The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 14, 1915, Page 3

bt | } Bl 7 o8 : |4 1 i it ) :/"‘?: ¥ ol 8 '\'.a ,. = lesiy » § C4 -filed suit in the district court ask- - Barron, James Johnson, S. J. Rasmus- ~ sen, ‘Geo. A. McKee, and Dank C Miller, and Thomas Hall, by virtne of _taling $255,000. One hundred thou- ¢ 'heslth and “shame, humiliation an : 'He further demat-ds $:,000 Wk i<.h lie THE NONPARTISAN LEADER the Famous Bank Trouble at Minot. Damages in the Sum of $255,000 De- manded by - Plaintiff. Minot, N. D. Oct. 14—The most sensational chapter in the story of the Youmans-bank case was started whey - Grant S. Youmqnc of this city today ing for more than a quarter of a million dollars damages. * The. defendants in the case are: Louis B. Hanna, governor; Grant S, Youmans. Thomas | tory of the already now famots case. The Minot Street Fight. In the summer of 1913 Grant S. Youmans was practicaily sole owner of the Savings Depocit Bank of Mi- not, an institution with a capital stock of $35,000. The .complaint sets forth and alleges; tihat the envy and greed of the defendants were arous- ed because plainti!f paid 5 per cent interest on deposits while they were paying only 414 per cent. It allege: that they were {uriner emuged be cause the plaintiff allied himself with and befriended certain workingmen who were. trying to effect an organ- ization. and. which resulted. in the now famous Minot street fight. “This humanity,” the complaint reads, “on the part of the plaintiff incurred the enmity and malignant hatred of all the defendants, whose greedy instincts had been aroused and stimulated by the clash with la- bor, and who looked upon the plain- tiff, & man of means and a banker, as a traitor to their class and a menace to their coveted and sustain- ed supremacy in the social order.” Tells How It Happened. The complaint further rsets forth how that S. G. Severtson, chief state bank examinér {now resigned), after * | casually looking over certain securi- ties, demanded that such paper to the value of $20,000 be replaced with cash. and gave the plaintiff from about’ 2:30 o'clock "Saturday after- noon till 9 o clock Monday mornmg to Gov. L. B. Hanna. Hall; seeretary of sta{e ;Andrew Mil- ler, attorney general; S. G, Severtson, chief examiner of banks of this state during 1913. Other " defendants are Robert E. Greenleaf of this city. ». - During the year 1913 B'\uoa and, Johnson were cashier and vice-presi- dent of the Second National bank of this city. S. J. Rasmussen is de- weribed in the complaint as ‘“‘general utility man, political agent,and go-be- tween” of the Second National, - Geo. ‘A::McKee is alleged to have bsen Mr, Youmans’ attorney at the time of the alleged looting of ‘the Savings De- posit bank and Dank C. Greanlief was “the agent in the Commercial Club of Minot of the political ma- chinery of the said defendants in of- fice,” runs the complaint. ‘Governor Hanna, Attorney General their official positions ' constituted the State: Banking Board at that time. ¢ - Asks for $255000. _The: plaintiff demands’ damages r. the loss. of “his ‘business,! $100,000; damages because of" “agony, distress of mind and impairment of disgrace," snfl’ered by the plamtxfii That upon Sunday morning “pre-emptorily and arbi- trarily” increased his demand for cash from $20,000 to $48,000. The demand was so unreasom\ble and the time so short that the plain- tiff was unable to meet it. There- _{uron, Severtson, on Monday morning took charge of the bank, placed a sign in the window, “Bank Is Closed, State Examiner in Charge.” No re- ceiver was ever asked for but on the contrary the bank was re-organ- ized and taken over by McGee, Bar- ron, Johnson and Rasmussen. Attracted Wide Attention. The case has received much pub- licity already. In the following fall (1914), Mr. Youmans published a 112 page hooklet, entitled, °¢Legalized Bank Robbery.” This booklet had an extensive circulation in the state, and even out of it. Many state pa- pers gave extensive reviews and much editorial comment that was hostile to the State Banking Board. Governor Hanna and Other State Officials Sued for Great Sums in the Youmans Case SenSational Turn in ment of 13 typewritten pamges and|do so. goes preity thoroughnly into the his-|Severtson |~ At the 1914-15 session of the State Legislature a committee was apipoint- ed to investigate the charges made in Youmans’ book. The resolution calling for the investigation was in- troduced by Representative E. O. Haraldson of Lansford, Bottineau county. He was made chairman of the committee and the other mem- brse were C. W. McGary of Under- wood, McLean County, and J. T. Pur- cell of Fargo, Cass County. This committee in its report com- pletely exonerated the State Bank- ing Board of the charges made in “Legalized Bank Robbery.” Will Be Watched With Interest. The case will be watched with great interest. Many able attorneys have expressed the opinion that Mr. You- mans will surely get a verdict in the lower court. There is also much speculation as to what the Supreme Court will do, for as .it is pointed out, three members of that body will come up for re-election in 1916. BANKS EXASPERATE THE FARMERS Minot, N. D., ‘Oct. 13.—One of the surprises of the present political sit- uation is the alleged lack of available democratic political timber. This fact was brought out by a prominent democratic politician the other day when asked who would be the dem- ocratic candidate for governor. And this man knows what he is talking about. Apparently the determination of the farmers to break political lines following the insolent treatment they received at Bismarck last Sprieg is causing politicians to sit up and take notice: But there are other thmgs that bring misery to the heart of the old- line politicians. This is the matter of interest rates and facilities for holding grain for better prices. Within the past two weeks several farmers in the vicinity of Minot have tried to borrow money on warehouss receipts and failed. They had been led to believe that they could hold their grain for a' few months for better prices. They have also been led to believe that the Federal Re- serve Act makes provision for loan- ing money on this kind of security. The Union National and the Sec- ond National banks of this city are members of the Minneapolis Reserve Bank. When -confronted with the question of loaning money on grain 1eceipts these Minot bankers pro- 4 CURIOUS SNAP SHOT OF MODERN WAR fessed absolute ignorance of any such provision and turned the farmers away. To say that there is resentment in the hearts of the farmers against this treatment is stating it mildly. This revulsion of feeling is finding expression in the laying of plans to found farmers’ banks in several small towns in this vicinity. Meetings have been held and plans are under way for the establishing of such banks at Velva and Bergen even now. Just what the tillers of the soil will do politically is yet a mystery ‘but one thing is certain, the bankers and ppliticians are worried. It is plain that something must be done and - adjustments must be made to meet the new situation. It is doubt- ful if the banks will make the loans, but it is certain that the politicians are going to wait until such time as the “omens” give assurance of “setting sail.” SURGEON, 81 YEARS OLD, AT THE FRONT. Berlin, Oct. 11.—The oldest Ger- man soldier at the front, says the Overseas News Agency, is Dr. Her- wig, a military surgeon, Dr. Herwig is 81 years old. He participated in the war ‘of 1870 and volunteered for service at the beginning of the pres- ent war.