The San Francisco call., 1898-11-14
BROWN AND HELLMAN DO NOT DARE LET ANYTHING HAP
 PEN TO OUR BANKS"

The astounding audacity of M. H. Sherman was shown in a letter that he wrote to Frank V. Mcdonald on May 21, 1893, a month and Q day be- fore the Pacific Bank and it's feeder, the Peoples Bank, went down with a crash. Frank Mcdonald had written to Sherman telling him of the precari- ous condition of the institution and begging for some assistance. Sher- mans electric road and his Phoenix and Mohawk ventures had absorbed enough money from the two banks to ruin them. Sherman had travelled East to deceive the McDonalds into a be- lief that he was trying to negotiate bonds which he knew were not nego- tiable.
 The end was approaching. and Frank asked for his advice. Sherman had preyed upon the Mcdonald banks for over two years, and the advice he sent back was most extraordinary. He declared that the other banks of San Francisco would not dare let the Paci- f1c Bank go down, and could be forced or in other words threatened to supply the Pacific Bank with money. Sher- man declared that the ruin of the Me Donalds would create a panic in the State, and that Hellman, Brown and other local bankers would put up the funds rather than see the McDonaldS go under. Having given this advice, Sherman made another play for more money for his Phoenix venture. The letter is most interesting and is as follows:
 LOS ANGELES. May 21, 1893.
 My Dear F. ": It is such busy
 fife. No rest but toll, toll all the time.
 and F. V. we do try, oh, so hard. It has sometimes seemed that the con-
 stant, worry. work and annoyance
 that my life was hard. then I think
 of you and of all you are going
 through. We'll the good Lord knows
 why I suppose we must have this
 discipline. Then I think of San Fran
 cisco so much
 F. V., those men, Brown, He'll
 man and the others don't dare, that
 is the way it seems to me, let any
 thing happen to our banks. The
 memory of the Bank of California
 failure must be green in their
 memory. That failure brought
 down others. If it should go abroad
 in this State that anything had had happened to the rich McDon-
 aids think of what panic it would
 cause among depositors generally
 and the other banks would have to l look out.
 No. F. V. And if you find you know all about the situation, I know
 nothing about the inside of things; I
 never ask only where can help; the
 let ii us know in time and Farnum and your brother-Farnum is on very
 friendly terms with many of those Francisco men. My idea is that MT.
 White would help. He has pile of
 money idle I am told and get help
 this unless absolutely necessary. From what your brother. tells me
 things are improving much. l have
 never felt quite sure if he told me
 these things to encourage me or if
 really things were getting so much
 better in fact Well, you know, what Forgive me for seeming to mix up in affairs as I may have seemed to do in
 this letter And now worq as 10 the have levied an assessment long ago, but Hine would not agree to 1t. But the
 city has been growing so and so much this Is absolutely necessary now. Finally he has agreed to it, l. e., to terest on the bonds comes due in nine days. We must be prompt in it, 1t hurts so to have any delay If you
 then I will pay in 5000 and viii see that Hine does the same Let's have it agreed that the, s6000 is paid into P H S. B. to be used to pay interest,
 i, e., pay coupons and for nothing else. eh. Sincerely, M II.
 The plots of NJ. H. Sherman did not end with his boast of ability to COTS rupt Bank Commissioners and to stand up'' reputable citizens who were fearful of the methods he employ ed. The Call will show tomorrow that Mir. Sherman was also an adept, or assumed to be such, in influencing Legislatures through the assistance of his great ally, the Southern Pacific Company.