Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-02-22

| HAVE more than once called
attention to what l believed was
an outrage upon an honest Ameri-
can citizen-the issuing of a Fraud
Order against E. A. Lewis, a pub
Usher and banker, of st. Louis,
without a judicial determination,
and the throwing his bank into
the hands of a receiver without
just cause. My belief in Lewis
honor and integrity seems to be
fully borne out by the facts de-
veloped. The following extracts
are from the Clayton Argus. Read
them, my friends, and then tell
me what you think of the miser-
able business:
One of the most serious blows to
the political ambitions of two lead
ing representatives of the "Mys-
FERROUS Stranger" now occupying
the front of the stage at Jefferson
City, is contained in the announce
ment just made that depositors in
the Lewis bank have been paid in
full and a dividend of 80 per cent
has been ordered paid to stock
holders, in addition to one of so
per cent cashed out some time ago.
This leaves a bare margin of Is
per cent to stockholders yet to be
made good, when the claims OF
Messrs. Hadley, Swanger & Com
pany that the bank was a mush-
room and a scheme to rob "poor
widows and orphans" will be COM
pletely exploded. When Receiver
Essen took charge of the affairs OF
the bank, the books showed some
thing like $500, 900 due to deposit
ors and a capital stock account of
$1,000, 900. Depositors have been
paid dollar for dollar as fast as
their claims have been presented
and proved up. Some time ago
a payment of so per cent was made
to stockholders, and within the
last ten days nearly $780, 900 has
been distributed on the 35 per cent
dividend. In addition to this, the
receiver reports that he has real
lied the full face value of every
bond, note and other evidence of
debt held by the bank, besides an
additional sum of between forty
and fifty thousand dollars interest.
Every scrap of paper has been
cleaned up and collected until not
a single claim upon which the
bank was likely to lose now re-
mains outstanding. The receiver
expects in the end to be able to
declare an additional dividend
sufficient to cover the other Is per
cent due on stock. When this is
done, it will be due for Messrs.
Hadley and Swanger and their
man Friday-Judge Selden P.
Spencer-to explain Just how
Lewis mushroom institution has
been transformed into good "long
green" and the interests of the
thousands of poor widows and
orphans" protected and made
good. Former Secretary
Del Mar of the Federal Bureau of
Commerce says: Gas the result
of this examination, which has
been carefully made, l am salts
fed that the Peoples Bank, how
ever original its methods of pro-
motion, or however novel it's
features and plan of working, was
ar honestly designed, and an hon
estly conducted institution, and
one which, had it not been dis
turbed, would have proved profit
able to it's stockholders and de-
positors, and even beneficial to the
country at large, by increasing the
revenues of the post office depart
ment, providing a safe and ex-
penseless money-order system and
affording facilities to the multitude
for obtaining small loans of money
upon pledges. | am constrained
to add that the dates and other de-
tails of the attacks made upon it
by the several parties indicated
point to a concerted effort, origi-
mating in trade rivalry and en-
FILTERED by malice"
And your doped daily papers
have not a word to saw of the