The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1914-02-25

In the affairs Of the Commercial
Bank & Trust Co., the time has ar
rived for which The Leader has
waited and for which it has urged
the depositors to wait with that
patient endurance in a trying sit
uation and that admirable equa-
nimity which have characterized
the majority since the Bank closed
In other words. the report has been
filed. and there is no need for fur
ther speculation along that line
The Leader has maintained q
steadfastly cheerful and hopeful at
titude to the end that no hasty
judgment or impuIsive act should
embarrass the depositors or the in
stitution, however handicapped
both were by precedent established
in such failures or the prejudice
that naturally inheres when bank.
ing institution closes with the peo-
pies money on the inside. We be.
lieved and still believe that the
Bank should be given every oppor-
tunity to prove that it was victim
of the times or that it overcropped
itself through philanthropic effort
to help the poor farmer and build
up the county. or that it recklessly
abused the confidence of the people.
Be this as 1t may for the present.
the records show that up to about
three years ago tho Bank did not
only a satisfactory, but an immense
business. and that at about that
time instead of fortifying itself, by
conservatism in making large loans.
against the odds threatened in the
oncoming boil weevil depreciation.
it plunged on like ship into an
angry storm and took risks that
spelled nothing as distinctly as the
disaster that has come.
And now the generosity of the
management. the sympathy for the
needy, the ready hand to help and
the conspicuous public spirit and
enterprising reputation of the in
stitution are all obscured like a
vision in a mist; and in their stead
the provident father of families,
the underpaid school teacher, the
widow and the orphan and deposi-
tors generally stand dismayed and
afraid, in view of the first report
of the closed institution.
1t appears to them that there has
been loose banking and that undue
risk has been taken with their
money; that favoritism in the FAM
lilies of the President and head
Cashier. counting up in dollars and
cents over S125 900. shows injus-
tice to the depositors in the face of
the closure. especially since only 5
per cent of the stock can legally be
loaned Directors. and since it is
known that less than a quarter of
the sum mentioned would have
kept the institution on its feet but
was not forthcoming at any time
when the bank weakened year or
more ago and finally went under.
Just here emphasis is laid upon
the fact that confidence in the in
stitution had been undermined not
only in the county, but in the State
and the great business centers and
that no amount offered on January
5 could avail anything in the face
of broken faith. In other words,
it was confidence that was needed !;
and the lack of it closed the bank
and doubtless threatened it with the
rushing in of an outside receiver
The Board of Directors, in the face
of such a dilemma. deliberately
chose then. it appears from the
evidence we have gathered. to vol
unfairly close. as they did. When
the Whitney Bank of New Orleans
did the unusual thing and refused
a loan, small indeed by comparison.
on the memorable Monday morn
ing. the die was cast.
And the tremurs of the earth felt