The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-08 00:00:00

SECESSION STATE CONVENTIONS.

South Carolina having opened the ball of secession,
we reproduce, for the information of our readers, the
cotton States, in the order in which they are expected
to follow. A secession State Convention will be held--
In Florida, January 3.
In Alabama, January 7.
In Mississippi, January 7.
In Texas (spontaneous), January 8.
In Georgia, January 9.
In tonisiana, January 23.

A special session of the Legislatures each of Virginia
and Tennessee, in reference to a State Convention, will
meet on the 7th January. The Legislature of North
Carolina is now in session, and according to our last
reports it was engaged upon measures for arming the
State. The times are " big with the fate of nations"
in both hemispheres.

THE GREAT INDIAN TRUST FUND BOND

DEFALCATION,

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS.

ARREST OF WILLIAM H. RUSSELL, OF THE
OVERLAND EXPRESS . COMPANY.

RUMOURED EXTENSIVE EMBEZZLEMENT
IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
`WASHINGTON, Dec. 24, 1860.
The excitement consequent upon the present state of
affairs in the nation is entirely absorbed by an astound-
ing report of a robbery of Indian trust fund bonds in
the Interior Department, committed during Secretary
Thompson's recent mission to North Carolina.
The securities yielded an annual income of two,
hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and were ordi-
narily deposited in ,the. vaults of the Treasury for safe
keeping, but were probably temporarily transferred to
the Interior Depaitnient for the purpose of detaching
the coupons for the collection of the January interest to
meet the next alumni Indian payment.
It appears from the facts in connection with these
frauds, that about five months ago William 11. Russell,
of the firm of Majors, Russell, and Waddell, held about
a million of dollars of the official acceptances of, the
Secretary of War. These acceptances had been given
conditionally, in accordance with the usual course of
business, for transportation of such supplies of the
army under contract with the government. Mr.
Russell, not finding himself able to negotiate these
acceptances and being greatly embarrased pecuniarily,
and ascertaining from Godard Bailey, with whom he was
intimately acquainted, that the latter had control of over
three millions of Indian trust funds invested in bonds of
different States, arranged with him to let him have
about half a million dollars—these bonds to be hypo-
thecated in New York—and, as security for which, he
gave Bailey the acceptances of the War Department,
which Bailey placed in the safe where ,the bonds were
kept. Recently these bonds have greatly depreciated,
and the bankers in New York who made advances on
them, therefore called for additional security. Bailey,
in order to save the bonds, delivered over $300,000
worth of them additional—in all $870,000.
On the 18th inst. he addressed a letter to the Secre-
tary of the Interior frankly imparting these facts, and
requesting an investigation. This letter be gave to a
Senator, to he delivered to the Secretary on his return
from North Carolina, which request was complied with.
The investigation yesterday proved the truth of these
statements. Luter, Lea and Co. compose the banking
firm through which the negotiation was transacted.
Nothing either in the papers or in the investigation
shows that any parties except those immediately con-
cerned in this business, as above stated, are in the
slightest manner concerned in the transactions.
As high government officials are connected with 'the
matter, the details of the transactions concerning the
acceptances are kept back, and probably will not be
thoroughly known until developed by the House Special
Committee appointed to-day to investigate the matter,
at the request of Secretary Thompson, who asked Mr.
Speaker Pennington, as a special favour, to make the
committee as strongly republican as possible to avoid
the possibility of the charge that his (Mr. Thompson's)
party friends upon the committee controlled their actions
to shield him. He seems desirous of the most thorough
and open investigation into the whole matter.
Those who profess to know the facts in the case say
that Mr. Russell, who has been largely engaged in
transporting United States stores across the Plains
to Utah and beyond, finding himself financially
embarrassed more than a year ago, obtained the
consent of the Secretary of War to draw upon his depart-
ment to the amount of one hundred thousand dolla;i4.
The Secretary accepted the draft. Some time afterwards
he made a similar request for the same amount, assuring
the Secretary, the latter's friends say, that the first draft
was taken care'Of. To accommodate Russell the Secre-
tary accepted the second. This mode .of operating, it
is said, was repeated six or seven times. The friends of
the secretary, in explaining this, assert that the Secretary
of War had no idea that Russell was accumulating the
drafts, but supposed he was only renewing them, and
that the Secretary of War's obligation did not amount
at any time to over one hundred thousand dollars. At
'last, finding out the fact, it is said that a certain banker
in this city went to Bailey, who bad charge of the
'lndian bonds, and told him that 'his (Bailey's) uncle,
the Secretary of War, would be ruined if he did not
save him, and informed him that he bad the power to
do so, by allowing him to use the State stocks held in
trust for the Indians to save him against the acceptances
given to Russell. '
Bailey was bailed to-night in three thousand dollars
Mr. Fant, of the firm of Fant, Rittenhouse and C 0.,.
bankers, and Mr. Gait, of the firm of M. W. Galt and
Brothers, jewellers, were his surety. Bailey is among
people this evening at large and apparently as happy as
usual.

Russell was presumed by Secretary Thompson to be
worth over .two millions of dollars.

Russell will be brought to testify before the Com-
mittee.

The Secretary of War will be subpoenaed to appear
before the Committee, but whether he will consent or
not does not appear.
There are others here, and sonic who have suddenly
disappeared, whose testimony will be valuable in the
investigation.