The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1919-10-10

N P[o1 ON LEAGUE
In supreme effort to wreck the
Nonpartisan League and its allied
! organizations, William LANCER and
Thomas Hall, comprising the ma
! jority Of the state banking board,
ordered the Scandinavian-Ameri
bank in Fargo closed Thursday and
placed Deputy Bank Examiner P.
E. Halldorson in charge as -receiv-
/ er. This action was taken over
the protests of Governor Frazier,
third member of the board who
demanded a discussion Of the ques-
. ton before action. and who voted
the proposal. 49,.
Hall and LANCER ordered the
bank closed for two alleged rea-
sons: = First, that it Is insolvent;
5 second. that it has violated state
banking laws in making certain ex
cessive loans.- Officers of the bank
declare that \the bank Is not insol
B vent, but, is In the most prosperous
condition lin its history. They
Doint out that If excessive loans
have been made, the directors
should have been given the oppor-
tdnity to reduce them. This pro-
ceedure, they say, has always been
. followed before. If all the lanks
were closed which have excessive
loans on their books, they say half
the banks in the state would not be
allowed, to open their doors today.
a. Masked Assault On League
The reasons alleged by LANCER
and Hall for closing the bank are
clearly blind. Following the
closing of the bank, LANCER and
Hall took it upon themselves to or
der all banks in the state to elimin-
ate post-dated checks from among
their security holdings. Such ac-
tion was In direct contrast to the
attitude of the depositors' guaran-
tee fund commission, which has
zone on record that post-dated
checks are acceptable security. The
The following day these men issued
a public statement to the farmer
owned banks throughout the state
that have accepted such security,
warning them to take "all precan-
tions'' to prevent run, and or
derine the banking examiner to
make an Investigation of these
banks The effect OF these acts, so
far ag they were able : to break
down public confidence, would be
to destroy the value OF farmers pa
per as collateral and start a run on
the farmer banks. - Such a result
would constitute a powerful blow
against the Nonpartisan League
and the farPers' movement even II
it did 80 at the cost Of financial
crash in North Dakota.
81 Political Plot Revealed ;.
III That these actions were the cul-
minatiou of well laid political
plot ia Indicated by the following
facts:
At q meeting of the banking
: board a week ago, LANCER and Hall
persuaded State Bank Examiner
Lofthus to send Mr.. Halldorson to
check up a trust company in Fargo
against which a stoc'- holder had
made a complaint. Assistant At
. torney General Albert Sheets was
sent with him. Instead of check
ing UP the trust company Halldor-
sen and Sheets made 3 special ex-
animation of the Scandinavian
American Bank.
In the meantime. State Bank Ex-
aminer Lofthus was gotten out Of
the way on a subterfuge. LANCER
and Hall having sent him to Flor
ida to investigate corporation de-
string to sell stock in North Da-
kota. With acting Bank Exam
iner Simmingson ignorant of what
was going on, Halldorson made q
report which was used at the Thurs
day meeting as an excuse to close
the bank and appoint Halld0rson
temporary receiver.
The attorney general refused to
give out the report Of Halldorson
and Sheets. although the report
was printed in apparent verbatim
form in the I. v. A. organs.
Although the law specifies that
the bank guarantee fund commits
sion shall be called in by the state
bank examiner when he shall sus-
pect that conditions are not as they
should be; LANCER and Hall over
rode the demand OF Gilbert Sem
< mingson; acting bank examiner, that
the members of the commission be
q CAAeO III A6 QTVVluou ny Ad"s e1Au
ordered the bank closed. l.
In the:report given to the I. V. A..
organs are the following list Of
loans alleged to be the cause for
the action Of, the. banking board:
Loans on Which Closing Is Based
Loans Of $17O,O0O to. the Con-
sumers' United Stores company.
Loans OF $148,824.26 to the Ma
tional Nonpartisan League,
Loans of $66,182.28 to the
League Exchange. 15..
Loans Of $47,960.063 to the Pub
lishers' National services Bureau.
Loans Of $4,000 to the United
l States sisal Trust, on the notes Of
J..R. Waters. former bank exam
liner. and manager OF the Bank Of
/. North Dakota.
Loans Of $47,oss to H. D. Hag-
gerty. former associate Of John