The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-13
THE TERROR OF
 BANK DEF FAULTERS MexeN the Expert Who Catches
 Sig Thieves WIZARD AT MATHEMATICS untangles Muddled Accounts-Fer- reted Out Evidence on Which
 Morse Was Convicted.
 Cycles of Dishonesty.
the New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post.
 Far back in a downtown bank, behind all the railings and gratings that halt the stranger, a slender, spectacled man was boring over ledgers all this week. Within a few feet of him were the tellers, book keepers and clerks jingling coin, balanc- ing their accounts, or attending to the wants of patrons; but he went ahead with his work as though no sound dis turbed him, no footstep detracted his att tention. If he hesitated, it was to stroke his gray-white mustache and side whis- kers thoughtfully. as though momentarily puzzling over a problem. Then he lean ed forward again over the high table whereon were spread the bank books of a year or more ago.
 That is Edward P Moxey, who con- victs 'em all" said the man who knew, pointing toward the silent toiler
 Whereupon you gazed with interest upon the spectacled individual. You had heard how this wizard of mathematics, Moxey, the most expert of national bank
  which Charles ". Morse was convicted and sentenced to serve 15 years in pris- on. Before that. perhaps, you had heard of his putting together the links of book keeping evidence on which the Chicago banker, John B. Walsh, was sent to the pententary. You mayeyen have known, if your memory was long enough, that he had been convicting bank criminals for the government, without a failure worth recording, since 1891.
 And now" continued your informant, The is at work on the books that show whether F. Augustus Heinze is guilty of the offenses for which he is under indict- ment"
 HeinZe, of course, may not be proved guilty, but whether or not he is to blanc, it is a good guess that Moxey will find out the facts. When 1t comes to untang ling tangled accounts, Moxey doesn't go wrong To that all the United States comptrollers of the last F years will bear witness and the federal department of jus tice, to whose service he is assigned whenever a big criminal case comes up, recognizes him as it's chief asset in bring ing bank officials to justice when they ought to be brought.
 No Routine Rule.
 Every case is handled according to it's nature" said MT. Moxey, when he was asked the other day how he was wont to go about his investigations. "rhere isn't any routine rule by which you can say that you undertake the strengthening of a banks books. When there is something wrong, and I am called upon, simply get down to work on the books and learn what's been happening. That's all there Is to it."
 It sounded simple enough, but the in- auirer didn't understand. And what he finally did understand, after further ques- tioning was of the most general charac- ter. It would take another expert to comprehend MT. Moxey's explanations in detail, if he had the time and inclina- ton to give them. For the enlightenment of his unskilled interviewer however, this was the way he summed up his work:
 "On starting an investigation of a bank wherein there has been criminal work, I know that one of three things has hap pened: The robbery has been done by loans and discounts, in the name of the principal or somebody else; or it has been done by falsifying figures in the books, for instance, the entering of false with drawals on the deposltors' accounts; or it has been accomplished by the actual taking of cash or securities. The third state of affairs-the actual missing of as- sets-is rare; for the cash and securities are counted regularly, and it is not difh- cult to keep them counted accurately, so that man attempting to take them away runs a risk of immediate and almost certain detection"
 An examination of the books, he ex- plained would show which method had been adopted by the culprit. Thereafter it would be a matter of getting the evi- dence in shape for presentation before a jury.
 Temptations of New York.
 How can you wonder at bank defal- cations in this city of yours" said the expert, when you consider the life of the town? Look about you, and you will find an explanation why men go wrong. Watch the pace-the luxurious hotel life. the expensive restaurants, the gambling houses, the palatial apartments, the turn-' ing of night into day; in short the whole chase after excitement. It Is life requir- ing a flood of money. Only with vast in- comes can such life be lived
 New York is to blame. The lesser cities take their cue from the biggest. Extravagant living springs up elsewhere in imitation of the mode here. The young banker of the small town, on a visit to NeW fork, dlscoVers that ne mas not been playing the loose game of some of his fast-living contemporaries here, and on his return home he sees things in a different light. The dream of sudden wealth, acquired in the metropolis, may be his undoing.
 T say seriously that the attitude of trusteeship has suffered a shocking change in recent years. Whatever the cause, there are cycles of honesty and cycles of dishonesty. The present is a cycle of dishonesty, with it's causes in modern standards of enjoying living"
 In spite of these views, however Mr. Moxey is not a pessmist He regards the cycle of dishonesty as applying only to minority The honest men he believes to be vastly in the majority, notwithstand- ing his many experiences with the other kind