The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-27

He Has Lost $50, OOO-John Il.
HaycOclx Had Some Business Deal
ings Along This Line-what He
Has to Say.
If new theory regarding the gov
eminent time checks that James H.
Southall issued TO his friends in this
city is correct. The measure of his ras-
-cality becomes greater and much that
is otherwise ineXpiicable becomes clear.
Ii is now believed that some OF the
time checks We're really genuine and
were issued to actual workmen. The
worl1men Went TO SOuthall and received
their pay for them and left the checks
with SouthaN. Southall should have
destroyed them as they formed no part
OF the records. but instead of doing 81
H. re-issued them to spectators. rep
reSeHtinE that they had not been paid.
II other words the time checks, when
Southan sold them, represented cancell-
Ell debts
The WorlSmen had received their
money in fun. Nobody was ''Shylock-
Ell" out Of a dollar, and all the money
that SOUthaU realized from the sale OF
the time checks was clear profit to him.
Explains the Endorsement.
This explains the apparent genuine
ness of the Endorsements. only the
backs of the time checks a circum-
stance that has puzzled experts in pen
manship who tried to find evidence that
the signatures IVES the work Of only one
CT two persons. They all agreed that
the Endorsements We're written by diff
ferrnt men, and the wonder was that
SouJhan could secure so many to as
m na 81 o.
natures was the work Of many men or
Suuuhall was q most versatile penman.
1t is supposed that as soon as South
, all had paid off a number of men he
would notify some one of his customers
ana tell him that he had just squeezed
a gang Of laborerS who were not Will
ing 10 wait for their money. The gov
eminent was slow in paying its men
and 1t would be PERHAPS six weeks be
fore The time checks would be met. The
customer would take the checks at 10
or Il per cent discount. When it be
came time for Southall to redeem the
checks he would sell a lot to some other
customer. \ lot redeemed from Smith
would he resold to Brown, and so on
along the line.
That theory. of course. could only be
applied TO checks issued three or four
years ago. and not those of more re
cent time.
ST Paurs shrewdest bankers and
merchants have been dreaming for
years of riches based on government
warrants that had been paid. They
have been struggling to get hold of
securities that We're not worth. cent
more than their last years rental re-
ceipts. As the facts are brought to
light the affair becomes ludicrous.
Very Grim Joker.
James H. Southall must be awarded
the palm as the grimmest practical
joker of modern times.
1t is quite probable that among the
genuine checks there were many bogus
ones. 1t would hardly satisfy a man
like Southan to confine his Oprea tons
To regular paper when his income could
be sWelled with bogus checks without
detection.
The shreWd men who thought they
had taken every precaution to assure
themselves that the paper was genuine
could have undeeeived themselves had
they inquired of a very few men whose
Endorsements We're on the checks
whether they had sold their claims at
a discount If one man had said he
had received his money in full the
whole fraud would have been unearthed
and many of the keenest business men
n the Northwest would have been dol
lars in pocket and perhaps SOuthall
would have been in jail long ago.
Had He Assistants.
The question whether SouthalI had
men in the business community who
assisted him TO place his paper is be-
ginning TO he asked. and several per
sOrs' names are mentioned. 1t is re-
called that some were particularly ac-
tive in the work of creating a demand
for the time checks and some mon
who fell victims to their persuasions
are now distressing their motives.
1t was stated yesterday that William
J.. Curtis. who has recently been IN
business with Southall as a toy dealer.
helped Southall place some of this pa
per Street rumOr had it that Curtis, in
1893 sold $1,000 of the paper to John
=. Haycock and introduced him to the
time check system. and that he had
other dealings of the same kind with
Mr.. HaNcoCk. 1t was also claimed that
Mr. Curtis induced other men, bank
ers in fact: to invest largely in the
time checks, and that he received a
handsome commission for his labors in
that direction.
What Curtis Says.
Any statement that I am personally
Interested with Southall in his frauds
is false" said Mr.. Curtis to a reporter
for The Il O e. 1 have lost $50, 900 by
, Sputhall's rascality, and am ruined.
always believed that he was conduct
ing an honest business, and 1 merely
did as l do with anything that seems
profitable. l dealt in railroad time
checks and in other paper of that char
oCter. and I began dealing in SouthaIl's
paper.
In 1891 I bought 81, 500 of it, and my
experience with it was so satisfactory
that / let others into the deal | sold
some Of the paper to Haycock and of
fered him a profit on the paper. Hay
himself that the time checks were all