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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1907)
10 THE HORNING OREGQNIAN, FRIDAY. AUGUST 23, .1907. TO ACT; District Attorney Will Investi gate Bank Failure Presi dent Asks for Time. SAYS ASSETS SUFFICIENT larjse Creditors Offer to Take Tele phone Bonds at Par Cashier Morris Starts for Portland and Ships Securities by Express. VIEWS OF MANNING AND MOORE I DISTRICT ATTORNEY MANNING 4 I will send the officials of the Orrnon Trust Pavings Bank to the J penitentiary If It is true they ac- 4 cepted deposits after the bank was f Insolvent. I shall begin an lnvestl- 7 Station tomorrow of the complaints 4 lodged with me by depositors who j placed their money in the vaults of . the bank up to the last hour that It t' remained open. T PRESIDENT WALTER H. MOORE I 4 I do not fear any criminal prosecu- I tion. I only ask to be left unham- t pered to wind up the affairs of the I 1 bank to the best advantage of the 4 f creditors. Our bank was perfectly f j solvent up to the time we were told f ' I further credit would not be given us I bv Portland banks. This was late Tuesday night. I earnestly hope that f I bankruptcy proceedings will not be I t started, for that will mean that the j assets of the bank will be disposed J of hurriedly and riot to the best 4 advantage of the depositors. f .- . ....... . ----- Two announcements 'stand out as the most Important developments yesterday In the Oregon Trust and Savings Bank fullure: District Attorney Manning's 'satnent that he would prosecute the of ficers and directors of the bank If his in vestigations warranted such action, and President W. H. Moore's assurance that the bank's assets would be able to pay the depositors dollar for dollar if he were given reasonable time,' unhampered by criminal prosecution or Federal bank ruptcy proceedings. Sitting as a grand jury this morning. District Attorney Manning will hear the testimony of depositors who Intrusted funds to the Oregon Trust & Savings Bank on Tuesday, the last day of its existence. If this evidence shall be that officials of the bank accepted deposits after the institution was Insolvent, active prosecution will be started and Mr. Man ning promises to land .the guilty in the Penitentiary. A complaint has been made out for the arrest of the officers of the bank and a Tuesday depositor will sign the complaint today, should Mr. Manning's investigation prove the truth of the accusations al ready made by late depositors. Books of the bank now in the custody of Receiver Devlin will be examined by District At torney Manning, who proposes to probe the transactions In telephone bonds that wrought the ruin of the bank. Moore Does Not Fear Prosecution. President Walter H. Moore, of the Ore gon Trust & Savings Bank says he has no fear of criminal prosecution for to the best of his knowledge, the bank was not Insolvent until declared so by ttie Clear ing House Association Tuesday night. Until the bank closed Tuesday at the usual , hour, he says his institution had the approval and backing of the Clearing House and he fully expected to receive further assistance to enable the bank to resume business on Wednesday. He feels, however, that he should not be hindered by criminal proceedings for he says that to dispose of the assets of the hank to the best advantage for the creditors, he should he left free to give his entire attention to it. ..eeeipts of deposits alter a bank is in solvent is a felony in this sttte. and the law provides a fine of not more than $1000 or imprisonment in the penitentlary not exceeding two years, or both such fine and imprisonment, upon conviction.' "If the facts are that desposits were received after the Oregon Trust & Sav ings Bank was insolvent, e oiucials of the bank will be arrested, ' said District Attorney Manning last night. "I shall take the matter up at 9:ou o'clock this morning and shall sit as a granu jury and hear testimony of depositors who placed money In the hank on Tuesday." District Attorney Manning left the New Mineral Springs, on the Upper Columbia, j-esterday afternoon on horseback upon receipt of a telephone message that com plaints against the officials of the Ore Igon Trust & Savings Bank were being lodged in his oflice. He rode to the Columbia River, where he took a launch across the stream arid caught the train for Portland, arriving here at .1:30 last night, He immediately took up the case of the officials of the Insolvent bank. Mr. Manning said: Manning Will Prosecute. "I am going to commence investigating tlu bank's failure tomorrow morning at 9:30. Subpenas will be Issued for a num ber of the late depositors with a view ot ascertaining how late deposits were made before the bank closed. I will also in vestigate the books of the concern if I consider it necessary after X win have heard the testimony of some of the de positors. There seems to be no real reason for a hank 'busting' nowadays in Portland if conducted purely on the quare. "I am also going to investigate the pur chase of those telephone bonu3. That teems to be a peculiar transaction of itself. The idea of a cashier of a bans: making such large Investments without the knowledge or consent of the president or directors or any official of the bank seems to me to be preposterous. Mr. Devlin will furnish me all the Information necessary. and a thorough Investigation will be made with a view of bringing the proper parties to justice. Certainly the bank officers, if guilty, will be ar rested." Solvent Tuesday, Says Moore. "We were perfectly solvent on Tues day." declared President Moore. 