Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-04
FREELY ADMITS HIS GUILT
Surrenders With Son to Custody Of
United States Marshal.
SHOCK TO HIS ASSOCIATES
Dearing Was One of Oldest and Most
Highly Respected Bankers
Of His State.


It's Leavenworth prison for me. and
the sooner the better" said II. NJ
Dearing. the Albion banker. as he pre-
pared to leave for Detroit today with
his son. Palmer NJ. Dearing. in custody
of United States Marshal Milo NJ
Campbell. Father and son had con-
fessed forgeries amounting to s1s5.000
that resulted in the closing of the AL
bion National Bank last Tuesday.
us there any hope for the de-
positors?" the elder prisoner was asked
For an instant the man appeared on
the verge of breaking down: then he
choked back the tears with a great
effort and replied: NO. none at ALL"
The son, who had been very quiet
and apparently unaffected during the
hearing before United States Commits
sioner Clark here last night. continued
father up to the moment Of their de-
parture for Detroit
Confession Voluntary.
After the men were bound over to the
federal grand jury at Detroit under
$4,000 bonds each the proceedings in the
commissioners Office here were extended
late into the night in order to give time
for the preparation and signing of state
ments showing that the confessions were
entirely voluntary. The two bankers
came here voluntarily from Albion and
met United States Marshal Campbell and
United States District Attorney Tuttle
last night at Commissioner Clark's Office.
The senior Dearing is one of the Oldest
and best known bankers in Michigan.
Many bankers Of prominence today re-
membered him as one of the leading
bankers back in the days when they were
just entering their careers. That there
couldn't be anything wrong about the old
man. was an expression frequently heard
when suspicious of forgeries were first
reported.
Tells of Discoveries.
ALBION. Mich, January 4.-Dr. w. O
Oponohue. president OF the Albion Ma
tiOnal Bank, yesterday told a dramatic
story Of his first suspicious and the sub
sequent Investigations which led to the
discovery Of the forgeries which brough
about the banks collapse.
For years Cashier H. M. Dearing had
been the trusted employe OF the bank.
and. as the president put it, when Dear
ing told us to make a loan loan was
made. His word was always final with
III.
1T was last Friday" he said, that by
accident found a discrepancy of 80 cents
in the books. / did not think much OF 1t
at the time, but my curiosity was arous-
ed. I made further investigation. half
to satisfy my curiosity and half to try to
correct the error Next / found a dis
crepancy Of 81. became alarmed and
continued my investigation. The result
was 1 found startling discrepancies
Lost Confidence in Mankind.
For the first time in my life / lost
confidence in mankind. / realized we
had been deceived. / was sick at heart
and called other members Of the bank to
me. I told them of my findings. We
decided it would be useless to try and
straigthen out the matter ourselves. and
notified Mr.. johnson, the national bank
examiner, who took charge of the insti-
tuition on his arrival in tn S city short
time later.
"They tell me the forgeries reach close
to S15OOOO. 1t seems a hard blow at this
time in my life, but all 1 can say is that
/ hope the matter Is adjusted speedily to
the best interests of the creditors. All
1 have will be turned over to them, for
il any one must suffer / want it to be
myself
President ODonohue is now in his
seventy-third year.
Bankers Placed in Jail.
DETROIT, Mich, January Al. NJ.
bearing and his son. Palmer nj. Dear
ing, the Albion bankers and confessed
forgers, were received at the Wayne
county Jail today as federal prisoners.
They were assigned to section I. the
federal section Their only COM
panion in the section is an English
man. charged with violation OF the
laws regarding the admission and con-
duct of aliens.
The grand jury is not in session at
present. and 1t may be two months
before indictments against the bankers
can be returned.
Controller Of the Currency Murray to-
day appointed Frank l.. Irwin Of Albion,
Mich, receiver Of the failed Albion Ma
tional Bank.