The Indianapolis times., 1932-02-16

per cent-but' 1881 vas slightly bet
ter than $780,"
Ten per cent off of the 1929 fig
ure of $265,000 would mean a drop
of about $26,500, or remainder of
about $238,373.
ID ECENTLY, the Bank of Wes-
N terville failed. It is the only
bank in the town and the league
did quite a business with it, though
it has other-and perhaps larger
bank accounts in Columbus.
Out of the closing of the Bank
of Westerville have come two sto-
rieS:
/. The league, in circular letters
sent to thousands of regular con-
tributors, delinquent contributors
and hoped-for contributors under
date of Jan. %, 1892, gave the in
ference that the leagues financial
straits were due to this bank fail
ure.
2. Among enemies of the league
in Westerville (and the town has
lot of them) you hear the story
that the Anti-Saloon League broke
this bank by reason of its heavy
borrowings in the period of depres-
sion.
Both these stories seem open to
question.
THE facts are that on the day the
L bank of Westerville closed, the
Anti-Saloon League, for all its va
riouS departments, had on deposit
therein only $4,23198.
On the word of Treasurer Sewers
the bank held notes of the Anti
Saloon league for approximately
$500, and notes of the American
Issue Publishing Company for ZAP
proximately" $4,000, or total OF
$17,500 in short-term league notes
Notes that have fallen due since
the bank closed have been paid
promptly.
These facts certainly don't make
it look as though the Anti-Saloon
League broke the bank or suffered
irreparable damage from its closing
Moreover, it is estimated that depos-
itors will recover at least 10 per cent
Nor do the claims Of the league
enemies that "the league broke the
bank" appear to hold up when it is
shown that on the day the bank OF
Westerville closed its loans to all the
various departments of the league
amounted to a little less than 4 pei
cent of the banks total loans.
1t is said around town that, in
addition to the league notes, the
bank held various personal notes OF
the league officials, the grand total
of all being around $4,000.
II VEN $4,000 wasn't enough to
= break the Bank Of Westerville,
an institution which had listed as
sets of about 100000.
The leagues recent circular let
ter asking for funds says in part:
"a sudden blow has been struck
A new, unexpected, shocking blow
The Bank of Westerville has failed
"Thus our local bank, an unfail-
ing resource of the league for twen-
ty years, is in the hands of the state
superintendent Of banks. 1t is at
this minute in the process of liqui-
dation. The Anti-Saloon League
recently has required large loans
:. They must be paid as they come
due -.
"Our league credit is Immediately
in peril. We turn at once tc
you and all our faithful friends for
help The leagues obligation!
must be promptly paid. What
if this be not done? This will mean
litigation and publicity with dis
astrouS results. To you, as one
OF our jealous comrades, we turn
with confidence"
Following these two paragraphs Of
the letter comes the plea for g
quick contribution.
NTHAT really has hurt the
w league is the reduction OF
contributions due to the general
business depression and the dwin-
ding public interest in its efforts
on behalf of prohibition.
Meanwhile, WeSterville waits
hopefully to see what the future
will bring to what was once the
towns chief industry-the big pub