Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, November 5, 1898, Page 8

with Condens2d Record of Republican Candidate Eustis, on Which He Has Extended the “Glad Hand” GUARANTY LOAN SUMMARY. ‘What the Unimpeachable Record Shows of W. H. Eustis’ Connec- tion With the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Associa- tion, Below is a summary of W. H. Eus- tis’ connection with the Northwestern Guaranty Loan association, the insti- tution whose victims spread all over New England, and who are the depos- itors of several banks that were ruined | in Minnesota. The summary is made up from the official records, especially directors’ and stockholders’ meetings, | and the reason why Mr. Eustis has | never yet denied over his own name} that he was such legal, actiye, partici- pating and responsible director is be- cause he knows the proofs are in the possession of district and supreme court officers, grand jury archives, re- eeivers’ files, state bank examiner, and of people who do not fear to use them | In the interests of preventing the elec- tion of a Guaranty Loan director as governor of Minnesota. Read the} record: i W. H. Eustis, first elected director at { meeting of stockholders Feb. 14, 1888; last elected to same position May 1, 1893, three weeks before the collapse. Served as director continuously be- tween these dates. Seven formal elec- tions as such officer as follows: Elections and Service as Director. Feb. 14, 1888, which was for unex- red term to April 30, 1888; re-elected lay 7, 1888; re-elected May 29, 1889; re-elected May 5, 1890; re-elected May 4, 1891; reelected May 2, 1892; re- elected May 1, 1893. At the directors’ meeting of Jan. 28, 1891, Eustis was appointed on a com- mittee to pass on loans. This commit- tee was never discharged, but acted and was continued from the time to the failure. ustis’ service as such examiner of lonas, was nearly two and one-half years. Records of proceedings of board of directors shows Eustis’ attendance at @ speciel meeting, Jan. 15, 1891, when the Burke charges were considered. Bach member of the board had re- ceived circular letters from Mr. Burke upon the charges he made, that Menage was robbing the concern. A committee to investigate the charges ‘was appointed, consisting of Mr. Petit, W. H. Bustis, George A. Pillsbury and Loren Fletcher. “Whitewashed” Menage. The committee reported at a special meeting, Jan. 28, Mr. Hustis being present at that meeting. The board appointed another committee to draw up a report upon the findings of the gpecial committee. That committee ‘was made to consist of six directors, and one of them was W. H. Bustis. At the same meeting a committee was appointed to pass on all future loans, and one of six directors so appointed, including President Menage, was W. H. Eustis. At the same meeting ‘Menage resigned, but his resignation was rejected, “all directors present,” gays the report, “expressing their satisfaction with the management of the affairs of the company, and espe- the president.” cially with the honor and integrity of | in This Campaign. This meeting of the directors ad- | sourned to meet Jan. 29, 1891. Pres- ent at this meeting nine directors, among them W. H. Eustis. The com- mittee on Menage and the previous charges, made a report, the celebrated “whitewashing” report, as follows. “Signed by all members of the com- mittee,” including W. H. EUSTIS. It required the light let in by the receiver of the company to show the full iniquity of Director Eustis’ report in this case. It was clear that this ex- amination was a fake from start to finish. Only a few parcels of land were submitted to the real estate ex- aminers brought in—J. B. Eustis, W. A. Barnes, J. M. Bartlett, James McMullen and W. W. Huntington. The rest were covered up by the man- agement. Rotten to the Core. The receiver found the concern rot- ten to the core. The face of the ac- counts showed assets of $5,200,000. | The receiver, however, found only $810,000 of nominal assets, against which creditors’ claims of 800,000 were filed. No one knows the actual losses by the victims, in the aggregate, but they are estimated all the way from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000. The receiver found that of the mort- gages to secure $2,341,300 of long time debenture bonds, $1,776,154 were in default at the time of the receivership. Of the securities for the short time pa- per, the receiver, the Minneapolis ‘Trust company, reported April 1, 1895: “The company had guaranteed and sold (the same was outstanding at the