The Washington times., 1906-10-19
Receiver in Charge of
Local Branch of Mon
tana Institution on
Order Comptroller.
MOST OF DEP0SITORS
WERE POORER CLASS
investments of Institution
Were Of Speculative Class
and Made in West
ern Mines.

| The Washington branch OF the Aetna
| Banking and Trust Company OF Butte,
Mon. was closed this morning by di-
| recJion OF 7. T. Kane. acting cOmptrOl-
| Ter OF the currency. The Washington
/ branch Is at I222 r street northwest.
The branch made "a showing on Sep
tember 4, IN fits report 10 the comptrol-
/ Ter, Of assets and liabilities each fgur-
| ing Sl23 yii2- = - tie liabilities, $1,000
! is savings deposits, $4,000 individual de-
posits. and $4,000 represented advances
from the head institution in Butte. The
opinion Of Acting Comptroller Kane IS
that the losses or the dep0sItOrs viii 10
heavy. The c0Iaterals represent un-s
known Western ventures Of doubtful
value,
Little IS known in Washington about
| the parent concern. It is credited with
| a0V00J capital and S Incorporated Ia
West Virginia. The comptroller. under
| the authority given him by The new
banking law for the District. approved
June 70 last. examined the local iusti-
tuition and found its condition SO uu-
satisfactory that the decision TO close
il was reached late yesterday afternoon,
and promptly acted upon tuIs morning.
Heinze Formerly President.
T. Augustus Heinze, young Napoleon
0f copper d-a1ee l-Z .5Juti1s lta-
tlve cardl1at= foT S-Llu.r m 3IOHu Ba,
-la prince Cl ullaing
pul1tGrs. was president OF the
Aetna Ranking and Trust Company un-
I'll "a little over "a year ago, when the
management was reUrgauized and he re-
tired from the presidency but still re-
tanned his interests in the concern Last .
December. It IS stated at the comp
JrOllers Office. BeilZe disposed Of his
holdings iu the institution TO Fred =.
Street. a New Haven, Conn, man, who
in turn, in August last sold out The
present head Al Butte Is C. W DOdsOn,
of Boston.
the acting comptroller, the Washington
branch was placed IN tLa hands OF
Robert Lyons as receiver He took pos
session OF the banking office and ac-
counts at once
Neither al the comptrolIer's Office nor
in banking circles OF Washington IS
much known about either the local
branch or the parent concern, The im-
preston has been said a prominent
banker. that the Institution secured de-
p0sits IN Washington 10 use in invest
ments in the West Local banks have
had little - 90 with them. Occasionally
checks on them have come 10 as, and
they have been cashed when there was
cash on deposit.
Investments Were Speculative.
That the institution made investments
chiefly In Western concerns. and that
these were mainly speculative. was
borne out by Acting Comptroller Kane.
He said:
"The list Of collateral in possession
of the branch includes the Canon City
Florence and Royal Gorge Inte-na-
tional Railroad Company's paper. We
understand the road is unfinished. Also,
there is collateral of the Dividend Min
ing and Milling Company. Of Arizona,
the Usage Consolidated Oil and Cas-
Company, also OF Arizona and the
Helena and Dillon Cold Mining Com
pauy. I don't care 10 give the amounts
of the different items held, however.
They all seem 10 be unknown, and OF
doubtful value. and / should say that
the depositors viii likely lose large
..-The concern mas an agency in New
York. though We do not understand
that il did a banking business there
Whether Il had branches in other cities
We have not yet learned
"The savings deposits represented
generally poor people, whose money
was i'm small amounts, The Dank rad
savings bank lock boxes scattered all
over town. through which the money
cf the poorest class OF d6p0sltors had
been gathered in
Uncertainty as to Outcome.
Mr. Kane was asked about the legal
status Of depositors in the Washingtoh
branch. as against the assets of the
Butte. or parent. establishment 81 sup
nose. ." he replied. that if the bank at
Butte is solvent il Will make good the
claims Of deposlt0rs In the Washington
branch. But as TO the legal status, or
as 10 our power To investigate and take
chnrge OF the institution at Butte, 1
can't make d statement at this time
This is the first experience we have had
under the new law, and. while thaJ law
gives as ample powers over institutions
IN the District. the extent or our powers
as against . related institution OUTSIDE
the District is a matter for the lawyers
to advise us about. II the parent instl-
tuition does not make good any oenclL
here the question OF holding assets
there 20 meet IL would have 20 be set
tied later .,-,
about the status Of the Butte bank
aside from the fact that IL was organ
fZed under West Virginia law. Il don't
know whether IL has been subject to
examination by the Montana banking
authorities or not" he said. ''or wheth-
or the state of West Virginia has at
tempted TO maintain any supervision
over IL. Under our new District law
the comptroller has authority over all
institutions In the District wherein
they have been Incorporated.
J0bn T HOag. assistant cashier in
charge of the Washington branch. was
found at the banking house assisting
Bank Examiner owen T. Reeves, jr.,
Continued. on Ninth Pags)