Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-06-29
THE " MERCHANTS NATIONAL
BANK"
EtS suspension and the Alleged
Causes which Led Thereto.
a Gard from w. II. Cherry, Esq.

We have received and publish with
pleasure the following card, from w. H.
/ Cherry, Esq, in regard to the statement
which appeared in our commercial and
financial column yesterday:
MEMPHIS, Tenn, June q, 1865.
Editors Memphis Appeal:
Gents did not intend ct present to
say anything through the papers relative
to the closing of the Merchants National
Bank, until such time as I could be pre-
pared to give what l consider its coDdi-
ton, but after reading your article, this
morning, / deem it my duty to say the
statement purpOrting to give its condi-
ton is very erroneous. / will mention
one item at present; you state
we owed depositors about $500, 900,
instead of which when our doors were
closed we owed depositors, not paid or
prOUi9ed for, less than So, 600. l was
rendered the use Of funds sufficient TO
pay every deposition, by two gentlemen
y no have known me intimately for
wears, and by another of only short &C
Quaintance, but having understood the
bank would be closed at twelve O'Clock,
whether va continued to pay or not, l
would not accept their money.
Very Respectfully,
W. II. CHERRY.
The following is the article referred to,
which appeared in our financial and
com merciaI column of yesterday:
Rumors concerning the standing Of
one Of our National banks have been
rife in money circles for few days
bsck, but we refrained from noticing
them, hoping that it would pull through.
We are, however, now compelled to an
nOunce the suspension of the Merchants
National, which occurred to-day at
noon. For some days back Gen. E. c.
Wilson, United States bank examiner,
has been in this city and has been inves-
tiga;ing the affairs of the National
banks. After a careful and thor
ough examination of the books of
the Merchants National he was
requested by the Board of d.
rectors to take charge. OF course,
rumor, with its thousand tongues, has
taken up the matter and the widest
conjectures were uttered by those inter-
ested, as we'll as others. From all that
we can learn at this early date, the fail
ure is g bad one, and will entail heavy
less upon the stockholders and depos-
itcrs. Much Of the assets are made up
Of suspended paper. At the hour OF
closing, there was no cash on hand and
nothing to their credit with any Of
their banking correspondents. Paper
amounting to about 100000 has
been sent, at different times, to
New York, all of which was
discounted and is now coming into ma
tuIitv. All Of this will come back pro-
tested, and will stand against the bank
IS liabilities to this amount. This added
to the debt due depositors, say 500, 900,
viii make up the gross liabilities little If
any less than $500 600. To offset this
they will have the psper now in New
York, and they still hold psper amount
fae to about $500 600. OF this it is hard
to say how much may be collectable, but
we think that twenty-five per cent. !
would be q liberal estimate. The
hank building is worth probably !
$50 600, and the interest and difference /
between their bonds deposited in Wash
incton and their circulation will amount |
to from S65, COO to So, coo. With the
above data to go upon, and we are not
far ort Of the way in our estimate, our
readers can readily calculate what will
be the probable loss sustained by stock /
holders and dspositors.