HASTE TO GET RICH.

North Otago Times, 27 October 1906, Page 4

HASTE TO GET RICH.

RUINED SPECULATOR'S SUICIDE.

TANGLE OF FORGERY AND FRAUD

EXTRAORDINARY CAREER OF

HYPOCRISY

NEW YORK, Annuel 29. The failure of the Philadelphia Real. Eelato Trust Company, supposed.to be one of tlio soundest of ..rh'nosirative. eastern fmaiiml-institutions, has led to tlio discovery that tlio dead president, Mr Frank lliggie, who had won. unqualified lespeet tis a man of eincero religious convictions and of Iho highest probity and commercial ability, was a hypocrite, a reckless speculator a forger and ombezzlor, and a tuueide. The discovery has created a painful feeling of nneafiiticiM and anxiety tlirouijhout the country. The institution was a favourite depositor,Mor women i>f the prosperous citizena' daw, who wero impieesed by its cloeo connection with tho Council of the Pi'Ojb.vLciian (Jliurdi. Tlio company held 01u,200,000 ot trust funds, including 4:300,00(1 belonging to that church. Its' liabilities aro upwards of/ £2,000,000 auaiust X 700,000 of realisable assets, and' -fcl ,600,000 of collateral securities covering loans.

io-day dppppiato ondeavours are still' lifiiiK jnade (o flud sufficient (support to t'Unble Hie lailuro lo Ije annulled and biisnicea to bo continued, The financial houses of hew York and eteewhore have been.appealed to. but it U doubtful, however great their anxiety to preserve (ho equilibrium of credit, whether it will bo loiuul l)Ocoiblo to bolster up the iuetiliitiou in view of the startling digclosured made,

Mr l'rank Higgle died suddenly on l'nday last in tlio full odour of eauctity in which lie lived. He was the treasurer of tho General Assembly of the Presbylenau Cliurch, and dozons qf funds connected with such synods, boards, comnuttecs, mission societies, and even Sunday school (savings banks, lie was a supporter also of innumerable 'religious and philanthropic movements-,, and incidontnllv treasurer to them all, ; Sjo hypocritical was lie that he refused to read.a Sunday newspaper or ride in a tramivay-car on the Sabbath.: On every occasion ho preached the most rigid eodo oi morality, by which, to all appearances, ho lived. Ho took every opportunity to iloploro the gambling spirit and the haste, lo Ret rich which ho declared to bo the worst feature of modern finance. FORCING THE "TRUSTS." Such was (|js lifg and pharacter that the suddenness of his death did not awaken suspicions. A certificate of 'cerebral hemorrhage wa6 readily given, and ail Philadelphia'mourned tlie loss of a model citizen,"who' in" a world full of ■ guile lias borne aloft the white standard of morality. His career of- prosperity wiis pointed to as an example of the fact tuat honesty pays. There was much discussion rejUrding the' extent to which' Piesbytfriajt charities and Ehiladelphian institutions were likely to benefit by his posthumous munificence.

But the accountants wlio began the expected perfunctory task of examing hie affairs immediately dleooverod a tanRio of forgery and : fraud. High-class! securities' listed were non-existent, the' strong boxes ivero filled with the worth-' less papers of wildcat speculative schemes/ Mr Higgle, it' appears, ' fell fifteen years ago under tlio influence of a financial adventurer named Adolf Segal, a schemer and promoter with a plausible manner. Segal, who was of Austrian birth, bad discovered a way of making money quickly at the expense of the Trusts. He bad established a soap-boil-ing plant, which he sold at a profit to' the Soap Trust, and had devised a .scheme for building a sugar refinery and (idling it to llio Sugar Trust in the samo manner.

Mr Higgle, seeing that tho Trust nuißt buy Ihc new plant, finanpd the venture, which resulted in .8140.000 profit. Thenceforth, (ho company's funds were sunk in Segal s greater succeeding schemes. The Trusts, realising Segal's blackmailing plan, refused (o buy the expensive plants ho oreefcl, liming,lhom a dead Ipse on his hands. Among them woro an enormous -sugar refinery at Philadelphia, mid iron and steel works and a match factory ekewheie. One million,- one him-, dred'thousand pounds were altogether ad-' vaneed liy Higgle to Segal, and all was! practically lost. These speculation,?, were covered .bv the,] forging of lints of good securities which! deceived the awlilora and tho complacent® co-directors, nl! naturally eimplo men of : tho highest commercial repute. Hieglo flidl,_ it is now believed, from laudanum priromnsr," 'though ' he wafl found appareiUJv -ironed in hie. bath.* '