Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1907-09-12
REPLIES TO
COMPTROLLER
Father ScheII Answers Letter from
Comptroller OF the Currency,
Published Last Week

TO the COIlDlEOlleI StSlCIhdS y
LADYsMITH, Wis, August 10, 1907
Hon. VIM B. Ridgely,
Comptroller of the Currency,
Washington, ID. c.
Dear Sir: Your favor of August y.
1907, at hand and contents noted.
You say: 1.-The exact purpose OF your
communication is not clear. To
make the purpose OF my cOmmunica-
ton clearer | will say that if all the
money spent by your office was
earned there would be no bank de-
faulters at large in Ladysmith, Wis,
and the depOsitors in the defunct
First National Bank of that place
would not be the losers of several
thousands OF dollars, and that in
tend to supply free of charge to the
Government what is deficient in your
Office This ought to be clear enough
to be understood.
You state in your letter: ''If it is
your idea that this Office can take
up. prosecute and conduct the prose
cutiOn of any criminal Offenses
against national banks, yOu are en-
tirely mistaken.
Yet the case of the Ladysmith bank
must be proper case for your office
to take up, prosecute and conduct,
else why did you have the receiver
report to the United States District
Attorney in regard to the criminal
liability of the banks officers? You
state in your letter: "You are ad-
vised that this Office instructed the
receiver to report all criminal viola
tiOns of law to the United States
District Attorney, and it is believed
that all the evidence tending to show
guilt of anyone connected with the
bank has been furnished" Why did
you cause that to be done if the case
was not proper one for your office
to 'take up, prosecute and conduct
You also state in your letter: ''The
proper way to have offenses prose
cuted is to bring all information
that you can obtain to the officers
entrusted with the duty OF prOsecut-
ing. Ii they fail to perform their
duty, then it is not only proper, but
your duty to society and to the gov
ernment, to expose their wrong do
ings at once 80. 1t is true that the re-
- NJ D,,i, xxrhC in
VestigatiOns we're made under the di-
rectiOn of this Office and who is not
a detective, was furnished to the
District Attorney for the purpose OF
informing him in regard to the Grim
inal violations of law. If you have
any facts which you can lay before
that Department (of Jus ice) tending
to show any derelicatiOn of duty on
the part OF Mr.. Wheeler, it is quite
certain that your charge will receive
careful consideration" Now Mr..
Comptroller, ii tits my duty to sOci-
ETY. and to the government to expose
at once the wTOngdOings OF the feder-
al officers in failing to perform their
duty i'm that they have not prose
cuted the Offenders, what shall we
say as to the duty of the COmptrOl-
Ter in that respect? You admit that
you caused the report of Mr.. Bainum
on the criminal violations OF law to
be sent to the District Attorney, Mr..
Wheeler. That report is dated July
Z, 1905, over two years ago. Yet you
ask me to report to the Department
of Justice any derellctions of duty on
the part of Mr.. Wheeler. Isn't that
sufficient evidence of derelictiOn of
duty on his part. He has had the
report recommending the immediate
arrest and prosecution ofsOme OF the
banks officers in his possession for
over two years, yet in all that time
he has failed to start single crlm-
inal action, and you know 1T. Why
don't YOU report that derelictiOn OF
duty to the Department of Justice
yourself? Is it not your duty to So
ciety and to the government to do
so? The federal statutes of limita-
tions runs against all those criminal
offenses in three years; the greater
part of that period is already passed,
and you know it, yet you ask me
for evidences of derelictiOn on the
part OF Mr.. Wheeler! Do you Won
der that in my former letter | stated
that every thing does not seem to
he all right" in your office?
You excuse yourself by saying;
1.-The prosecution of all criminal of
lenses against the laws OF the United
States devOlves directly upon the
Department of Justice" That De-
partment is your lawyer, and If you
had your work and the interests oi
the innocent depositors at heart you
would see that your lawyer did his
duties. You would certainly do sc
your own interests We're at stake
AS to laying my information ant
evidence before the federal officers
That is just what the bank default
ers want, as being the best and sur
est method of getting the eyidenc'
out of the way. You yoursel
caused the evidence to be laid befor
District Attorney Wheeler, and wha
has come of it? Nothing.
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