Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1863-01-22

sentation to him of certificates for transfer,
he shonId receipt for them. and immedi-
ately transmit them to the Aulitor of State.
at indianapolis; that the Auditor should
cancel them and file them in his office. for
preservation and reference. and issue. in
the name of the person to whom the trans
fer was to be made, new certificates OF
stock. to be siyned by him anil the Treas
urer Of State. and after registering them
in book, to be provided by the Auditor
for that purpose. send them to the Agent
Of State. TO be by him registered and deliy-
eere@l to the proper person. upon presenta-
ton of the receipt. The fourth section Of
this act declares that any certificate OF
stock. i>suel or transferred in violation of
the provision of the act. shall be deemed
frauinlent and void as against the State oi
Indiana. 1t will be seen this. act throws
lditional and. in my opinion. abundant
safeguards around the issue of tho stock.
To avoid the dangers and temptations
which this change in the law was designed
to gnarl against. as soon as the new law
went into operation. the blank cer,iti .ates
signed by The officers of State. in tha
hanls of the State agent. shonl,l have henn
promptly Withdrawn by the officers Of State
and destroyed. This was not done +. r
When Col. Hnlson. the present State
Agent. came into office. early in February.
1862. he fonnl. in the offire of New York,
three bound volumes OF the forms. which
he Immediately cancelled. by punching a
hole through the signature OF each form.
sTnvER FRAUD. o1 s8iffaia
In this connection I invite your atten.
tion to the gigantic forgeries of Inlana
five per cent stocks which have been com
mittei in New York. - sei'as =
The Hon. James a. Craven was elected
State Aypnt in February. 1859. He hell
The Office abnnt nine months. Inriny which
time ID. c. Slower actel as his clerk. He
then resigned. and Mr.. Slower was appoint
el by Gov. Willard to fill the vacancy
He continued in cffie unler this appoint
ment until February. 1861. when he was
sucree'led by Col Hnlson, the present in
cnmbent, who had been duly elected by
the Legislature. The forged certificates OF
stock were execute upon the blank forms
lief, in the office Of the Agent Of the State,
which hail been signel oy w. r. Missing
or az State Treasurer and H. E. Talhott
a State Auditor. These gentlemen came
into office early in 1855. AMI went out ear.
ly in 1857. having servcI two years. The
forgery consisted in falsely filling up the
blanks as to dates. names Of payee. and
amounts. anl signing the name of James
n. Cravpns as Agent uf State. The forged
certificates. so far as | am alvisel. bear
date in March. April and June. 1859. Thus
purporting to he executei during the peri
al in which Mr. Cravens was State Agent.
though believe they were executed and
is~nel at a later date. 1 am informal hy
Col. HUDSON that the forget certificates
were all made PAYABLE to Samuel Hallett
except about 500, 900 payable to a person
by the nam, of Deschanx. He fur her IN
forms me that the whole amount issuel, so
,ar he ha> been able to discover. is 81,
$4,000. Of which amount 81 .295 QUO
nave ,een rctireI AMI destroyed. Col Hnd-
Ion states that he discovered the existence
{ this spurious sto * in few weeks after
ne came into office, AMI Immediately
'hargel the matter upon Mr.. SIover. who
confessed it all. bnt sail there was only a.
bout S200, 900 ont. anl that If the mat.
'er were kept secret. he. anil those oper-
ding withhim. would take mp and destroy
them. so that noboly should lose anything
by them. Col. Hudson further says. not
knowing what might be the liability of the
State upon these certificates. he deemed it
highly important for her interests that they
should lie gotten on The market and de-
stroycd. AMI for that purpose agreed with
hem. for the time, to communicate the
matter to nobody. without. however. Civ
ns them any assurance that they should
not he ultimately prosecuted. ~ oas
The knowledge ofthis forgery was first
Communicated to me- about the latter part
If January last. hy Messrs James NJ. Ray
, anil Jesse j. Brown. two of the Loan
Commissioners. appointed by the State to
negotiate her War Loan. e GeA2
They ha LEANED it from Mr.. Lanier. of
the firm of Winslow. Lanier d Co.. who
mai discovered it in so,pe way about the
iirst oi December previous. Immediate
" repaired 10 New York. and in company
with the Hon, J-hn p Usher, then the At
,orney General of Indiana. and Jesse j
Brown. Esq. endeavorcd tn investigate
! thr affair. lnthe opinion and confidence
entertained by Col Hudson. aud some 9TH
er gentlemen who had been consulted. that
Mr.. Slower aud those acting with him.
wonl.l retire tho fraudulent stocks did not
share. AMI was not for that or, any other
reason in favor of delaying their exposure
AMI prosecution single honr. sio..5a
: Acsonlingly.sI proceeded at once to
place all the facts of which had any
knowledge. in the possession of Mr.. Hall.
The District Attorney prosecuting the pleas
Of the State. for the city Of New York.
81. The crime ha,t been committed in New
York. and to the laws and rauthori,ies of
that State. It's punishment belonged. ,aw
Mr.. Hail. alter deliberations. and such
Investigation as he could, make. de,ermin-
ed that aa exposure and prGsecutionioi OF the
parties at that time would be highly mex
pedient, au,l informed me that he took the
nfponsibiliiy Of deierring any public dis
closure aud prosecution until such time As
in his Judgment it was proper TO make
them. .fp a-4 4f,ssi. ,ss.ef -, 4.
Matters thus stood from February until
about the 9th day of May. when learning
that the affair hall become public in New
York. and believing that no reason conId
exist for further delay in the prosecution.