The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-23
CRIPPLED A WHOLE CITYPUL.
WAS n. l.. HOWELL OR .ASSOCIA-
TION DIRECTORS TO BLAME?
Building and Lean Accounts short Nearly
SIOO.OOO. Partly. at Least. Because
Secretary Paid Dividends When There
We're No Earnings-POOr PeryOns Hit.

fbluiOln8 ana Lean Accounts buOrt Nearly
SlOO.OOO. Partly. at Least. Because
secretary Paid Dividends when There
We're No Earnings-POor PersOns INT.
MIII.vILLR, n. j., Nov. 22.-This attrac-
tive little city of II 900 souls has this week
experienced the greatest sensation in its
history, and the one topic on every tongue
is the defalcation and flight Of Richard l.
Howell, leaving the Stock Building and
Loan Association wrecked to the tune
of nearly, 100000. And while every
body is discussing il there Is mingled
sorrow and indignation in many homee,
for many persons Of small means have seen
their savings Of years swept away.
Now that IL has all come to light the
directors are coming in for unsparng
censure. Many say, however, that il il
probable that the very persons who censure
them most bitterly would have done just
as they did, for no man in the town Was
more trusted than Richard l. Howell. who
was regarded as one of the landmarks"
OF the place and eyerybody's friend
Mr.. Howell IL about rs years old, feet
tall blum and hearty ia his Ways. and of
superior education. Years ago he Was
u schOolteaCher and county supernt. ndert
OF schools. Since that time he has been
sngagen in "a multitude Of enterprise. H..
VAT secretary Of the wrecked building and
loan ass ociat ion and practically liz treas urer;
he was an expert huokkserer ana account
INT ard received "A h6ids ONE sum by the
glars manufacturing house Of the Whita IL
1atum Ton any To verify the acc cunts
Of their corps of bOokk,ercrs each year.
he was surveyor and engineer for the New
Jersey Oyster commission, and wa last
winter GITuint,d ly Gov. Murphy as a
member OF tn" State commission Ia invesl-
gate and report Oh the oyster industry,
work into which he entered with great
zeal He was also an ext. Isive dealer in
rand fol glass ,inanufact uring purposes,
owning valuable pits. He was ia receipt
Of neat income from his vaIiou, enter
prises. ana to all appearances was pros
Porous man Of affairs.
Millville and Bridgeton. the county seat,
have long been rivals. even to the extent OF
annual intercity spelling bees for n silver
challenge cup. Dick "Howell's flight bring
up the rivalry again in two odd ways He
was one Of Millville's foremost spellers
and took an active part in all the bees.
Now. although a challenge has been sen,
10y Millville to Bridgeton for this winter
will be missing from the ranks and this
will offset Bridgeton's loss of her champion
speller, Mr.. I. h. Burrows, who won first
honors last year. Again. Bridgeton recently
had similar sensation in the flight Of one
Of her most trusted citizens. William o.
Garrison. the County Collector. with
defalcation of $25.OOO. but the present case
IN Millville quadruples that amount.
Rich and poor alike have suffered from
Howell's course and it will be long time
before Melville RECEIVERS Many wealthy
persons have lost considerable money
but the poor people are probably the heavi-
est losers. Many of them have seen their
all swept away. The company was not
conducted on the original building assoca-
ton lines, but paid per cent. dividends.
The heaviest individual losers are prob
ably George b. Langley and members OF
go 900 Mr Langley Is the president eD ler 'o of
the association. He is also president of
the street railway company, director
in two banks and is largely Interested in
other enterprises
Mrs. kemble. widow Of the late William
D. kembe, loses $4,000. as does Henry
Dare OF Philadelphia, another holder under
the will Of Mr.. kemble. Clerk in Chancery
Edward c. Stokes s also reported TO be-
considerable TO the bad
The estate OF the missing secretary il
worth a great deal, although il is heavily
mortgaged IL seems very probable that
the officers and directors of the building
association will be sued on the sums lost
by stockholders. The men who have in
vested money say that the officers and
directors were guilty OF criminal negligence
IN allowing affairs to 60 on as they did
They state that the bylaws Of the associa-
ton distinctly say:
The treasurer shall have all charge of
any bonds, mortgages and insurance papers,
! and the secretary shall have charge Of all
Papers except bonds. mortgages and in
surance papers"
They say that had these bylaws been
lived up to by the officers and directors of
the company no such loss would have been
incurred
The method by which the money was
appropriated has been learned and appears
to be very simple Mr. Howell was ac-
c,lstomed to cancel all mort ges. make
them out, hold them. have the recording
done and to convey all land. When a man
had mortga ge Of $500 against his house
and paid Is per month to the company
on this mortgage, If he came to How ell
and paid of the mort gage, Howell would
appropriate the money and keep paying
in the IS Per month in the mans name
Many VINO have mortgages in the ASSOC
citation and who have been paying them
on in installments. fear the affairs of the
association shall be closed up AT once and
they will be unable to obtain the money
for the payment of the mortgages and
their homes will be swept away.
The mode of bookkeeping a. practlced
ny the company is curious and complicated.
and an expert accountant said to-day
that IL meant many days work to s,raigh,en
Affairs out. One thing is certain, and that
| Is that the further the investigation goes
the worse do things appear. The shortage,
1t II said, il 81 m thing like 397 600.
The persona, assets Of Secretary Howell
are variously estimated at from SIS 900
| 10 $4,000. Should these be NJ the dispnsal
OF the association, together with its val
| uab le charter. il will I've enabled to pay
more on tbe dollar than the small stock
holders now anticipate
For twenty wars the associat ion has
been declaring per cent. dividends " hen
there was no money to meet II. 40 that
the principal has been slowly going all
| these years In fact. the association has
been eating it's own head of; but stock
| holders who have been in the association
| for the last fifteen or twenty years have
had their money back in dividends. The
Auditing Committee is hard al work every
night on the books q the associate ion. Last
| night they had covered six years accounts,
| During that period. they found, 500 900
Of the capital stock had been paid out in
dividends. The actual earnings were
40 small that they would hardly pay the
taxes, rents and Office expenses.
The friends Of Mr., Howell now say that
the direct ors of the association knew all
the time that the capital was being paid
out In dividends and that Mr. Howell made