The state of Illinois is one of the five states in which anyone can start conducting a private bank with no bond or control. It is sufficient for any scoundrel or ingenious person to lease a room, place a desk and an old second hand safe in it, have names painted on windows, hang out a big sign, advertise in newspapers or with posters, and....do business. Any person can then receive money and deposits from the naive, be an agent for sending money to Europe; sell steamship tickets, and perform real-estate transactions and the like. It is little wonder then that one often hears of the bankruptcy of such "banks" and the flight of such "bankers", who, after taking money from the naive, careless poor people vanish to unknown places. There are many similar scoundrels--for example, the "banker" Koziello-Poklewski, in Chicago, who, while conducting a "bank" of that type, stole over eight thousand dollars of poor peoples' money and absconded. People who bring their hard-earned savings to such uncertain dens must really be very naive and thoughtless.

A cheat establishing such a private bank usually operates in localities where people of his own nationality have settled. There he advertises himself in their language and immediately begins to ensnare his poor victims, who prefer to patronize one of their own countrymen rather than some "foreigner". Thus far, innumerable Italian, Slovak, Swedish, German, and Polish banks of questionable value have failed. Most of these were conducted by Jews, who are especially likely to get into that type of business because they speak several languages and are therefore in a better position to ensnare many trusting people.

It is strange that state or even municipal laws allow such public robbing of the poor and permit any questionable character and scoundrel to open a bank with no restrictions. In other states, if anyone wishes to start such a private bank, he must be a well-known person, who has resided for a long period of time in a given locality, and, in addition to that, he must post an adequate bond and obtain a license before he can open a business. In such states, therefore, failures of private banks are rare, while in Illinois, on the other hand, they are everyday occurrences. It is worth while for the citizens of the state of Illinois to endeavor to have the state legislature enact a law which would 3prohibit any unknown person from opening a private bank. Moreover, it would be best to demand, also, that an adequate bond be placed by such prospective bankers, thus to safeguard the peoples' earnings.