UNCLAIMED MONEY

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 12, 16 January 1928, Page 8

UNCLAIMED MONEY

MILLIONS IN BANKS NEGLECTFUL OWNERS DORMANT ACCOUNTS There is lost treasure amounting to several millions of dollars buried in the vaults of New York banks and trust companies, .states the "New York Times." Part of that hoard has lain there only a few years; some of it has gathered the dust of a century, waiting for its ownors or their heirs and assigns to conio and claim it. Every year a few of them do turn up, either of their own accord or at the instigation of bank advertisements and investigators; but in the meantime the treasure has been added to by the accounts of others who have died intestate, or gone away, or simply forgotten their mono}'. Beyond the natural causes that may leave a savings account or Btocks and bonds ownerless, there are the avoidablo errors of carelessness and negligence which have much the same effect, i Investment bankers and financial counsel grow weary pointing out that money at work must bo watched and supervised no less than men at work. It is not enough, they\say, to buy securities and then leave them untouched in a steel box. It is necessary to watch the operations of the company for which they are issued, if one is to know whether thoy are becoming more valuable or gradually worthless. And it is necessary *to heed printed warnings of calling or conversion. To emphasise this point, one investment counsel recently called attention to the fact that "in spite of ample notice in the press and elsewhere, holders of about 550,000 dollars of 5J per cent, convertible debentures of the International Telephone and Telegraph Company neglected to avail themselves of the valuable conversion privilege." That negligence cost them about 71,000 dollars. FAILURE TO CLIP COUPONS. Last May about 92,000,000 dollars worth of Federal Farm Loan bonds were called in, widespread publicity was given to the impending action beforehand. Yet at the present time thero are said to be 9,000,000 dollars worth outstanding. Failure to clip coupons and collect earnings due is said to be one of the commonest aspects of neglect. Many persons apparently forget all about their bonds as soon as they are bought. Speculation as to the reasons behind this neglect are limitloss. How much money is lost in that way every year, it is impossible to compute. Ono would have to be gifted with a clairvoyance capable of piercing not only the steel walls of all the safe deposit vaults in the country, but also the desks and drawers, secret safes, and loose tiles and other quaint and curious places in which people hide their valuables. Every effort is made to find the rightful owners of securities in many cases, but often without success. Advertisements asking them to come and claim their money may be seen frequently in the financial pages of the newspapers and sometimes the same name reappears year after year. The name of Johanna Murphy, for instance, has passed into financial legend. It was in January, 1825, that Johanna eamo into possession of two shares of the stock of the Manhattan Company. Ono hundred and ninety-seven dividends have been declared by the company in the century that has intervened. And each year the Bank of the Manhattan Company advertises hopefully for Johanna, but there has been :io response. ESTIMATES OF UNCLAIMED MONEY. About money that lies unclaimed in savings accounts many legends have gathered. The ancient canard that savings banks aro able to build themselves elaborate new buildings with unclaimed funds, at tho expense of the lost investors, is no longer as widely circulated at it once was, but it still has believers. The barber on a rubberneck car that used to carry gaping tourists through the financial district was hoard to astonish his audience with a version that ran something like this: "And on your left, la-deez and genulmun, is thee Seamen's Bank for Savings, which has mil-yuns and mil-yuns of dollars in its vaults belonging to sailors who were lost at sea." Actually, an official of that bank recently said, it has approximately 300,000 dollars in a total of 2500 unclaimed accounts, and €00 of these belong to sailors. Strict regulations cover unclaimed or "dormant" accounts. The State banking laws forbid the bank to take over the money, no matter how long it has lain unclaimed in their vaults. And it requires tho bank to advertise for the owners (or their heirs or assigns) of all accounts that have been dormant for twenty years or more. Some of them never will be found. Several times efforts have been made in the State Legislature to amend the banking laws so that the money shall revert to the State after a certain number of years. So far such attempts have failed in New York, though laws of that nature have been passed elsewhere. Several years ago, when John Skelton Williams was United States Controller, it was computed that 5.5 per cent, of all the savings accounts in the country were lying dormant. It was said that in country districts alone there were about 800,000 accounts, ag- j gregating more than 22,000,000 dollars, I awaiting missing owners. Another sur- i vey arrived at the conclusion that the I country banks of Pennsylvania led in dormant accounts, while New York j State, Maine and Now Jersey followed ! in order. It has been said that the i banks of New York State alone carry j more than 30,000 dorraan accounts, re- j presenting several millions of dollars. ] AU these estimates aro based only on I facts available or reported. EFFORTS TO FIND OWNERS. Most savings banks have officials whose whole duty it is to trace depositors, so that their money may bo restored to them. George Devine, of the Brooklyn Savings Bank, has spent thirty-five years at this work. He has collected a library of directories and genealogies, according to a recent statement, seeking ways and means of finding lost persons. Mr. Devine is quoted as saying: "Contrary to general belief, the greatest problem of settling these accounts is getting the nearest rolative to accept the monoy due. Immediately upon notification they believe themselves the victim of a hoax." In the course of his experiences Herbert K. Twitchell, president of the Seamen's Bank for Savings, which has a special search department, has received several suggestions as to what to do with tho money. These have come to him from various parts of the country shortly after the bank has advertised a list of unclaimed deposits. One womon wroto saying that she had been wanting to visit her sister in St. Louis for a long time, but could not afford tho trip. She suggested that Mr. Twichell advanco her the money out of tho unclaimed funds. A man had a more practical suggestion. He said ho needed 5000 dollars with which to build a house. After asking for the money from

the same source, and apparently certain that it would bo sent to him, he added, magnanimously: "If you want me to keep quiet about it, I will do so." Sometimes a notice carries to heirs the first intimation that the owner of funds in question is lost or dead. In some cases the bank has been called upon to find a person it had not listed as missing. In that way searches covering half the globe have been made. Individuals are not the only owners of dormant accounts. Curiously enough, tho names of persons designated as the executors of trusts frequently appear among the lists of those who have neglected to take care of accounts in the banks. Many accounts are in the' names of clubs or business firms or associations of one sort or another, which have dissolved, leaving funds but no address.