Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-05-12
n INE BLUFF ROGRESS
 ROSPERITY
D DJRECTORS- RESPONSE
 RIIITY.

News dispatches of today tell Of the suicide of two planters, prominent in Louisiana. Both showed worry over financial losses caused by the failures of banks in which they were depositors and stockholders.
 It is not probable that any of the directors of these two defunct iasti- tutions feel they are in any way morally responsible for the deaths of these men. The erstwhi]e dlrec- tors are -sorrowful, of course They grieve oyer the deaths of their friends, and regtet the circumstances provoking them to take their lives. It is probable the directors also suf- fered financial loss by the failure of banks, and consequetly they feel, per haps, they cannot in any way be held morally responsible for the downfall of the situations. But is this attitude the right one?
 Knowing something of the condi- tions that caused the. failure of the two institutions, it may be stated that had the directors given proper atten- tion to their duties as the managers of the institutions neither would have failed. The transactions leading to the failure extended over a period of several years, and were due to bad management on the part of those di- rectly in charge-the cashiers and the presidents. Had the directors conscientiously fulfilled their duties, this mismanagement would have been discovered before the bank be- came dangerously involved they would have been saved; none would have suffered great loss, and it is fair to presume the two. depositors and stockholders would be alive today.
 Oply last week, and right here in Pine Bluff, man who enjoyed for years the explicit confidence of his associates pleaded guilty to eight ill., dictments charging embezzlement of improvement district funds. His peculations extended over such long period that the prosecuting at- torney dismissed three of the twelve indictments because of the belief they had been outlawed by time. Of course, the self-confessed embezzler was primarily to blame but II the directors of the several inn provement districts had discharged tkeir duties as they were expected to do; if they had not depended entire ly upon the honesty of the one who fell, the peculations would have been discovered long before they amounted to anything like $12,O00.
 And it is not without the bounds of reason to suppose that if the direc- tors of these districts had carefully inspected the financial condition at regular intervals the embezzlement1 would not have occurred. Realizing that any wrong-dong would be quick ly detected, the collector may not have been tempted to speculate with the funds in his custody.
 Men who are big enough to be placed on the directorates of banks, improvement districts or other i'm portant projects ought to realize that mankind is weak; that every man is likely to succumb to temptation. The character of some enable them to withstand greater temptation than others, but it, is almost criminal to submit man on meagre salary to the temptation of handling thousa lds of dollars without submitting him to such restrictions as will make him to ever realize that he cannot hope to err without detection.
 Ni1ety-nine out of every 100 men