The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, February 14, 1921, Page 1

‘The Weather FAIR Last Edition ===|THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE BISMARCK, NOWTH DAKOTA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1921 _ PRICE FIVE CENTS MAY REACH CO FARGO LEAGUE -SOANDINAVIAN-AMBRIGAN FORCED TO SUSPEND AFTER CONFERENCE WITH LEMKE According to Audit Report Has Re-Deposits in Loans from Bank; of North Dakota in Sum of $432,000—Is Thirty-third Institution to Cease Business Se ‘DENIES PRESS REP ort (R IN A UG R Ayo GO, SAYS WOOD, The Scandinavian-American Bank of Fargo closed its doors | fed i | sael ae i today on orders of O. E. Lofthus, state bank examiner. ‘ \ The bank was closed, the examiner said, for the same reason | that other banks have closed—inability to keep up reserve or North Dakota or be closed up. The Scandinavian-American bank | ineet: payments demanded of it. No_other banks have closed, the examiner said, since the issuance of the order to banks to pay obligations to the Bank of | is the thirty-third bank in the have been reopened. The order to close the Far, state to close, he said, and two 0 bank followed a visit. of Mr.! Lofthus and Attorney-General Lemke to Fargo Saturday when: the situation was gone into. The Scandinavian-American bank was known as a “league! bank.” Controlling interes league leader: tions. It had $50,000 capital. man and Company report the bank was'indebted to the Bank of | North Dakota in loans and redeposits to the extent. of History of in the bank was obtained by the; in 1919, according to testimony in tl nvestiga- According to the Bishop, Briss 432,000. ! Institution i This bank has been the storm centey of the attack on the’ league and its financial policies. violating banking laws, the verdict was! ‘sed and he was given a new trial | coast. The bank was reorgan Hagan, was convicted of Its former president, H. J./ He is now living on the; 1 Jater, William Langer who ran for the Republican nomination for | governor against Lynn J. Frazier devoted considerable of his, speeches to this bank and its connection with the inner cir In a recent work on. the league, the former! league officials. le of! attorney general has taken up in great detail the various tran- sactions of the institution. THINKS BONDS eee X:Ray Dinpvered WILL BE SOLD TO: MPLS. BANKERS Paddock Issues Statement in} Mill City on “Compromise . Plan” No Agreement Reached “to: Abandon” State Industries, Meddling Method of Govern- Speaker Twitchell Says House | He Says Minneapolis, Feb, 4.-—-H. A. Pad ; dec secretary of the North Dakota: Ing I Commission today issued; the, following statement, { “John NN, ‘Hagan, commissioner of | agriculture and labor of North Dakota! and a member of the Industrial Com- mission and ‘L. T. McAnemey, direc: tor of credits of Bank of North Da- kota, and J have been in conferance } with a number of North Dakota bank- | ers and bond dealers in conneetion |, with the sale of North Dakota bonds. Will Provide Money. i “These bonds if sold will provide | noney for the use of ‘the Bank of North Dakota and the state industries. They are very good chances that we; will be successful in negotiating for their sale. t “The statement in Minneapolis pa-; pers that there has been an agreement. to abandon the farmers program in North Dakota are false. There has} been no such agreement and there! { | could not be. Only the legislature of | North Dakota could do that. | Not Insolvent. “The Bank of North Dakota is: not: insolvent.” { The present situation is due tothe! fact ‘that private bankers have over-| extended credit and are unable to pay | a a rr BANK Cambridge, Mass. Feb, 14.—Pro! William’ Duane, of Harvard, announc: | ed discovery of more penetrating X- rays which are to he used for the! first time in America for alleviation of cancer, ! RECONSTRUCTION TO BE KEYNOTE ment in Private Business to Be Disapproved FRIENDSHIP FOR MEXICO No Detailed Discussion of Meth- ods in first address of New ‘President St. Angustine, Fla., Feb, 14.—A plea thatthe government put its shoulde to the wheels of reconstruction is pected to form the keynote of Warren | 'G. Harding's message to ‘his fellow | countrymen when he comes into the presidency. Although the inaugural address is still far from complete it! was learned today that consideraple | work had been done on it and that the | subjects it is to cover virtually had been selected. It is understood it will be very brief and -will attempt | no detailed discussing of any: of the— problems awaiting solution. One of; the outstanding features is expecied to be an appeal for confidence in the | nation’s business stability, linked with | an assurance that during the next! four years the administration — will! / $7,000,000 of demand obligations of! keep away from meddling methods in | The bank was closed once before under the direction of the) the state. bank. “If the private banks | jts relations with the business wor. | state banking board, but reopened by order of league officials | who declared at the time the whole affairs was. political persecu- tion. MAKE NO STATEMENS jdn personal touch with the situation {ational peace association and wili | were able to meet their obligations to} the Bank of North Dakota it would not in-apy. manner be embarrassed. Governor Lynn J. Frazier jrefused | to make any comment on the proposed | plan, asserting that he had not been Detailed statements: of ‘a taxation | policy is to be reserved until congress | has been. called’-in special session, ; probably in April. It 18 believed Mr. Harding’s ad- | dress will touch briefly on an inter-! Fargo, Feb. 14.