The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-04

Oldest institution in the town,
closed it's doors. Tied to this
ak was the First Trust Com
pany, organized under the
state law, to take up the musty
paper that had been accumu-
lated thru years Of bad loans
by the First National.
Fresh deposits were desired
for the First National, and the
only way these could be got
was by the organization of the
subsidiary company. One of
the devices of the First Trust to
coax new deposits, was to send out
several hundred pass books to peo-
PIE of small means, inviting their
deposits. A credit of one dollar was
written in the pass book, providing
the recipient of the book became a
deposltor of the bank. This pass book
credit "come-on" system worked
with great many, with the result
that a large number of people are
now patiently awaiting the promised
re-opening of the bank. The First
National Bank was favorite of the
officers of the State Rural Credits
Board. One of the members of the
Rural Credits Board, Albert Zosky.
was director of the bank. How
much Rural Credits funds. borrowed
by the State on bonds sold to furnish
loans on land to farmers, are tied
up in the failure, nobody but the in
slders know. The Rural Credits
Board is a closed corporation, divulg-
ing nothing it can conveniently keen
from the public.
Panic Grips Sioux Falls.
The acute stage Of the panic which
has been approaching for months.
broke in Sioux Falls, with the failure
OF the Sioux Falls National Bank on
the 10th of January. This bank had
deposits of two and half million
dollars, and with it went a number
OF its satellite banks in the smaller
towns This failure was followed
two days later by the failure of the
Sioux Falls Trust & Savings Bank.
with deposits of between four and
five million dollars, and with this in
stltution also went a number of its
country correspondents. In the in
term, other smaller banks in the
State, having no relations with these
banks, went South"
These huge failures startled the big
boys at Washington, and last week
we were informed that Coolidge
quick to come to the aid of the banks
but slow to recognize the farmer
distress as the cause of the trouble
had instructed the War Finance
CORPORATION to come to the rescue
of the banks Of North and South Da-
kota and Minnesota, with a thirty
million slice Of War Finance Corpo-
ration funds. Eugene Never is now
on the ground with the alleged pur-
pose of plugging the financial storm
sewer with public money, one third
of which is to go to this State, and
the balance to North Dakota and
Minnesota.
Coolidge Didn't Save Them.
This promise of the administration
to come to the rescue could not been
taken seriously, however, for on
Monday the Western National Bank
of Mitchell, with deposits Of nearly
a million dollars and five branch
banks, closed its doors. This bank
is headed by w. S. Hill, who was
formerly president of the South Da-
kota Farm Bureau Federation. He
was a prospective "dirt" farmer
choice for member of the Federal
Reserve Board and later for an APP
pointment to the Shipping Board. On
the same day the international State
Bank of Sioux Falls, with deposits
of $1,300,000 turned the key in its
doors. This makes the third big
4 failure in Sioux Falls within ten
irdays. The combined deposit obliga-
tons of the three failed Sioux Falls
banks amounts to over eight million
dollars, which makes the Coolidge do
nation of ten million dollars for
South Dakota look like drop in the
bucket to the distressed bankers who
are not yet closed, but are shivering
on the brink.
Banks Failed Monday.
AhC QdAiy PACoo VI bilAo hcCtlOH Is
running "closed shop" on news Of
bank failures generally, but from cur
rent information available at this
writing, eleven banks closed their
doors in this State on Monday. 1t
was Black Monday for South Da-
kota's fnanciers. Nobody can tell
how many more banks will tumble
within the next few DAYS or weeks.
.Depositors are quietly withdrawing
their funds from all the banks now
open, so that a continuation Of the
bank explosions may be expected.
Nobody, not even the bankers them
selves, appear to believe that the
dumping of thirty or even fifty mill
lion dollars into the banks Of the
northwest to take up the bad paper
Of the banks, would now do any
good. II is too late.
Millions Of dollars Of state, county
and road funds are swamped in the