The Mena weekly star., 1910-05-19
REPLY TO HAMILTON

OIduulcs Al Ms Mdy v 41los Editor Star, Mena, Ark.
 Dear Sir: In reply to the letter of Mr. Hamilton, wish to say that I see he starts out by stating that several citizens requested him to give some facts concerning cer- tain bills that were before the legislature last year. Now If Mr. Hamilton, in his letter, had done as he was requested, that Is, given facts, there would have been no occasion for reply from me.
 1 want to say in the outset that he has not, 1n the entire letter, stated a fact, which l will prove, not by my word nor his, but by the records of the legislature. He not only did not state facts but he seems grossly ignorant of what did actually occur either in the House or Senate.
 Before entering into any argu- ment, 1 want 10 denounce his statement that l said his bill mot worth a damn as absolutely false, and he knows as we'll as every body else who knows me that l am not given to the use of such language. But that statement of his is no nearer the facts than the balance of his letter.
 In regard to the bill which Kendall introduced, my objections to 1t were these: First, the bill provided that only banks in Polk county should bid on the funds. Scott county for four years had a law similar to that bill, and un- der that law no bank outside of the county could bid for the funds. The consequence was that the banks at Waldron en- tered into a combination and re- fused to bid. The money was de- posted with them and they used 1t for four years without paying any interest. The same thing could occur in Polk county and to avoid this, I wanted any bank in the state to have au opportunity 10 bid on the funds provided, of course, that place ot payment was made at the county seat. | No. 2. The bill provided that bank could only bid for 25 per cent of its paid up capital. Now then the three banks in Mena have each a paid up capital, 1 think, of $50.o0O. Then under this bill each bank could receive l only $12,500 in which they were to pay interest. This would make total of $37, 500, and if the revenue of the county should reach S50,000, which 1 under stand it does, and more, there would still be an over plus of Sl2,500 that no provision would | have been made for and that the banks would be using without paying any interest. So I thought that if we had law to make them oay interest, why not make 1t so they would have to pay interest on all of it instead of a part.
 | No. 3. The Bill provided that the funds should be advertised and new depository contract made every two years. This was right, but the bill failed to provide any penalty against the banks for failure to turn over the funds to the new depository. Nor did it provide any penalty against the banks even for the failure to pay any check present. ed against the funds. It did say that the party injured or the lcounty could sue the bank on it's bond, but if they recovered, it would be only the amount due with interest at whatever rate the bank was paying.
 | A case of this kind caue up in Missouri two years ago. The de- posltory bank having several thousand dollars ot funds on which it was paying 4 per cent interest under contract claimed, when a new depository was se- lected, that it was not done fairly, and refused to turn over the funds into the hands of the new deposi- tory. The county sued the bank. II passed through the courts, and they finally recovered the money, but they could make the bank pay only 4 per cent, the contract rate. Thus, you see, the bank could we'll afford to deprive the county of the use of this money for an indefinite period for that rate oi interest.
 The bill provided that if the treasurer failed to turn the money over promptly to the depository, he would have to pay the bank penalty of 10 per cent per month for failure to do so. 1 thought that the bank ought to be made pay the same penalty for failure to turn the money back to the county, or failure to pay a check given to some farmer aud drawn against the county fund. Ia oth- CT words HWhat mac saura fo,