A Denver Capitalist Wants to Foreclose - and Blames the Money Question

C. W. E. Griffith, the Denver capitalist who is interested in Seattle property and real estate, is a guest at the Butler Hotel. He is here to attend the suit this morning in the case of C. W. E. Griffith, trustee, vs. the Seattle National Bank Building Company, which will be heard in the superior court.

Mr. Griffith brought suit to foreclose a mortgage on the ground under the National Bank building at the corner of South Second and Yesler Avenue. At the time the land was mortgaged it was not owned by the mortgagor, but was owned by H. L. Yesler. He afterward transferred the land to George H. Carter. Then the heirs of H. A. P. Carter came forward with a claim, which they claim is prior to the title owned by the mortgage company, as the money was used to pay for the ground.

Mr. Griffith said last evening that the only thing for him to do in the premises was to foreclose and let the bondholders take the property. Concerning the suit he said: 'I have always found it the best policy when a company's or an individual's property gets so tangled up that the obligations cannot be met, to liquidate and let the creditors get what they can; settle up in a manner satisfactory to all, and then start in again. It is much better than to fret and worry one's life out about paying interest, standing off bills and doing a generally disagreeable business all around. No matter in whose hands the building will fall, it will not affect the city, for the property is here and cannot be moved away, and it behooves the owner to make all he can out of it and keep the property in repair and improve it.'

Mr. Griffith says that while times are improving slightly and money is a little more free than it has been, he does not think conditions will radically change until the tariff problem and the money question are solved. He blamed the annual deficit and the agitation over free silver for destroying confidence. 'What the country lacks now is confidence,' he said, 'and confidence is the basis of all personal, private, commercial and business success.'