—The Scandinaviah-American hank is closed! which had resulted from the Minne- | tergely pledge the incoming admin-| today. closure is “by order of the state examiner.” bank refused to make statements regarding the closing. Gives Statement. Fargo, Feb. 14.—E. J. Headland, president of Scandinavian-American bank, today gave out the following statement: “Publicity given to the examination in the lower house of the legislature at Bismarck caused a heavy withdraw- als Thursday and Friday of last week and Saturday it was decided that it would be best to close the bank.” (Mr. Headland said that the bank had been gaining steadily from the first of the year until the Bismarck probe caused withdrawals. He did not name the amount of recent withdrawals. COLLECT FUND TO BOOST MOUSE RIVER COUNTRY Minot Has Pledged Five Thous- and Dollars to the Effort { —_—— Minot, Feb. 14.—The move to co- ordinate immigration efforts of all towns in the Mouse river loop countr; and encourage co-operation with tue railroads and state immigration d¢- partment is meeting with a warm re- sponse, according to W. S. Shaw, pres- ident of the city commission and chair- man of the Minot Association of Com- merce immigration - committee. thusiastic meetings have been held at Kenmare, Lansford, Bottineau, Ome- mee and other towns in this section and-a substantial fund is being raised to carry-on the. work. Minot has pledged $5,000 and of that amount some $2,500 has already been raised. The balance will be raised' within the next 10 days. 3 jam Collins, pioneer Bottineau nt was in Minot conferring witi Minot men who are interested in the movement. He reports keen interest in Bottineau county. His brother, Frank Collins, is identified with the immigration department of the Soo Ry. and is in Minot assisting with the drganization of an immigration cam- paign. “s While in the city yesterday, Wil- liam Collins renewed old ucquaint- ances among Minot pioneers. The two Collins men came to Minot in 4886, the year the Great Northern Ry. reached this city, and opened a hard- ware store. William Collins was Mi- not’s first city auditor. He also held county offices before moving to Bot- tineau. Just before their marriage, Mala an girls have their teeth filed short and pointed. Officials of the | BUREAU FOR FREE LUMBER Executive Committee of Farm Bureau Passes Resolution Against Duty That, as an aid to building, no duty | should be imposed on lumber is the belief of the members of the: execu- tive committee of the North Dakota Farm Bureau Federation, who have adopted the following resolutions: Whereas, it has been called to the at- tention of the North Dakota Farm Bu- reau through testimony given before the Way and Means committee of the National House of Representatives ! that’ lumber can be manufactured eaper in the United States than in| Canada; .and | Situation Acute. ‘Whereas, the housing situation in the cities of this country is becoming acute; and Whereas.’ farm building is far be- hind and farmers are going to need immense quantities of lumber during the next three or four years; and Whereas, the tremendous amount of lumber needed! for all purposes in the next few years will make a serious drain on our forest reservations and | endanger the conservation of future material; and Will Increase Cost. Whereas, a tariff duty will simply increase, the cost of these necessary improvements and delay the construc- tion: Therefore, be it resolved by the North Dakota’ Farm Bureau that they petition the American Farm Bureau to use its good oifices through D. G.. to present the matter con| in these resolutions to the Wa:)| Means committees of the house and senate of our nhtiona] songress and that we urge said representatives to use every effort to prevent our na- tional dongress from imposing duty on, lumber. | Cattle Prices Less | Than Pre-War Scale. Washington, Feb. 14.—The depart- | ment of agriculture announced that | cattle on farms are worth less than pre-war prices. VICTIMS OF ROBBERS. Manilla, P. I, Feb. 14—Admfral Strauss, commanding the Adriatic fleet, reports the American sailors fired on at Vladivostok were victims ‘of a party of Russian robbers. , Saw N, Landis today refused to com- to aia she arrests were made as a direct its representatives at Washingtoe Va, “id Tesult of the first raid when more According to the notice at the entrance of the bank the) 2P0Hs conference. \ Made No Statement. Minneapolis, Feb. 14.