National Affairs: Daugherty Bank

Closed by the State of Ohio last week at Washington Courthouse was Mal S. Daugherty’s bank into which the Senate had failed to pry during its investigation of his brother, Harry Micajah Daugherty, as Attorney General. Heavy withdrawals from the Ohio State Bank, merged by Mai Daugherty with his Midland National Bank and Commercial Bank, caused State bank examiners to suspend its business while they checked accounts.

Six years ago the Senate committee investigating the Department of Justice suspected that alleged graft by the “Ohio Gang” had-been deposited in the Midland National. When Senators Wheeler and Brookhart went to Washington Courthouse to inspect its records, Mai Daugherty defiantly refused them access to his bank. He was cited for contempt of the Senate. The Supreme Court upheld the citation long after the Daugherty issue had passed into history. Hence the case against him was dropped.

Bank examiners last week knew they would find none of the records the Senate had sought because Mai Daugherty subsequently had testified that he had burned all the ledgers in question.