'We had received assistance from the First Na tional Bank and we believed we -would have further credit. We now think we should have had M. We did not offer to take deposits after the clearing house ex pressed the belief we were insolvent which was after the examination of our securities. "By depositing $39,000 in Lewiston Light & Water Company bonds with the First National Bank at 11:30 A. M. Tuesday, the bank advanced us $30,000 with which to carry on business for the remainder of the day. The First National officials told us to go ahead and conduct business as usual, and to sit in our bank and 'look . wiio" for the remainder of the day and an MNNNG MOORE-HAS HOPES examination . of the bank's condition would be made after business hours. "We felt we had the backing of the other banks of the city and that we would be further assisted should the need arise. We did not know we were in solvent until after the examination was made and the committee so reported late Tuesday night. We did no further busi ness after that. "I am very much in hopes that the bank will not go into bankruptcy. My reasons for this are that if this course Is adopted, it will require the securities to be disposed of at forced sale. If that is done, they will not bring nearly as much as if they are handled by a receiver. The bankruptcy proceeding would be especially fatal to the hopes of the creditors for a full settlement, when so many depositors are willing to take the telephone securities at par. "I feel that If the court will allow the bonds to go to meet the claims of the large depositors, it will be only a short time until tie bank Is settled up. . The cash that will be collected within the next 30 days will then be paid to the small depositors, after, the larger ones have been satisfied with the bonds. The smaller depositors would thus be paid 50 per cent, of their claims within the month. There will be from J200.000 to $300,000 available by that time. I am sat isfied that depositors need lose nothing if the proper course is followed. I am determined that they shall not and will use my own money If need be to pay the claims against the bank. However. If bankruptcy proceedings are "started, my fortune is not large enough to pay the deficit that will be caused by that dis position of the assets. Securities Shipped by Morris. "There seems to be much uneasiness among the dexsitors regarding the se curities that Cashier Morris has in his possession. I have had two telegrams from him stating that he has shipped the securities back to Portland by ex press and that he is following them home. He left New York Wednesday night and should reach ' Portland Sunday. "I do not hold the belief tha Morris is dishonest. I think he has made many mistakes but I cannot believe he is a rascal. I- think he is too easily per suaded. I know he let people have credit at the bank when he should never have done so, but he was easily influenced to make Joans even to people he did not like." That Cashier Morris was a hard man to persuade to buy bonds of the In dependent telephone companies at Omaha and Tacoma is the statement of Louis J. Wilde, who sold them to him. Mr. Wilde said yesterday: "Cashier Morris was the last of the Portland bankers to take Home tele phone securities. Mr. Ladd, of La del & Tllton. bought them long- before Mr. Morris would agree to take any. President Watson, of the Merchants' National, took a quantity long before the Oregon Trust & Savings Bank would buy. "I Induced Mr. Morris to take a trip with me to California cities, where the Home systems were In operation, that he might see for himself how the sys tems work and what other bankers thought of them. After he came back from this trip, he was satisfied that the securities were good and he recom mended their purchase. But to say that he bought them without the ap proval of the directors of the bank Is foolish. This cannot be true." Moore and Lytic Blame Morris. Officials of the wrecked bank continue to blame W. Cooper Morris for the pres ent plight of the Institution. Although President Moore says the directors con curred in Morris- bond purchases, Jie blames him for lack of business Judg ment in conducting the affairs of the bank and for making loans to various business interests about town which helped cut down the cash reserve of the bank. E. B. Lytle, ' vice-president, ' directly charges Cashier Morris with buying bonds without the consent of the directors and says the failure is the result of his acts. "The directors gave orders six or eight weeks ago to Morris not to lend one dollar of the