The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1906-03-08
A State Depository Law
introduced in the
OHIO LEGISLATURE.
The Bill Meets With Cen
eral Approval.

Columbus, GA depository law that
will be compulsory upon every treas.
urer in the eighty-eight counties of
Ohio is the first fruit that will be
borne of the investigation of Cincin.
natl and Hamilton county now being
made by the committee of the senate
In the light of the disclosures which
were brought out in Cincinnati last
Friday and Saturday by this so-called
Lexow committee, opposition to such
bill is almost certain to disappear.
Representative Bronson has intro
duced a depository bill, which was
drafted by the Ohio state board of
commerce, and which meets with gen.
eral favor.
Senator Schmidt Of CuyahOga, one
OF the members of the committee, has
commenced work upon a depository
bill and expects to have it ready for
introduction some time next week. 1t
is planned after the special act under
with banks in Cuyahoga county. There
the banks are paying 1888 per cent for
the use OF county funds, yielding to
the county about 100000 year. SINH,
lar special laws are in force in Lucas,
Stark and Seneca counties. There is
a general law on the statute books
authorizing county commissioners to
advertise and receive bids from banks
for the use OF county money, and in
few counties of the state advantage is
taken. of it. Hamilton county has
never had any special law on the sub.
ject and its commissioners have never
elected or put the general law into op.
Grafton. The trouble with this general
law is that it is Optional
The admissions made by Treasurer
Rudolph X. Hynicka and number of
bankers of Cincinnati as to the meth.
DDS which have been followed there
for the past fifteen years have brought
the question of depository la VITO the
front, and made it one of the most
important in this legislature. The
claim Is made that Investigation
would show similar conditions in near
ly every county of the state, though
on not such a gigantic scale, perhaps.
Treasurer Hynicka freely admitted
that during his first year in Office he
was paid over $4,000 by the banks of
Cincinnati for the use of county funds .
every bank in Cincinnati, with two
exceptions, got the use of some of
these funds. They paid to Hynicka
2h per cent, while to the city, whose
funds were deposited with them under
the general municipal depository law,
they paid only 2 per cent County
treasurers are not compelled to accept
checks in payment of taxes, but they
all do as matter of accommodation
to the public. In some counties these
checks are sorted out each day and
messengers sent to the banks on
which they are drawn, cashed and the
money at once carried back to the
vaults of the county. Hynicka's meth
cd was to deposit these checks with
| the various banks for collection, in
amounts ranging from $4,000 tc
| 100000, and then leave the money
with the banks until there was occa
sion to pay it out, either to the city
| the state or for some other purpose
| The result was that many banks had
| almost continual use of from 100000
| to 100000, and for this they paid the
treasurer 2h per cent. Hynicka said
and In this he was corroborated by
bankers and George Schott, who has
| been cashier in the office of the coun
| ty treasurer for the last fifteen years
that it had been the custom for the
treasurer to receive this gratuity dur
ing all that period. Tax collections In
Hamilton county have averaged 81,
100000 for the last several years. Al
2h per cent the annual yield woul(
be 50 $4,000. or course, these fund:
were not in the possession of tn,
banks all the time, but at the leas
calculation the last three treasurer'
of Hamilton county divided anon!
themselves over half million dollars
In "gratuities" from the banks. Th'
legitimate fees which these treasurer!
collected in addition to this amounted
to from $4,000 to $4,000 year.