The San Francisco call., 1909-04-02

that criminal prosecutions have been
urged. firm of attorneys has been
engaged to investigate this phase of
the case, and If they ind that the evil
dence warrants, complaints will be
sworn to.
Threat of Criminal Prosecution
Not only are the creditors prepared
TO go TO court, but several minority
stock holders have threatened to bring
criminal proceedings. They charge that
Willard p. Calkins and his associates
in the corporation induced them to in
70 the value and earnings of the various
Calkins enterprises. Handsomely print
ed prospectuses were distributed, in
which the Calkins holdings were made
TO mount high into the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, and on the strength
of these pretensions residents in the
eastern part of the state invested heav-
lily In the syndicate stock. For their
money they have now merely the in
creased liability that the failure has
occasioned.
The debts OF the Calkins syndicate
will reach sa4s,ooo. OF these $4,000
are secured and the balance, $4,000,
are practically worthless. To pay the
unsecured indebtedness of sl13 600 the
syndicate has assets of s11 1000
Heaviest Creditor Secured
The heaviest creditor is the Union
Trust company. It holds the Calkins
paper to the amount of $780, 600 This
amount is secured in one way or an
other. In addition to this $4,000 minor
debts are secured. The big balance,
including the sums due the paper,
printing and supply houses, is unse-
cured. These creditors will get less
than 10 cents on the dollar.
The deeper the creditors delve into
the mass, the worse becomes the tangle.
The failure Will be attended by all the
scandals of overvaluation, false rep
reservations, and the imitation of as
sets. 1t has been discovered that ac-
counts carried on the books for $4,000
are worth about $500.
the Calkins syndicate represented it,
self to be worth some 500. 600 or $780,
600. In reality 1t was not worth half
that sum. 1t was on the strength OF
these ratings that 1t was able to get
an extended credit Now that the
crash has come the men holding the
syndicate notes have discovered the de-
ception. Calkins has already made one
proposition, which has been rejected.
He will be put upon the carpet today.
Many Separate Companies
The Calkins syndicate is the parent
organization of the Calkins enter
prises. 1t appears as the majority
stock holder in some dozen corpora
tions under the Calkins control Each
of the many magazines and publica-
tions is issued under separate cor
porate name. In this chain OF pub
lication are number OF weeklies and
dailies, including the Sacramento Union
and the Fresno Herald Each of these
carries its own Indebtedness
During the last few months. when
it has become apparent that the fail
ure was at hand, the syndicate pur-
chased its supplies under a multiplic-
ity of names When the Calkins syn.
dicates credit was exhausted in GER
tain quarters. 1t bought under the name
of the Calkins newspaper house. II
hobbled along by one device or an
other until the final collapse.
Sunset Press Involved
While the Hellmans, as the ruling
spirit Of the Union trust company. are
the heaviest creditors, they are se
cured by the Sunset press contract and
stocks and bonds. The Sunset press
contract is the agreement by which
the Calkins syndicate publishes the
Sunset magazine. For this 1t receives
$1,000 a month The Bank Of Cali
fornia is creditor in the sum of
$4,000. 1t allowed the syndicate an
overdraft of $4,000. but was in for
only half that sum when the con-
Germs credit was stopped.
The plant was purchased at a cost
of s15o.o0o. 1t was to be paid for
on the installment plan. OF this sum
Continued on Page Z, Column 5