bank's mqney without the explicit consent ' of the directors," said Mr. Lytle. "We repeatedly gave direc tions to him to keep the cash reserve up to 35 per cent of the deposits. The directors cannot know Just what disposi tion is being made of the bank's funds, be they ever so vigilant. There was not a day that I did not go to the bank and look after its interests as best I could. I secured statements from Mr. Morris frequently. One of these recent statements showed the cash reserve had fallen to an alarmingly low figure. I immediately called Cashier Morris at- W. H. Mooro. President. tention to the items and asked him what he meant by allowing this to occur. He said that was all right, that the dif ference between the cash on hand at that time and the same item shown in the last statement was included in the due from other banks' account. "Whether this was true or whether the cashier had been making more loans, when we had forbidden it, I do not know, nor was there any way I could ascer tain. Suppose he had submitted a state ment of the cash due from banks and an Item showed $50,000 due from a New York bank. Then if I had telegraphed that bank aid gotten the reply that there was no balance there, the cashier could have easily explained this by saying he had sent the money two or three days previously, and it had not yet reached that bank. , Cashier Discharged Expert. "A few months ago we placed an ex pert in the bank and he went over the accounts carefully. It was a long task and I used to ask him every little while if we were going to get that statement pretty soon. He replied that the work would require some weeks yet. One day our expert was missing. I asked Cashier Morris what had become of him and. he told me he had fired him for getting drunk. Now I do not know whether this expert was getting too many facts to be pleasant for the cashier or not. Any way he discharged him without ask ing anyone connected with the bank. Per haps Mr. Morris took him out' himself and got him drunk. "I was Induced to go into the Oregon Trust & Savings Bank to help a friend. I said at that time I did not care to take the stock reserved for me and I was told it would not be necessary. But a short time ago. Cashier Morris came to me and asked why I had not taken care of my stock. I told him I under stood it would not be necessary, but he rather inaisted and I then gave him a check for $35,000. for 1 took one-fourth of the capital stock of $100,000, and bought it at 140. "1 have been careful never to use the bank in a business way. lest the public might think I was building a railroad with the money of the bank. I have never made a cent out of the bank, which the books of the institution will show. In addition to the capital stock, I had an account of $3600 in the bank when it closed Its doors aid my wife had a few hundred In it. I never thought of taking this money out, nor did I ever give out tips to friends to get their money out. People in my own office had accounts there and I did not tell them of the im-. pending danger. The rumor is false that I deserted the sinking ship In time to save myself. I am one of the heaviest losers for the capital stock will be the last to be repaid." Private Fortunes of Bank's Owners. Directors of t"he Oregon Trust & Sav ings Bank are W. H. Moore, H. A. Moore. E. E. Lytle, W. Cooper Morris and Leo Friede. The capital stock of $100,000 is fully paid up and is held almost wholly by the directors. The Moore brothers are said to be worth $500,000: E. E. Lytle about $300,000; W. Cooper Morris about $50,000, while Leo Friede is thought to hold property valued at perhaps $300,000, but this is pretty heavily involved. Lawyers and brokers saw a chance to do a stroke of business yesterday by se curing clients among depositors. Adver tisements in the papers announced that lawyers were willing to take the claims of depositors and look after their inter ests for a consideration. Brokers are willing to pay 40 per cent, of the face value of the accounts in cash and take over the bank books of the depositors and await the liquidation of the bank's as sets. Receiver Devlin advises depositors very strongly against being led -to sign over their claims by any such wiles. The report that Leo Friede warned his friends of the unstable condition of the bank and gave them the tip to withdraw their accounts before the bank closed Js characterized as false by Mr. Friede. He says he never told anyone to with draw his account, and on the contrary borrowed a sum of money from friends to pay a debt he owed the bank, when he knew Its funds were short. It developed yesterday that an inves tigation of Cashier Morris' past had been made by directors of the bank. Vice President Lytle heard that Mr. Morris had several things not to his credit at Republic, Wash., and he instructed his attorney, Zera Snow, to find out the truth In these rumors. Attorney Snow wrote to a friend who was familiar with the case and who was attorney for Mr. Morris, asking him what the facts were. The reply was a- high recommendation of Morris. ... Depositors Ready to