The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-10-25
Ignorant DepOsitOrs Safeguard
ed Through the Efforts Of
YiVianM. LeWiSand His Aids.
CHECKS TO DISHONESTY
DefaICatiOns Now Made Good by
the Stringent Regulations Of
New Jerseys BenefiCent
Statute.

Newark, October.-The time is ap
preaching when many thousands o.
dollars win be sent out of New Jersey
by its foreign born residents to theil
old homes in the fatherand. This out
fiow continues throughout the year, II
is true, but it attains its largest pro
portions about the Christmas holidays
Much of this money is sent through
agents, as the non English speaking
residents do not understand the postal
regulations or prefer to do business
with men of their own nationality.
In consequence there has grown uI
all over the state, lin the cities and
small villages, quasi banking bust
ness operated by remittance bureaus
Until the last legislature these remit
lance bureaus were irresponsible agen.
cies, and the sender of money had no
protection against dishonesty and had
to rely only upon the honor of the
person to whom he or she intrusted
the money to be forwarded.
There are also hundreds Of private
banks in the state which accepted de-
posits from foreigners, but were not
subject to the banking laws. In the
aggregate these concerns annually
handled hundreds Of thousands Of dol
lars, and every now and then the poor
investors were victimized in many
cases robbed of all their savings. There
were laws upon the statute books, but
they had proved insufficient.
When Vivian M. Lewis became
state banking and insurance commits
sioner one of the first steps he took
was to devise means to safeguard the
savings of these poor investors better
than was provided for in the existing
statutes. He soon became conversant
with the operations Of the SO called
bankers and knew precisely how the
dishonest among them could play upon
the confidence Of their unsophisticated
scountrymen. With his usual vigor
Commissioner Lewis set to work He
drew up regulations which would pre-
vent "a continuance Of the evil, while
mot interfering with the transaction Of
legitimate business. If the clannish
Immigrant preferred to trust his
countryman Mr.. Lewis was willing
that he should do so, but the agent
should be subjected to such scrutiny
and be compelled to furnish such Sc
cnrity that the danger of loss to the
investor and remitter would be mini
mized, If not entirely prevented.
BY the passage of chapter PIG, laws
of 1910, the recurrence of defalcations
is made virtually impossible. This law
does not merely place restrictions
about the private banking and remit
lance business; it provides for constant
supervision of its operation and pre-
scribes guarantee of good faith. The
poor workman and workwoman in
New Jersey may now intrust his or
her cents and dollars to any authorized
agent or banker in the state with the
assurance of full protection against
loss.
Every private banker and renting
agent must now, give a bond in the
sum of $4,000 to insure the faithful
performance of their contract with de-
positors. Not only that, but when
money is deposited for remittance
abroad the agent must show that it is
sent within five days. Heretofore the
agent kept the money as long as he
chose and used 1t as he pleased and
neither the depositors nor the state
had any means of knowing what be-
came of this money.
And the best feature of the new law
is that it is strictly enforced. Com
missioner Lewis selected the best in
spectors he could find men who knew
their business and knew the character
of the people with whom they would
have to deal. How efficient this staff
of inspectors has been, is evidenced by
recent results.
Passaic and Paterson have furnished
several instances Of the salutary work
ing of the law. Not long ago, one Of
Commissioner Lewis inspectors in ex-
amining the books of o. La Cagnina,
private banker in Passaic, discovered
that the banker could show no receipt
for $500 intrusted to him for remit
lance to italy. Neither could he show
any trace Of $500 placed with him
on deposit. La Cagnina was promptly
arrested, but his relatives came to the
rescue and made up the $1,000 due to
the pe0ple he had despoiled.
Since the law has been In operation
@here have been other cases in differ
enc parts of the state where the bond
Ing companies have been compelled to
snake good deficiencies in the accounts
OF these bankers and agents for whom
they went security.
The results not only reflect great
credit upon Mr. Lewis, but show the
necessity Of having a practical man in
charge Of the states affairs
DR. Wilson says, If you pick out the
best man it doesn't make much differ
Hnce in my mind whether he Is Dem
Dcrat or Republican" How about IT.