Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-04-16

for several wears without the sanction OF hhoM'e s
of the Board of Directors, and as IL car
that these transactions were mostly u NJ w., ,ou
the account and to the Profit and Loss % wi ra,,
tive officers of this Bank at those 'in'es' = - wv.
49,; I'd I'm, ,ber ius, condemnation oil such things,
lid ha fully Expressed and recorded: u IS lheeio'e
"pesatr.S That the business of oanng money ex-
c,svelv and Of right belongs to the BOARD OF Dec'
ors, and that all loans OF discounts naue W
ttee of the Board, in concurrence with the oceis,
should be duly reported to regular meetns OF Tue
Board. a.,
"Resoired, That the loaning or discountng, on the
depuse Of collateral security or prolnssory no'es VI
The officers of the Bank is unauthorized, ana con
rary TO the proper administration OF the aas u 'e
Bank.
"Resolrcd, That the large advances made by 'e OH,
GERS of the Bank in the periods OF Ie37-o, ana
being totally unauthorized, and unknown TO the boar
of Directors, merits and receives our just a'
condemnation c ID, :, ::
Bv the Thirteenth Standing Rule of the Bank, II Is
provided that the Committee on the stale OF me oahk'
composed of FIVE members, and eectea oy oaot every
three mouths should Sat least once, during 1her tme
of service examine and count the discounted notes,
rd oomn,ra the amount thereof with the balance OF
Tho nonnt of bills discounted in the General Ledger
thew shall also count the cash. and the printed and the
nnnr;nted paper in the possession OF the Cashier
examine the evidences Of the public debt and property
of the corporations make an inventory OF the same 10
he comnarcd with the books in order to ascertain their
orreement and report TO the Board" The custom APP
pears 10 have been for this committee to conne their
examination exclusively to the cash, bills discounted
ON personal and other security the issues and the
prin,ed and imprinted Bank paper on hand. The &C
count however, of the general state of the Bank, snh
m,ted TO the Directors at every stated meeting, con.
taned the items of "bs receivable on Bank stock and
other security, which included as well the bills re-
ceiyabe for sale Of branches the loans made in the
manner heretofore adverted to, and "Foregn Bills OF
| Exchange, under which head was contained the ad-
- -, nnIIc ing q
2Sth Of June, 1888, which day an examination was
reported by the Committee the state othe Bank there
stood to the debit Of "bs receivable, the sum OF l3,
lO6 O74 dollars 80 cents, and of "ForeIgn Bills OF
Exchange" the sum of ,26, 100 dollars "a cents he
Committee annex to this report list of the Directors
and the several Standing Committees of the Board
since the recharter.-(AppendxL ID
Not only in regard TO loans and settlements, but IN
relation the purchase and sale OF stocks, the eSta
blshment of agencies, and other important measures
Of general policy the Board of Directors were not re-
puarly consulted Of this the committee must be per-
mtted to present some instances as illustrative In
September, 1885, the Bank purchased the "Merchants
Bank of New Orleans of the capital of one million OF
dollars for advance of 162oO dollars and established
it. as the agent of this Bank at that place On the 9Th
day of November, 1896, in like purchase was
made for 3S4 900 dollars Of "rhe Insurance Bank OF
Columbus, Georgia" In August, 1882 arrangements
were made for the purchase OF the charter OF - ne
Hamilton Bank" Of Baltimore, and the purchase e.
ID.
advance was but small. There taken from Mr..
