The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-28
BLAME MIR. KENYON
PLEA of BONDsMEy rop u
BROKEN BANKS IN MIN
NEAPOLIS
STATE ASKED FOR RELEASES
Grue, Populist, of Kandf-
yohf, Introduces a Bill to Accent
Alleged Assets In Lieu of the
100000 Cash Which If Had N.
posted I'm the Now Failed
Banks.

minnesota was yesterday asked To
pay Soo,ooo Tor one of the short COM
lhgs OF Moses Dibble Kenyon. who for
d long time prior to this year. was sun-
posed 10 be experimenting the bsnks
of the state
Inc bill so asking, which one man
characterized in private Yesterday
as peing one Of the most
audacious bits of legislation introduced
at this session, is fathered bv Senator
drue, a Populist. from Kandivobi
county. '
Who is Grue? A partisan Of This
man Kenyon. No. He is a PeonIas,
party senator whose postoffice like bis
name, is Grue Indeed, the postoffice
shares the family name as does the
station on the Grue farm, perhaps a.
oozeh miles northeast of Willmar on
d orahcn or the Great Northern. He
mas not been in the senate before this
session, but he has done pretty well al
ready
HIS first bill asked the state to snend
Slo,ooo in Kandiyohi county widening
utcnes, lest the malaria which has
peen thickly populating the supposed
capltol site in that county should fnfect
the public health.
HIS second bill asks the state to ac-
cept In lieu of claims of sS6 900 against
Two 1nsolvent Minneapolis banks lot
or alleged assets, most of which have
as little tangible worth as the LAST
hexlon OF an expiring lambs caudal an
pendage.
GOV. LEND REFUSED
Mr. Grue, perhaps, did not know that
GOV. Lind had been asked to nresant
the same claim to the legislature and
had refused for reasons that NAV he
srrm1sed, even if the governor has NOT
declared them. 1t would be charitable
10 suppose that Mr. Grue had bean
maze a cats paw of by some experi-
enced Republican politicians. a theory
which is not controverted by the fact
that ne is indorsing the plant set forth
IN communication to the recent at
torney general among the foremost
sishers OF Which Is A. E. Rice formerIv
lieutenant governor, and one of the
oondsmen of one of the banks in nues-
tion
Inc fact, too, that certain Repub-
mean othc1als spent considerable effort
In trying to keep the negotiations from
the public during the closing hours of
the recent Republican administration
lends color to the belief that possibly
the Kandiyohi county senator has hear
duped
The G o b e was fortunate enough
10 secure the correspondence which
Gov. Lind refused to send to the senate
ou. "hich the proponents of the legis-
iation anticipated have had printed in
cute little booklet for esoteric study
among those friendly to the gang in
question.
1t is a piteous plea that which was
presented to Attorney General Childs
as follows:
BoNDSMEN TRUSTED KENYON.
Minneapolis Mimi, Dec. 8, 1sss.-The enan-
cial cyclone which overswept this countrv
IN 1888 DESTROYED many Of our banking tnstt-
totlons and wrecked the affairs of large
number OF our public-spirited business men
VINO nave ever since been held down by obli-
cations which, by force OF circumstances If
is impossible for them to discharge
You age well aware that in Minneanojie
among others, the State bank and the Amer
lcan Exchange bank, in the early part of 1898
were compelled to suspend and go into the
hanos or receivers. At the time Of the as
signment many Of the leading men of our
city had, from public-spirited motives. in
CURED liability to the state OF Minnesota a..
sureties upon the bonds of these banks. given
20 secure public funds kept on deposit
Ihese obligations were incurred at time
when the consensus of business opinion in
this city. together with that Of the hank of-
hcers of our state, seemed to indicate thar
the signing of such bonds was largely a m,t
Cer OF Iorm So long as the state permitted a
bank, operating under it's supervision ana
control, to do business and the claim of the
state being first lien upon all the assets of
the oahk II was not thought likely that there
ever would be any occasion to call on the
ponosmen to pay any part of the states
money; but the occurrences of 1899 were ex-
cept1onal. Nothing like it had occurred dur
ing the experience of the present generation
and IN all proba bility no similar occurrence
Will take place in our day. Therefore the
keenest and shrewdest of business men were
unable TO foresee and guard against the dis
astrous consequences of that year
AT the time of the suspension of these
banks We were among the unfortunate citi-
zens who had, in good faith signed their
bonds to the state of Minnesota. At the time
OF the suspension of the banks there were
IN our Judgment ample assets on hand with
which to more than pay the claims of the
state, If the same had been converted into cash
at fair valuation yet there still remains un-
paid the larger part of the claims of the
state. With proper and economic manage
ment of the assets on hand We believe that
the states claim against these banks can he
satisfied in full.
Considering the unprecedented occurrences
leading up to the disastrous results Of the
panic OF 1S9S we feel that, in equity and fair
ness to its citizens who have been thus un-
fortunate, the state of Minnesota ought to
meet any fair proposition looking to the ad-
1ustment of these matters in the same spirit
which permeates recent national legislation
upon the subject of unfortunate debtors 1t
is in this spirit that we wish to present to
you the proposition hereinafter mentioned
The State bank still owes to tie state of
Minnesota SCI. .445.7s. Those who are liable
sureties to the state for this amount are:
gan, A ]. Blethcn Charles Kittleson, A. II.
HeDderly, A. E. Rice, L. G. Cook, S. E. Oh
son. C. B. Shove, Andrew Tharalson and c.
G. Dunn. All Of these men, Up 10 the time
of the panic of 1S93 were well do business
men, amply able to discharge their just obli-
cations, but now none are able to meet the
numerous obligations, contracted in good
faith, upon the strength Of valuable assets,
which have since so greatly deprecated that
hardly anything is left.
The assets in the hands of the assignee of
the State bank, as shown In the attached
schedule, are, in our judgment, amply able
to satisfy the claim of the state if they were
placed in the immediate possession of tho
proper officers of the state.