The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-11
KEYSTONE STATE BANKERS OPPOSE
 ESCHEAT RULING
Hope to Have Law Declared Unconstitutional - May
 Appeal to Legislature

I eratiES under the State laws of Penn- sylvaria who have succeeded by req son of the last Legis, ature's failure 10 do it's work properly, in delaying the enforcement of the Escheat act or 1915, will carry the fight against that law into the next session of the Leg islature should he Dauhpin County l courts hold it to be constltutlonal. Three bills in equity attacking the constitutionality of the act are now awaiting decision in the courts, and in the meantime the bankers are mar shalling their facts for drive On ] the Legislature for the repeal or the act
 No matter what decision the court makes, however, it will be impossible fully to enforce the act before the next session of the Legislature for the sim- pie reason that the session which made the law failed to provide an ap- propriation to carry it out. The prln- cipal object of David Speer, who has been campaigning for the enforcement of the act has been to see that ad- vertisements of all unclaimed deposits | and other funds held by state banks beyond certain prescribed periods are duly advertised. as the act requires. But according to bankers the expense of this advertising must be borne by the state, and as no money has been appropriated the Auditor-General, who is charged with the operation of the act, has done nothing but receive re- ports from the banks.
 For 1916, according to information given to MT. Speer by the Auditor General, 10000 reports were filed un- der the Escheat act, many of them containing 100 items each. The Dol lar Savings Bank of Pittsburgh, with deposits of more than $31, 100000, ad- vertised under it's charrer 1910 un- claimed deposits for an aggregate of $SO2, ,113. Using this as a basis of call culation MT. Speer has estimated that there is fully $56, O0,00O in cash or property in Pennsylvania banks com ing under the five classes for which escheat is provided by the act. These classes are:
 l O. Deposits of money, not increased or decreased and on which interest i has not been credited in the depos- i itor's pass book at the request of the depositor, for fourteen years.
 | @. Property held for storage or safe-keeping, to which actual access has not been had by the person for whom the same is held, for seven | years.
 1 (s). Dividends or profits declared by a corporation, or copartnership to stockholders or members and not paid, for three years.
 | (D. Debts and interest on debts, due to creditors and not paid, for three years.
 l G). Property held for the benefit of another, demapdable but not received, for seven years.
 I The banks say they have carried out to the letter their obligation under the act to repor property of the spe7 cified kinds to the Auditor-General. The act provides that after the re- lquired advertising the property shall escheat to the state f unclaimed in three years.
 The purpose of the suit by three Pennsylvania banks in which decision is now pending wss first to enjoin the Auditor-General from advertising the account they had reported to him-an unnecessary proceeding in view of the lack of an appropriation. They also are attacking the constitutionality of the act. One of their main conten- tions is in effect tat advertising the accounts and other holdings of living persons is an unwarrantable invasion of the depositor's right to privacy "Tho fundamental vice of the act,' t--ey assert, lis that it deals with the property of persons who are living and known"
 An illustration of how this works out in practice is provided by R. Stu art Smith, who with John G. John son appeared as counsel for the three plaintiff banks. He has a client,, a woman, who for d dozen years has been living on ranch in Montana. When she left Philadelphia she stored a chest of silver in a safe-deposit vault at a local bank. The only oc- casion she had to have this open oc- cured ten years ago, when she gave her lawyer power of attorney to ob- tain some pieces of the set and send them to her. Under the act of 1915, it was necessary for the bank to re- port this silverware in January, al- though the owner is known and has been paying rent on the safe-depos1t box every year. Should the act ever be enforced, it will now be necessary for this woman to prove her owner sh1j in court, bearing a proportfonate share of the costs and of the adver- Using expense. As the law permits extra-territorial service. this may in- volve considerable additional expense.
 The banks party to the suit and others interested say that the esti- mate of $5O,OoO.COO in unclaimed de- posits made by MT. Speer is grossly exaggerated. But they are reIuctant to offer an opinion as to the real