Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 6.djvu/59

 PREVENTION OF DEFALCATION.

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��had been derived from his representa- tives in New Hampshire. There is no doubt that he was disinclined to help the patriot cause. So well-known were his sentiments that the Provincial Con- gress, in 1775, required him to con- fine himself within the limits of Exeter, and not depart from the town without the consent of the proper authorities. Still Peter Oilman was not a dangerous

��foe to liberty. His scruples seem to have been respected by his fellow-citi- zens, and he was the chosen modera- tor at the town-meeting of 1775. He lived twelve years after this, and died, an old man of eighty- five, in his old mansion which we have visited to-day. The house is now the property of Mrs. Darling.

��PREVENTION OE DEFALCATION.

��BY GEORGE H. WOOD.

��The cases of the Mechanics National Bank of Newark, and Pacific National Bank of Boston, convey lessons to bank directors and stockholders so forcible and telling, that it is not likely they will soon be forgotten. The misfortunes of the First National Bank of Buffalo, N. Y., and the re- cent performances of bank book- keepers and tellers, however, reveal examples of shiftlessness and incom- petence, not less glaring and flagrant than either of the other banks. As it is not probable that a thorough reform has yet been worked in all the banks where lax supervision has been the rule for a number of years, it is ne- cessary to continue to press the matter of the duties of directors upon public attention.

The object in calling attention to so many cases of default is not to prove that men are any less honest than they used to be, nor that bank em- ployes are less reliable than other men, for neither of these propositions is true. But the facts seem to prove that there is a defect in the management of banks which is equally detrimental to the officers and clerks, and the in- terest of the proprietors.

If all the gift enterprise, chromo and mining stock dealers would establish a bank by themselves, and cut the throats of each other in the hazzard- ous misuses of their money, the public would not care. But much of the

��loss by embezzlements and loaning the credit of a bank by certification of checks for stock speculators, involves the hard earnings of honest people, widows and minor children. Comp- troller Knox said, in his able speech at the Bankers' convention, in 1879, that "A good banker is one who takes better care of other people's money than his own." This golden rule ap- plies to directors as well.

As has often been shown heretofore, the evil lies primarily with directors who habitually neglect the duties to which they are elected. They are chosen by the stockholders to guard their interests, and there is no reason why this should not be done with as much care as if the banks were the private property of the directors. But seldom indeed is this the case. Em- bezzlements occur among private bank- ers, but not to the extent of the joint stock banks, and the reason of the difference certainly lies in the laxity of the management ot the latter, and recent visits to banks indicate this by conversations with directors.

But general statements such as these are of little practical effect. There- fore, suggestions of real merit are sub- mitted, and which, if followed, will prevent many future cases like those mentioned.

In the large majority of cases of default that have come under public notice, the peculations have been

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