Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-09-10
" For the Nashville Patriot.
To shd Legislative Investigating Conn
mittce.

mittce.
GEsTLEsEs:-My attention having been
called to the following paragraph in your adj
dress to the public, and having some know
edge of facts throwing light upon the matter
under discussion, beg leave to make a.state-
ment. You say:
90 In his three several reports to the LIE
gislature Mr.. CroZi-r seems to have thought
that State bonds which had been issued to
the Lagrange and Memphis Railroad, amount
ing to 10,250 dollars had been cancelled.
when in fact the bonds are still out
standing, and he has been paying inter, st
upon them for six years, apparently. without
knowing il. These bonds Nos. %, 23 "a, 25.
26. q, %, 20, 80 and 81, are now in the hands
of Mr.. A. V. S. Lindsey, who has been regu-
larly drawing interest upon them, and yet
Mr. CroZier has never reported these bonds as
"a part of the State debt. One other case of
this sort we will cite, and pass to other mat
tiers. A State bond for $500, issued to the
Gallatin Turnpike Company, was returned,
amounting to S500) issued to the Lagrange
and Memphis road, two new bonds were issued
of $1,000 each; keeping out the same amount of
liability. Yet Mr.. CroZier has not regarded
the $500 bond issued to the Gallatin Turn
pike Company, and has failed repeatedly to
report the same to the Legislature"
These bonds amount to the aggregate of
S1I,750. Under direction of the act of 1912,
ch. l27, the Governor of Tennessee, on the
LIST February, 1915, transferred to the Plant
ers' Bank SI1, 800 of school fund stock, held
by the State in that bank, and received in
exchange for it the above mentioned bonds,
.sa
And fifty dollars IN money DO
Making, in all. ...................... ..sl 500
AS directed by the law, the Governor depos-
tied these assets in the Bank of Tennessee,
where they became part of the capital stock
of that bank. The Governor, in his message
to the Legislature of October, 1915, thus re-
ported the transaction:
Bonds to the amount of Sl1,750 were re-
ceived from the Planters Bank these were
not cancelled, as the stock given in exchange
for them constituted part of the school fund
They were delivered to the Bank of Tennes-
see, and a receipt for the same deposited IN
the Secretary OF States Office"
Twas at that time acting as Comptroller of
the Treasury, and / entered in the books of
the Comptroller's office list of these bonds,
giving the number and amount of each, and
noting them as Exchanged by Planters Bank for
School Fund Stock" In my report to the Lee
gislature of October, 1915, in the statement
of State stocks reported
The amount of the Common School Fund in
vestment in the Planters Bank S244 500
OF which has been exchanged for State bonds IL 500
Remaining stock in Planters Bank 49,, 200
In the same report stated the total liza
bilties of the State on bonds outstanding,
s3,2544l6 66"-adding, that "in addition"
there were of bonds "Sll 800 exchanged for
stock in Planters Bank, and deposited ua the
Bank Of TtusSsee as School Funds, under the
4th section Of the act of 1912, oh. l27.'
1t will be noticed that, while the stock eX-
changed amounted to Sll 800, the bonds re-
ceived by the Governor, and deposited in the
Bank of Tennessee, amounted to but ST, $50
the difference having been paid in money
In my next biennial report to the Legislature
of Oct. II, 1847, in giving the list of State
stocks, again copied the words quoted above,
as to State stocks from the report of 1915;
and in the list of State bonds. reported these
bonds separately. in these words" Internal In
proUenaent bonds made School Fund SILL 1902 In
giving statement "of the capital stock of the
Bank of Tennessee" this item of bonds was
included in the ''School Fund" item of that
stock. Having properly included them in the
amount of bank capital, and deducted from
the school fund stock in the Planters Bank
the stock which had been exchanged for them,
l deemed it more explicit to report them sepa-
rateiy as Bonds made School Fund" keeping
them apart from the mass of bonds outstand-
ing in the hands of individuals. Thus, after
deducting them, the residue of bonds was
stated as the amount of .bonds outstanding"
This may have misled Mr. Crozier; who, per-
haps not observing the various explanations,
showing the precise condition of this Sl1, $50,
looked only at the aggregate of bonds at the
foot of the statement, and thus was led to sup
pose that it embraced all the bonds issued and
cancelled. understand that the Bank of Ten
nessee has since sold these bonds, and hence
Mr.. Lindsey is now the holder, and draws the
interest upon them. l have deemed this
statement due to all parties. AS to the re-
newal of the bonds, have not stopped to en-
quire into the facts, as it occurred long after
/ resigned the Office of Comptroller.
Very respectfully,
F. X. ZOLILCoFFER.