The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-08-15

ident of the Lamoille County Savings
Bank and Trust company, dated Febru-
airy 81, 1914, l said;
g i examined the above bank February
10. and find that your liability and the
liability of Mr.. Mcfarland to the bank
has not been decreased since my last ex-
animation. You will remember that in the
talk we had something over year ago
notified you that the liability of the
officers of the bank must be reduced to
the legal limit, namely, ten thousand dol
lars as quickly as it could be DONE and
find no progress has been made in that
direction. In taking with Mr.. Nc
Farland about your plans for investment,
he advised me that you had decided to
buy western mortgages, but that they
we're to be guaranteed by the lumber COM
pany and that you and Mr.. McF arand
were to guarantee the lumber company.
advised Mr.. Mcfarland, and now advise
you that this cannot be allowed. 1t Is
only another method of accomplishing the
same thing and continuing the same
practices which have objected to for the
past four years and which are contrary
,
the liability of yourself and see that the
liabilities of the other directors are re-
duced to the legal limit, just as soon as
it is possible to do so without loss to the
bank
MEETING IN NEW YORK.
las a result of this letter Senator Page
asked me to meet him in New York for
a conference l replied that l could see
no object of a conference, that the mat
ter was perfectly plain. and no explana
tions We're needed. He insisted upon a
conference, and paid all my expenses to
New York and return After a long dis
cussion in which l refused to change my
rulings, he again gracefully yielded, and
said, You shall have no further cause
for criticism He reduced his liability to
the bank very soon to the legal limit, and
tine other directors also except where they
had guaranteed out of state loans, which
I refused TO have released until the loans
We're paid or l was satisfied they were
absolutely good.
October %, 1915, 1 wrote Senator Page
as follows:
"'My attention has been called to the
statements in the two recent advertise
ments of the LamoilIe County Savings
Bank and Trust company, in one of
which it is stated that the bank does not
look fer investments which pay more than
six per cent, and in the other 1t Is stated
that the bank has assets which are
not absolutely good for the face value.
I have not attempted to quote either of
these advertisements verbatim, but in
the case of the first one the impression
is given that the bank has no investments
which pay it more than six per cent, and
in the latter one the Impression is given
that the banks investments have been
carefully made that they have de-
Veoped no weaknesses. inasmuch as you
have loans which pay you six and one
half and seven per cent, the first adver
tisement cannot state the situation cor
recty. In the case of the other advertise
ment although I understand from you
and Mr.. Mcfarland that you have the
guarantee of Mr. knight and Mr. Nc
Farland on certain loans which have de-
veloped a very substantial weakness and
l suppose you reason that because of
those guarantees the bank will make no
loss, that YOU are warranted in making
the statement in the advertisement. I
think the only case in which a bank could
make the statement properly, would be
where the investments had been made
with such rare judgment and discretion
that no weakness ever eveloped in any
of them, but where, as in Your case, it
is evident that the officers who had
charge of making the loans in the bank
namely yourself and Mr. Mcfarland, as
l understand it, made investments which
later turned out to be poor, even though
one of the officers of the bank guaran-
teed there should be no loss. | think the
bank is not warranted in conveying to the
public the impression that its officers
have been 50 careful and used such good
judgment as such an advertisement would
Indicate
REASONS FOR DELAY.
please consider this matter in the
light in which | have stated it. and /
think you will realize that you are not
justified in asking the people of the state
Of Vermont to select your bank above
all others for the reasons indicated
He asked for a conference and as
sured me that the advertising for the
bank had been turned over to Mr. Culver,
the treasurer, and he would have moth
ing further to do with it. and said he
did not realize he was doing anything
Improper in such advertising.
las a result of the conference. letters
and rulings of the bank commissioner
during the past six years, the I4amoille
County Savings Bank and Trust COM
pany has abandoned all the practices
which have been criticised and the on
y reason it took so long to accomplish
1t Is the attitude of Senator Page, and
his persistent efforts TO devise some way
IN which the bank might purchase out
OF state loans, and still advertise in such
a way as to lead the people to think all
the banks deposits were Invested In Ver-
mont or in Vermont securities.
Il have made this statement so that
the depositors in our state banks may
know the attitude which the bank com
missioner takes towards Illegal and i'm
proper practices by the banks over which