Takte Bonds. A favorable aspect of the case is the willingness of depositors in the bank to take telephone bonds held by the bank In payment of their claims. Many of the depositors are large ones, among them being the telephone Interests themselves, who hold certificates of deposit on the bank given in part payment for the pur chases of bonds. A large number of depositors volun teered yesterday to take bonds at par. with a 50 per cent stock bonus in set tlement ot their claims and Louis J. Wilde, who is floating these securities in this territory has already listed offers of this kind amounting to $445,000. He says he Is confident he can secure simi lar offers amounting' to over $750,000. This will clear the atmosphere and relieve the bank of nearly all of Its telephone securi ties, while at the same time It will satisfy many of the larger depositors. The bonds are those of the Omaha In dependent Telephone Company and the Puget Sound Independent Telephone Com pany, the latter corporation being the builder of the Tacoma automatic tele phone plant. The Omaha company has a bond issue of $1,500,000. with an equal amount of stock. The corporation is ex pending the $1,500,000 in constructing the Omaha system. This includes the tele phone plants In South Omaha and other nearby towns. The bond issue of the Tacoma company amounts to $1,475,000 and. like the Omaha securities, is a first, mortgage upon the telephone system of the city. The stock I issue is equal to that of the bond is- OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE M.J g .K.- E. l.ytle,' Vice-President. sue. Bonds of both companies pay 5 per cent. The Portland plant, which includes telephone systems In Albany, Salem, Ore gon City and other valley towns, cost $1.S73.000 in construction, and has a bond Issue for that amount, with an equal amount In stock. But very few of the Portland securities are held by the bank. Examination Takes Time. Receiver Thomas C. Devlin said last night that the careful examination of the securities held by the bank will take con siderable' time, and he cannot yet give an estimate of their value. He believes, however, that there are no reasons for very great alarm among creditors and hopes to give a favorable report later. He feels that the beginning of bank ruptcy proceedings would be the very worst thing that could happen for the creditors. Among the depositors in the Oregon Trust & Savings Bank were the local camps of the Woodmen. About $1600 of the funds of this fratenity are tied up until the assets of the bank can be ad ministered. Gone to Build Flour Mill. OREGON CITY. Or.. Aug. 22. (Special.) W. A. White has gone to Bellingham, Wash., to build a flour mill. The building will be 60x30 feet, four stories high, and will have a warehouse annex 50x100 feet. Mr. Gibson, a Willamette Valley hopman, is interested in the concern that is build ing the mill. GASENB for laundry, kitchen and general household use Hot or cold water. LL PUNISH THEi Of! QUIT HIS JOB Manning Says if Bankers Have Done Wrong the Guilty . . Must Suffer. ADDRESSES THE CREDITORS District Attorney and Others Speak at Meeting in, Plaza Where De positors, Organize to Pro tect .Interests. 1 MOICRIS IN NEW YORK. OREGOXIAN NEWS BUREAU, WashlnBton, Aug-. 22. W. Cooper Morris ig at the Knickerbocker Ho tel. New York. There are several telegrams for him here. He may return to Washington. He went to New York Tuesday. ' "If. in my investigation tomorrow, I find that any of the officers president, vice-president or cashier of the bank violated the law in any way I will .either land them in the penitentiary or resign my Job." So said John canning. District Attorney of - Multnomah County, at. the Plaza blocks last night, to a gathering of nearly 500 people, the majority of 'whom District Attorney John . Manning, Who Will Investigate the Oregon. Trust A, Savings Bank failure. were depositors in the defunct Oregon Trust & Savings Bank. ''You people,'" be continued, "can rest assured that there are some officials in this county who will look after your- interests and see that you are not swindled." Mr. Manning's short address drew applause, from every portion of the cosmopolitan assemblage. The meeting last night was in every sense of the word a mass-meeting." With no organization nothing save the call of a few of the depositors in the bank, hun dreds of people., young and old. men and women, gathered around the Oregon vol unteers' monument In the Plaza to listen and hear what others had to say. Nearly every man, woman and child present was In some way affected by the failure. The crowd was orderly, there was no tone of mob rule or mob violence, every person OREGON TRUST & SAVINGS BANK b- Ik -V ' W. Cooper Morris. Cashier., present acted coolly, simply as business men and women listening to business talk. The representatives of every race, persons of every age and of every, walk of life mingled together.. Depositors Make Speeches. A number of depositors made short and Impromptu speeches before an organiza tion was effected, the tone of all the talk was that the depositors should