—No state ment from the National Nonpartisan | ‘league headquarters here could be) ‘obtained today regarding the report! ‘of ‘a compromise plan by which the state Bank of North Dakota will be liquidated. JUDGE LANDIS IGNORES ATTACK Washington, Feb. 14—Judge Kene- ment on the charges and the im- peachment. proceedings threatened by a North Carolina senator. He repud- iated statements appearing in the morning papers. FEDERAL AGENTS SHOOP DOWN ON COUNTRY STILLS Make Raids’ in’ Western Part of State; Several to Be Ar- rested Dickinson, N. D., Feb. 14.—Follow- ing a raid two weeks ago, federal officials swept down on southern Stark and northern Hettinger coun- ties last week and took eight more alleged moonshiners into the toils of the law. Of these eight, three Stark county men, Frank Stricker, Peter Stiller and Nicholas Herald were ai- rested. Pat Bowler and J. H. Trot- ter, deputy United States marshals, with headquarters at Fargo, made the arrest. The men were taken before U. S. Commissioner F. S. Dewey at Mott the same afternoon, where they gave bonds in the sum of $500 for their appearance in the mid-winter term federal court in ‘Fargo. than 200 gallons of newly mage “hootch” and mash valued at more than $2,000 were destroyed by the of- ficers. DODGE PAPER TO CONTINUE Dodge, N. D., Feb. 14.—The Dodge Dispatch, publication of which was suspended, has been taken over by a new owner and its publication will be continuedt Dodge business men guar- anteed support to the new owner. CANNOT WITHDRAW, Washington, Feb. 14—Rear-Admir- al Knapp’s final report on Haitain conditions says “we put our hands to the plow in Haiti” and declares we cannot withdraw America forces. istration to do its best for the peace! agreement compatible with American | spirations. There is also expected | to be:a word of friendship for Mex- ico and the rest of Latin-America. HOUSE HEARING TAKES UP DUTY. OF OFFICIALS 0. E, Lofthus, State Examiner, Is Questioned-by the Prob- ing Body The house investigation committee, in its session today, went into the clu ties of O. E. Lofthus, state bank ex- aminer, with reference to examining the Bank of North Dakota, and com- pared the law governing the examin-' ation of the state bank and private: banks. { The law regarding the Bank of North Dakota. which ‘provides that it is the duty of the. examiner only to examine assets of the banks was read. | The necessary cash reserve requir-| ed for private banks in the state also | was inquired into, According to tes- timony adduced at the hearing, the Bank of North Dakota, if governed by | the laws regarding cash reserve for) banks, would be under that amount ; and subject to be closed by the bank examiner. The same was true as to the Scandinavian-American bank, | which was closed today. | At the start of the hearing F. W.} Cathro was called to the witness stand. | Before Cathro was questioned he ask- ed permission to make a statement, | and began reading it. “He declared in} the statement that he wanted to make statements to correct impressions giv-| ‘ea by the line of questioning conduct: | ed and referreu to the fact that he | did not have an attorney. He finally was interrupted and asked to proceed | with his testimony. { ©. E. Lofthus, state examiner, ad- |‘ mitted that the $46,767.63 ‘cash re- serve of the Bank of North Dakota on December 3 was $563,120.23 shy of the} cash reserve, a state bank should have ; been according to banking laws gov-' erning state banks in North Dakota. | The Bank of North Dakota, however, | is-not under the state banking laws, | being directed by the Industrial Com- mission and Attorney John Sullivan brought these facts out only as a mat-| f comparison. | ‘er, Lofthus further admitted that) according to Sullivan’s interpretation of the banking laws, that the Scandi-) navian-American bank of Fargo on Oc tober 22, 1919, when it was closed the! first time, “had sence 1688 een reserve at all. e accounts Ww audited at the time by M. N. Thatcher of the Equitable Audit company and by Thatcher and Lofthus reported “to be in good liquid condition,” Mr.\Lof- thus testified. After the hearing he said that the laws had not been in- (Continued on Page 3.) pressed follow: MPROMISE CLOSED ITS DOOR TODAY EXPECT BITTER LIQUIDATION OF BANK FIGHT ON PLAN OF COMPROMISE ome Nonpartisans and Inde- y, pendents are Strongly Op- possed to It Bankers. Meets Opposition Lieutenant-Governor Opposed— Must Be Satisfied OF NORTH DAKOTA PART OF SOLUTION PROPOSED |Committee of Nonpartisan League Leaders Hold Conference With Twin City Financiers on Solution of North Dakota’s Economic Problems. Largely Old Plan Proposed by Confefence of State from Some League Legislator: Townley Reported as Favoring Scheme. Commissioner Hagan announced this afternoon that the pro- ‘posed compromise plaa would be presented to both the Indepen- ‘dents and the nonpartisans in the legislature and they would have A delegation of Nonpartisans, neluding