time of the receivership) short time pa- per in the aggregate sum of $3,017,- 776.48. Of this amount $644,000 was the paper discounted for clients other than Mr. L, F. Menage. The balance of this commercial paper was princi- pally ‘straw’ paper. The whereabouts of the makers (or of any of the prop- erty belonging to them) the receiver has been unable to discover, though diligent inquiry has been made to as- certain the same.” \ Eustis and Examiner Kenyon, The character of these swindles John H. Burke had pointed out to the di- rectors, AND ESPECIALLY TO DI- RECTOR BUSTIS PERSONALLY, AS WELL AS TO PUBLIC EXAM- INER M. D. KENYON, as was well known at the time, as early as 1890. Noy. 26 of that year was the date of his (Burke’s) circular on-which action” had_been taken, copies of which WERE PERSONALLY PLACED IN THE HANDS OF DIRECTOR EUS- TIS AND EXAMINER KENYON. That circular, among other things, gave the following specific details: “Since 1884 Louis F. Menage, as president of the Northwestern Guar- anty Loan company, has paid Louis F. Menage, as an individual, nearly $2,- 000,000. He has been both payor and payee, lender and borrower, and not always upon the best or most approved securities. These transactions are con- structively, if not actually, fraudulent, and frowned upon by all courts and every honest man.” “During the same period the com- pany, on alleged adequate security, has paid approximately the following sums: nme Ta aoe a Characteristic Self-Complacency Candidate Eustis, the Whitewasher of Menage, Is Mounted High on His Guaranty Loan Juggermant, but His Ride to the State Capitol Is Beset With Difficulties. | orship is taken in the decision of Judge B. 8. Bull (father-in-law of Men- | MO 3s ovicdnvubevicssts once ckee 97,878 | P. M. Woodman (attorney for | , ++ 9,000 | J. E. Merritt 106,800 | Clarence Swanson, cler! + 62,080 | y Hobart, plumber. - 8,000 W. H. Grans, clerk. . Charles Sorentz, clerk. Bissell M. Master, clerk Saint F. Ellis, clerk. . James Robertson, clerk aa F. Nadan, janitor N. W Y. Wazs aco cceuyetsacctversiess 425 | 89,924 | Approximately amounting to. .$654,000 | “In Book 21 of Mortgages will ap- | pear certain mortgages made by J. E. | Merritt for a large sum on lots in Mc- | Nair Park, the amount loaned ap- | proaching between $4,500 and $5,000 | per acre, when I cannot find the said land is worth over $2,000 to $2,200 per | acre. If all loans made to Menage, or clerks, janitors, etc., were on the same basis, it will not take an expert ac- countant to demonstrate that company is bankrupt.” After the “Whitewashing.” After the whitewashing the opera- | tions were continued with greater en- | ergy than before, and the great bulk of | the robbery is believed to have been | committed within the period from Jan- uary, 1891, to May, 1893. IN THAT | TIME MR. EUSTIS WAS CONTINU- | OUSLY A DIRECTOR. Official and | judicial cognizance of his legal direct- your | Canty, in the 61st Minnesota, FIND- ING EUSTIS A DIRECTOR. And More of Kenyon. Finally comes Examiner Kenyon into the case, which is particularly of note since he has managed so as to get the services of the Republican press in his defense, through the ridiculous attack on Lind. In all the fire of the past five or six years, not a journal of respecta- bility has before had a word to say in defense of his shameful administra- tion, which has strewn the whole state with wrecks of banks and made deso- late thousands of those who have been robbed through his lax administration. | It is the irony of fate that, while Ex- aminer Kenyon rushes into the fray to | divert attention from the musty record of Eustis, his own and only official act | of importance in connection with the Guaranty Loan, to wit, the examiner’s report in which he added to the Eustis whitewash of Menage the official coat- ing of the state, HH DROVE TWO MORE NAILS INTO EUSTIS’ COF- FIN BY TWICE STATING THAT W. H. BUSTIS WAS A DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTION. The report is dated March 20, 1892, a year after the Bustis-Menage “whitewashing,” and was addressed to Gov. Merriam. It showed the condition of the company at the close of business Jan. 19, 1892. IT APPROVED THE FINDING OF THE COMMITTER APPOINTED BY DIRECTOR EUSTIS AND OTHHRS, as to the mortgage loans, and de- scrived the manner in which the prop- erty had been appraised by the real estate men. Those mortgages amount- ed to $1,796,401. Kenyon said as to these that his office “accepted the re- port as sufficient evidence of the value of the securities.” And Still More