The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-03

, it viii be seen standjne out upon the for,
= ground am the wreck of civil war, fresh,
: and brither than ever before.
BANK oT Trxxrssfr.
In ny former message, 7 called your a
teutoa 10 the Baoko Of the State. as allied
? MS finances, and represeating them as be "a
. IN dem 7raiized condition. damandiu
prompt action and prompt legislation. Til
, u the most important subject have 1
bring before you, and the S,ate owes it Z
herself 10 looE carefully into the snditio
( Of the B'nk of Teuness e, haviog its parsn
bank in Nashville, and a number Of afiIia
/ ted branches in dtfereut psrti Of the state
careful examination OF the assets cap
tured in Georgia has been made bv a com
mltiee Of competent men. and a report O
the result is herewith submitted Il VII
30 seen that the great body Of the asset
was iuunf IN the shape Of Confederate rote
and bonds. These, pot worth the paper o.
which they ars printed, were not cousii
cred wo % the labor OF counting. but vii
! amount % SIX or ghI mil 0ns Of dollars
only the sum Of SAG 7i9 20, in gold and
silver was found among the assets. beino
S2se,S46 "a lees than was shown by the lasi
report Of tho bank, in 1861. This amount
was doubtless ombezzled during the war. OF
sunk IN cotton sDeculatious hv the faithiess
Officers q the institution. The foreeoiue
sum Of Sl46,7iq 20 in corr. has been old
uuder aresolUtion Of your houorablr bodv
| for s6ls,25o in 5-30s United States bonds
which am pleased 10 say. are Welding the
state an annual interest Of Sf5,l3 25.
twill be seen that this great banking in
stitution is but a mere wreck, aud that is
runs only are IN possession Ct the State.
Still, thare are large sums due D. the Bank
and its various branches iu notes discounted
before the rebellion, which many Of the
debtors are anxious to paw. There are also
owned by the Bank aud Us branches larre
am UNITS in real estate, banking houses
dwellings and farms, in a dilapidated condi-
ton, and every day depreciating ia value.
advise that these debts be collected, and
this property be disposed Of at oncs Tor cash
or approved securities. A number Of suits
are pending against the Bank. and some
have lately been instituted against those
having control Of the assets bv depositors
whose deposits were wholly OF IA part Con-
iederate currency. 10 ot1er and similar
cases the Executive has been sued alone, on
the ground that the assets captured in Geor-
gia were placed in his hands. ] advise
prompt and positive legislation in al these
cases, to prevent this ANNOYANCE, and defect
the sttempted collection Of fraudulent and
reasonable claims, as many of them are
snOwn 10 be. / sdvise that the Bank and
its branches be at oncs plscsd in process Of
liquidation. The courts are now open in OH
parts Of the Stase. Bank attorneys can be
appointed for each branch in each banking
district, and the rights of ell parties may
soon be settled.
COMMON SCHOOLS
advise that out Of the proceeds Of what
is left Of the Bank, the Common School Fund
shall be, as far possible, replaced. This
large fund emanated mainly from the Gen
ersi Government, snd was held by the State
in sacred trust. The declaration OF this
trust may be found in the act Of Congress
which created 1t, and is @ior the instruction
Of children forever" And by the Consti-
tuition it's declared % beta permauentfuud, j"
"never to be diminished By legislative ap-
preparation" nor the interest," devoted 10
any other use than the support and encour-
agement Of common schools" Perhaps a
more periidious act than the appropriation
of this fund o. treasonable purposes was not
committed during the late perfiaious rebel
lion.
l hold, and I think the courts viii sustain
the opinion, that the State, BY virtue Of her
sovereignty, hiss priority over all other cred
itors OF the Bank. The State, as Trustee,
the School Fund as against the
Bank; and that the School Fund, by virtue
Of the peculisr constitutional trust with
which it was clothed, has priority over all
other creditors of the State. Certainly. this !
fund has priority over the common deposit
tors or nOte-holders Of the Bank. I there |
fore sdvise yout to lay your hands upon every |
dollar you can coustitutiouallv seize, % re- |
place this fund. Let the State keep her 1
faith with the destitute aud long neglected /
school children, no matter who else may /
suffer, and then settle with other creditors |
as best she may.
since the adjournment Of your honorable |
body, much Embarrassment has been caused /
for want of some person legal y authorized /
10 represent the Bank in impOrtant transac- 1
lions Suits pending in Nashville were /
lbout 10 come 20 trial, and an important, |
md, as l believe, an unjust suit was COM /
nenced at Knoxville. In the iormer case
employed II. ii. Harrison. ESQ, and IN /
he latter Messrs. Temple X Rogers. 70 act
IS attorneys for the Bank. I bsk the Legis-
ature 70 spprove my sction in this respcct
The assets Of ths Brench Bank at Athens
we're not captured, and no coin belonging 10
hat branch was found. But the cashier
hos. A. Cleege, reported 70 me st the Cap
iol, end represented himself as having az !
lis command about $50. 200 in gold and ster-
ing exchange. He promised q produce the
money in q few days failed 10 DO 10, and /
made his escape intJ Illinois. While taking
teps for his arrest, Thomas II. Galloway, a
espOnsible and honorable gentleman, pro-
losed to pay S50,OO0 Of this defal alton, and
o use BIS efforts to secure the remainder.
Believing the interests Of the State would be
est subserved by accepting Mr.. Galloway
did SO, received his check for
50 ,O0O, aud receipted him for that amount
aid on Cleage's liability. When this check
paid, as it will be IN a few days, I ask
gu TO approve the transaction.