New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-12-15

they had to rely ON, and the persons to deal
with, it is somewhat doubtful whether they
shall ever be able to obtain an absolutely
cerrect statement Of the liabilities and
assets Of the company. At any rate, it will
he slow and tedious process. The month
" reports Of the branches show there are;
on the books Of the company, over 1000
accounts still open, and each Of
them requires careful examination.
For long time it has been known the
deposit ledger balances Of several Of tho
branches, including those Of the Washing
ton branch, were inaccurate and unreliable,
those Of the Washington branch alone con-
tanning, at the time the commissioners took
possession, discrepancies Of over $4,000.
The sum of SIC, 523 has since been discOy-
cred to sconsist of the duplication of a pOr-
ton Of the depositors' accounts, they having
been tw ice transferred from one of the old
ledgers Of the company. On account
of the irregularities thus existing the
commissioners made tho passbOoks them-
selves the basis of their examination.
1t soon became apparent that designing
persons were engaged in exciting the sus'
picione of depositors, and endeavoring to
prevent them from presenting their pass
books. Many of the depOsitOrs themselves
looked upon this action ~ An attempt on
the part Of the commissioners to deprive
them of the only evidence they had Of the
cOmpany's indebtedness to them, and NO
amount or character Of assurances seemed
to be sufficient to disabuse them of this
belief.
All the schedules except those of New
Orleans and St. Louis have been received
Most of them show the amount due depOsi.
tors to ts greater than the amount pre-
viously reported by the officers in charge Of
the several branches. As soon, therefore,
as all the schedules and records of the sev-
eral branches shall have been received and
properly arranged it is the purpose of the
commissioners to carefully re-examine the
accounts and continue the verificatfon OF
the pass books as fast as they may be pre-
sented OF forwarded to the commissioners,
as from errors already found they are con.
vinced this plan is the only one by which
they can hope to arrive at . close approx
nation to the correct amount Of the come
panys liabilities.
The commissioners accompany their report
with elaborate tables Of assets and ledger
balances of liabilities, etc., but these, they
say. can not yet be relied on without further
examination.
At the time the commissioners assumed
control the running expenses of the branches
Of the institution amounted to about
$l55, 900. They have been cut down to
about $35 600 per annum. The appeals and
remonstrances addressed to the cOmmiss
sioners against closing the branches have
been of the most impOrtunate and decided
character, and have been made principally
on behalf of the poorer and more Ignorant
classes Of the depOsitors, who, by this actions
feel as if they would be debarred from
any further communication with the come
missiOners. Sympathizing with them, and
knowing their anixeties and how readily they
would tall an easy prey to designing men,.
through whose efforts, in the absence Of
any representative of the company whom
they could consult, they would be led t"
time appreciating the difficulties the come
missiOners should encounter in having tina
remaining pass books forwarded, they have
been compelled, as it we're, to listen tO
their appeals, and to provide temporary
means Of intercOmmuni0atiOn by tho sps
pointment Of an agent whenever neeed, at
. nominal salary Of. from $40 to $25 per
month, and in two instances, at Beauforts
South Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee
where large loans have been made and :
the interests of the depOsitors require it,
agents are retained at q larger salary.
These agencies tend to allsy anxieties
and guard the interests of dep0sit0rs, and
are an effectual aid in the process Of winds
ing up the affairs of the institution. Most
Of the loans held by the company are over.
due, and on many of them interest has
Ooou 8llOWCu " 06CuM ulALO AVr VWV A0NV lu
some cases, three years. In ordinary times
the real estate loans could doubtless be
collected without much trouble, but under
the present circumstances their collection
would be exceedingly slow and difficult.
The late financial panic and cOnses
quont extreme scarcity of funds; the
uncertainty of the future character
of the government of the District, and
the present high rate OF taxation, ell conc
hn nnl1 nf< <kou
TO attempt to enforce their immediate pay.
ment would result in the greatest sacrifces
and to throw any considerable portion Of
real estate held as security in the market at
present would make it impossible to realize
the indebtedness thereon. Still, the com.
missi0ners are pressing and shalr continue
to press their collection a. fast as they can
safely do 90: but up to this time they have
been able to effect . sale to third parties in
three cases only of eleven pieces of prOps
erty offered for sale. In all the other cases
they have been compelled either to postpone
the sale of, or buy the property to avoid .
sacrifice, and they will probably be come
PEELED to continue to do 80 for some time to-
come.
As to the .so-called available loans, their
collection is still more difficult About
half of them were made in the District of
Columbia. The securities are now below
par. Of many of these loans the security
is inadequate; of others, utterly worthlessc
aud in some cases the funds Of the bank
have been loaned upon mere personal notes
without any security whatever.
The same may substantially be said OF
the branch loans as class. These appeAp
to be the worst in possession Of the como
pany, and the commissioners doubt whethep
even fifty per cent Of their amount will ever
be collected. In attempting to realize upon
the real estate proper Of the company tho
commissioners hope to secure the co-Operx-
ton of Congress in making q sale Of tho
Washington and Jacksonville property to
the United States for the uses and purposes
for which they are admirably adaptedo
NEW YORK.
American Tract Society.
New YORK, December l3.-The semie
centennial anniversary meeting Of the
American Tract Society was held this eveno
ing. Hon. William E Dodge presided. The
annual report showed the annual issues for
fifty years averaged more than 10, 600 600
publications, more than 100000 Of these
being volumes. For third of century
luI