Evening journal., 1906-08-31
Friday, August 81, 1906.
Losses on THE PooR.


THE more hopeful ones are now predicting
= that the depositors OF the Real Estate Trust
Company Of Philadelphia may secure 40 cents on
the dollar Various plans, including one under
which the depositors shall accept stock in the re-
organized company for their lost money, are be-
ing discussed The probabilities are, however,
that those who kept their funds in the institution
will lose heavily At the best they will have to
wait long time for their money.
The extent of the failure and the circumstances
surrounding it, together with the tragic suicide
OF the man who did the looting, continue to
amaze Philadelphians. They cannot understand
how one man could get away with such large
sum as Nipple did without discovery. The di-
rectors appear to have been the merest dummies
There ought to be some way to punish such faith-
less persons as the directors of this company
Hundreds OF working people by this failure have
lost or had greatly impaired their savings of
years. These were given into the keeping of this
large concern. The directors of the company
should be held to account for breach of trust
They were like a sleeping watchman who per-
mits those under his care to be robbed.
II Is a strange and curious condition. We pun
ish men for taking pints Of milk OF bread to eat /;
we even have men arrested for attempting to in
ducev others to commit embezzement. Yet
when people are mulcted out of large sums of
money as a result Of faithlessness to trusts and
condolences reposed in them, very often no actual
steps are taken to bring such offenders to the bar
ior trial. The law in such instances is a mock
cry.
The Philadelphia failure shows that there is
apparently no way to judge of mans integrity.
Many OF the bank defalcations are attributed to
the fast lives" so-called, Of the defaulters. In
this instance there is no such charge. A man
whose life apparently was a model for others to
follow, proves to be one of the greatest hooters
of the age. This failure and several others that
have occurred lately prove that the safeguards
supposed to be thrown around financial institu-
tons are really no safeguards at all. They are
a deluson. Given a crooked man at the head of
concern or in a responsible position, and he
seems to be able to carry out any of his schemes
for looting without let or hindrance. There
ought to be some way by which the directors
could discover what the officials of a banking in
stitution are doing.
According to other bankers in Philadelphia, the
grossest sort of careessness was praeticed by the
directors Of the Real Estate Trust Company. One
attorney who applied for co-receiver for the
company yesterday declared that it is absurd to
suppose that if there had been any real auditing
or directing Nipple could have fooled anyone
with the alleged two bogus stock lists.
We should fancy that the several recent heavy
failures of trust companies and banks should re-
new an agitation for postal savings banks. The
people who have small sums to deposit under
such banks would be guaranteed against loss
But powerful interests for selfish reasons would
oppose the establishment of such banks TIL,
sooner the agitation for them begins the better
il will be-