Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-01-01

. .... million dollars lost to more
than Z thousand dcpositors from ev-
erv section OF the county and lost for
how long no one knew. Nearly
I.uartcr OF a million dollars represent
frg savings for which certificates OF
deposit had been issued were nearly
Onc-half Of thc deposits. People could
not believe it. MIR. Golding insisted
that the closing Of the bank was only
tcu.pnr.ry; hundreds naturally be-
licvcd him so great was their conf
dcnce in him. 1t was generally
claimed that The panic and tight mon
cv market caused the failure. Peo-
pie for a time believed this state
mcnt Mr. Godding promised time
and again that within Is days he
would reopen the bank; more than
thousand depositor5 waited breath
lcssly during that time hoping, yes
rraying, that he would accomplish
what he promised. Never to even
this day has he brought out satisfac-
tory evidence that he ever made but
very little effort to the end he prom
ised to accomplish in so short time.
People could not be persuaded that
the man they had implicitly followed
for years had been guilty of any
was the victim of circumstances.
With such conditions and beliefs as
these the receiver, G. NJ. Hall, took
charge and the depositors at once or
ganizcd and began exerting whatever
influence thcv could in assisting the
unravcling of the affairs of the bank.
As soon as the receiver compiled
tabulatcd statement of the assets and
liabilities OF the bank, the Bank De-
positor's Committee went over each
item with the two best loan experts
in Otero county. The information
disclosed was appalling. II was
fotvlu that three people had been al
lowed to borrow from the State Bank
$4,000 oo-and on security that
could not bring S70,ooo.oo. making
Zoo. 100000 loaned on nothing. Mr..
Godding and his family which have
called one person. had borrowed
100000: DR.. w. F. Fcnton SI72,-
making in these three items total OF
S,zoooooo. much moro than half the
assets of the bank; it was found that
Mr.. Godding and his family owned
Is per cent of the stock of the bank
so had had during the wears absolute
charge and control of the bank. II
was found that his cashier. E. J.
Smith, who had full knowledge Of
these manipulations Of the banks
funds indebted to the bank in the
sum of S23,ooo.oo without any sccur-
ity and of course was party to all
this business of the bank by reason
of his position.
The committee would never have
believed such condition could be
made to exist If tho absolute evidence
had not been in front of them posi-
tive and incontrovcrtiblc-p there
Mr.. Godding who was president of
the bank and actively in control
In addition to dishonest loans, It
was found that the books had been
made to state fa1sehoods. 1t appear
| ed off and on for years that a cash
deposit of 100000 was carried in a
Chicago bank when there was not
cent there. Mr.. Godding we'll knew
these things.
When this committee examined the
| assets OF the bank they were shocked
beyond mca The faith in their
friend had been misplaced and bctray-
cd. How such 4 condition had been
juggicd and covered up by him for
years a. ut gradually grew worse
could only be explained by the tre-
mcndous acumcn OF the man. When
they figured \ nnss;hi" dividend out
of the assets that remained for the
dcpositors, on a close figure for the
first time only 5H per cent could be
found. Just think OF it, only ~ per
cent OIL 4 hall million dollars OF bus
incss. Think of what stupcndous
robbery had taken place and how long
/ it had been in getting in that awful
! roviitiOu. The committee could not
| face the d,positors only four weeks
after the closing of the bank will,
such 4 statement and with Mr.. God
d ding promising to open the bank cv-
cry day. They went over the affairs
OF the bank again and after reviews
and recon sidcratiouS. they told the
dep, >itgTs just four weeks after sus
pei sion that they could not expect
more than Is per cent. And the re-
ccivcr is here today and will tell you
that he is unable to tell when 4 div
iLcnd OF any kind can be declared and
it is now n year since the bank failed.
OF course. Mr.. Godding was ar
rested and tried; his trial lasted scN
cral wecks-he was given every op-
portunity to tell everything but he
could not patch up at that late date
the awful dishonest and criminal con-
ditions he had caused. His own tes
timony was the weakest introduced
on the part of the defense: he was
given long, fair and impartial trial.
1t was nonpartisan in every particu
lar: the jury Immediately returned
verdict Of guilty; after the trial he
tried to go to the supreme court on
error; they find no prejudicial error
and refuse to interfere. This OF
| itcself is crowning testimony to
the statement that he had fair and
impartial trial for if he had not had
such. it would appear in the evidence
| in the case at once.
MIR. Godding was then sentenced