The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-01-06

'sby the court. Chancellor Carroll declared
s'that the bank was authorized from the assets
ssto pay counsel fees for conducting the de-
"fence.' THE total amount Is sS64O.
Your committee saw and counted all the as
sets IN the bank. In doing this they founc
printed on the back of all the securities men
tloned in Exhibit 81" the following endorse
; ment:
caution.
ssThis bond constitutes portion Of the as
sssets of the Bank OF the State OF South caro-
s'lina embraced in the order Of the Court o.
"Chanccry of the said State, OF the date
siMarch 8, 1863 in the case of Dabney, Morgan
'slina and others, and cannot be legally trans
"ferred except by order Of said court, or the
"writtcn assignment OF Charles Ii. Furmar
'''- "THOS. Il. WARING, Cashier"
In reply to questions as to when and why
this endorsement was printed npon the securl'
ties OF the bank the cashier said: 'The en-.
s'dorsement was put upon the bonds or the
"18th Of August, 1868, by the direction OF The
"president and directors. unler the advice o.
scounse;, Messrs. I. w. Hayne and j. b.
Campbell. The president being present with
"the counsel, prefer that The reason
"shouid be stated by them" 'sfhe endorse
'ment was, prepared by the counsel, l. W.
ssHayne and j. b. Campbell"
Mir. Gaillard, acting president, made the fol-
lowing statement
ssIn reference to the cautionary endorsement
son the bonds and stocks, would state that
sit was put upon them under the advice OF
s'ceunsel."
Question-"WhaL was the foundation Of that
s'advice, or what was the object OF it? Was 1t
ssto injure the bonds or prevent their negotia-
"bility 2"
Answer-tslt was to preserve the bonds to
''await the ruling OF the Court of Equity in the
'scase of Dabney, Morgan q Ce. In other
''words, it was done to prevent their being
transferred or negotiated except under order
s'of the court and by written assignment OF
ssCharles H. Furman and Thomas r. Waring."
The liabilities of the bank in detail will be
With regard to the circulation, the cashier
makes the following statement: ION the 1st OF
| October, 1860, the circulation was estimated
| sat about 1926, 900. We had in the vault about
''$900000. These last were subsequently put
sin circulation. At the request Of the
scommittee, furnish On estimate Of what
'sthinkis near approximation to the present
"clrculation; it is contained in Exhibit IS
sThe estimate Of lost notes may be considered
s1arge. It is based upon the long time the
''bank has been in existence, the large proper
"tion OF issues Of one dollar and under, aud
"the probable losses attendant upon four years
ssof war. offer it merely as an estimate OF
ssmy own. With respect to tho Indebtedness
"of the bank for anything connected With the
s'war, know OF none, but such of the issues
ssas may have been loaned the government or
FUSED in purchasing Confederate stock, and 1t
sswould be impossible to distinguish now tho
"snotes' that were used for either purpose"
The profit and loss account consists OF re-
ceipts in issues OF the bank for interest on
notes, bonds, &c., and partof issues purchased.
Item estate Treasury for sinking fand" is
made up of the profits Of the bank to 1865.
Item State Treasury for loan for rebuilding.
the City of Charleston is the balance due on
the Fire Loan debt Of the State in Europe,
s1O9OOO, and about s3lS.O6O OF stock in this
country.
In reply to a question, tho cashier says he
ssdoes not know what portion OF the tl09,00O
is owned by the Barings, and has no means OF
knowing" He further says: The bank
London and Liverpool, held as security
for credit Of EGO, 0,000-an account. open
ssed previous to the war with Hambro d
s'Son and the Bank Of Liverpool. These ac-
"counts have been closed, and all the bonds
drought over except those left with the Ba-
srings, as security for the punctral payment
s'of the interest on the State debt
Item $42,209 So is the balance due Barring
Bros. J. Co. for advances.
Item s4528 is bond given for piece OF
property on East Bay, Charleston; the proper
ty is described in Exhibit CO."
Item s4,1S6, ,4S9 Il is the personal deposit
account. The cashier SAYS: "Thesc deposits
were to great extent made during the var lal-
most entirely. They we're made In nothing
but Confederate money"
Item S25, 5,05G 09 consists of drafts and checks
outstanding between the parent bank and the
branches, OF the close Of the war, in Confeder-
ate currency.
Item s2S $40 5S consists Of balance duo the
Farmers and Exchange Bank OF Charleston,
and banks out of the State.
1t will be seen that Exhibit 81" containsa
list of the available assets Of the bank at
their par value, which, IN round numbers, may
be put at about $500, 900. Of course, il placed
upon the market now, nothing like this
amount could be realized upon them. AS an
offset to these, are the Fire Loan debt OF the
State and the bills OF the Bank OF tho State IS
sued prior to the war.
In dismissns this portion of tl.,:r report,
your committee cannot fail to notice two facts
developed by this Investigation. They refer,
in the 1rst place, to the fact that the bank Is
made to pay counsel fees for the defence OF in
dividual interests, simply because those inter-
ests happen to be identical with those OF the
bank. Dabney, Morgan & Co. ask that the
bank may be restrained from carrying out the
act of 1865, which devoted the assets OF the
bank to the payment Of the Fire Loan debt
held in Europe. Thereupon, Dir. A. V. Daw-
son, large Fire Loan stockholder in this
country, by his counsel, Simons d Siesling,
Joins forces with the Barings and tho bank to
resist this suit; and the bank, by the advice OF
its counsel, Messrs. Hayne and Campbell, pays
Mr. Dawson's lawyers for defending his inter-
ests Your committee fail 10 find anything in
the order OF the Chancellor OF March 81, 1858,
which would justify this proceeding. The
Messrs Hayne and Campbell occHpy the anom
alous positionlof counscllors for the bank Off
GERS aud for the Barings. Such q position
doubtless has its advantages.
The cautionary endorsement copied on
preceding page from the bonds which consti-
tute the only available assets of the bank FUR
nlsh remarkable proof OF lie way in which
these gentlemen have sought to preserve
the credit OF Ito quote the language OF
one of them,) 'this most unfortunate
State" This caution was printed upon
the securities OF tho bank By the ad.
vice OF thu distinguished counsel, Messrs.
Hayne and Campbell, on tho 18th OF August,
1868. 1t was evidently placed there IN antici-
patton of the legislation which was afterward
had. This action presents Il tbree-iold aspect.
First it must be considered deliberate de-
fiance of the General Assem- bly, of the State.
Second, it was intended TO L-svent the State,
whose creature the bank is, from taking pos
session OF its assets. Third, its effect, il not
it's intent, was to seriously injuro the credit Of
the State. These securities can never be ne
gotiatcd so long as this endorsement remains
upon them, inasmuch.as he who buys theUl is
in danger of buying law suit. Further than
this, it will be remarked that the assignment
mentioned in this endorsement il to be made,
not by the president and cashier II the bank,