The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1911-12-22
H-CASH|ER WHITAKER
GOES TO CHAIN GANG
Court of Appeals Afirms
Judge Morris Decision
Decision of IL months.

tuesday of this week, the Court
of Appeals handed down decision
affirming the decision of Judge
Morris in the case of the State VS..
w. P. Whitaker, the ex-cashier of
the Kennesaw Bank. Mr.. Whitaker
was convicted at the summer term
of court of the crime of cheating
and swindling. He was charged
with having sold to Mr.. T. j. Under
wood, of Kennesaw, stock in the
Kennesaw Bank and that he repre-
sented the stock to be worth above
par at the time. 1t was alleged
that the bank was insolvent at that
time and that the stock was worth
less, and that this fact was unknown
to Mr.. Whitaker at the time he
made the sale.
1t was further charged that Mr..
Whitaker sold the stock to Mr..
Underwood and represented to him
that the bank of Kennesaw was a
chartered and incorporated bank,
when in fact it was not chartered
nor Incorporated. He gave Mr..
Underwood stock certificate show
ing on its face that the bank was
chartered. At the trial the evidence
showed that after Mr.. Whitaker had
been in charge of the bank a few
months, it went into the hands of a
receiver, and that he had borrowed
for himself as cashier of the bank
more than the entire capital stock
of the bank. He went into bank
ruptcy himself, and the bank never
recovered anything from his estate,
the stockholders losing every cent
they had put into the bank.
Mr.. Whitaker could not be in
dicted, under the law, for embzzle-
ment, as the bank was not chartered.
the legal status of the bank being a
partnership.
When the attorneys for Mr..
Whitaker, after conviction, ap-
pealed to Judge Morris for a light
sentence, Judge Morris stated to
Mr.. Whitaker in passing sentence
upon him, That he had sentenced
many people since he had been
presiding Judge to the chain gang
for larceny and stealing property
where there was only small
amount involved; that many of
these people were illiterate and had
practically no experience in the
business world. He further stated
that if it was right under the law to
send this class of people to the
chain gang, why should he show
any special leniency to Mr.. Whita-
ker, an educated, experienced bus
mess man that had won the conf
dence of the peoole and business
men around Kennesaw and induced
them to put their money into a
bank that he was cashier of, rep
resenting it to be a chartered bank,
and then in short time, by his
own manouvering and manipula-
ton, got possession of more than
the entire capital stock of the bank,
go into bankruptcy and defraud
every stakeholder out of every cent
they had intrusted to him; that he
felt that the Courts should be more
lenient with the ignorant and in
experienced than it should be with
the shrewd business man that makes
his plans carefully to defraud hon
est people that had entrusted their
money into his control. He furth-
er stated that if the bank had been
chartered, as it was held out to be,
that it would have been under the
supervision of the State authorities
and the stockholders could not have
sustained loss. If it had beer
chartered as represented, and he
Mr.. Whitaker, miSappropriated the
funds, he would then be guilty of &
felony, and under the law he woulC
have had to serve a long term OF
years in the penitentiary. AS il
was not chartered, he could only be
convicted as misdemeanor, and he
should have the full penalty of the
law. He then sentenced him tt
serve the term of twelve months il
the chain gang"
This case was hard fought
through the court, and has nov
reached its final termination, anC
Mr.. Whitaker will be put on the
chain gang in Cobb county for /;
term of twelve months.