Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-14
EANKERS' SUITS TEST
rONSTTTUTIONALITY OF
ECHEAT ACT OF 1915
..,onciers Also Prepared to At
tack Statute in Next Ses-
sion of the General
Assembly
pEpos1Ts UNCLAIMED

-. Nils IN equity attacking the con-
InI,es.,aiity Of the escheat act of 1915 are
stl.,.1ng decis!on in the courts OF this State,
awal'ins s.nkers operating under the State
vhns 40 lining up their forces to carry
hNs ant against the law into the next
~. hankers. following the failure Of the
.ttrg Leglsloture to provide FUNDS Tor
ueae',nsS,ation Of the act, will ask the next
ne ops ~ the state lawmakers to repeal
The measure .z -.
u Ine ~ campaigning for the enforcement
~ n. oct has been to see that advertise
o. w ~ ali unclaimed deposits and other
men.s MIA nv state banks beyond certain
iunu. iunes.,hed per.ods are duly advertised. as
" ~ requires. But according TO bankers,
W sxpeTse of this advertising must be
ine ~, the state and as no money has
poIne .arrropriated the Auditor General. who
eeassrged eeeI with the operation of the act.
y " 5one nothing but receive reports from
ne banks.
MILLIONS UNCLAIMED
,ote according to information given
To- ~. sneer nv the Auditor General, 20.-
n %, rsnorts we're filed under the escheat
wy ,,snv of them contain ng 100 items
ssh The Dollar Savings Bank. of Pitts-
.s.sb with deposits of more than s3i,OOO,-
Ssa advertised under It's charter 1910 un-
w, s,.g.,od deppsits for an aggregate of SS02,-
sn' w freInr tb's as n basis of calculation.
~ sneer has estimated that there is fully
~, Sc mn moo IN cash or property In Penn
s,,ania hanks coming under the five classes
=, which escheat Is provided by the act
These classes are
rrs, Deposits of money. not increased
:. decreased and on which interest has
rot been credited in the depositors' pass
hoot at the request of the depositor. for
II years.
second, Property held for storage or
.,{ekeepinE, to which actual access has not
been had by the person for whom the same
Il held, for seven years
Third Dividends or profits declared by a
Evaporation or copartnership to stockholders
or members and not paid for three years
Fourth. Debts and interest on debts, due
to creditors and not paid, for three years.
Fifth. Property held for the benefit of
another. demandable but not received, for
seyen years.
The banks say they have carried out to
,he letter their obligation under the act to
report property of the specified kinds to the
Auditor General. The act provides that
after the required advertising the property
ahall escheat to the State IL unclaimed for
three years.
PURPOSE OF SUIT
The purpose of the suit by three Penn
sylyania banks I'm which decision Is now
pending was first to enjon the Auditor Gem
sral from advertising the accounts they
had reported to him-an unnecessary pro-
-ceedng. in view of the lack of an appro-
priatlon. They also are attacking the con-
stitutionalty of the act One Of their main
contentious is in effect, that advertising
the accounts and other holdings of living
persons Is an unwarrantable invasion of the
depositors right to privacy. THE funda-
mental vice OF the act" they assert, "is
that II deals with the property of persons
who are living and known
An Illustration of how this works out in
practice is provided by r. Stuart Smith,
who with John @. Johnson appeared as
counsel for the three plaintiff banks. He
has a client, woman who for a dozen
years has been living on n ranch in Mon
hna. When she left Philadelphia she stored
chest Of silver in n safe deposit vault at
bcal bank. The only occasion she had
% have this open occurred 10 years ago.
When she gave her lawyer power of attor-
ney to obtain some pieces of the set and
send them to her. Under the act of 1918
y was necessary for the bank to report
this silverware in January although the
owner is known and has been paying rent
on the safe-deposlt box every year. Should
the act ever be enforced. It will now be nee
sssary for this woman to prove her owner
pin court, bearing a proportIonate share
Of the costs and of the advertising expense.
As the law permits extra territorial sery-
Ice this may involve considerable additional
expense.
The banks party to the suit and others
Interested say that the estimate of S56.OO0.-
usO In unclaimed deposits made by Mr.
tpeer is exaggerated. But they are re-
MeIant to ofrer an opinion as to the real
amount involved.