The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-02-02
THE SAVINGS BANKS.
Continued from First Page.

Continued from First Page.
land on Saturday and had formed himself
into a smelling committee. lie mad
learned that Col. Fred Dow and perhaps
Gen. Neal Dow were interested IN the
Express, but he believed they had not
seen that editorial until it was published.
From his friend Mr.. Laughlin, the bust
ness manager, he failed to learn who
wrote it.
Mr.. Drisko spoke in detail of some of
the statements in the editorial which he
said virtually accused Maine savings
bank trustees of wrong doing. CONTINUE
ing, he asked who it was that was SO anx-
ious that this bill should be passed. He
would tell later the name of the man
whom he was informed was behind it.
The gentleman in question had examined
his bank and put his legs under his pine
table. Mr.. Heath was a good fellow. He
had taught school in East Machias and
had found il wife in that vicinity and the
people there liked him and were glad of
it, but Mr.. Heath was prominent law
yer and did not work for nothing. Who
was it who had prompted these great eff
forts for this bill?
Suppose
They Call Him Fred e. Richards.
If Mr.. Drisko was not right he hoped
t!'at he might promptly be corrected.
My was it that Portland brokers and
vision money lenders had been in
Nt5e "a to interest themselves here? Why
Mas it that the Express, with the editor
ial to which he referred marked, had
been sent here and for all he knew scat
tered broae cast over the state.
Continuing, Mr.. Drisko spoke of the
success of his bank at Machias and de-
precated the proposed change in the
laws.
Hon. Chas e. Littlefield
of Rockland, said he represented some of
the most active of the business men of
his section who believed in the bill. He
said he should not speak of the strange
condition presented when the savings
banks of Maine had $50, 000,0 900 to lend
and people of Maine wanted to borrow
SlOO,000,000, and yet the banks lent half
their money outside the state and people
of Maine went outside to borrow. Mr..
Littlefield devoted his time to arguing
that the measure would make the condi-
ton of the depositOrs safer. He referred
to the limitations imposed by the legisla-
ture between 1871 and the time several
years later when five Maine banks failed.
Of these banks, the Lewiston Institutions
for Savings had assets of $3.50, 733. A and
paid rs cents on a dollar The other
four banks together had assets of $780,
100. Every single security held by the
Lewiston concern which defaulted was
an outside investment. These invest
ments aggregated about 100000. Mr..
Littlefield claimed that the banks of
Maine now had larger proportion of
outside investments than then.
Mr.. Littlefeld referred to the remarks
of MI. E. P. Burnham of the Biddeford
and Saco Savings Institution made last
evening. He said that Mr.. Burnham
was a capable and energetic man. He
was a veteran of 40 years service
vet in 1875, when Maine banks were in
trouble, his bank, with assets of 81, 419,-
214. 9S, held securities outside the state
on which interest was defaulted or divi-
dends passed as follows: Eastern rail
road stock, $4,000; Portsmouth, Great
Falls & Conway; Michigan Central, $42,-
500; and Western railroad bonds suffi-
cient to bring up the total to $139, los.
The bank was one which was able to
withstand the shock, but these figures
showed that they had then some unfor-
tunate investments, while no Maine Sc
curity held by that bank at that time
failed to pay Today this same bank has
public funds in Maine of $4,000; out
side Maine, 1910, 900; railroad bonds and
stocks in Maine, $346, 700; outside,
about S1,342, 900. Mr.. Littlefeld
said he did not want to be understood as
ksaying that these banks were likely to
fail. He simply wanted to call attention
to their holding of securities of kind
which in the time of trouble had not
been good. Mr.. Littlefield did. not care
to discuss the connection of Hon. Fred
E. Richards with this bill whatever that
might be. He did, however, claim that
passages in Mr.. Richards's report as
bank examiner for 1886, were in line
with the bill, notably that recommend
ing limitations in what the report terms
investments in miscellaneous bonds.
Following this line of argument, Mr..
Littlefield spoke for about an hour. At
the conclusion of his argument, he said
in reply to Senator Swanton that he
would furnish the committee a state
ment who his clients were. He could
not say that they were actuated by fears
as to the safety Of deposits in the banks.
The line of argument he had followed
had been suggested by him.
Mr. Drisko, in reference to Mr.. Littless
fields remarks as to losses by foreign
investments, mentioned losses sustained
by his bank on
European and North American
stock, and by the defalcations in the
First National Bank, Portland, and the
manipulations Of Cashier Percival in Au-
burn.
IF. e. Undertake, ESD,
of Phillips, favored the bill. He pointed
out that it would decrease the tax of the
poorer banks and argued that the induce
ment offered by it to home investments
would be of benefit to the state.
Hon. o. d. Baker.
Then the crmmittee went home to sup
ner and took I'D the question again at the