The Portland daily press., 1873-10-07

cy, and through him procured from U. S.
District Judge an order enjoining all the other
creditors from selling the securities they held
for the space of nine days. This novel and org
nal piece of sharp practice subjects its contriv-
ers to universal obloquy, and has led to their
expulsion from the Exchange, as well as invo!v-
ing them in irretrievable disgrace; but it gives
them considerable time to make settle
ments in, and may save them from
heavy pecuniary loss: In other
words they had to choose between
parting with money or reputation and they
choose to let the latter go for the sake of keep
ing the former. Accustomed as we have
been for years to all sorts of jugglery and
double dealing, this notable device astonshes
everybody on account of its audacity and cum
ming. The parties implicated in it will take
their place among the most conspicuous of the
great rogues of our day who have managed to
perpetrate crime, without mourning penal dis
cipline.
1t is natural, in fact inevitable, that the
Judge who granted this extraordinary order,
and made it returnable SO many days later,
should be the subject of much unpleasant re-
mark. 1t is widely spoken of as "curious
coincidence" that the law firm of which he
aoas the head and is by common supposition
the associate, held the retainer under which
this unusual proceeding was instituted. There
may be nothing in it, but somehow it generally
happens that anybody who wishes to reach
that bench, begins by invoking the professional
services of that particular firm, and this little
precaution rarely fails to accomplish the object
sought When James T. Brady was in the zenith
of his professional fame he scrupuously re-
fused to accept retainer in any case pending
before the Court of Common Pleas, because his
brother was one of the three judges of that
tribunal. But James T. Brady is dead, and all
lawyers are uot as punctilious as he was;
more's the pity
The only national Banking Corporation that
went under in this city during the pressure
was the Bank of the Commonwealth. This
was originally AN old State Bank which came
into the national system when it had become
'fxed fact Its capital of S75O,OOO was i'm
paired by bad debts and a somewhat meagre
business, two or three years ago, and it paid
no dividends. Last July it declared dividend
of 81 per Ct, but subsequent events have de-
monstrated that it had no profits to do it on.
One of the directors overdrew his account
$25O,0O0 on the 10Th ult., and failing to make
it good either by deposit or securities the
Bank closed its doors on the morning of
the Goth, and passed into the hauds of the
Comptroller of the currency. A subsequent
investigation of its affairs discloses the fact
that its capital is impaired to the extent of
S275,0O0, of which nearly 100000 was gone
before the panic set in, the loss by the over
draft being computed at only $4,000. Among
its assets has been reckoned $14O 900 of old
protested paper, and $4,000 of various worth
less stocks If these had been charged to Profit
and Loss at the proper time, the Bank would
have shown deficit all the while since 1871
As an instructive illustration of bank man
agemenr, it may be mentioned that the affairs
eff this corporation were under the charge of a
board of eleven directors Of these, one, who
appears never to have participated in its ad-
ministration, held an hundred shares of the
stock. The other ten oacn IN the aggregate IT'S
shares. Of these ten, two were not debtors to
the concern. The other eight owed it on the
day its doors were closed, as drawers or endors-
ers, the sum of $517, 97905, being nearly 70 per
cent. of the entire capital stock!
1t is only fair to say that this is an exception
al case among New York banks which in the
main are we'll conducted, thrifty and sound.
Some of the larger institutions, whose deposits
have been abominably swollen by paying inter-
est on daily balances, have undergone severe
depletion, but even these, having ample re-
sources, have borne the drain heroically and
may now be pronounced out of danger But
when the next statement appears it will prob
ably show reduction of fifty per cent of de-
posits in two or three instances This falling
off may lead to smaller dividends, but that
trifling declenson will be recompensed by en-
HANGED safety and larger measure of popular
confidence. YARMOUTH