act coolly, In a businesslike manner. Injuring no one until definite proof of wrong doing could be shown. A. Richmond, an auctioneer, whose place of business is at 145V4 Seven tn street, spoke first. Mr. Richmond said that as far as he knew T. C. Devlin, re ceiver of the bank, was an honorable man and would do everything possible for the depositors. He was Interrupted several' times and remarks derogatory to Mr. Devlin were made. F. J.. Mc Henry, manager of the Modern Tele scope and Bag Company, a heavy cred itor and one of the men instrumental in calling the meeting, followed. Mr. Rich mond. "I have known Mr. Moore, the presi dent of the bank, or a number of years," he said, "and I believe that he Is an honorable man and not responsible for the failure of the bank. As iar as Mr. Devlin Is concerned, I do not Know him personally, and while I know nothing against his character still I believe that he will bear watcnlng. Plans for the appointment of a com mittee to assist In the work of bringing to account the books of the hank were taken up and discussed. But Mr. Mc Henry suggested that a temporary or ganization be formed, and that the de- poet tors later effect a permanent organ ization. The proposal to postpone the meeting until tonight was voted down, and a call was made for nominations for a temporary chairman. Mr. Mc- 1 Henry a name was suggested, and as no other candidates were placed in the field, -he was elected unanimously. Election of a temporary secretary was next in order. Jack Day and Mr. Rich mond were mentioned, and the latter was chosen. Will Meet Again Tonight. It was then .suggested that a hall be procured, and- -that the crowd move in a body to It and effect the permanent organization. The' plan of excluding I all but depositors was brought up, then I many of the victims, present remem- j bered that they had left their bank , books at home. A motion was made I and carried that the chairman and sec retary secure a hall and then, through the newspapers, announce the time and 1 place of meeting. A motion to adjourn was made and carried, and as the peo ple were about to disperse It was an nounced that John Manning was in the crowd. A call for a speech was made, and Mr. Manning worked his way through the crowd and up to the ped estal of the monument. His coming was greeted by oheers and applause. "I Just arrived in the city this after noon," said. Mr. Manning, "and learned that a calamity had occurred in the city, as far. as all of you are con cerned. You people can rest assured that there are officials in the county who will protect you and see that you are not swindled. If, in my investiga tion tomorrow. I find that any of the officials of this bank president, vice president or cashier have violated the law In any way, I will land them In the Penitentiary or resign my job. I see by the papers .that Mr. Moore says he will pay back every cent In 30 days. Well, I have seen many bank failures, and every time the officials say the same thing, but I have seldom seen them do It. You had better act coolly. It Is better to get your money than to be involved in any litigation. There is no need of hiring lawyers. All the lawyers in the city, and there are 400 piembers of the bar. couldn't get your money If it isn't there in the bank. I will act In a few days, and if I find that any official of that bank has done wrong. I repeat to you, I will either get him in the Penitentiary or resign as District Attorney." After Mr. Manning's speech, several members of the crowd offered sugges tions that a special Invitation be of fered Mr. Mopre, asking him to attend the meeting of the depositors. A vote was called on this and it was carried. It Is not known at present where the meeting tonight will be held, hut all depositors who would enter will be forced to bring credentials to show that they were actual depositors In the bank. Experience of Robert Welch. The closing of the Oregon Trust and Savings Bank has left Robert Welch, of the Welch Grocery Company, Sellwood, a creditor- as well as a depositor of the bank, in a peculiar predicament. The' bank had a demand note against the firm for $2000 negotiated on February 15. Since that time Mr. Welch has had an account with the bank and since Au gust 1 has deposited about $1200 and was entirely able to make the remaining pay ment of $S00 whenever it should be de manded. On the day before the bank closed Mr. Welch made his regular trip to Portland and- deposited $240 In the bank. On Wednesday Mr. Welch made, another trip to Portland to make an other deposit of J2SO. and was astonished to find that, the bank had failed. Yes terday Mr. Welch received a letter from the bank dated Tuesday, the day before the doors closed, requesting that he pay his note of $2000 immediately. The let ter, signed by J. H Truby, assistant cashier. Is as follows: "The directors of the bank have in structed me to advise you that they wish payment of your demand note dated Feb ruary 15. 