Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-09-11
CLOSES HEARINGS
las TO CONTROLLER
Senate Committee Will Per-
NIT Williams and Hogan
to File Statements.
FORMER is LAST WITNESS

John Shelton Williams to succeed
himself as controller of the currency
| before the Senate banking and cur
rency committee were closed today,
! with the testimony of Mr.. Williams
| in reply to statements made to the
! committee at it's last meeting by
Frank j. Hogan, counsel for Riggs
| National Bank during its controversy
| with Mr.. Williams.
Mr. Williams is to be allowed to
| and Mr.. Hogan will be given the same
privilege If he desires to avail him
! self of it.
But the oral hearings were declared
! to be closed, and the committee is ex-
| pected to take up the nomination of
Mr. Williams in executive session as
| soon as all the record has been print
ed and the members have had an OPP
portunity to examine it. The Williams
nomination has been pending for
many months without action by the
Senate
Decide Against Diary.
Mr.. Williams sought to read to the
committee today parts OF his personal
diary, kept during the Riggs National
Bank controversy, dealing with the
Riggs Bank case. which Mr.. Hogan
had told the committee would reveal
the animus which actuated Mr.. Will
liams in dealing with the bank.
Chairman Mclean and other mem
bers of the committee. however. said
that they did not care to have parts
of the diary put into the record. and
that the committee had decided not
to go into the matter of the diary at
all. If Mr.. Williams desired to place
the entire diary in the public record.
hat fo "a oh n ir-
man said. Mr.. Williams offered the
committee the entire diary to be used
in executive session. In the end the
committee decided not to have any
part of the diary go into the record.
Discusses Dummy Loans.
Taking up the question of dummy
loans to officers of Riggs bank, Mr..
Williams said that Mr.. Hogan had
to H H. Father, at the time cashier
of Riggs bank. through the use Of
the name OF B. L. Nevius. The ex-
cuse given by Mr.. Hogan. Mr.. Will
liams said, was that Mr.. F1ather s
Mr.. Flather determined to go to
Saranac to remain with his wife until
she died, and that the loan had been
arranged in the name of his relation.
B: L. Nevius. in order to make it pos
SiOIC XVI easy A0huAAHS VI AiS diAdh
while away.
Mr.. williams said he had looked
into the death of Mrs. Flather and had
learned from the records of the health
office that she died four years before
this dummy loan was made.
Il ask you what you think of the
testimony Of any man who would at
tempt to impose upon your committee
in such a manner" Mr. Williams said.
Mr.. Hogan had criticised the admin
istration of the Office of the controller
by Mr.. Williams on the ground that
he had failed to have two examinations
of every national bank made annually,
as provided for by the federal reserve
act. Mr.. Williams put into the record
list of the number of banks and ex-
aminations made, and explained that
the examinations under the new law
and under his administration had been
much more thorough than heretofore.
He said too. that it had been difficult
to organize corps of national bank
examiners sufficiently large and to
keep it recruited up.
Tells of Back Examinations.
On June 80. 1914. the witness said,
the number of national banks had
been 7,525 and the number Of exami-
nations. 1878. or 81 per cent of the
toIdA Au"OC2 Vi CAdmlndIlOHS re-
quired by law; in 1915 there had been
11,154 examinations; in 1916. 1892
examinations, or 82h per cent of the
total number required by law; in 1917,
1920 examinations or 81 per cent;
in 1918, 1904 examinations or 81 per
cent.
Mr.. Williams said, however. that
many thousands of sworn statements
regarding the condition Of the banks
had been received from the banks
themselves that were required by law
Mr.. Williams. replying to other
charges by Mr.. Hogan, declared that
they were all brazenly and wantonly
false. Referring to a charge that the
Riggs Bank officials had been hound
ed by Mr.. Williams because two of
them had appeared to protest against
MI: Williams confirmation in 1914. Mr..
Williams pointed out that in that year
more than hundred officers of ma
tfonal banks had been indicted for
various reasons. but that none of them
had appeared to protest against his
nomination.