The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1916-10-13

THE First state Bank of Las
cruces failed December :, 1914
with "a crash lett all through .Hr state
.ut bauk had u,yu looted b., he pres
.u,uI. +. x. IT. smith. ana his Sr,.
.Ulvs. OF something 100 excess ct $liJ.
cd.
The failure bette ID l.ail %, mis,r,
.ud indignation .u tile airsaIIu Vail y
..I 10 all but "b,uRy the NsN Mexico
ste College OF Agriculture and Me
..uy Art.. iUuU. U. which were de.
30. Ted There.
uu.urEor " c. Mcdonald aud his
..puu .yv. Howell Ernest. state travel.
auditor ANA bank examiner. had
r.uuu Tor months that the bank was
ua,.,,nt Trey I.d known that T.
d u. Saith lass family and friends
we're uppropriu,iuI ,hc banks money
aud giving worthless notes as Sc
,urIty.
The governor and his banking de.
pdrtmcut sat by permitting tho dear
s got savings OF struggling house
Iuldvrs. ,uII#rU- widows aud child.
rem TO be- Cuurisralyl month alter
Lonth until Their, Was nothing Iuti 'u
sab and The grim traNesty Oh lauh
IIE came TO an tNNs
Governor Mcdonald did not so
IIUOn aa ,.J q finger TO saw, The near
k COO lHuo,rut dupp TORS OF the Fins,
state Bank from exploitation and ruin.
although a" knew nearly a year be-.
lore the crash tina the bank vas
lI-t,u. THE governor did rot take II
s.uLi, step to protect lh" FUNDS Of the
STATE Agricultural College. OF which
public institution he, by virtue OF be.
.al chief executive, was eN.Otnc'o a
l,g,ht and the head
From Governor Mcdonald and his
subordinate, the state bank examiner,
to- whom they had the r.hht to LOOK
for protection against bank lOoters.
.'e GO men. women and. children who
ru d"pu.Itors VI the First STATE
,.uk gCt nothing but cruel neglect
nd indifference. Many OF them were"
poor ranchcrs and wage-carners
&iuoty-tour OF them were women. ANY
lumber were wiped uut' hy the bank
failure. all the money they had IN ne
ord was gone.
Nor dlu Gu,,ruur Mcdonald give
my one consideration go the iJt' Of
me state College funds. That money,
belonging 10 lDv young people OF TIE
tate OF New Mexico .ur their ruu.J
On In auI.gulfur. and iLr practical
arts. went with The r..t lUru the
clutches OF the smith .gufly. Tn"
aO.,lnur did NOT Interfere, NOR did his
.ppuiu'rcs. the bank examiner
Nu..iup u.s done hy Governor Nc
Donald except dat perhaps in grute
i.I rrlIyr lrarr. OF rnH First state
tanks ,urIr.hul..n TO his party's ann
,a.lu fund 100 .'.I. hr permitted Z
Is n. Su.th 10 % ..g. Is ruthless
bank wrrrEiug #Gr First Stat.
sIk Of Las Cruces financed Tie
Democratic Pro Mcdonald campaign
lu bona Ana county iu lsll later pay
ing itself back with Interest from the
state College funds,
IN October. 1913. the capital Of the
rrst state Bank was impaired 10 The
,,r,ut of 81 per cent The Ius''u.
un was virtually iu-olErnt. ON rup
40. that. "r. president had deceived Oh,
,,atr banking department and had
u,rn indicted on am rIHNu |rmpn'
,.urpe Bank Examiner Ernest knew
His Governor Mcdonald knew o. 100
Ernest said ur Kept .hr governor iu'.
Informed about fh" bank u f. 50
stated clearly IN the s"orn public
record
gy Ianua-y. lsl4 lnr Impairment of
the banks capital had mounted lu 1850
ger cent. Bank tygw'ner Ernest
stated that q bank % Impaired was in.
solvent.
Governor MpDoua'd could MOI help
knowing the ,ord ton OF the bank
then nearly % yea; bt'or" the final
smash hopuus, ha uuG Ernest went
10 las Cruces in IgUu,rl. 1913 and
investigated The bank was drenched
with worthless notes. The bank c&'
,uiuer said so az the time. Yet
neither he nor the governor moved ~
close the institution Aftrr the gov
,rnor had W,andored down 10 Las
Cruces that time and learned ull over
aluir that the F.rst stat. Bank WAS
usulvcnt. he went back ,u Santa Ft
and did nothing Touched ~ this in
u'Cutiou that the state authorities
would not Interfere with them e. r
n Smith and his gnnrsters In ques'
uonable rnunc. Eobbled more and
more Of the banks assets-then the
Inevitable collapse
All this % o matter Of public record.
10 II set out in detail in he report OF
the Joint legislative committee mp.
pointed 10 investigate the Las Cruces
bank failure and the affairs OF the
State College. This public record
proves that Governor Mcdonald knew,
an the time. u shows that the per.
sons who looted the bank and
grabbed the money Of the state and
the people OF the Mesilla valley were
Governor McDonald's political re-
tanners.
The Amazing Banker Smith.
To 10 back a biz into the story OF
this amazing fraud which McDonald's
administration allowed 20 be perDe
tTated: