The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-25
The Milwaukee Sensation.

The Milwaukee Sensation. !,
The greatest shock that community
has suffered in many years went thru
Milwaukee yesterday when it became
known that Frank G. Bigelow, presi-
dent of the First National bank, had
been declared defaulter in the great
sum of $l,5OO,ooo.
Unless one is familiar with conserva-
tive Milwaukee, and knows the position
Mr.. Bigelow held, financially and social
ly, it is impossible to realize how great
must have been the surprise and pain
that followed the disclosure. Ii, IN
that entire city, there was any one man
who more fully than another could be
said to stand for the highest and best
in finance, Il was Mr.. Bigelow, and his
was a position not attained suddenly
but worked into over a twenty-five year
period. From the time, some ten years
ago, when his name became widely
known thru connection with the recelv-
ership of the Northern Pacific railroad,
Mr.. Bigelow's reputation has grown.
His social connections and the honors
that came to him from the Bankers as
ISOLATION strengthened his position.
The bank at whose head he stood Is
representative Of the largest aggrega-
ton of wealth in Wisconsin. The di-
rectorate shows, in majority Of in
stances, the second generation Of
wealth, fortunes made in commerce, in
iobbing and merchandising, banking,
shining. and in iron and leather manu-
featuring. .-"
The builders of these fortunes have
been succeeded by men, themselves al
ready of middle age or beyond, who
have followed the homely ideas Of their
forbears, and have held and Increased
their inheritances. This is an unusual
lineup for a western bank. The First
National of Milwaukee was the financial
rock of the city. That it's president
should have been a plunger and specu'
lator, that he should have involved the
bank in great scandal and heavy
loss is almost unbelievable, but his own
confession tells the story.
There is a family tragedy under 1t
all-the tearing down Of an honored
name. The directors represent com
bined wealth of almost twenty five mil
lion dollars, and if the depositors will
use Judgment and not make run upon
, the bank, no depositor will lose any
thing. But the Bigelow name has beer
: blotted out. gs&
The ethical considerations in this case
are interesting. Of course, BigeloV
never intended to be a thief: 1t woule
have been. morally impossible for hin
3to, have deliberately taken the casl
n from the vaults Of. the bank and ru1
!. Eaway with it.. That would have beer
= stealing, and gBigelow never INTENDED
to steal. He did, however, give wa.
!. to ambition. The desire for create
= wealth and greater power overcame tn
l: Judgment and even the scruples of thl
i banker, of, many years. experience. H
y had already ventured into the specu
o lative vortex with his, own money, an
/ in the course of three years his privat
, fortune had been entirely swept away
el Then came the temptation to hazarc
II for recoup Of his own fortune, tn
~ money Of the bank. Here was corne
ell I'M wheat. It seemed to offer the oppo1
1T tunity. It is true that the best author
H., tiles in the grain trade, taking presen
y conditions and past. experience for thei
H. guide, predicted that it would TAI
,. Months ago Minneapolis commentator
st on the market committed themselve
le fatty to the proposition that the co,
1t ner would be broken. So open and gel
ut eral was this sentiment against tl
TX possible success of the corner that :
De seems remarkable that anyone otht
It. than the manipulators should have bee
er caught. And yet when the crash cam
e- there went down with it man Of yea
of experience, and one who, it woul
he certainly be expected, would be proc
es against the seductions of the pit !!
re times of wild speculation. q
ly Frank G. -Bigelow has brought ru
Nv upon himself and his family and SUI
in jected the strongest financial instit
n. tion in his state to a severe strai
at The natural reflection is upon the NOR
H. blindness which the speculative few
. q seems to infict. Be man ever
he clear-headed, ever so competent, ev
~. SO successful in the legitimate oper
20 tions of commerce, when the spirit
-, speculation seizes him he is no long
- able to control his Judgment or even
,or hear the warnings Of his own CO
49, science. ~ T. - ....~.
he Poland has MT down Nav as tho 40