Salt Lake Telegram | 1918-10-25 | Page 4 | The Merchants Bank

The Merchants Bank More than two months ago The Telegram editorially declared .. , that there should be a thorough investigation W the circumstances that brought about the failure of the Merchants bank, At the same time it urged that those men attempting a reorganization of the bank should be given every encouragement with the hope thathe inter-, inter-, ests of depositors might be protected. Weeks have now passed, all plans of reorganization have come to naught, and there has been no official investigation of the 'bank's - affairs, past and present. Its financial standing, or rather lack of - such standing, is comparatively well known, but -what the people "Tarj-entitied 1 fs anexplanatioa-of how lhe-ank'tfunds became ' depleted and why the interests of the depositors were not protected. pro-tected. Ve can assume this premise: No bank, operating in com-. com-. pHance with the laws of the state er nation, can fail as completely as did the Merchants bank unless there be criminality involved. The finger of guilt naturally points to the officials of the bank and those state officials to whom Is Intrusted the duty of Investigating the affairs of state banks. Are they guilty? Did the bank officials use even ordinary precautionary nieasuies to piutcit the intT.U of, tha dcpnsitnn? Did the state bank examiner investigate the affairs of the bank as the law requires he should? If he made such an investigation, were ' the facts concealed from him or did he wink at the" depleted cash boxes, the overdrafts, the poorly secured notes? These are questions that should be answered. They must be answered. There aie hwtdfds-oideposltors who have been de-prlved de-prlved of their savings totaling hundreds of thousands ot dollars. ,; The situation Is too serious to be passed over without a most thor-' thor-' ough Investigation, the presenting of the full and complete facts to ' ) the public and the punishment of those who may Btound guilty of having violated the law.