The Portland daily press., 1900-01-19

In public funds IN Maine; SEQ. eee. 90 In
railroad bonds In Maine. and ta.si7, oof. ~
In railroad bonds out Of Maine.
EXAMINATION AND SUPERVISION.
This department more than ever APP
preciates the Importance Of careful ex-
animation and supervision Of all the In
situations under Its charge. The difficult
~ Of establishing . system By which,
with any reasonable amount nj labor, 10
10 possible to fully and absolutely verify,
item by item, the business Of each insti-
I utiop, becomes more apparent % the
matter 10 considered. Human Ingenuity
has 90 far failed to devise any method
that will guard against occasional losses
from disehonest employees or the Inisman-
axsment Of OH eials. This 10 as true IN
other kinds Of business as In banking.
No one oan name any line of Investment.
or kind Of business, In which there IL so
near absolute safety as In our savings
banks, When We compare the aggregate
business with the total loss, the ameuut
becomes 90 small that 1t seems Of little
consequence.
Until some emil rey new method CT ex-
animation 10 adopted IL will he possible
fer thore handling the funds Of others to
cover up certain amounts Of irrsgulari-
tiea In conducting q bank. there 10
hardly transaction that cannot be used
BY a dishonest employee to cover up some
form OF spsoul Absolute verifioa-
"A l. 10. ksI hv lr>fx
over each 1t IN with the same cars be e
slowed upon the original transaction.
This would entail upon the auditor fully
as much work az upon the employe who
made the original entries. Anything
short Of this would not give absolute GER
tsinty, as oppoi tunitiss would exist for
accounts to bs falsined. On the other
enough to absolutely verify every transao-
ton We would have simply two perms-
nent employees going over the same work.
This would give only the additional pro-
lection that would come BY havin q two
employees engaged upon the work of the
bank under the present methods One
would cease to be an auditor Of the other s
work-thsy would become oo-lsborers and
all the force Of supervision would be lost.
We cannot, therefore, expect to entirely
escape losses from breaches Of trust such
- occasionally come in all kinds Of busi-
less whore 1t In necessary to place conf
deuoe In others A reasonable amount
of caution, however, reduces this danger
WITHIN the limit where the bank can be
pr otsotsd BY surety bond such as every
employs 10 by law required to give.
LOAN & BUILDING ASSOCIATIONS
There are now tbitty-two loan aud
building associations doing business In
the state. A comparison of '9s with 30
show . decrease OF SS4, 2s2. 80 In the total
assets; $4i,463.6 3 In the accumulated
capital, and $50 l-2 in the number of
shares outstanding. There has been q
most satisfactory increase of t6.sg7.27 In
the amount of the guaranty fund during
the year. We are pleased TO note that the
associations are 70 flowing the recommen-
dations Of the department by setting
apart q greater portion of their earnings
to this fund than heretofore.
BANKS IN LiQUIDAT TON.
Regarding the banking associations
now 10 the process Of liquidation In th is
state the report says
The receiver of the Rich mond Savings
bank paid further dividend of eight per
cent as Of October 4. 1899, amounting to
81, $50 So. This makes seventy -sight per
cent. In all that has been paid to the de-
pcsltors In this institution. The assets
have been substantially all reduced to
Dash, and the receiver advises the depart
ment that he will settle his final account
In b short time.
During the present year the receiver of
the American Banking and Trust COM
pany of Auburn has paid the creditors .
sscoud division Of 20 per cent. There has
been quite an appreciation In the real
estate owned by the company and the de-
mand for 1t 10 constantly increasing and
frequent sales are being made. 1t Is ex
pected that another dividend Of at least
twenty 1--we per cent will be paid within
the next elk months.
At the date Of the last report, there had
been received from the assets OF the
Northern banking company, that came
to the possession Of the receiver, the sum
OF $6, f33.Sl. The balance Of the assists
have since been disposed of and the
amount of cash now In his hands Is SIC.
500. 90. The second account of the receiver
has been fled 10 the supreme Judicial
court, and upon the approval Of the
same, and the determination b. the court
Of the amount OF the deficiency of the as
sets of the company, proceedings will be
Instituted to dstsrmine the amount Of
the liability that may exist against ths
shareholders Of the corporation on the
stock held by them. The collateral Sc
curity held by the various creditors has
bean applied in reduction Of sueh credit
ors' respective claims.
..SThe receiver Of the Oxford County
Loan Association reports that, when the
affairs Of this association were placed in
his hands for settlement. he found nomi-
nal ssssts amounting to 500. los II, and