The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-06-06

SoHtIdCtS pau up, IL Is HOW CeTldH
that the State will lose from $25O,OOO
to 100000.
Bank of n. ID.
"But most important in the field
of industrial and business activities
of the former administration, was
the establishment and operation Of
the Bank of North Dakota. This in
stitution was often called, and in
tended to be by its creators, the
keystone of the arch of the Non
partisan Leagues Industrial Pro-
gram. The legislature authorized IA
bond issue Of $2,OOO,O0O to constitute
the capital of this bank, and at the
! same time in the act of creating the
bank, it ordered and required ali Of
the public funds belonging to the
state and all of its sub -divisions.
| amounting to, in certain seasons of
the year, approximately $4,000, 600,
to be deposited in the Bank to be
under the control OF the Industrial
Commission and to be available for
the various banking and other pur-
poses authorized by law. With this
assembling of the public funds, in
! the summer and fall of 1919, f. w.
| Cathro, Director General Of the Bank
/ commenced his career as manager
! thereof. The results of this man
| agemeRt are now we'll known, and it
| is, therefore, unnecessary to go into
any detailed statement Of the poll
! cies which were carried out under
| such management and of the con-
! sequences resulting therefrom. 1t is
| now well known that out of the pub
! lie funds on deposit in that Bank,
besides putting nearly half a mil
lion dollars into the Home Building
! Ass ISOLATION, the bank redeposited
and loaned nearly four million dol
| lars of the public funds among
favored banks over the State, in
GLIDING nearly half million to the
| famous Scandinavian American Bank
of Fargo. Not only did the manage
| ment of the Bank give financial re-
! lief to the so-called friendly banks
but in utter disregard of all prin-
| ciples of safety and good business,
! it almost uniformly placed large
sums of money, without security, on
| deposit in banks which were noted
| for their financial instability, and
| threatened insolvency, and many of
which have, in the course Of time,
since passed into the hands of Il re-
| ceiver. BY these unbusinesslike pol
| icies and methods, the Bank of North
Dakota, although in control of mil
So IL. -
| nancial grief in the fall of 1920. After
the people had adopted an initiated
law permitting local subdivisions to
withdraw their funds therefrom and
to deposit them elsewhere, the Bank
of North Dakota was unable to meet
its obligations in the ordinary course
of business, and was forced to, and
| did, register checks in large sums,
and was compelled to, and did, cease
to function as bank, except in a
| very limited manner. Among its
. other activities the Bank of North
Dakota had started out to make farm
| loans, and did make farm loans in
the amount of $2,700,00O, but owing
to the shortage of funds and the in
|
control to sell rural credit bonds,
the Bank practically ceased making
farm loans nearly year before the
recall election, and, at the time the
new administration took charge of
the bank, the Farm Loan Department
was virtually disorganized.
Insurance Law
UTbo ,o,rro ~ -, i'm olco
established what is known as the
State Hail Insurance Department, by
| means of which, the State, through
! a compulsory insurance and levy of
! an indemnity tax, undertook to in
sure crops against loss on account
Of hail. Although vested with the
power to levy an indemnity tax with
issue warrants in settlement of hail
claims allowed, the old administra
ton neglected to provide any method
of financing, redeeming, or providing
for the payment of such hail war
rants prior to the collection Of the
indemnity tax levied each year, with
the result that the holders of hail
many months after the issuance of
the hail warrants before receiving
their money, or to sacrifice their hail
warrants at a ruinous discount to
spectators and scalpers, who were
about negotiating for the purchase
of such warrants in order to gain a
large profit from the interest and
II 70 1o,ly hn
lied the Industrial Commission and
the Insurance Commissioner to neGo-
tiate and float loans through which
to obtain funds with which to re-
deem or pay such warrants, the
former Industrial Commission had
entirely failed to make any effort IN
that direction whatsoever.
Summing Up
ut will thus be seen that in every
field of activity, industrial, financial,
insurance or otherwise, the old ad-
ministration had failed to attain sue
cess, and in most instances, they had
brought the institutions or enter
prises with which they were connect
ed, either to utter ruin or to great
financial distress.
"The history of the Werner Cream
cry, the Drake Mill, the Mill and
Elevator at Grand Forks, the Home
Building Association, and the Bank
of North Dakota, should not, and
must not be forgotten by the think
ing people Of our state, when con-
sidering the appeal of those of
u 80 = II