The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-08-22
Funds still in Chanccry.


cry which appears as supplement to
the Lon Ton Ga ;ette viii proyids some
interesting reading and convey Little
Information to that la-ge class of the
community which is constantly expect
;rg to come across some hidden find.
either in forgotten leg icy or in the
still VI ore usual form of surviving nest
If kin, This list appears triennially. IN
&C or,iance with the provision of 1.-The
Court of Chancery funds act of 1874.
and the present issue W II compare
most favorablv with that which pre-
.eded it in ISL, as regard both method
Of Arrangement aud C piousness OF in
formation. Whereas the earlier pub
lication only gave the names. and them
ID the most fraginentary way, without
my attempt at al, ma Ie.ical arrange
ment-reali ing what the french wit
-.id of metaphysics: Lar de s'egarer
acc methode." the present list tells lis
own story in o mole, straightforward
and convenient fashion. The arrange
ment of the names is, in the tirst place,
strictly alphabetical. and, in the second,
the names of all -rarties concerned in
The different plants and cases are given
with cross references. La addition to
shis essential information the year of
opening each account is recorded, while
In another column appears the date of
the latest transaction in each case.
Those who may imagine that they
possess legal calm 10 me of these
dormant funds are thus provided with
= certt n amount of Information in a
highly accessible form. and quite sutfi-
cient in most cases to enable them to
Institute the preliminaries toward es-
tabl shiny their rights. Oue important
item, to which we shall refer later on.
il, indeed, omitted. as the sums of
honey at stake are in no case pub
ltshed but by the nature OF the enact
Iuent the minimum amDun. of the cases
included in the list is TO Ii is also
confined to those funds which have lain
dormant for fifteen years.
Very few persons have any concep-
don of the enormous suns of money
which pass through the hands of tue
paymaster- general IN chant cry. and of
which very considerable proportion
remains Pc manently under his control
through the decease of the parties inn
med ately interested and the absence of
Their next of kin. So far as the Court
of Chancerv was concerned. it could do
nothing toward restoring to their right
full owners those properties Which. from
various causes, had been placed and
ha remained in its Golfers as she i9h-
est repository of abso ute security and
public faith. So long as the actual liti-
giants. trustees, or wards survive there
Is always the guarantee of the eifectual
discharge of an onerous trust. and with
il the comforting on the public Of an
enormous and, in many cases, quite
inestimao Die. obligation. But once q
case Is dormant, from whatever cause,
the court can take no initiative, AMI
the funds or property originally con-
fided to it in trust remain practically
inaccessible to those who wouli be its
| righfh owners. The publication of
these trienn;al Lists is the first step vet
taken iowa ID facilitating the discovery
anu re. overy OF these funds, which rep
resent certain and increas ng per
centage of the chancery returns. those
returns show a steady and cont nual
] growth. and although there are no
| published data to reveal the exact
amount of dormant funds, there is no
doubt that it swells in proportion to the
total payments into the chancery eX-
| chnguer The latest official returns of
chNucery payments and receipts show
| tns., whereas in February. 1913, there
was a balance in hand of Eos. 800, al.
| thu. sum hal risen at the end OF / eb-
rdses. 1855. in the course Of ten years,
to III. 69S, 16y (say, SJSs, I65, 900 rep
resant.ug an increase of more than
.I3,oN, go in that portion of the Ma
tional cap tai which. if not absolutely
untructifying, is still imperative for
private or public advantage. Uf these
ti2.0OO,O 90 a certain per centage will
remain dormant forever. while of the
whole Ell. 900. 900 that were on balance
in the early part of last year. not far
short of tl,aS,0J0 comes under the
category of. and is included in, the
present list-that is to say, each sep
arate case relates to sum of more than
l5o which has lam dormant for the
space of fifteen years
On the occasion of a debate in tn.
House of Commons on the same sub
iecs two wears ago We pointed out how
u'sotdUlc IL "as tuae OIL INC iitoh h.As'OH
should be given that would enable $
suitor to read over the list himself anG
either discover what he looked fol-
or become disillusoned of the idea of q
baseless claim. Tn. present list, witt
its well-ordered arrang meut OF more
than six thousand names, taken from
all ranks of life. is an immense i'm
pro cement on its predecessor, and, un
like those which have preceded it.
seeras to betoken desire on the par,
to facilitate the discovery of forgotten
rights. and to discharge to the fulles
extent the trust originally reposed ii
il. But it is still deficient in as m,
still consider-its most important item
No amounts are published, although
the Attorney General promised Mr.
Stanley Leighton last year that the sun
standing to the redit of each SUI
should be included in the future lists
The reader is conse iuentty left in ignor
ance of the amount involved in eacl
case. and may institute p sceedings o
fee q solicitor core he knows whethe
1.-The game is worth the candle. W er
information can be so easily supplied
is unnecessary to withhold II. for tn
contention that there is danger in n
fullest publicity will no. stand the leas
er teal examination. The respoCsI
bility of protecting these funds agains
the advances of impropec applicant
and. a they ale professionally called