The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-01

solute proof that r. II. McDe1alo 0I.
was not only an absurd financier ana
a fatterAl, ambitious fool, but thleI'
He has recently come before nub1c no.
tice as successful applicant for ad-
mission to the bar Understanding too
fully the influence exercised for evil py
lawyers in. the affairs of men, and
knowing What part attorneys 0layed In
his downfall. he undoubtedly sought to
place himself on the right side of the
scale and become a lawyer.
Early in 1891, while Frank Mcdonald
was planning wild schemes Tor ms
financial undoing. Dick Mcdonald was
plotting to make himself greater hg-
,ure in finance than his brother and a
more powerful influence in public at
fairs than any one else in the State
Dick was party and sympathizer In all
the schemes of Frank, but he, had am
billions. of his own and sought to re
alize them with the money that had
been intrusted to the care of his father
and the honor of his sons. To fully
understand the criminal part that r.
H. Mcdonald played in the destruction
of the two banks, the character OF the
two institutions and the relation exist
ing between them should be clearly I'M
derstood.
Both banks were absolutely con-
trolled by the Mcdonald family. DR..
Mcdonald held: So per cent in the Pa
cific and: IS per cent in the Peoples.
The latter institution was organized by
Dr.. r. H. Mcdonald. simply. for the pur--
pose of making it a feeder for the Pa
advertisement was employed to bring
money: to the Peoples Bank and The
Call wiliprove that the McDonaIds and
the conspira tors that surrounded them
adopted :two courses by which they
could steal this money. One of. these
courses was to. make the Pacific Bank
the treasurer of the Peoples Bank and
to deposit as much money as the Off
GERS dared take from the vaults of the
savings institution. Hundreds of thou
sands of dollars were thus carried away
from the Peoples Bank into the vaults
of the Pacific, but enormous as was
the sum it was by no means adequate
to satisfy the rapacity of the mana
gers and their parasites.
The managers of the Peoples Bank
were necessarily tools in the hands
of the McDonalds. So clearly was this
that DR.. Mcdonald in one
of his letters declared that ]. E. Far
mum had been employed as a servant
and not as a dictator. Through the
servile obedience of the officers and
of the Peoples Bank every
worthless security and rotten indorse-
ment that the Pacific Bank and its
agents cared to thrust upon the Peo-
pies Bank in exchange for gold was
accepted by the officers Of the savings
institution. The Call intends to pre-
sent the proof of this startling fact and
even to show that deliberate robbery
was committed in the acceptance of
checks that the management knew
were worthless.
When this condition Of affairs is I'M
derstood it can readily be seen how
the wreck of the two banks was accom-
plished. The letters Of the conspira-
tors demonstrate the fact that both
banks were made the victims of the
wild schemes of the McDonalds. Every
security that the Pacific Bank chose to
present the Peoples Bank was forced
TO take. In this way the 1900 deposit
tors Of the Peoples Bank were doubly
robbed. The conspirators shamelessly
discussed how they might reduce the
enormous, Indebtedness of the Pacific
Bank to the Peoples Bank by thrust
ing upon the latter what We're known
to be valueless bonds and stocks. In
August. 1891, eight months after NJ. H.
Sherman forced an entry into the Pa
cific Bank and J. E. Farnum was
= int he 1atG Po T1lY Do
cific Bank was insolvent.
The criminal work of R. H. Mcdonald
Jr. then began in earnest He was
wildly extravagant in a score of diff
ferent ways. To flatter his own vanity
and to gather around himself coteries
of sycophant men and women he in
a variety of enterprises. The
Panorama was established and Dick
Mcdonald became the bogus hero of
dozen women and as many men. The
Californian Illustrated Magazine was
launched into the literary world and
Dick swelled on the cheap hattery Of
it's editors, canvassers and attaches.
The San Francisco Printing Company
was organized and Dick paid more
money for more adulation. Anything
that. would tickle his monumental
egotism became an object of his good
will Thousands upon thousands of
dollars were squandered until it be-
came inevitable that the banks must go
under It was then that Dick McDon-
aid began his fight against State
Prison. He employed all the parasites
around hind. S. Dorm of the legal
bureau: M. H. Sherman, of ready wit
and seductive tongue; w. H. Eastland,
the clown of the conspiracy; 0. I.
Dyer, the Riverside manipulation; A. L.
Jenkins, cheapest of followers; Dr. w.
Jenningson, crafty and far-seeing. and
A F. Johns, shrewder perhaps than all.
Each of these men was employed to
spy upon the theirs, to bear tales of
lying condolences and watchfulness. and
all Of them to cheat the men by whom
they were employed. Thousands more
dollars were expended by. R. H. Nc
Donald DR.. in sending these men at
cross purposes all over this State. to
the Eastern States, to London, Liver.
pool and Paris to float stocks and bonds
that had no value which shrewd and
honest financiers cared to appreciate.