1907. This note is for $2000. Kindly mail us a check for this amount." Mr. Welch came to town yesterday and had a brief interview with Mr- Truby and expressed his willingness to cancel the note if the $1200 which he has in the bank were applied on same. Mr. Truby declined to entertain such an ar rangement and Informed Mr. Welch that he would have to pay the note. Mr. Welch expressed his indignation and liei torney Manning's office. He has been Friede, Director. advised to ignore the bank's demand for the present. ASK FOR POLICE PROTECTION Officials or Defunct- Bank Threat ened by Unknown Persons. Fear of violence at the hands of deposi tors in . the defunct Oregon Savings & Trust Company caused Leo FYlede, a di rector; Mrs. . Morris, wife of W. Cooper Morris, the cashier, and President W. H. Moore, to seek protection at the hands of the police last night. Each had been threatened, they stated to Captain Slover, by unknown persons who called them up over the telephone. The.-first request for polios protection reached headquarters at 3 o'clock yester day afternoon, when President W. H. Moore called upon Captain Moore, com manding the day relief, saying that he had just been notified by telephone at his home, 554 Everett street, that a mob was on its way there ta do him violence. He was urgent in his request for protection, and two policemen were hurried "to the scene. They remained there for a time, but aa no one appeared- to make any dem onstration, they withdrew. At 6 o'clock Leo Friede telephoned to Captain Slover. In churge of headquarters on the first relief, and stated that he had been threatened by unknown men over the telephone. He asked that protection be furnished, and an officer was- sent to the house. 791 Everett street, and was in structed to keep a close watch there until midnight, when Captain Bailey ordered another patrolman to the .place for the remainder of the night. Early In the night Mrs. W. Cooper Mor ris, living at 094 Twelfth street, tele phoned to Captain Slover and said that she had been threatened by unknown people, who called her up over the tele phone, and she wished protection. Ac cordingly, a policeman was sent to her home, but because the officer had a large beat to patrol, he was unable to remain at her home all the time, and she be came nervous. At 9 o'clock she again asked for protection, this time making the request that an officer be ordered to remain in her house throughout the night. She was informed by Captain Slover that no regular member of the department could be detailed for such work, and was advised to employ a special officer. She replied that she could not afford to pay one. and Acting Detective Price was dis patched to keep watch, In the vicinity. No demonstrations were made at any of the homes of the officials of the bank, notwithstanding the telephone threats. MR WITTENBERG HAS A PLAX Suggests Dividing the Assets Among the Depositors. PORTLAND. Or., Aug. 22- To the Editor.) A suggestion to the deposi tors of the Oregon Trust & Savings Bank: Having in mind some experience that has overtaken depositors of banks in the city of Portland and other cities, whore banks were unfortunately com pelled to close their doors and go into receivers' hands, and knowing that such receiverships make necessarily heavv expenses on account of salaries paid to receivers and to their clerical force rents for bank offices and all incidental expenses, not least among which would be court fees and attor ney's fees (which are always large) and also having the experience and knowledge, that a large amount of good securities must sometimes be sold at a sacrifice to meet all the above mentioned expenses, and also to make a showing of some kind to declare a dividend to impatient depositors. 1 feel it a matter of duty to my fellowman to suggest a plan to the depositors of the bank, whicli was so unfortunate as to be compelled to close its doors in this city yesterday. In reading over the list of securities of :he bank in the papers I notice that there are about $1,300,000 of telephone bonds among such list; also a large quantity of other securities, .in round numbers amounting to sufficient to wipe out the depositors' claims if it were possible to realize par n them: which, of course. could not he ex pected, unless under the most favor able circumstances. My suggestion is that the depositors petition the receiver to distribute, 'pro rata among the depositors, all of these bonds; also all other paper that can be handled by the depositors. This would avoid the greater part of the receivership: It would avoid sacrificing securities; it would give to every de positor holding a certificate a security which could be used for collateral, or If necessary it could be held by the depositor as an investment on his part and rright ultimately give such de positor full value of his claim against the bank; and it would give the de positor the right and opportunity to sell such security at his or her own nrice and avoid having It sold at a possible sacrifice by officials of the bar.k, who might deem it expedient to do so an account of circumstances that might present themselves. This would also place these securities among peo ple in such a way as