The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1918-02-17
Remarkable
Achievement

A. c. Townley IL a remarkable man,
and he has done a remarkable thing
several Of them, in fact. A little over
two years ago he was without money,
without occupation, and without pros
poets. He had engaged in several BUSH
ness enterprises. and had failed in each
of them. He had rolled up a large
valume of indebtedness, and II all his
assets had been converted into cash the
result would not have eQualed more
than two or three mills on the dollar
of his liabilities.
On the stand at Bismarck the other
days, in the bankruptcy proceedings
which he has instituted in order that
he may wipe the slate and start all
over again, he declared that he had,
within these few months, organized
companies on behalf Of which there
had been collected in dues and SUBJ
scriptions amounts as follows:
Nonpartisan league member
ships prior to the estab-
lishment of the SIS rates 100000
League membership. 10000
at $l6 100000
Subscriptions to League Elk
cnange -......-.....-.---.-....-.-...-.- 15V,OOO
subscriptions to United
Stores ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 100000
Making a total Of .........-...$ 3.79O.0OO
That is quite record for man who
was down and out two years ago.
| But the mere collection of these
sums of money, enormous though they
are, is but a part of the achievement.
Mr.. Townley has performed the diff
cult feat of acting in the dual capacity
of boss and hired man. He has testi-
fled that each of the organizations
named, and each of the publishing en-
terprises which are conducted as SUBJ
sidiary enterprises, was planned and
perfected by himself. When he want
ed directors he chose them. When he
WANTED a treasurer to sign checks un-
der his instructions he named him.
When it was desired to have a part
lnership arrangement in ostensible
ownership of the newspaper proper
| ties which had been acquired. Mr..
Townley had merely to snap his fin
gers at couple of league organizers
and they went through the partnership
form entirely to his satisfaction. Nelth-
err of them knew anything about the
publishing business, and it was not
necessary that they should. Mr..
Townley could attend to all that him
self And these partners and direc-
Itors, picked up from odd corners, were
lplaced in control Of the acts Of the
Imam who had given them their Jobs.
flor the testimony was that they could
dispense with his services whenever
They wished.
This mammoth business has all been
lcarried under the hat of one individual
for trifling sum Of 5000 a month.
This one man directs the policy of the
numerous organizations which he has
lcreated, controls the disposition of all
the funds. Draws checks at will on
his personal account and has the
|, checks paid out of the funds of the
organization, pays out all the money
for education propaganda" and III
other ways for the relief Of the needy
| in distant states, and the work involv-
| ing the expenditure of all these sums
: Is carried on without the keeping OF
detailed records or the adoption of
resolutions or anything else of
| formal character.
History may contain the record of
some other case approaching this in
character. but we doubt it.-Grand
Forks Herald.