of Kenyon’s Proof. Among the naires given in this re which can be seen in the state capitel, as the action he had been OF W. H. EUSTIS. thus “In general the company’s affairs ap- pear to be im good condition and ap- i “Public Examiner.” During all that time, from even the commencement of the Eustis director- ship, Guaranty Loan was insolvent, was a rotten, werthless financial bulk. Notwithstanding the millions loaned to Menage and his friends, notwithstand- ing the fake loans to janitors and clerks, and the $4,000,000 of straw pa- per and forged notes and mortgages, the Northwestern Guaranty Loan was advertised to the world by the direc- tors, AND EUSTIS AMONG THEM, as a solvent and well managed insti- tution. Menage and Streeter were elected and re-elected by the directors as president and vice president, EUS- TIS VOTING FOR THEM WITH THE REST, Menage himself, was eulogized by them as an official of honor and integrity, BY A COMMIT- TEE OF EUSTIS’ APPOINTMENT, and the investing public was invited to sink its money. William H. Eustis, as a director and member of the board of inspection and committee on loans, either knew the eompany’s financial condition and practices, or he did not. If he knew the facts and concealed them by evasion and denial, he was guilty as a principal or accomplice in the perpe tration of fraud upon the public. If he did not know the facts, while hold- ing the responsible position of director and loan examiner, he was guilty of gross negligence and unfaithfulness to a great financial trust. Do the voters of Minnesota want such a man for governor? Do they want as the chief executive trustee of the gtate a man who by either conni- vanfe or negligence could permit to | ible control | develop under his re: 0 such a gigantic swindle as the Nerth- western Guaranty Loan company? HIP, HIP, HURRAH FOR LIND! Come boys, three cheers, HIP, HIP. Three rousing cheers for Lind! HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH! That’s like it! Oh, we've got ‘em licked—a real old-fashioned route. Buckeyes would say their hides “fenced,” their tongues a out; Their trocha’s down, their hardtack wet—any old thing will do To show the utter, total wreck of sll luis state-ring crew. Poor Eustis. None with real regret, none to in truth deplore; Weighed in the balance and found short, turned down as once before. Guaranty Loan has done him up like the victims of that steal; Smashed flat as victim ever crushed beneath the Lowry wheel. The transfer job for Lowry’s Tom— that hundred thousand site— “My policy,” abuse of priests, bore in the present fight. His insults to our soldier boys, our veterans beloved, Aroused the patriots of the state; they smote with hand ungloved. Why, all the things that were foud out surprised the very bes How this Director Eus' lined Menage’s nest— Why, he charged a fee, a full one- fourth, in poor Kate Ging’s affairs, built and | And when discovered, owned, at least, that he had robbed her heirs! There are the Swedes that he abused, Norwegians and the “Dutch,” He had no use for them at all, mere “cattle,” “trash” and such. “No need to do a thing for them, Re- publicans are they,” Says William Hennery, says he, “we'll vote ’em anyway.” | And all the things that were laid bare set them all down who can. ‘ Why many brawny Lumber Jacks are out to beat the man, For he beat them, so they declare, the courts affirm it so, | That some were out a winter’s work, by Eustis, Neal & Co. But the farmers! Lord, how they woke up! They didn’t do a thing To William H. when they found out his Eelvator Ring— How all the Tenants in his Flats and Buildings (Grain Men crew) Made William H. the candidate, and put the whole scheme through, That they might run Inspection, that robbery complete, And keep on skimming off the cream from all the farmers’ wheat! Oh! they got “on,” the farmers did. They’re posted the very best, On Binding Twine, Taxation, the Land Frauds and the rest. For the people will find out, you know. For Lincoln, the sublime, Told how the people can’t be fooled, that is, not all the time! And so, when Lind, brave Lind, re turned and raised his spear on high And banner of unfeigned Reform, omen of victory, bs The People took new courage and raised each bowed head, Sprang into serried ranks and marched where’er our Leader led, Beat back the State’s Despoilers bold, who Ring-Rule dared defend, Struck where the need was greatest, probed where we fain should mend, While our Press tore back the cloak- ings of Hypocrisy and Fraud That wickedness might fall beneath the