The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 10, 1919, Page 3

¢ In the interest . of a square deal for the farmers' VOL. 9, NO. 19- - e - onbarn %hén t&d Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan L/eague : ST."PAUL, MINNESOTA, NOVEMBER 10, 1919 A-magazine that dares to print the truth WHOLE NUMBER 216 . Farmers' Bank at Fargo Is Reopened ~ $45,000 Deposits Received When Institution Resumes Business Following Supreme Court Decision Rebuking Bank:Wrecking Officials Bismarck Bureau, Nonpartisan Leader. OLLOWING -a decision of the . state supreme court giving to the Scandinavian American bank at Fargo a clean bill of health and rebuking severely Attorney General Langer and his fellow bank wreckers, the bank was reopened October 25. *More than $9,000 was deposited " during the first 15 minutes after the opening and " In finding the bank sol- ' the question of making the less than $50 was drawn out. When the bank closed be placed in the full custody of the examiner to per- form his lawful duties. The result was that on the day following the handing down of the decision, October 25, the bank was opened. On the first day - $45,000 in deposits was received, while only a that afternoon, deposits totaling more than $45,000 . had been received and the withdrawals did not exceed $6,000. 2 The bank. was reopened with the approval of the members of the state bank guaranty commission by Examiner O. E. Lofthus. “The people of the state evidently take no stock in the charges of Langer against the bank, judging from the faith shown on the reopening day,” Mr. Lofthus said. “They appar- ently have become thor- oughly convinced that the closing of this bank- was: nothing . but a dastardly political plot.. And such is the fact. ; “The Scandinavian American bank is and was one of the strongest banks in the state. There was no valid excuse for clos- ing it. It was a eriminal act, a blow that was in- tended - to destroy the farmers’ banks of the state. It is to be hoped that the’ guilty ones may be brought to time and get their just punishment.” The court held that the bank not only was solvent, but that it was closed for political purposes and that the acts of Langer and the other conspirators “not only merit but receive the condemnation of this court.” - . FIGURES SHOW BANK SOLVENT In the arguments before the court October 15, when temporary’ injunction against Langer permanent was up, O. E. Lofthus, state bank examiner, had furnished figures showing the bank was solvent at that time and had been solvent when the two ma- jority members of - the banking board had order- ed it closed. 'Mr. Lofthus recommended that the in- stitution be turned back ' The twin bank wreckers of Bismarck, Attorney. to the directors and stock- " holders. 7 nominal sum was withdrawn. @New depositors flocked to the institution. Allegations of the bank wreckers, seeking to find a plausible excuse for their attempt to wreck the institution, that farmers’ notes and post-dated checks were no good, was blasted by the supreme court in no unhesitating terms. The statement that “farmers’ notes are worth -only. 50 per cent of their total amount and that post-dated checks are not collateral at all and of S - unjust and 'fi‘notibe upheld.” er and Hall have more punishment coming =~ ~ < ’ : By ld. T have mc h L e —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. : ] : General Langer and Secretary of State Hall, who or- dered the closing of the Scandinavian American bank, were sonndly rebuked by the state supreme court f_in the decision, declaring that the action taken by the two traitor officials was “unreasonable, arbitrary, no substantial value is a determination wholly arbitrary- and without foundation of fact,” -the court held. The illegality of the action of Langer and Secre- tary of State Tom Hall was indicated by the court’s decision that the state banking board does not have the power to appoint a receiver, but must act on the recommendation of the state examiner. There was no legal authority for their state- ment that post-dated checks were not negoti- able instruments; quite the contrary, the court held, the laws-of North Dakota making them so specifically. But probably the greatest blow to Langer and his conspirators was the decision of the court that the costs of the fight devolv- ing upon the bank before the court should be borne by the attorney general and the other respondents. ROBINSON FLAYS LANGER AND HALL Justice Bronson wrote the opinion. Justices Grace and Robinson concurred. Justices Christiansen and Birdzell dissented. Justice Robinson in a separate opinion assailed the mo- tives of Langer and Hall, saying: quarrel between the gov- family and it involves an attack on the farmers’ Nonpartisan league and its managers because of their dealings with the bank. 2 “The bank was not in- solvent and it is entirely the timely action of this court, it would have been ‘bled white’ and put out of business to the great loss of the state and the public welfare,” Justice Christiansen, as well as Justice Birdzell, reserved the right to pre- sent an opinion later. Jus- tice Christiansen followed time the vital question of the constitutional amend- ments was decided. Later he wrote an opinion of po- litical complexion after the farmers’ legislature had passed the laws based - “on the constitutional ° _amendments. Objections of Assistant Langer in company with have jurisdiction - were overruled. The court point- ed out that while the at- torney general shall be consulted in initiating ac- _ tions before the highest tribunal in the state, that it was “absurd” to ‘con- “The case presents a: ernor and his political - clear that were it not for - the same -course at the: e e T e T TR N S A O S B another attorney, that the supreme court did not Attorney “ General Sheets, = defending the case for