The record-union., 1897-01-05
Had Not Funds Enough on Hand to Meet
Demands Made Upon Them.
Expected That They Will Soon be Re-
organized and Reopened.
The President of One of the lnstitu-
tiOnS Makes Statement in Which
He Charges That Evil Disposed
Persons MaIiciously Directed the
Attempt to Break the Bank Over
Which He Presided.

Which He Presided.
ST. PAUL. Jan. 4.-The Germania,
Allemannia and West Side Banks, all
doing business as State Banks, to-day
Closed their doors. The failure of the
Bank of Minnesota December I'D
caused unrest in the community, and
depositors withdrew their money from
these banks to such an extent that they
were forced to go to the wall because
they had not .unds enough on hand to
meet the demands made upon them. Any
of the threeA however, is solvent and
they will be re-organized as soon as
the money for that purpose can be put
into use.
The directors Of the Germania met this
afternoon and appointed a committee
on organization. The Germania is
in the hands of P. NJ Kerst as assignee,
and the other two are in the hands of
Bank Examiner Kenyon. A receiver will
be appointed for the Allemannia to-
morrow, and the West Side Bank will
try to make arrangements with it's
creditors and reopen without the inter
vention of a receiver.
The last official statement of the Ger
mania Bank showed total resources of
81 ,625, 16S, $253, ,S41 of this being in the
building and 1915, 420 in loans and dis
counts. Liabilities S1,625, ,76S, includ-
ing 100000 capital stock and $633, ,019
in time certificates of deposits. The de-
posits subject to check are $44 ,551.
The closing of the Germania was in
pursuance of the action of the directors
on Saturday night, who concluded to
protect their depositors by suspending
President Willius prepared a statement
in which he said: LAS soon as the re-
suit of the Presidential election became
known matters began to improve in a
remarkable degree, and there did not
seem to be any doubt on May 1st the
bank would be in so strong and inn
pregnable condition that an assessment
could successfully be made on the stock
This was the condition on the 22d of
December, when the suspension of the
Bank of Minnesota occurred, following
Immediately upon the failure of the Ma
tional Bank of Illinois of Chicago, which
came as Unexpectedly as a stroke of
lightning in midwinter Failures of
other Minnesota banks increased the
panicky feeling, but 1 did not fear any
disastrous outcome until it became ap-
parent that certain eveil disposed per-
sons maliciouSly directed the attempt
toward the Germania Bank, circulating
false and manufactured reports regard
ing it with systematic persistency. I
hnrQd dar- TO- do Lat Lz.
ment would subside and make room for
better judgment. but it grew in inten-
sity. The attack became bolder every
day. After the close of business on
Saturday, the I'd of January, we found
that the withdrawal of deposits had as
sumed such dimensions that we did not
feel justified to continue receiving de-
posits or to pay out money beyond that
day without submitting the condition
of affairs to the directors. Conse-
Quently we called special meeting of
the board on said day at 7:30 .. m We
had paid off nearly $225, 900 deposits
in nine business days, and kept on hand
and in reserve fund $4,000, which
shows the unreasonableness of the at
tack. The directors came Immediately
to the conclusion that the action of the
officers had been correct, and however
deplorable it might be, it became their
duty, for the protection of depositors
and other creditors, to close the doors
and place the assets of the bank in
charge of an assignee"
The Allemannia closed a few min
utes before ii O'Clock, with a crowd of
depositors elamoring at the paying tel
ler's window for their money. President
Scheffer said: Our suspension is due
to the large number of Withdrawals this
morning, and the fact that most of the
new depositors withheld their deposits
The news of the suspension of our
neighbor, the Germania, precipitated
the run here, and of course with all the
deposits being withheld. and the fact
that there was steady withdrawal we
could not stem the tide. When the full
force of the Germania's failure burst
on them the crowd seemed to become
ranic-stricken, and they came down
unon us like wolf on the fold. When
the Bank of Minnesota failed the busi-
moss men fortunately were not dis
turbed. and few were caught. The
feeling of ease returned shortly, and
might have continued had it not beeen
for the failure of the four banks in Min
neapolis. Then the panicky feeling
came back. and was intensified by the
fact that the business men caught It
very badly. The feeling naturally
spread over here, and the people have
not been easy since then. When the
Germania closed its doors this morning
that was the last straw in the case, and
they came down upon Us like herd OF
wolves"
The total resources OF the Allenan-
MIA, according to their report oil the
same day. was S1.06l. .009. including
ST06. $40 of loans and discounts. Liza
bilities also 81 .0G1 .009 including capital
stock of 100000 and deposits OF SoZ9'
7S9.
Speaking of the failure OF the west
Side Bank, President Staples sald.
'.Our suspension was due to the Alie-
MAMMA We did all of our clearing
through the Allemannia, and this morn
ing they failed to cover our cleanngs.
and sent them all back to us. News OF
the suspension of the Germania ana
Allemannia spread through West ST
Paul, and our depositors began scram-