Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1908-09-30

Judge Langan of the dis
trict court, brushes aside the techni-
calities interposed by Tom. B. Hickey,
president of the State Bank
and Trust company, and orders that
he shall plead to the indictment
charging him with embezzlement.
This is one of the hardest blows
yet delivered to the financier whose
business methods have placed hun
dreds of people into want.
Although his counsel from Cali
fornia presented all kinds of excuses
to relieve him of the necessity of
pleading, Hickey must now stand
trial in Esmefalda county and, ii
convicted, he will be given sentence
in the penitentiary such as the law
provides. Judge Langan passed up
on the legal objections involved in
the case, and leaves the banker moth
ing upon which to stand. In part,
the courts opinion follows:
OPINION OF THE COURT.
The defendant is being prosecut-
ed under the following act of the leg
islature of Nevada, passed at it's
last regular session:
IAN act making any banker, or
any officer, agent or clerk of sany
bank receiving deposits, knowing
that said bank is insolvent, guilty of
embezzlement and providing for the
punishment therefore. Every
officer, agent, teller or clerk of any
bank and every individual banker
who receives any deposits, knowing
that such bank or association or
banker is insolvent, shall be guilty
of enlightenment"
The penalty prescribed IN cases of
conviction is from one to fifteen
years. The court goes on:
CONVENTIONS OF COUNSEL.
st is urged that the act is viola
! tive of four constitutional provisions
of the state of Nevada, and also OF
the fourteenth amendment to the
constitution of the United States.
Counsel for defendant contends that
the above act is special legislation,
and therefore unconstitutional, be-
cause it applies to bankers only and
not to others who may commit the
prescribed acts. The argument in
| behalf of this contention is that the
act in question, making crime for
bankers only to receive deposits aft
er they are insolvent, is class legis-
lation, because it makes bankers
alone subject to punishment for acts
that would not be criminal or punish
able if committed by others.
while it may be said that the act
is in sense class legislation, still il
is not so in the invidious sense thai
renders it obnoxious to the provision:
of the constitution. When law APP
plies to all persons engaged in a Ger
tain occupation or business, and eacf
one is without distinction, amenablt
to it's provisions solely because HI
pursues such occupation or business
then it is binding upon all persons o
the community under similar circum
stances. Such legislation has uni
formly been upheld. The laws which
regulate criminal prosecutions anC
: proceedings or provide that acts dont
by certain classes of persons shall b,
| crimes, are valid as applied to all o
: a class where the classification il
based upon a reasonable distinction
and it is for the Legislature and no
} for the courts to decide what is
reasonable distinction, the courts be
ing able to hold law unconstitution
al only when the classification i
based on purely>arbitrary grounds
MOTIVE OF THE LAW.
1T was the manifest purpose of tn
legislature by the banking act o
: 1907 to suppress fraudulent bankin!
: and to prohibit the business of bank
! ing being conducted by an insolven
person, company or corporation. |
! consequently inflicts punishment up
, on persons who engage in the bank
ing business with knowledge that tn
bank is insolvent A bank implie
capital and capital invites confidence
\ man holding himself out as a bank
or thereby gives public proclamation
that he has money aud property read
lily convertible into money. In his pos
session and subject to his control
and for that reason he may be safel
! trusted. II requires no arguments
ton or citation of authorities to sho'
that such assurance Is most inyltin
: aud influential with the mass OF IN
; people. especially with those unaC
quainted with the history aud char
. I - ~ NO.. Ntrssk a