Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1870-06-04

ietter Teterfeu 10, anu Wnlcn ItNO us tC
the differences spoken of, desire that
the testimony Of Mr.. Rutter 20, to-
gether with his written voluntary
statement, as an entirely to the peo.
pie of the State. The letter spoken
of contains the following:
" am, and have been, desirious o.
securing TO the State all the informa.
tion I'm my possession relative to the
Tennessee National Bank, but l must
have some legislative protection in
this matter, rs i have cause to fear
the Vaccinations of those who feai
the result Of my statements.n
3 The committee, without altering In
any way either the statement or tes-
timony of Mr.. Rutter, herewith give
them in full.
TESTIMONY OF MR.. RUTTER.
George II. Rutter being duly sworn
according to law deposed and said:
am thirty nine years of agei l reside
In Memphis, Tennessee. The Ten
nessee National Bank was organized
I'm 1865, at which time I was elected
President of said bank subsequently
the bank became the depository ofthe
funds Of the State, through political
influences, with the understanding
among the leading Radicals of the
State, among whom were Sam. Ar.
nell, Jas. Mullins, w. j. Smith, ID.
A. Num-, Senator w. X. Hall, John
Eaton, Barbour Lewis, and others,
that this bank was to support the
Radical party and be their financial
agent and furnish money to "run the
machine" whenever they wanted it.
This was the general understanding,
and was talked over prior to and sub.
sequently to the passage Of the bill
making the Tennessee National Bank
the fiscal agent Of the State. This
bill was passed with the understand.
ing that the Treasurer of the State
was to be influenced to designate the
Tennessee National Bank rs the de-
posltory of the State, and Messrs, Ar.
nell, Mullins, Richards and Wines
and Others, did so advise the Treasu-
rer of the State Ito wit, Stanford,) to
make this bank the depository. The
influences brought to bear on Stanford
were various. AT the time this bank
was designated as q depository, Stan
ford and myselfwere Initiated into the
Loyal League, in the basement of the
capitol building in Nashville. About
this time he (Standford) was advised
to deposit what was known as the
school fund with the bank. At the
meeting of which / speak, the Loyal
League voted me vote of thanks fol
what l had done, and speeches wert
made by various parties. And the
election for Governor and members oi
Congress coming on about that time
or soon after, the necessity for money
was made known in vigorous Ian
guage, and gave between $500 ant
81, 900. They said that they 1.-THE Rad
icals) had everything they wantet
but financial headquarters. All thu
deposits made by the State i'm the
bank were general deposits, excep
the State bonds, which were special
and were returned intact, and coulC
not be otherwise considered, under
the law making this bank the fisca
agent of the State. One deposit (tht
school fund) of S61S, $50, was in Uni
ted States 1905, the history of which
appears in full In my deposition taker
In 1858. The various sums paid Il
Legislators (or loaned, came out of the
general assets Of the bank and my
personal funds. Some Of the persons
who received money from me 20 con
duct the passage of the bill and II
manipulate the affairs of the bank
were: L. Mr.. Arnell, who received g
great deal Of money over and above
the $500, which Is generally believed
to be all he got. On the $500 which
Arnell got, he paid, as credit, 5000
He received money at other times
the amount of which there was nc
account kept; but according to my
Judgment, some 1000 to 5000 were
paid to Arnell-given to him by Par.
ham and others. One case that 1 re-
member, / gave to Mullins some
money (500) to give Mr.. Arnell, moi
being able to see Arnell personally
This money was given by Mullins tc
f. p. Cone, who, afterward learn.
ed, gave 1t to Arnell. Arnell was
afraid to receive the money direc,
from me, On account of its being
foInd out on him. No receipt eveI
was taken for this money, not even o
memorandum.
2. Mr.. Mullins received money tc
defeat a resolution introduced in the
House of Representatives by Elliott
believe, Ito convert the 7-30 noteS
or bonds into State bonds" Mullins
went actively to work to defeat the
resolution, because, he said, that Il
the 1905 were converted into State
bonds, that would be called on fol
them, and that he wanted money tO
defeat IL, and furnished him money.
No receipt or notes was given for this
money. ] will here state that l lost
a lot Of letters and papers and receipts
from various persons, acknowledging
the receipt of money by letter and re-
ceipts which have never been found.
3. Mr.. Richards received money al
so that has never been accounted for
In any way.
money that has never been accounted
for. Also Spence. w. ]. Smith, and
various others. What i mean by no
account being taken of the money
mentioned in this deposition Is, that
the bank does not, nor never did,
hold any evidence of Indebtedness for
this money, disbursed as mentioned
above. Owing to the pressure bro't
to bear upon this bank by various
individuals it was not able to meet
its obligations. Mr.. Lowenstein came
out to Memphis rs the special exam.
iner of the condition of the bank un-
der the provisions of the national
banking law, with power to damage
and otherwise injure the institution
II he saw fit. l paid him money
(black MALL to let the bank and its
affairs alone, and not to meddle with
II. i have not heard Of Lowenstein
since. j know of $500 paid him.
The capital was but 100000, and to
discharge all the Indebtedness of the
bank occasioned by the draws made
to meet the obligations to pay men,
bers Of the Legislature and Others
mentioned in this deposition, the
funds of the bank were used indls-
criminately, also my personal funds.