St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-08
New York Letter.

~ S@D OtCI
the conviction OF
George Hamilton
Pell, the alleged bank wrecker The
bank president in que stion was not sur
prised at>PelpS conviction. He said it
should have come sooner. He remarked
that the operations of Pell and his as
Sociates had been known to good
many bank officials before the truth
came out. 1t wasn't suspected, of
course, that wrecking was in progress,
but the scheme of check kiting was
familiar. When three or four bank
presidents who are intimate get
together they apt to COM
pare notes. They ask each other
questions as to the precautions that are
taken III their several institutions, and
as TO the lodges that are played, or at
tempted to be played, upon them. Last
December and January, the gentleman
with whom the writer was cOnverSing
had heard of the way in which checks
were flying around, and of offers for
bank stock that were reputed to have
been made by the ambitious, but reck-
less, financiers. 1t was at this point. in
reply to question, that the president
made the rather startling statement at
the head of this article.
81 repeat" he said, "that there is
not bank in this country that cannot
be safely and successfully robbed. 1t
can be done in one way in spite of all
precautions. The individual bOOkkeep-
er is the man who can do the work if
he chooses. 1t is my belief that in all
the current cases where check BlterS
and check jugg;ers get in Oh a bank.
they are in collision with some Of the
bookkeepers.
False Entries Can Be Made
and entries can be withheld, and it is
almost impossible to discover it. If the
bookkeeper Is In collision with de-
positor, the game is easy. 1t is only
necessary for the boolkeeper to keep
the individual account of the depositor.
When checks are presented and PAID,
the cancelled check goes to the book
keeper who has the alphabetical list
under which the depoSitor'S name
comes. He needn't enter it up. and
| when he balances the book, there need
| be 10 note of it. 1t isn't returned as a
| voucher, and the bank book shows more
| of balance than there is or should be.
| If the depoSitor understands the game
| and is dividing the SpoilS with the book
| keeper, the scheme could be kept up a
| good while. Accounts would, appar-
emily, be square all the time. No bank
| examiner could find any discrepancy.
| He doesn't know the names of the de-
! positorS. and he doesn't see the checks
| they draw against or Deposit
efforts are made TO prevent such a
| contingency" continued the banker.
| eve have as good a system as any in
our bank. Every time the teller takes
check and casheS it he writes the
amount and the patrons name On slip
| of paper. Then he turns over the check,
after it has been Cancelled, to the book
keeper to whom it belongs. Every
night the slips are read and the CORE
| spending check must reproduced by the
bookkeeper. This is good so far as 1T
goes, and [ know no better. But in
order to carry on the robbery referred
to, it is only necessary that the book
| keeper and the teller, or assistant, be
| fellow-conspirators. 1t increases the
risk. because the number of robbers is
| doubled, but that is all. We have never
! suffered that we know of, and under
this system don't think we will. Yet,
| at the same time, | couldn't swear that
| we hadn't been robbed or were not be-
| ing robbed to-day. | have the utmost
| confidence in our clerks, but
The Most Successful Embezzlers
are those the bank had the most con-
fidence IN. Where this slip system is
not in vogue nobody knows what has
happened. The very recent case of the
| Second National Bank of Jersey City
! proves that. A boolkeeper, trusted for
mrny years, was finally caught working
with an outside friend of his. An ex-
animation of the books revealed moth
fnr oh
there wasn't enough to convict the fell
low. 1t was ouly because an old chum
got scared and turned states evidence
that the testimony came out showing
that the bank had been robbed for years
by the individual bookkeeper in
collision with a number of Gus
toners. The swindle amounted
to $4,000, so far as the
testimony. was obtained. but it may
have been $50, 900 to $4,000. The books
have nothing to say. There may be
guilty customers who kept clear of de-
lection, and consequently were not
sworn, and they may have sWelled the
amount of the theft thousands of dol
lars. This is only one case, and the sur
prise of the president of that bank is a
surprise that almost any of us might
have suddenly thrust upon u.s."
mo, sir, SAID The president IN con-
clusion, there has no way yet been
discovered of preventing bank robbing
absolutely. There are more methods of
wrecking banks than those employed by
Classen and Pell. The WORST wrecker
may be the sedate, quiet, courteous old
bookkeeper, whom everybody loves and
the officials all trust"
All this shows that financiering is not
yet fully developed.