The assurance that States Attorney Hoyne has an idea as to the whereabouts of the fugitive banker, Max Silver, and that he hopes to bring him within the foils of the law, creates a feeling of nothing but satisfaction. If Max Silver is brought to justice, he can expect very little sympathy from the Chicago public.

Of all hopeless enterprises in crime, the bank robbery engineered from within is the most hopeless. In recent years the law has dealt very severely and consistently with bank robbers. A banker who had a little sense should shun such an experiment as he would a plague.

Yet forty-four persons in the United States were sentenced last year for embezzling other people's money. These persons were connected with 2national banks, notwithstanding the fact that such banks are under the supervision of the government. With the exception of two or three cases, they were all sentenced to five or more years in prison. It seems that when a person begins to succumb to the temptings of Mammon with regard to money entrusted to him, he believes that he can escape the law even though a policeman is standing behind him.

Now we are speaking of state supervision. Every bank that is solid and carries on a legitimate business is anxious to see the legislature adopt a law which would eliminate every dishonest banker who stood on an unsound financial basis. The existing private banks would thereby receive a greater degree of confidence from the public. On the surface it would seem that such a law would not meet with any opposition in the legislature. The fact is, however, that the country bankers bitterly oppose such a law. In small towns and rural districts where one knows everyone's family lineage, the banker is trusted not because of the wealth he possesses, but because of his character. These bankers do not want the state to meddle 3in their affairs. The large banks side with them because these private [small] bankers are depositors of the large ones. And the aggregate political influence of the bankers makes it very difficult to enact such a law.