Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1923-11-07
AGED BANKER
NOT GUILTY
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the Basford home He went there,
Basford said he was ready to give up
the balance of the missing money
Clark refused to receive it until Pu3h
and Clementson came. In the pres
ence of these three men the money
was returned uncounted. Basford
said he was going to Dubuque to meet
his wife and see a doctor. He did not
want to keep the money longer Ac-
cording to the other three BasfOrd was
broken up and in tears. He asked the
men if they would think i'll OF him ii
he returned the money. Pugh says ne
said: 81 would think a damned sight
more of you than | do now" Pugh
says hel said that in so far as he was
concerned the subject would De
dropped. Clark's and Clementson's
statements surrounding this are sub
stantialIy the same as Pugh's
On April IS Mr. BasfOrd was asked
to withdraw from the bank. He did
so and his stock amounting to $3.50
was bought by Pugh and Clark. All
settlements were made and BaSfOrd
severed his connection with the bank
forever
ored to prove that Mr.. Basford had
acted with felonious intent when he
took the money from the bank. That
he converted it to his own use. That
he failed to return the identical
money and in fact not all OF it and
that a balance of several hundred dol
lars was substracted from what was
coming to him when he sold his stock
tS,,orN ,1ic
taken from Pugh Clark and Clement
son.
Defendant Takes Stand.
Saturday morning G. H. Basford
took the stand in his own defense. He
said he was 70 years old and "a native
of Glen Haven. For 80 years he has
lived in Lancaster. He was in bust
ness here until 1905 when he retired.
In 1907 he went into the old First
National as cashier. In 1914 he and
Clark bought a majority of the Peo-
pies State Bank stock, freezing OUT
J. S. Wright and Geo. A. Moore. Bas-
ford became president, Clark vice
president and Pugh Cashier. They re-
manned in their respective positions
until Basford left in April, 1922. Clark
and Pugh went ahead until the bank
closed.
Tried to "Scare'' Boys.
Basford admitted having gone back
to the bank the fatal night. He said
that Pugh and Clark worked nights
continually and that he had admonish
ed them for it. He said he sat at home
that night worrying over the bank
safe being unlocked. He said he arose
at 8 o'clock and went to the bank. He
found that Pugh had not been there
and that the only protection the money
had was the basement door and the
outer vault door. In Indignation and
determined to throw scare" into
the boys he gathered up the money
consisting of 81 bundles of $500 in
currency, $340 in gold and $3.50 in sill
yer and took it home.
Defendant admitted practically all
subsequent steps stated by Pugh. He
said, however, that his motive was TO
frighten the boys for their apparent
carelessness and that he at no time
intended to steal the money. He
claimed that he returned the money
exactly as it was taken without sub
stitution or shortage. That he real
lied he had acted in a bungling man
ner and used poor Judgment. That
having taken it and being accused Of
theft he did not know how to get the
money back Finally, he said, ne de-
cided to return it direct to the other
men and did so.
Basford's entire defense was built
around the effort to scare" Pugh ana
Clark. He claimed that at no time did
he have feloniOus intent.
Carthew Makes Strong Plea.
Attorney Carthew for the stats
pleaded for law and order He asked
the jury to decide the case upon testi-
mony and not upon sympathy or pre-
JUDGE. He said modern conditions de
mand the reposal Of trust and that the
case was highly important from al
standpoints. He termed the defense
as groundless and ridiculous. He SAFE
that if Basford was trying to scare tnl
boys he had no reason to scare Glenn.
entson and could have taken the lat
ter into his confidence instead OF be
ing Swallowed until he weakened ant
confessed He claimed that Basforf
had taken the money with intent t
steal it and had not returned it iden
tically as he took it. That such OF tht
money as was missing was taken ou
UN CldIh III TIE uudl SSIIIGuSAI.
KOpp'S ImpassiOned Defense
In defense Attorney Kopp said Bias
ford did not appropriate the money
for his own use He claimed that
Basford had returned the original
money. He claimed purity of motive
by Basford although he admitted the
defendant had acted very foolishly and
without common sense or judgment
He called attention to the failure to
prosecute Basford or expose him until
nearly Is months had passed and the
bank went under Then, he said, Bias
ford was indicted. In this 'onnection
Mr.. Kopp claimed exoneration for his
client He said that at the time Mr.
ClementsOn did not prosecute Basford
and that he felt certain that if there
had been a crime committed the dis
triot attorney would not put his
private interest ahead of his duty as
an officer of the law.