Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1910 — ROBERT PARKER IS PAROLED. [ARTICLE]

ROBERT PARKER IS PAROLED.

Former Remington Banker Released Saturday From Pen. HAD SERVED ONLY TWO YEARS > When Released By the Board of Parole Last Saturday—Action of Board Comes As Surprise, As It Was Thought He Would Have to Serve at Least Half of Maximum Sentence of 14 Years.

bpard on last Saturday released Robert Parker, the former Remington banker, whose bank closed its doors in December 1907, and he is now said to be with his wife and two of his three daughters at Berkley, Cali.'Another daughter- and his only son are living at St. Louis, and he is perhaps visiting them a few day . before going to California. V In . view of the facvthat Tom McCoy had to serve his maximum sentence of three years —all the law permitted at that time—it was felt that Mr. Parker would at least’ have to serve half of his maximum time of fourteen years, and his release comes as a great surprise to everyone, except possibly his attorneys, Mr. F.oltz of Rensselaer and Palmer and Sellers of Monticello, who have Worked quietly for his release for some time, it is now reported. The Bank of Remington, of which Mr. Parker was the sole owner, did a large business at that place, and when it was forced to close its doors in the late fall of 1907 by reason of withdrawals of many depositors who had become shaky of its cdndition, it still had almost' a half million dollars in deposits —or its . books showed that it should have had, rather. As a matter of fact it had very little cash and only a few assets other than a lot of paner, bad notes and ..oil and mining stocks. Its affairs were in a fearfully bad condition .and it has paid only 20 per cent so far, with a possibility of perhaps 5 per cent more in the end. Mr. Parker had enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the pople’of that locality to the utmost. An ardent church man and Sunday school superintendent,. the head of the Fountain Park Assembly of Remington, a man of no bad habits and strictly moral and most economical in his family affairs, he was often pointed to as “a model banker,” and the victims were many, from the prattling babes whose savings banks had been emptied in the .bank’s savings department, to the old and infirm who had placed all their money in the bank and' expected the principal and interest to provide for their few remaining year?. The crash was most stunning. It was discovered that the bank had been insolvent for vears and the true condition artfully kept from the public and the state department. In due course of time Mr. Parker was indicted, and the cases set down for trial. On the advice of his attorneys he plead guilty to all the indictments on April 22, 1908, and was taken at once to Michigan City to begin his sentence of two to fourteen years. And now, after having served but two years of the maximum time, he is turned loose a free man with all old scores wiped off the slate and no chance to get any more indictments against him if any of the bank victims were disposed to further punish him. i • The failureof the Parker bank was primarily due, no doubt,. to bad loans, but after a time all sorts of tricks and devices, were ,used to. keep things moving, and wildcat investments only hastened the end. It is not lively that _ the wreck, though some think otherwise. He is now some 63 years‘of age and his; children will

take- care of him if necessary. His wife and crippled daughter are with their second daughter, Mrs. Hartley Church, at Berkley, Cali., and it i? possible they will make that city their home. The total amount lost by depositors in the Parker bank by the deluded: depositors was x in the neighborhood of $300,000 and many of these depositors are still quite bitter against the bank’s head. The fact that the poor devil who wrongly takes a pair of shoes or sack of flour or a slab .of bacon to his starving family gets short shrift to prison and for a longer term than the man who gets away with thousands of dollars, and that the former generally has to serve full sentence while the latter gets out in a very brief time, shows very plainly that there is still something very much out of joint with our law’s application. The parole of Mr. Parker will not meet with very hearty approval in this section of the state. <