Evening star., 1934-02-11
DEPOS|TQRS' GROUP
EXPECTS DIVIDEND
Carter B. Keene Silent on
Payments by U. S. Saw
ings Bank.

Hope of a dividend soon to de-
positors of the United States Savings
Bank. which has been closed since
the Presidents banking holiday in
March. was held out last night after
the appointment of receiver, Carter
B. Keene, well known Washington
attorney, to liquidate the institution.
While neither Mr. Keene nor Treas
ury officials were ready to comment
on the approximate date of a divi-
dend payment, Lor the amount to be
made available, it is common knowl-
edge that under recognized procedure
the bank could borrow sufficient
funds from the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation on its prime as
sets to pay substantial dividend to
depositors. This has been done in
local closed banks and generally
throughout the country. The pro-
cedure, however. usually takes some
time.
Announcement of Mr.. Keene's ap-
pointment by Controller of the Cur
relcy J. F. T. O'Connor was greeted
with qualification on the part of the
Depositors' Committee of the bank
and with surprise on the part of Col.
Wade H. Cooper, president of the
bank, and his counsel
- Committee Grateful.
Theodore S. Grape. chairman Of
the Depositors' Committee, which was
appointed at tumultuous session in
Central High School last October,
said: The committee and its chair
man feel very grateful to the Treas
ury Department for having set in
motion the machinery to expedite the
payment of money to the depositors
of the bank" It is estimated there
are about $4,000 depositors, having to
their credit total of 81, 744. 900 as of
October Is, 1888, the date of a call by
the controller of the currency for re-
ports on condition Of banks.
Col. Cooper, who has been fighting
the Treasury for months to reopen
the institution under his own plans,
was somewhat guarded in his state
ment when informed of the receiver
ship. Referring to pending litigation
in his fight to force the Treasury to
reopen the bank under a Cooper plan,
the bank president said: The case
is pending in the Court of Appeals. I
am urging all parties to get ready so
we can have an early hearing on the
case. and the controller knew that
fact when he put a receiver in the
bank.
Il wrote letter day before yester-
Lot, -
Treasury officials to hurry the appeal
case, so they are on official notice of
the case pending. Under the legal
rule of lis pendens,' whatever they
do they do at their peril. If the
Court of Appeals approves my plan,
1t will order the bank returned to its
former status
Plan Rejected.
The plan to reopen the bank, which
Is under litigation in the Court of
Appeals, was rejected first by the
Treasury Department and then, in
effect, by the District Supreme Court.
which upheld the Treasury Depart
ment position in the case. Col.
Cooper's plan would have paid IS per
cent to depositors and trusteed re-
naming assets to pay the rest of the
depositors' money. He claimed his
plan would have guaranteed the de-
positors 100 cents on the dollar at the
end of years. But the Treasury De-
partment objected, declaring the
Cooper plan was unfair to the de-
positors and laid upon the depositors
too much of the burden of restoring
the capital structure of the bank.
The Treasury insisted the stockholders
restore this impaired capital structure.
Col. Cooper owns 56 per cent Of the
stock of the institution. Controller
O'Connor himself, on the stand testi-
fled the bank was "insolvent." Col.
Cooper claimed it was not insolvent.
Col. Cooper's counsel, John w. Stag
gers, said the receivership was a sur
Prise to him. Negotiations for re-
opening the bank under the Cooper
plan had progressed, Staggers said, to
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