People’s chastening rod! Fair now our flag streams o’er us, symbol of joy to come, Right, Truth and Living Justice—for all a “Harvest Home;” Just Laws enforce, in righteous strength the Unjust Laws rescind— Such the work, and such the hope, in Minnesota’s Lind! So come boys, come! HIP, HIP. Three rousing cheers for Lind! HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH! —G. 8. ©. A FEW CHOICE GEMS | CHOICE, AND LIKEWISE COSTLY TO THE PEOPLE. Dug From the Mine of W. H. Eustis’ Record as Mayor of Minneapolis —His Valuable Service to the Street Railway Magnate—City Hospital Site Steal—Summary of the Unsavory Two Years’ Record Would He Serve Minnesota Bet- ter Than He Did Minneapolis Things to Remember. An Incident of the administration of Candidate Eustis as ma apolis was the city hospital site steal, in which the city was mulcted out of a large sum of money. by working off on it the old home of George A. Brackett, a political and personal friend of Eus- tis, for a city hospital. Free property was offered the city, near to the uni- versity, where the hospital would have been more advantageously located. ‘The Brackett property was sold to the city, Mayor Eustis acting, for $100.000, and after awhile it turned out that the property which the city has had to pay. It had paid one-half of the whole sum before the mortgage was found meeting where the deal was voted through by the board, of which the mayor was the head, he was a and it was thus that escape responsibility by claiming such absence. Thereupon the same friend, the beneficiary, in self-defense, felt obliged to make the following state- ment, which he did, to the investigat- ing committee of the council: “It having been stated that Mayor Eustis was not conversant with this transaction, and did not approve it, I must here state (although I am sorry that he is absent, for I would much prefer to make it to him), in justice to myself, the facts in this case. I CON- FERRED FULLY WITH THE MAY- OR, AS I DID WITH THE BOARD OF CHARITIES, THE CITY ATTOR- NEY AND THE ALDERMEN, in con- HIS MAIN SUPPORT---REMEMBER THIS “MAIN.” yor of Minne- | there was a mortgage of $130,000 on ! out. It appeared that at the actual | | nection with this deal, AND CER- | TAINLY HAD THE APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR, ALTHOUGH HE WAS | NOT PRESENT TO VOTE; and when | the warrant was drawn for the pay- ment of the 000 Mr. Nye took that warrant to the Mayor and asked him | if it was all right. HE SAID TO NYB | THAT IT WAS ALL RIGHT, TO | PAY IT; THAT ALTHOUGH HB WAS NOT PRI ‘T AT THB BOARD, THAT IF HE HAD BEEN HE WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR IT. THIS STATEME WAS MADE TO ME BY MR. NYE, AND I CERTAIN- LY HAD THE APPROVAL | MAYOR IN THIS TR AS BEING A STRAIGHT BUSINESS TRANSACTIO Other Minneapolis “Posies.” Other notorious features of this ad- ministration were: Non-inforcement of the city ordi- nances regulating the saloons and dis- orderly houses. Abuse of ministers and priests for complaining at the state of affairs un- der his “policy.” Flagrant violation of the civil service laws, especially, as to the employment of old soldiers. _ Abuse and insult of the latter, call- ing them “coffee coolers,” ete., and telling them to “go to the soldiers’ me” if they cannot live on their pen- s. YRWARD a imilar treatment of the Swedes, Norwegians and other nationalities in their relation to the public service. If he appointed one, he discharged anoth- er of the same nationality. Ss, as well as such na- demonstrated their just cause against Candidate Eustis, | in open organization and work all over | the state, disregarding party ties in a spirit of independence which has | brought the appreval of all honest men. The record of Candidate Eustis has been as flagrant in semi-public rela- tions, a specimen of which is the now celebrated Ging case. It having been ascertained in the probate court rec- ords that Mr. Eustis, as attorney for the estate of Kate Ging, Harry Hay- ward's victim, in the collection of the insurance upon her life for which the murder was committed, charged and received a fee of $1,200, Eustis, over his own signature, explains that he did receive the $1,200, or one-fourth of all that he collected, but that $200 of it was for “expenses,” while he paid over to the girl’s sister $500, leaving $700 as the amolunt he actually received. But the money that he thus took and paid the sister came not from his own pock- et, but really from the other heirs of the estate. BARRED out. + |KUSTIS IN THE GOVERNOR'S CHAIR—NIT.