New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-07

~rroDTs MADE BY SOME OF THE BANKS
r,xn THE OWNERS OF SUCH ACCOUNTS
..ocERArED IDEAS OF THE AMOUNT
OF UNCLAIMED DEPOSITS.
,o, belief that large sums of money have
I"r,a.od In the savings banks because people
sfc",, sd or forgotten that they opened accounts
S'..oved 10 some distant part Of the country. or
Or REM other reason have failed TO draw out
fcr SIS due them is said by officers OF these
wns' =. no without foundation. They admit. Of
nam that there are large number of so-calleC
eo".s accounts" but, so far from rejoicing In
% ho,,rse they add somewhat 10 the big sur
tr" :, which savings bank officials point with
pUss ,pcv declare that they would be glad TO he
~ ,hcr' and. in fact. some Of the banks In
10 c,,v make special efforts to hunt up the nesl
u"' 5anositors of long ago and induce them
&C.. IN close IN their accounts or TO take such
e., as will remove them from the dormant
tsss ,., =, ,,., 49, ,,,
r,rc a small sum. The addition OF the interest.
~. q II is written in the depositor book every
~" ~ every six months is not enough. at least
,,A large banks. where. naturally. the largest
- NJ dormant accounts are to he looked for.
r,la &c that interest ceases after twenty years.
- and under the present law an account is not
- as dormant until it has been left undisturoed
-, ,uarty-tWo years. There was good reason
a. swing what AT first seems like purely aro-
J" limitation. for II often happens that parents
, denosits for the benefit of recently born
l mac, with the purpose of letting the money lie
u. bank and accumulate until the children be-
-. NJ age The law requires that the names or
:, senositors whose accounts have renamed I'M
ohsd for twenty-five years shall be reported
Ir N the Ranking Department. hut the amounts
-! M, given in these reports, az that Information
80 enable plausible basis for false claims 10
,,,,1o u-Np
- large enough to make it worth while.
POLICY OF THE BOWERY BANK
-.o poverv Savings Bank has been more dill
,, than any other in this city in seeking Tor inc
rsrs Of dormant accounts. and has greatly re-
- tho amount Of such accounts carried on It's
&c This policy was started about ten years
,o and on January there were only 4so dormant
s.o,nts amounting 10 s72500, while the oank mas
.h,p 1900 depositors, TO whom II owes the
ro6igious sum of SIS 100000 When the president OF
..,s hank John p. Townsend, was asked about
chs methods employed IN looking UP people Win
outstanding accounts. he replied;
o. va do not care to tell what methods we
,sra for il we did it might open the way LOT
-. making Of false claims for money deposited IN
,ts hank II Is sufficient that we nave oeeh SUI
r.sf,l IN many cases. and have reduced our oor
mani accounts to the lowest point 'hey hdNo
,,o,bed since we kept a record of them. our per
q. any other large savings bank 90 not Aiio"
:. .rv other in the city that has undertaken 10
m what we have done, although the impression
rrarv people have that savings banks IKE 10 nav
&c many accounts OF this kind as theF can &C.
"a a mistaken one What savings oanks wan Is
,ro accounts rather than dead ones. NOW II the
MI rroyiding for the publication Of the de'a's o'
~ .ocounts that have been lying idle Tor speci-
GA number Of wears should become law we
,,u,d ma ke AZ additional effort ana prooaoF SUI
reed IN finding A good many more OF the ~ persons
whose accounts have neither been acded 10 hui
taken from for twenty-five years
Have YOU ever had any trouble with persons
opening accounts under Hc"'io"N MUM
Townsend was asked.
"Srch cases are very rare" he replied, so far as
This bank is concerned. I only recall one now. 1t
was that of a man in business over toward the East
River who was afraid Of his creditors ana openeo
an account in the name of his SON. Afterwaro ne
tried 10 draw out the money under MS own NAME
and had a good deal Of trouble to get it. Finally ne
Rad TO give the bank bond 10 insure IL against
,,s,- The relation between savings bank ana lts
t,4ostors is confidential one. and If any one asks
" if some one else has account here, we refuse
" answer and we will only give the information OH
an order Of court. Sometimes we are asked IL
money mt in our bank can be attached. In such
case our answer is: If you have money that ne
longs to some one else, we don't want to nave any
hing to do with it, and we refuse to open an ac-
count.
As for dormant accounts again, IL is very rarely
that people who have put money in bank forget
sbout IL and if they die it is almost certain that
,heir passbooks will come to light Such books are
we'll cared for as a rule and kept in a safe place
Sometimes they are kept in stove. when may h0t
Trove as safe the owner of the book
; hought There such case here three
days ago. man came in Win ms ooon
completely IG which Cfaraeq fire Was rarely built and it
zen a victim 10 the flames. There WAS enough of IT
ihe number was decipherable The man got new
book OF course, but not with the old number
MIGRANT BANK DOESN'T WANT THEM
At the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, in
Chambers-st. President Mcmahon confirmed the
statement Of Mr.. Townsend as 10 the exaggerated
.iea Of the extent OF the dormant accounts but
said that no special steps had been taken by his
hank 10 find the owners OF such deposits. The
number of them changing from year 10 year.
and the record book containing them showed on
page after page that accounts had been either re-
opened or paid The Official statistics made for the
Constitutional Convention in 1891 showed That at
accounts with a total OF $50 900 while there were
amounting 10 81, 4i$.sOS o.
one OF Mr.. McAlahon's subordina,es in the bank
mant accounts and tod the history of some Of
them. only the other day, said ne. "a man came
ago He knew MS money was here. and knew it was
safe There was not the, slightest, difficulty in
priest who opened an account in 1854. not long
after the bank was started. and who moved to the
northern part OF the State and never VISITED the
bank again. After his death the money was claimed
by his executors and paid 10 them. Here is a
record Of three accounts opened ny We'll known
man for mis- children man We all know 10 be very
much alive. They remained untouched for "A long
tine and finally were transferred 10 the dormant
class They remained ia il for more than year.
when they were all reopened as you see py the mem
orandum There are some accounts which We 90
not believe will ever be paid. They We're opened by
men who gave fictitious names ana were ki,iea al IN
the war or POSSIBLY they enlisted under other names
than their own and killed In such cases IL is
impossible 10 identify them in any way
counts are concerned. the savings banks wouIo %
gao close them up II were POSSIBLE io nh, .
tous 10 keep them ! may say that, While no inae.-
Is, allowed on such accounts after tWent! !edt ;,
vheneyer Inc depositor comes after his money me
!1l interest is allowed. just the same a. II INC
account had been an active one all the 'i"'e'
THE sEAMEN'S HUNTS Up THE o"Nhh"
Prior 20 the inquiry made by the CONSTITUTIONS