M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1859-01-20

of 1857, declared that net one dollar
of the delaication money stained the
fingers of a Republican official. He
believed that Wm. II. Gibson, altho'
he either made way with the money
himself, orknew thatit was missing
from the Treasury over (which tho
peopls had placed him as guardian,
was an honest soul, whsse greatest
fault was his goodness OF heart."--
Notwithstanding Gibson con-
cealed the theft until it was, in all
probability, too late to recover the
stolen 100000, thus violating his
oath Of office and betraying the trust
inR him SS tlfe -peopie--he
was, according to Chase, very hon.
est, good. hearted sort Of a nan!
We'll, it will be remembered that
said Gibson, from a bankrupt in bus
mess, suddenly became President Of
the Seneca Comfy Bank and o .prin-
cipal stockholder therein. Let us see
what an "honest" man he was in his
Bank operations, whilst he was Treas
urer of State. We quote from the
Ohio Statesman:
The Seneca County Bank had large
ly oyer-issued. S100,S79 of its notes
have beeh redeemed by the Treasur.
er, being 1919 more than should have
been outstanding. The Treasurer
estimates the amount Of the fraudu.
lent over issues at from $4,000 to
$3S, ,000, to meet which there is about
$4,000. The stockholders of this
bank met on the 25th Of April, 1857,
and divided all the assets among
themselves, leaving the circulation to
be provided for by the Treasurer from
the proceeds of the bonds in his hands.
Suit has been brought against the
stockholders, and while they are pend
ing the ,bill.holders must wait for
their money. Mr.. Claypoole, the
Receiver of the Bank, sums up his
long and careful investigation as fol,
lows:
"From the facts that | have related,
it is impossible to resist the conclus-
ion that the officers, and at least a
portion Of the stockholders, including
Mr.. Gibson, uers vell aware Of the
o0sr-iSSue, and also that the closing
Of the bank at the time and in the
in which it was done, was, to
say the least of it, illegal, and that
my claim as receiver, upon the stock
holders for the amount Of stock paid
back to them, aud upon the assettS
transferred, is uLdoubted. Under ad- !
vice, have already commenced efforts
for the recovery OF some Of the assets,
and shall take such prompt measures
as the delays of the law will permit,
to recover sufficient amount from the
stockholders and assetts, as will COW
er all outstanding claims for circula-
tion or otherwise; and as the stock
holders (most of them are said to be
men, | have little doubt
but that, with some delay, all claims
for its circulating notes will be paid |
with interest"
After describing how one fraud was
perpetrated by the officers Of this
bank, at too great length to be recap
itulated here, the Receiver continues
as follows:
These operations appear to have
succeeded so well, that on the 18th of
April, 1857, within ten days of the
time when the bank was closed, al
UaS repeated, and S34,657 notes for
circulation obtained from Treasurer
gibson, for aChich no receipt aca8 gjv-
en-, or bonds deposited, no credit gjU-
en- on the books Of tie bank, and no
charge made on the Treasury books;
and their issue only became known
after Mr.. Gibsou's resignation, from
the accidental discovery of a loose
memorandum in the Treasury Office.
They were returned July 28, 1857,
and then, for the first time, appear on
the books of the bank. From the
loose manner in which the Treasury
and bank books were kept, it is i'm
possible to ascertain with certainty
the amount of fraudulent issue. From
comparison with the engraver's ac-
countit would seem to be-
About 400 90
To this may be added the amount
the bank states they have re-
turned, but have no receipt for,
and think never were return
ed. '''.' ''''''''''.s.''... l0,8S7 90
Probable oyer.ssue. ...........S39, ,l47 90
This was emphatically nice trans.
action for Gov. Chase's "honest" man
to be engaged in He allows the
Bank to over-issue its notes to the
amount Of about $4,000 on the 18th
OF April, and ten days thereafter d.
II