Washington telegraph., 1850-11-13
| dition she will be found upon a final ad.

it reQureS no extraordinary degree OF
mental acumen to determine that the his
tory of this bank is but catalogue of the
grossest rnismanagement and criminal
negligence TO use no harsher term) from
the date of her charter until the present
time, and that heavy loss 10 The State
must be the consequence.
To arrive at this conclusion, we need
90 no farther back than the date of the
act of liquidation, which, as l contend,
was conceived in error, and will result in
| misfortune. Among the numerous Oh
jections that might be urged against this
law, not the least prominent is the un-
necessary extension OF time granted to the
debtors OF the bank.
| It is well-attested fact that the longer
debt remains due and unpaid, the lighter
we feel the obligation resting upon us to
pay it, This has been clearly eXempli-
! tied in the case Of the Stale Bank; aud,
in consequence of this very iGincple,
Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands
! of dollars, have been lost 10 the State.
Consequent upon. and rendered necessary
10y, this mistaken lenty, was engraited
upon this law, another principle but little
less destructive to the interest of the bank;
the employment ami pay of SO large "a
number OF officers. Their salaries, though
small, taken separately, (too small, i'll
some instances, to command the most
competent ndi yiduals) yet, when taken
in the aggregate, the doubt may be rea-
sonably entertained whether their salaries
did not amount to more, than, by their
agency, was recovered for the bank. In
some instances, these officers have been
incompetent; in others, crininally negll-
gent; while, IN one instance, that OF A. j..
Thornton, absolutely dishonest The evil
Jence of their Inconpetency will appear
upon the records OF our courts, where the
bank has been not only defeated III the
attemp: 10 coerce payment, but left with
a heavy bill of costs to pay; again, 1t will
appear, from their inability to so keep
their books as to exhibit the transactions
of The bank.
The gross negligence will be found 10
exist IN permitting more than S2OO,OOO
worth OF the notes due the bank, 10 re-
main III them until they were barred by
| the statute of limitations.
The dishonesty of Abner e. Thornton
is manifested throughout his whole official
| career, exhibiting but d series of EN-
bezzlements and forgeries. For more
minute particulars, refer to the report
of the Flnaucial Receiver of the State
| Bank
do not refer 10 these defects in the
| liquidation act, and the mismanagement
under it, with any hope OF correcting
| past errors; but that the true history of
this institution may be understood; like
errors and misfortunes, avoided, and,
| If possible, to promote more rigid sys.
TEN of collecting in future. 70 effect
| this, | would recommend that all the
| notes, and other assets of the bank, be
placed under the control Of some respon-
sibe Individual with full authority, by
law, to use such means for their collec-
ton as III his judgment, the best interest
of the bank may demand. Let this agent
| be authorized TO employ such legal as
sistance as lie may deem necessary, and
| pay such fees therefore as he may deem
just aud proper.
| This mode of collecting | deem pre-
| ferab ble from the fact that there are many
claims that can be collected with but lit
tie or 10 trouble while there are others,
| the collection of which has been des-
paired of, if placed in the hands of able
| lawyers, may be collected III whole or IN
part. In these instances, it will be nec-
| essary 10 pay in proportion TO the labor
required.
There is now due the bank several
hundred thousand dollars, deemed good.
These liabilities, based upon notes. bonds,
and other Obligations, may be realized 10
the bank, if the proper course be pursued
in their collection.
L cannot too strongly press upon your
attention the proprety of extending TO
these debtors of the bank no further in
diligence; and that mean, be provided 10y
which the State may free herself from
the bighting influence Of this institution,
which, for years, has borne her down,
cranped her energies, and parallzeG her
efforts.
1t appears, by reference to the report
of the Financial Receiver, that the mum
Der of bonds issued Oh accoun, of the
Stale Bank, and outstanding aud unre-
deemed, on the 1st of Oct, 1850, was
955, and the interest due thereon, was
$53l 1862 so, making $l,506,562 So
1t also appears, that the Arkansas Bank
paper in circulation, and unredeemed, on
the lst OF Oct, 1850, was SoO. .OS7 3:
making the total liabilities Of the State
Bank, one milton fuc hasndred and D
tn S1r thousand SIC hundre0 ana f1fty
dollars, Isl 500 65O) 1t further more
appears that the resources o. the bank ito
meet these heavy liabilities, fall far short
of the amount demanded, and that the
loss to the State, from all the Information
in the possession Of the proper officers,
and as exhibited by their Official reports,