The Snowflake herald. [volume] (Snowflake, Ariz.) 1913-1969, 1913-10-10
.RANCHERS' TRUST TO
BE AIRED in COURT


been instituted in the superior
court of Coconino county by the
local firms of Sloan, Seabury and
Westervelt, representing sixty
three signers of notes given the
agents of that concern. The
notes aggregate $4,000 and
many of them have been sold or
hypothecated.
1t is alleged in the complaint,
which was written by former
Governor Richard E. Sloan, that
the Navajo-Apache Bank and
Trust company and R. D. Greer,
both of Winslow, and other per-
sons who took over the notes
held by the Ranchers' Trust COM
pany, are not innocent parties
and entitled to protection as
such. 1t is charged that they
knew that the company was not
complying with the terms of the
permit issued by the corporation
commission.
Following are the defendants
mentioned in the complaint:
Ranchers' Trust Company,
Thomas Matkins, CHI. Harrison,
H. L. Schultz, w. H. Burbage,
T. F. Dye, E. H. Bargman, ]. A.
Graves. William B. McCandless,
John w. Thompson, Navajo-A-'
pache Bank & Trust company
and r. d. Greer. Matkins, Har-
rison and Schultz are the agents
who took the notes from various
stockmen of northern Arizona,
after painting glittering word
pictures of seven per cent money,
directorships in a powerful fl
nancial Institution and places on
it's loan board at $1,000 per day.
All the otaer individuals, ex-
cept Greer, who is a note holder,
are, or have been, directors in
the Ranchers' Trust. Dye, Barg-
man, Graves and Burbage are
residents of Winslow; McCand-
less and Thompson are of Phoe-
nix.
Judge Sloan's complaint alleg-
es that there never was any in
tention of conducting an honest
business, that the whole scheme
was a fake from start to finish
and was started merely for the
purpose of making easy money
from the sale of shares. 1t is
asked that a receiver be appoint
ed and that steps be taken to
dissolve the corporation.
Under the corporation commits
sion's permit the agents were al
lowed fifteen per cent commission
for the sale of stock, and ten per
cent additional when the entire
subscriptions should be paid in
cash. The notes taken from
trustful cattle growers and sheep
men were hypothecated, how
ever, and the agents, in a num-
Der of instances, were paid the
entire 25 per cent Immediately.
The claim is set up that the
peisons holding the notes knew
that this was being done, that
they were cognizant of the dis
honesty of the scheme all the
time. This is the ground ad-
vanced for asking that the notes
be declared invalid.
Notes of two kinds were given.
First a subscriber would give his
note for 333 per cent of the cost
of his stock and then another
note~for the remainder.
Suit was brought in the Coco
nino county court because most
of the citizens who gave their
notes live in Navajo, Apache and
Yavapai. 1t was thought that
the atmosphere here in Navajo
and Apache, particularly, might
be unwholesome for the impair
tial trial of a suit such as Sloan,
Seabury and Westervelt have
brought.
T. G. Norris and E. ]. Mitch
ell, of Prescott, Thorwald Lar
son and J. E. Crosby, of Hol-
brook, are attorneys associated
with the local firm in this suit.
The filing of this action is the
most important step that has been
taken since the corporation COM
missioners learned tn at the
agents of the Ranchers Trust
company were selling shares in
violation of their permit. Many
remarkable facts have been
brought out since that time. It
appears that Harrison, Matkins
and Shultz travelled through the
northern countries in an automo-
bile, taking the notes of wealthy
stockmen and farmers far from
the centers of population. They