several legislators, call- ed on Governor Frazier — before Noon (oday to protest against ac. ceptance of a proposed compro. mise plan with reference to the Hate of North Dakota and other nd league in the legislature a News of the agreement reached he- tween emi: Commission Minneapolis, nd banking interests in rm ed by Inde- s here ‘with Acceptance of the initiated it will not be lature without The execntiv pled by the legis: fight. committee of the In- to work out the details by which it should be put through. Commissioner of Agriculture John Hagan, arrived in Bis- imarck at noon from Minneapolis to present to other members ‘of the Industrial Commission and members of the Nonpartisan compromise plan agreed upon in con- les. ‘ference with Twin City bankers. The plan embraces these points : | Restrict the Bank of North Dakota to the function of a ies of the Industrial rural credit bank and as fiscal agent for state industries. Liquidate the bank as to all other obligations incurred. law permitting publie deposits, dicates that except state deposits, to be withdrawn from the Bank of North | Dakota, and enactment of a depository law. Legislation to meet. bankers objections to the method of dependent Voters association was in| handling sinking funds and to the bond issues, session all day yesterday considering | recall plans and adjourned to Tues-; day night without taking any formal | Pa action. There was considerable sent- | local communities. iment around hotel corridors this | morning for going ahead with the ‘re- Buil call unless certain state officials re- signed, | Completion of the Grand Forks mill, restr ders—to the ‘completion of the houses now being built. The Nonpartisan league caucus here sent Commissioner Agreement by bankers to sell $10,000,000 of bonds to permit completion of Grand Forks mill, putting public funds back in ion of Home Independents do not seem to look Hagan and H. A. Paddock, secretary of the Industrial Commis- with favor on any proposition which isign, representing also the commission, to Minneapolis with A. will cut short the investigation of the state industries started by the house. ‘ . Some of the leading Nonpartisans turned this noon he refused to ©. Townley to conduct the negotiations. When Mr. Hagan re- talk of the plan until he had on the other hand, like Lieutenant-'¢onferred with other members of the Industrial Commission. Governor Wood and Warden Stair, former speaker of the house, are flat- | Messages from Minneapolis told footed in their opposition to any | 00 | compromise plan which would include ' . . | | the liquidation of the state bank. , ! | Some of Opinions. | Speaker Twitchell sald that any Proposition before jit is, approved | must be satisfactory to the Indepen- | dent members of the house and the! senate. | Some of thé other opinions, ex- WOULD IMPEACH JUDGE LANDIS | Charges Him With “Crimes and | Misdemeanors in Connection | with Baseball Salary” Senator Liederbach, Nonparti- san—I don’t think that the state bank will be Hquidated. No, we will never consent to that. The people want the hank. They were confused when they voted on the law against compulsory deposits and Tam sure that a law making deposits compulsory again would carry at a special election, Representative Stark, Indepen- dent—I think that. the compro- mise plain Is a good one. I be- |REFERRED TO COMMITTEE | House Has No Debate Upon Is- sues Raised by Rep. Welty lieve that the state bank should , i he changed into a rural credits | of Ohio institution. The people want | = that. I don’t see how any rea- | Washington, Feb. 14.—¥Federal sonable fellow can oppose it. Representative Kelly, Indepene dent—We must pass laws Hmit- ing the power of the. Industrial Commission. 1 think that the | Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, of Chicago, was impeached in the house |of representatives by Representative | Welty, democrat, Ohio, who charged A hi ith “hi, cri - xenernl compromise plan Is good. im wi ‘high crimes and misde-. We should finish the mill-and ;™e2nors” in connection with his ac- elevator at Grand Forks, ceptance of the position of supreme honses which have heen started hy the home builders and chance the state bank to a rural eredits institution, » Church Ts Pleased, Senator W. J. Chureh, Nonpart- isant JT am very much pleased with the action of the committee, and belli it will clarify the sit- uation, cenant - Governor Howard Wood: Nothing doing. This bunch will never stand for the plan as reported. . . “We are further from a com- Promise than ever, ii the report of the compromise from Minneap- olis is true, “The proposed final clean-up of state industries ig not acceptable to the league. We were prepared to abide by the initiated law and liquidate the Bank of North Da- kota to a rural eredits bank to also serve as the financial agen- cy of the state industries and H- quidate it only so far as it serves as a banker’s bank, but to have it, possthle to accept public de- sof banks that wish to make $42,500 a year. Should the touse decide to insti- tute proceedings against Judge Landis on the basis of Mr Welty’s charges a formal trial before the bar-of the house would be held and a decision rendered. Mr. Welty did not introduce a res- olution in the usual procedure in such matters. Instead he arose “to a question of high personal privilege” ‘and announced that he impeached the judge. Without debate the Welty charges. on Mr. Welty’s motion, were referred | to the judiciary committee for investi- gation ‘and report. There were a feg scattering “no’s.” OWEN COUNTY ‘INDIANA CENTER ~— OFPOPULATION Washington, Feb. 14.