The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1916-10-05

torney General rendered February q,
1915; and the Superintendent Of
Banks, under whose administration
the same were made, will be liable for
any items thereof which the courts
may reject when finally passing upon
them.
MANIPULATION OF RECORDS"
Under the above caption Examin-
ers Tatman and Kallmerten make
some grave charges against Superin-
tendent Lattanner. They say that he
"seems to have diverted the sum of
$500" of the funds Of the Security
Bank of Columbus, which he closed
and liquidated. Under the same head
ing it is recorded that Mr.. Lattanner
set aside the sum of $5,565.84 as "un-
claimed deposits" but an examination
of the books Of the Citizens Savings
& Trust Bank (Which he had made the
depository in the liquidating proceed
ings) "shows that he actually depos-
! tied in his name as unclaimed deposits
the sum Of $4,265.84, or the sum Of
$1,000 less than the journal shows to
have been deposited" Quoting the
report:
Iav books Of the Citizens Savings
and Trust Bank, on the same day, also
show that Mr.. Lattanner, among other
checks, drew 81 265.S4 (Which was de.
posted in another accOunt), $500,
800, and $1O0, all of which checks are
missing from the files SO far as we
IL L.
ever, the check for S1o0 purpOrts to
be to Georgia Goddard for extra SER
vices in posting books. The records
do not show any entry made for the
$500 and $780,"
In the original report by Examiner
Tatman there are a number of still
graver charges against Superintend-
ent Lattanner, expressed in very plain
language.
AN ARBITRARY BANK BUSTER"
The sworn testimony given before
the legislative committee shows that
Superintendent Lattanner was rankly
arbitrary in closing banks, and that in
number of cases there was no neces-
sity at all for his shutting the doors
and putting the institutions in liqui.
dation.
One bank in particular was made
the victim of this outrageous treat.
ment-the Security Savings Bank of
Columbus. The order to close that
bank came emptOrily-withOut
moments time being given to meet
the demands of the banking depart
ment; and, in so acting, Superintend-
ent Lattanner broke faith with the
examiner of the Columbus Clearing
House Association. That gentleman,
with number of the leading bankers
Of Columbus, testified that there was
absolutely ro necessity for the order
to close the 5ank--that it was at that
time in better condition than it had
been for years; that the depositors
were amply protected; and that GER
tain paper classed as worthless or
doubtful by the Superintendent Of
Banking was perfectly good. The
Clearing House Association offered to
"see the bank through" but Mr.. Lat
tanner was determined to close it.
Then the Association pleaded to be al
lowed to liquidate the bank, as had
been done in other cases, in order to
save expense; but Mr.. Lattanner re-
fused the Offer, and insisted on NAM
ing both the attorney and the liquidat-
ing agent. So finally the Clearing
House Association gave him the mon
ey and allowed him to liquidate the
| L.
| given that had Mr.. Lattanner allowed
the Association to manage affairs, the
Security Bank would still be running
and in good shape"
BLUE SKY-LARKING
A sort of a side-issue of the bank
ing department is what is known as
the "Blue Sky" department. It's prlr-
pose is to investigate the standing and
business reputation Of those who want
to deal in securities and real estate
not located in Ohio. The Superintend-
ent of Banks is the Commissioner Of
the Blue Sky department. The leg
islative committee unearthed the pc
culiar methods relating to the so,
called Investigations Of propositions
for the sale in Ohio of outside secur
tiles and real estate, in which prom
inent Democratic politicians figured
The first relates to the Lake High
land Co., of Florida. Simply because
''he wanted to make the trip" al
though he was not connected with the
department, w. L. Finley, Chairman
of the Democratic State Committee
was entrusted with the duty of Gin
vestigating" the company named, il
having filed an application to do busi-
ness in Ohio. In the early part of the
winter of 1914 Mr.. Finley went on this
mission. The company paid all his ex-
penses. On his return he did not make
any written report, but simply on his
verbal assurance that everything was
all right a certificate was granted to
the company emitting it to do business
in Ohio.
The second case was that of the Du-
fur Orchard Co., Of Oregon. Secretary
of State Graves (of course a Demo-
crat) asked to be assigned to make
the so-called investigation, and he
went to Oregon in August, 1914. He
was away three or four weeks, the
Dufur Orchard Co. paying all his ex-
penses. MIR. Graves did not make any
written report, but on his verbal state
ment a certificate giving it the right
to do business in Ohio was granted to
the company.
The courts have held against r1any
of the allowances of Mr.. Lattanner.
Other facts of this scandal will be
found in a special publication now in
press.
81 am not afraid that my daughter
will ever marry in haste
"Why not?"