Joseph Cowperthwaite, on the 1s of March, 1875,
eighty mine shares of Bank United States Stock at 2O
dollars the Bank selling the same day ut l. dollars,
less brokerage; and the eth January, 1910, there
was received from him cash hundred and thirty
shares ut 100 dollars the market price of that day be-
ing So dollars, IS cents. On the 4th of March, 1872
Messrs Joseph Cowperthwaite, Thomas Dunlap, and
Joseph Cabot, agreed 10 purchase Of the Bank two
thousand shares of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
Ill .bor,
credit of two years. and the application Of these par
ties on the 18th of February, $780, the said contract
was annuled II is stated in report OF the Exchange
Committee of August 2e, $780, and entered on the mi
nues of the Board, that the Philadep ha and Reading
Railroad Co. had made contract with Mr.. Joseph
Cewperthwarte for loan Of 800 900 dollars in his ndi
vdua capacity, although supposed BY the company to
have been on account Of the Bank) to be converted
into sterling bonds at dollars, so cents per pound ster
ling At the period of that report, the sum OF 80,
600 dollars of this loan had been taken up, of which
the Bank was then the holders Of $4,000 dollars and
ON that day. with the assent Of the BoardD assumed
the balance unpaid of the contract. Upon the eigh-
tenth day of August, 1888, the Bank guaranteed a
contract made by Mr. Nicholas BIdde in his indvidu.
al capacity for the purchase oftwo thousand five hun
dred Bonds Of the State OF MISSISSIPPI OF two thousand
dollars EACH amounting in the whole to 10000 dol
lars The signature of Mr.. Thomas Dunlap, then Sc
cond assistant Cashier, affixed to the guarantee,
on behalf Of the Bank upon the verbal authority OF the
| President Upon the 9th January, 1889, the Bank
guaranteed to the State of Michigan, the punctual
fulflment of the obligation of the Morris Canal
and Banking Company, for the purchase of Bonds
of that State, to the extent of 1862 dollars, 5O
cents for 100000 taLen at par, and including inter
est the instruments payable every three months up
to January la43. On the 10Th Of April, 1889, the
Bank guaranteed contract entered into by Mr.. Tho
Dunlap in his individual capacity, for the purchase
of one million of dollars "of the Illinois and Aichi-
gan Canal Stock" In regard to these Transactions the
committee find no authority on the minutes of the
Board and have referred to by the President up
on whom they called for information.
| The Committee submit herewith (Appendix NJ n
statement Of the profit and loss account of the
tDgent fund, and abstract of the losses chargeabe
thereto In this last account there is charge under
date of June 80 1910, of 100000 dollars to "Parent
Bank notes account" which has not been explained
to the satisfaction of the Committee. 1t must be also
mentioned, that among the expenditures of the Bank,
there is entered, at various dates, commencing May .,
| 1885, amounting in all to 6lS,640 dollars, 10
cents as paid on the "Recepts of Mr.. N. Bidde," of
"Mr. ~ Biddle and Cowperthwaite, and "Cashier s
Vouchers" As the Committee unable to obtain
satisfactory information upon the subject of these
penses from the books officers of the Bank applica-
ton was made by letter to Mr.. n. Bidde and Mr.. J
Cowperthwaite from whom no reply has been received
The Committee have now performed the task as
signed them by the stockholders. They have endea.
vored to select from the of materials submitted to
their examination, only such seemed sufficient to IL
ustrate the general course of the administration of the
Bank To have gone more into detail would have re-
qured more time than was allotted TO the Committee,
and to have accompanied each particular with full
planations would have extended their report beyond
all reasonable limits. They have given the simple
facts without comment but enough has been present.
ed, it is believed, to enable each stakeholder form
q judgment of the manner in which the interests
committed BY him to his trustees and agents, the d.
rectors and officers, have been managed To satisfy
mere idle curiosity, the Committee had inclination,
and would have gladly omitted many of the facts and
explanations they have given, would such course
have been reconced to their ofduty TO those by
| whom they were appointed.
JOSHUA LIPPlNCOTT,
MOSES kEMPTON,
CHARLES MASSEY, JR.,
EDWARD COLES,
JOHN BACON,
JAMES S. NEWBOLD.
Attest-GEoRGE SHARswooD, Secretary
Bank ofthe U. S., Philadelphia, April 3, ls4l.
adjourned Meeting OF Stockholders Of the u S. Bank
At a Meeting of the Stockholders of the Bank of