF millions of dollars, is inlrin-
sically the most interesting of these
swindles. and is specially 80 to Us be
cause il had so many points in commOn
with the Laiies' Deposit of Boston. No
one. indeed, who has studied tie stories
OF the two together can doubt that in
some way or other. directly or Indirect
ly, Fraulein Spitzeder's plan was
the inspiration and model of
Mrs. Howe's. Both opened banks
of deposit. promised preposterons
returns of interest, and success
fully invited loans of money from
the public. Neither had any pccuaiary
capital, or offered any security. the sole
and sufficient reliance of earh being
nron her own im~pudeEce and the com
bined cupidity and credulity of her Gus
toners. Zach made friends by play
ing the LADY Eountiful upon occasion,
had a mixed party OF gulls and knaves
committed to her cause, drew herself
out OF poverty and into luxurious com
fort by means of her bank, ended her
career in PRISON, and left assets enough
behind her to pay her creditors a divi-
dend OF about ave per cent. the alb
solute essentials TO long-continued sue
cess, as each. swindler knew, were TIE
prompt payment of the ridiculous rate
of stipulated interest. and the prompt
punishment in a depositor of any want
of faith by a return of her principal and
a haug hty refusal eve To resume bust
ness relations with her. This latter
operation. a very shrewd kind of moral
'.bulldoz n.y." Mrs Howe and her assist
ants used to perform magniticently and
with great effect. Each counted with
certainty upon 4 very rare Withdrawal
of principal, so long as the eXtraordi
nary interest WAS paid and the custom
ers confidence was mistaken. Many
persons-and the writer admits TO be-
ing one-at- iirst found n little difficulty
in understanding how such a concern
could pay twenty-iOur per cent. Il month
quarterly i'm advance. ever for Il couple
of years, without investing its funds or
receiving help from without. But the
explanation is really quite simple: when
once The popular faith begins 10 be eS-
tablished in such a bank, the principal
flows in for some time in an ever-in-
creasing stream, and Tor quite a long PIE
riOd there Is more than enough money
always on hand To meet the current de-
mand for interest, and leave the oper-
ator a handsome margin for silks. Jew
elrs, hot house flowers, and all other
proper living expenses although. OF
course, at every moment the concern is
in fact utterly inSolvent. In the case
Of the Ladies Deposit some OF the Zig
ures already given illustrate this well
enough; the number of depositors i'm
1880 was live times As great rs in 1879.
and the receipts from the first quarter
of the former year were therefore far
more than enough by themselves 10
meet all the demands for interest then
accruing on deposits of 1879, to TAX
care of the usual small withdrawal of
principal, and TO give Mrs. Howe and
her friends everything they needed for
their comfort. To keep such a concern
alive there must be n like increase OF
deposits upon a geometric ratio all the
time. and such a ate of advance annDt
possibly be mainta ned for MANY years.
The longer the thing lasts the wider is
the circle of its final disaster and inius-
tice, and the duty, therefore. ofevcry hon
est man, whatever the duty of honest
woman may be, is to destroy such an
enterprise as soon as Ill is unearthed.
Mrs. Howe quite surpassed Miss Spitz
eder in scrupulous Obed ence To the
spirit of their common scheme. The
latter sometimes though rarely, TO be
sure-mrde investments of her depos-
tied funds; the former V did such Il
thing, excepting one when she lent a
few hundred dollars to a furniture
dealer: and her Ladies DEPOSIT had not
a single cent of "~income,' in the
bankers sense of the word. Mrs.
Howe, in fact. carried on her business
in all its branches with appropriately
Spart n simplicity. She took her de-
~positors' money; keptit in the drawers
of a chifoniere in the business parlor by
day, as Mrs. Gould has often said,
carried it off in baskets at night, and
put it somewhere-probably under
her bed-for safe keeping; paid
out interest and principal from it
when there were calls for such
disbursements: bought her W house
and land and furniture and fixtures with
it; and always treated it entirely as her
own-which, indeed. in an important
sense, it was. For this sort of banking
none of the frippery of modern mascu-
line bookkeeping was neeced. and none
was used; the accounts of a Fiji Island
tish-dealer could not have been kept
more simply than those of Mrs. Howe.
the DO ston Financial agent, and Miss
Crandall, who testified in court thatshe
did not know the difference between a
day-book and a ledger, was the very
woman to serve as her chief clerk. In
audacity the German operator some
what surpassed her American imitator.
but in cunning the latter absolutely eX-
celled. Mrs. Howe-or whoever eiabor-
ua.ed the original conception of her
k-recognized the decided SUPER
sensibility and lnquisl-
the average Bostoni-
be average Bavarlan,
tions were conducted, |
with an almost eX-
neir of reserve and
he management
aagic upon
neducat-
mt to