The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-09-23


It's Shares-Its Expenses Are Relatively
Light-It Has Invested More Money in
Maine than 1t Has Taken Out-Tbe
Guarantee Fund Is Sufficient-Charge
that Commissioner yVhitten Has Misled
the Governor and Council.
To the Editor of the Press:
Manchester, n. H., September S1, 1895.
In your issue of September Goth, I
notice the full text of the2 report of ex
Bank Examiner Whitten of Maine, which
is so unfair, unjust, and in many instan-
ces untrue, that for the benefit of our
members in Maine, and fol. the public
generally, I have concluded to answer it.
1st-Mr. Whitton gives the statment of
the Association as of June 1st; then he
states that he has deducted 1895 from
stock loans, Sc, 325 from accounts receiv-
able, and $8, 725 from stocks and bonds.
These amounts were agreed upon to be
charged off between the commissioners
and the Association at a meeting of the
directors and these and all other amounts
which were considered to be loss were
charged off. OF the accrued interest
and :. premium, objection was made by
the association to the chargingloff of
this item for the reason that the supposed
loss on real estate and possible foreclos-
ures had already been discounted, and
any arrearage of premium of over years
standing would of course be upon mort
cages in.process of foreclosure, and there
fore a part of the-assets, (Which had al
ready been scaled. Mr. Whitten then
states that the Association had S123, 75O
in process Of foreclosure, and S91, 153. 46
of real estate; he then claims that an
examination of real estate and loans in
foreclosure in various places resulted
in the appraisers showing that property.
the book
VALUE OF WHICH WAS SSs, 700
was only estimated by them to be worth
s68, 750. If this is a part ofBthe real
estate-and I know most of it is by the
location of the property as given by him
lit had already been scaled by the Asso-
citation, the bank examiners had been SO
informed, EandEin their preliminary state
ment it SO appears-that the association
only showed on it's books real estate as
of that time at ss8, ,725. IS. Therefore the
real estate on the books Of the Associa-
uion shows 81, 427. 81 less than it appears
in Mr.. Whitten's statement, and as this
amount was egrsed upon and charged
off in his presence, there is no excuse
for him to make the mistake of includ-
ing this in his real estate account at the
late date of September 1st, at which date
he apparently wrote his report.
The mortgages in process of foreclos-
ure. theCommfssioners thought should be
scaled about $4,000, but the Association
objected to the.scaling of both the, face of
the mortgages and the arrearage of in
terest and premium as this made
double scaling on the property. Whereas,
the experience of the Association clearly
shows that after foreclosure loans had
been reduced to real estate, and.a ar
rearages of premium, costs OF foreclos-
ure,E expenses of alteration, ETC., added,
in times like the country. has been 60
ing through for the past two or three
years, it does not warrant scaling OF
more than nine per cent, or a less amount
of scaling than the overdue interest, leav-.
ing the principal more than intact, and
allowing the Association to cover it's
costs besides
Mr.. Whitten then says that "To the
liabilities as carried by the association
1 haveFadded the following items:
1st-$12, 500 estimated dividends. The.
dividends did not amount to this sum,
but as Mr.. Whitten admits
IT is ONLY AN ESTIMATE
we will lot that pass.
2nd-Mr. Whitten says that the Associ-
alton has5paid out on certain shares with
drawn $15 600 in excess of the book value,
which he knew was owing to the change
in the plan of the Association necessitat-
ed by tine making of large deposits-$67,-
600 in Maine, 500, 900 in New York, $780,,
900 in New Jersey, ,etc.-for the protection
of the members. He states "This s15, 900
is a liability To whom? If the with
drawing members obtained this money
wrongfully they would be liable for the
payment of it back; therefore it would
be an asset of the Association, If there
was an opportunity of colleotingit, and
not liability OF the Association to pay
it'over again.
3rd-Mr. Whitten states that there are
outstanding certificates with the same
agreement, and that he has carried the
sum of sis. 900 upon those certificates as
liability. The officers of the Associa-
ton informed Mr. Whitten that while
there was very little chance Of this ever
becoming liability in reality, still they
had no objection to having it carried out
as such.
4th-The question of gross premium, of
which Mr. Whitten carried $55, 900 as
liability on account of its being an un-
earned premium, so called-Under the
contracts Of the Association this is as
much part of the surplusEas any item
could be. The Association admits it is
NOT A PART OF THE SURPLUS
to be paid out in dividends at this time,
but it must necessarily be used in ma
turing the shares. Therefore this item
carried as an arbitrary liza
bility. If he calls it unearned premium,
surplus, profits, or anything else, it
amounts to- the same thing. 1t belongs
to the members and must be used in
m maturing their shares.
5th-Mr Whitten then puts in the
Permanent Guaranty Shareholders Fund
as a liability of $780, 900, and winds up
with an apparent deficit of s13, o29 12.
How can he possibly, on his own show
ing, obtain deficit of S13, 029 10 when
the very conditions of the Permanent