The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-03-13
eEacz,,,,atl;n0 ~ Harrts6u,.g.
The following Is The report of the

! REPRESENTATIVES, to investigate the all
fborship Of certain circulars addressed
to banks and bankers relative to HoHs.
bill No. IS, entitled 81 n act to repea
the usury laws of this Commonwealth
and to fix the rate of interest,":
/ y,o tie H3nor75'e he House gf Reprsgenta
tires Of Pennsylvania:
The UNDERSIGNED committee appo;nteC
Iv your honorable body to Investigate tie
. anihorshiD Of certain circular, sigueC
I r. IT. Gibbons, making assessments upo,
/ the banks and bankers OF the Common
/ wealth. avowediy to aid in the passage o
( House bill No. Is, entitled An act to re
J real the usury laws ofthis Commonwealth
: and 10 fix the rate Of Interest," have dis
: CHARGED the duties imposed upon them
ard respectfully beg leave to report That
/ they have examined q large number Oi
/ witnesses and have exhausted all available
. re.ources OF information in order to arrive
at all the facts bearing upon the subject
From rEe evidence taken, and which is
herewith submitted as part Of this report,
tLe committee have drawn the following
conclusions:
At some time prior to January 20, 4. y.
1874. Nh William H. Dimmicil, late Eien-
her Of tho House of Representatives from
thr county Of Wayne, or some one in his
behalf caused TO be printed a ciicalar un-
der the date Of january, 1874, and signed
..R. II. Gihbons," secretary (see exhibit
d. rroucSling the several banks through
out The State ito circulate petitions favor
inc an increase of the legal rate of interest
10 seven per ceUtUm per annum.' and in
Ike manner procured blank petitions, with
printed heading tSee exhibit III. to be en-
closed with the circulars 10 the bank. On
OF about the 2tth of January, Mr. WILLIAM
II. Dimmicll aud Lewis B. RIchtmyal,
Postmaster of the Senate, in room No. 81.
State Capital Hotel, at Harrisburg, enclosed
and addressed to the banks and bankers Of
theGtate copies OF tlc foregoing documents.
Tie address Of the bankers was taken
from the barkCrS' almanac Of 1913, boT-
rowed Of J. w. Wier, cashier Of the liaT-
riSburg National Bank. by Mr.. J. NJ
kreiter, for the ne Of Mr. William II.
Dimmick. Nj. Dimmic!I furnished the
printed documents, envelopes ana stamps,
and Mir. Richtmycr conveyed them TO the
postohice and mailed them. To these cir
culals sundry replies were received 1T The
harrisburg postottice aud sent To the Sen
ate pu,tclZice 10y order Of AIr. EichtmycT
At the request Of MI Diumick, from tie
Senate poStotiCe they were delivered to
Nr. Dimnick by Mr. E.chtmyer. Suhse-
queEtly, during the early part Of FeJiu-
any, Mr. J. NJ. krejtrr, Of the city OF IIag-
ri>uar@. 1y the request OF Mr.. VIM. H.
Dimmick, obtained the signatures Of the
Harrisburg banks TO = written document
relative to this matter.
The authenticity ct the paper is admit
ted by some Of he bankers and denied 10y
others, The evidence, however, prpppEdel-
atIuT in td"Ur of tie c,"im that the dncu-
mCHt was mat Cria.ly altered before il Was
printed. This laIer together with cir
cu!ar under date Of February -. sigucd
Z. II. Gibbons, secretary, making ASSESS
ments upon lie various banks, and pro-
posed copy Ci House bill No. IS. was en-
closed and addressed 20 banks and bankers
by 2ir. !. N. kreitcr in his Office on Mar
kCJ street, Gir. binmicK being present at
least luIlion OF the time. After tLcy
we're ready for mailing. Mr Nichtuye took
them frnlu krletpr'S Office tot the pertnf,iCc.
ahe mailed them It the rCgueStOf Nj. Dim
mick. \ potion "f the replies rcceiv-
cd to thcse circulars were sent 10y re-
quest to the Bolton lInI5s and delivered
TO Mir. DimmicA, and a portion were re
turned to the writers as uncallcd for by
the party to whom addressed. To pre-
ci. ely what extent the banks responded by
c.cc.-s or drafts as requested your commit
tee are unable to a'cprtaIn. Probably
some Of the letters dclivtr red to Mr.. DIM
mick, or returned to the writer's contained
such enclosures, but Of his your committee
have no information. The only instances
Of such rcuittaEcgs that came to the I<now-
lodge Of the committee were those in which
they were sent to the care of Harrisburg
banks. The Union National Bank, ol
Philadelphia, wrote .IUhn y Bi1,er vice
president Of the City Bank, Harrisburg, to
pay one hundred and twenty dollars
to Saunders when the bill passed. The
Manufacturers National bank Of LiniiadeI-
plid scut to James W. Weir. cashier Har-
riShurg National Bank, check for twn
hundred and fifty dollars. DrcXel s Co,
OF ihl!adelphia, sent check for Z. H.
Gibbons, OF Seyenty-tive dollars, to Dough
erty Bros. & Co. The Western National
Bank, Of Philadelphia, authorized SHe
First National Bank, Of Harrisburg. to
pay one hundred and twenty five dollars
for any necessary expenses attending the
passage of thc bill, and the Second Nation
al Bank, Of TitusviIe. scnttothe same bank
4 draft for one hundred dollars, to be paid
II the matter was all right
IN the foregoing exceptions your com
mIttCe have no Information that banks ol.
bankers responded to the assessments bv
remittanccS, and are led 10 believe bv the
testimony and other Information that but
very few of the banks made a response
to the circulars. Your committee aIe I'M
der many obiig ttions to the bankers Of Har-
ed IN the discharge Of the dutv imposed
unon us and desire to state in this conncc-
ton that the committee have no reason to
believe that the bankers Of Harrisburg had
any knowledge Of the intended use Of mon
ey Oh other corrupt means to pass House
bill No. 19.
In the discharge OF their duty your com
mittee found it necessary to visit PhiIadeI-
phia, Reading and Honesdale to obtain
testimony. In the latter pl5ce your com
m.ttee a>ccrtained that parties. named r.
Il. Gibbons and Z. /. Saunders. were
known there. Mr. r. II. Gibbons was
cs.cd as Il witness, and stated that he
La3eN nothing of this matter under nves-
t-a On, and had not authorized the use
OF his name by any person in that conncc-
tioa. The Z. /. Saunders knOwnat Homes
dale IS a lady that Is said to reside i'm New
York, Out had visited Honesdale frequent
ly since 1869. portion Of the time stop
ping nj the house of Wm. II. Dimmisk.-
30 Far as your committee have been able
to ascel tain, the originator of this scheme,
" N. II. Dimmick, admitted no one to