—The ¢ of population as disclosed by the 1920 census is located in the southwe: corner of Owen county, Indiana, miles southeast of the town of ;cer, the census bureau announ day. During the last decade the c of population continu O move Wi ward, advancing 5.8 miles in that d1- rection and about one-fifth of a mile north from Bloomington, Ind. in the south center part of the state where it was located by the census of 1910. The bureau attributed the westward movement in the last decade princi pally to the increase of more than one million in the vopulation of the state of California. Sagen, Independent—I_ believe that. the people should have full information regarding the con- duct of the state’s industries, but if we can get together and save what is left I am in favor of it. Former Speaker Stair was em- phatie in his disapproval, “The people will never stand for it.” he said. Representatives Maddock of Ber- son, and Vogel of McLean, refused to make any comment until they knew more about it. This is the attitude of many of the leaguers. PROPOSAL UNAC TABLE. Stuttgart, Feb. 14—Dr. Simons, German foreign ‘minister, in an ad- antes ane , dress said the Paris proposals were| The Salvation Army is now active unacceptable, in 63 foreign countries. the arbitrator of baseball at a salary of iter | of the agreement. The plan agreed upon embraces in part the proposal made sometime ago by North’ Dakota bankers, The decision of the Nonpartisan league legislators to send the commit- tee to the Twin Cities followed consid- erable discussion among the leaguers as to the course of procedure. It is known that it was A. C. Townley who caused the adoption of his plan. Townley’s Proposition. The financial situation of the Bank of North Dakota brought the situation to a head. It was first broached by A. C. Townley to league legislators here, At first the plan was summarily rejected. Townley returned, however, and renewed his prdposals, and they began to gain headway. The majority of an informal league gathering voted to send the committee to Minneapolis with instructions. The necessity of the closing of the Scandinavian-American bank, with obligations of $432,000 to the Bank of North Dakota, ‘also was one of the determining factors, The conclusions was reached that money could not .e brought into the ate unless the flzancial situation! was righted. This meant the virtual liqui- dation of the Bank of North Dakota or, as some leaguers express it, the changing of the policy and functions of the bank from a general banking institution to a rural credits institu- tion and) to act as fiscal agent for tho state industries. Must Sell Bonds. The one point Nonpartisans insiste 1 upon, which they say had not contain- ed in the bankers’ proposal made sometime ago, was that the bankers must either agree to negotiate an im- mediate sale ‘of the bonds to take them over themselves, putting $10.- 000,000 into the state to permit the as- sumption’ of liabilities of the Bank of North Dakota, release “frozen” assets, and permit money to go back into lo- cal communities. The action of the Nonpartisan cau- cus apparently breaks up a plan which had been determined upon by leaders—referring the initiated law regarding deposits in the Bank of North Dakota to the people again, with the hope that it would be defeat- ed and that the millions of dollars of public funds withdrawn from the Bank of North Dakota would be put back in the bank again. While now denying that the com- promise plan originated with Mr. Townley, many league leaders declare that this does not indicate a “break” of any sort, reiterating this with em- phasis, Townley, in substance told the Nonpartisans: , Townley’s Views. “The people have decided against the bank. When they voted in the election for the initiated law against compulsory depositing of public funds in the bank, they voted against it and they knew they did. “To try to save the bank after the people have turned’ it down is political i If the people do not want it and say so, it is their loss if they suf- fer because it is disc6ntinued. “When you allow the state bank 10 - be liquidated you are not sacrificing principle or the program. ‘ You are taking the only common sense step to save the program. You carrying out the mandate of the pe ple as given at the November elec- tion. “In not doing this you are sacri% ‘ the cause for which you were elected.”