to be of a pos sible benefit to the entire community, as well as the institutions which they represent; and they would, at least, be under the control or the party who has the greatest Interest in them. Then again the depositor would not be subject to the possible pooling and scheming of any set of Individuals who might conspire to depreciate the value of any of these securities for the sole purpose of making a. profit out of them by buying .them at a very low figure as a result of their manipulations against the efforts of the officials in charge to get a fair price. In explanation, I desire to state that my only Interest in this matter is a desire to avoid any possible or ruinous settlements such as were made by banks that were closed during the panic year of 1R93. In making tiie division, or prorating securities among the depositors, I would advise that it be made on as equitable a basis as possible. In other words, I would divide up the securities wherever possible. I would not give any one person one kind of paper, or any one class of bonds. As an ex ample: If a person had a claim of $1.),-000- I would give him bonds in three or four of the oifferent companies, and not all in any one company, as In this way they would possibly have some that vere better than others, and it should be satisfactory to all. I sincerely trust that this may lead to 6orne plan that will clean up mat ters for the depositors at an early date and not be ieft to drag along for months, and possibly years, finally leaving for the depositors a small pay ment on their claims. One million three humlrnd thousand dollars in bonds will pay an immediate dividend of -io cents on the dollar. This will leave over $X0.oon in loans and' dis counts that should certainly be fair securities. Also all the .balance of the securities and assets could be again divided up at an early date in another dividend; and It would, in my opinion, be giving to the stockholders, at least, all that they can ever possibly hope to receive for their claims against this unfortunate bank. Asking your indulgence and careful attention to this plan, or anv other which you may deem of benefit to you all, I beg to remain. Sincerely yours. H. WITTENBERG. P. S. Small depositors could pool their interests, take their securities and place same in the hands of a trus tee selected by them, to be sold for the benefit of these small depositors. TELLS OF MORRIS' VAGARIES Acquaintance Recalls Early Pecul iarities of Bank Cashier. SEATTLE, Wash., Aug. 22. (Special.) W. Cooper Morris, cashier of the Oregon Savings & Trust Company, studied law under Senator S. H. Piles when the latter was practicing In Snohomish several years ago. Morris did not complete his studies, but he was In Senator Pllos' law office for some time. Fred H. Lyaons. a local attorney, who was a partner of ex Mayor T. J. Humes during the letter's lifetime, knew Morris and said of him today: "W. Cooper Morris, then known as Will C. Morris, afterwards as Wrylle C. Morris, lived during his early manhood at Sno homish and his early acquaintances there tell of his vagaries and peculiarities. Ac cording to them he was without concep tion of - business responsibilities, either financial or moral. "It is said that he at one time took home ostensibly as a present to his wife some valuable oil paintings, which a year or two later were found to have been given to him merely for safekeeping. Similar occurrences are said to have been frequent, and they, as well as alleged oc casional shortages with insurance com panies for which he was agent, were over looked by reason of his recognized Irre sponsibility. It is said that his vanity knew no bounds, and the fact that during the present year he had an exceptionally fine launch constructed at Snohomlflh. apparently as evidence to his old friends of his present station In life. Is taken to indicate that this trait is still strong." 3. ptenorahnblHtr (JfOnly a few days more remain in which to secure a splen did new Piano your choice of over a dozen prominent and popular makes every thing that the most critical music lover could ask. for in the matter of tone, case design, style and finish at a price that you'll say your self has never before been du plicated in this city. fWe now have left only be tween twenty and thirty of the 161 instruments sent to us by our San Francisco store to be disposed of for them if you wish to secure one of the greatest piano bargains ever offered by any firm in America, it will be absolutely necessary to hurry. Remember, we guarantee the value, quality and perfection of every instrument in this sale the Eiler's famous "Money Back Guarantee" which is the "Gold Bond" of the piano world. If you really wish a piano, you cannot afford to let this sale pass into history without at least investigating that is all we ask, knowing that if you go that far, you will need no further urging to induce you to buy, for the induce ments are all that are claimed and genuine in every re spect. pionoreliobility THE HOUSE OF HIGHEST QUALITY 353 Washington CORNER PARK Piano Dollar Don t Another