Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-07-31
CRIMINAL LAW
Continued from page one)

even though Barber had made fraud
ulent Misrepresentation to induce a
deposit in the bank, and the deposit
had been so made, there would be no
obtaining by false ~pretenses. This
crime would only apply to a case
where Barber used the false pretenses
to ecure a personal loan and did so
secure it.
Even by securing the consent of
the depositor to an exchange of their
claims against the bank for personal
Barber notes, this crime was not pres
ent. The only representation made
in that transaction was that a note
would be given, and SO far as l know
. note was given in everv case.
Whether these notes are collectable
or not is another question, for,
strange to say, not one depositor has
ever sued Barber civilly on his notes.
CAMPAIGN STUFF
We find, therefore. that not one of
the three possibilities for holding
Barber criminallv under the Ohio
Code applies. We all know, also,
that malicious accusations are made
against the judge and prosecutors in
fOlNCQ al tIliG JlltlS VI llC DdIDCl III
dictments; that these men are charg-
ed with a. failure in their duty, a de-
ficiency in their profession, a gross
neglect of office, and even to the ri
diculous extent of being "bought Off.
If any one knows of any evidence pur-
porting to show that these men re-
presenting the legal profession ex-
changed their moral courage for
money. he can have them sent to the
penitentiary. If any one knows of
any such evidence it. is his duty to
come forth and speak. If he does
not know of any such evidence, but
merely gets it by hearssy, as a part
of ONE very questionable campaign
ing, it is his duty to investigate its
truth. or else demand that the source
of such tales give the reason for cir
culating them. To i~nsinuate that
these men were "bought Off. without
some knowledge of the truth, or fall
sitt of that insinuation. is a gross
! violation of the first principle of hon.
est citizenship. ANY person who
does that is not honest. If any one
does know of any evidence to that
effect. it is his duty TO sneak up. so
that the voters may know the truth
of the slanderous stories. or else adj
nit that he was mistaken.
THE REAL DIFFICULTY
But what is the trouble? Some
thing is fundamentally wrong. The
worst calamity which ever befell
Fulton county was the wrecking of
the Barber Bank, and we find nc
crime in the Ohio Code which covers
the case. To make matters worse
some are blaming innocent men for Q
failure to convict when as a matter Of
fact the tools they were given to
work with We're useless. The Grim
inal Code of Ohio is defective. The
same thing could happen again in any
city or town in Ohio, and still it would
be no crime. There should be a stat.
ute enacted to the effect that "a gross.
lv negligent investment of the funds
deposited in any bank in the state
of Ohio, shall make the officers anc
directors of such bank liable to cIm.
NAL prosecution, etc." With such 8
statute, a prosecutor and judge woulC
have an implement sharp enough tx
get behind the vaults of our banking
institutions when they are negligen'
in handling the money loaned them by
depositors.
When our laws Are deficient. let u,
blame the ones who made them. anC
not those who administer them
Let us demand relief of our legisla
ture and not handy around stories o.
dishonesty and inefficiency, purl,
for campaign purposes. The storie