, 1874-01-11


Mr. Jones explained that Ar. Lombard, within
six months after the fire. gave mortgage OF
$4,000 on his house, partly to secure the bank !;
that the indebtedness, prior to giving that Sc
curity might have amounted to 2132, 600, but he
could not be sure it wac over S100, 900. The
deiniteneeg OF Mr.. Jones' information may be
inferred from his answer to the following ques-
ton:
Odd lr. Briggs submit to you written
statement or bal1nce-sheet of the condition of
te over with yoa
Ale submitted memorandum In pencil OF
how it happened, aud a statement OF the value
OF certain things that lie proposed to turn OUT
and OF certain things that he held somn way con-
ttngent on some other matters, BY which he was
securing and reducing Mr. Lombard's indebted
ness.
Mr. Jones had not kept this pencil u,emoran-
dun had seen it last August, when hir. Lom-
bard proposed to turn over somo real estate to
secure Sec the bank, and could not tell where it
was. He thought he had seen regular balance
sheet of Mr. Lombard's account in Mr. Briggs
hands, but did not know whom it was made out
by, nor how full or regular it was, nor in short,
know nothing about it. He did not know whether
Mr. Briggs had any papers that would throw my
light on the accounts Of the different customers
Of the bank.
Q,-Do you know any other matter or thing
concerning the administration OF the bank DUR
ing the time that Lombard was President which
would throw any light upon it's condition, OF be
of any interest to the Assignee, that l have not
asked you about
Al don't know that dol don't recall
now anything-I don't recall now anything.
He REcoLLEcTs SOMETHING.
Mr. Jones reconected that the indebtedness OF
Mr.. Lombard arose from overdrawing his &C.
count, from direct disconnts from discounts on
notes guaranteed by MIR. Lombard, and from
the insufHciency of certain collaterals de-
posted by him. The greatest portion Of the In
.J.ikm l. fv11r ln1 hT
Lombard which were not paid at maturity, aud
which were, therefore. charged to him. He once
deposited. as collateral for note, some stock OF
q roofing company Of which be was President,
and the stock was not available as security.
HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF AFFAIRS.
In answer to = question as to wlet be did to
learn the condition of the bank on becoming
President, MIR. Jones replied that LIE did not
do much. because he was elected when ho
was away, and owing to explanations, mainly
on consultation With Mr.. Fort, NONRESIDENT
stockholder aud Trustee, he allowed the vote
to stand. On being asked whit he did more
than that, he replied that from time to time he
consulted with Ar. Briggs, found the bank in 9
worse condition than be had expected and did
all he could and knew how to do to put the bank
in o better condition
OIL want to ascertain, Mr. Jones, the coll
dition Of the bank financially; what it owed and
what its real available assets we're at the time
|
A.-Wel, from what have eaid. suppose
you understand that couldn't give any further
relinb.e information to you.
ANOTHER PENCIL MEMORANDUM.
Mr. Jones recollectcd that NJ. Briggs had
shown him pencil memorandum separating the
savings from the commercial deposits. showing
the amount of paper hold that Was supposed to
be good and the amount supposed to bo bad
He could not recolect the figures, but the show
ing Was favorable to the bank. He remembered
u. %o1 o11r
hopeless. The bank held $4,000 Of it,
secured in part by grain-recefpts, or something
OF that natnre, which turned out to be worthless
when Mr.. Sykes failed. The Roofing &C Com pany
paper WAS in the same condition. There was
about 1000 advanced Oh it.
WHAT BRIGGS DID.
3ir. Jones did not know how much cash was
in the vaults when he became Presdcnt--le
took tile amount from the books and did not
count it. From the Cashiers and Telier's ,e-
ran from $50, 900 to $4,000, $50 600 to $50 600,
on hand all the time, sometimes more and some
times less. The country bankers and others
called for money very lively just previous to
closing, one draft amounting to $4,000, which
accounted for the small amount of cash in the
vaults when it closed. aIr. Briggs, and some
times Mr. Eddy. passed upon tile discounts
tia. were made. Briggs was tho active Manager,
passed upon all loans and discounts. He
had an account with the bank. aud received
tent until the bank closed. He passed upon
some OF his own discounts, and occasionally a1r-
Jones was consulted, They both Obtained dis
counts, Accommodating paper to send to New
York to keep the bank balance good there. Mr..
Jones had no discounts on his own account ez-
cept once. He made discount at another bank
just before this bank closed, and deposited it in
the Franklin Bank. He had over 81 900 in the
bank when it closed. Mr. Briggs received three
discounts few days before the bank closed,
amounting in all to IS. 500, but they wcro only
to renew other notes expiring; he did not get
cash on them. Briggs indebtedness amounted
to S35, 900 or more, possibly $5o,000-
HOW JONES PAID FOR HIS STOCK.
With regard to Ar. Jones' own discounts, it
appeared that he was the first person to receive
one from the bank. He paid $4,000 for his
stock, with check on Scammons bank, and
then took q discount Immediately for 5000,
depositing his note.
Q-Was not il substantially tho fact that yon
paid for your stock with this note?
A.-No, it was not--weu, do not know
what you may say by substantially" I should
just as soon-1 should have subscribed just as
eoon, and just as soon paid for-let tho money
taken it in that way. So it WAS j ust as much
substantially pRyment}i i'll money as it vas.
Q.-Wen, you paid $1,000 by check into the
bank, and Immediately took discount for that
amount, putting, your note in in place of the
A.-No; do not think that. think that the |
check Was drawn, and the money came either |
through the Clearinghouse or some bank that
they cleared with, or directly into the baIk. I |
had it there and paid l know that
s1n. JONES AS 4 GOOD SAMARITAN
aIr. Jones' Eext discount was Nov. Is, 1871. |
It was made as an accommodation to Mr. N. S.
Henry, OF Sterling, an old friend.
Q--That WIS M accommodation, was it not, |
for this friend Of yours2
Al think it was yes. it was Henrys accept |
ance. He was making salt.
Q.-31aking salt-S904.25?
A.-Yes.
$4,000 n CONTROVERSY.
This note was paid By Mr. Henry. In the
February following Mr. Jones haG renewal OF |
his first note for 81, 600, end additional dis |
count of St, 600, which he stated VAS for another
friend These two notes were continuously re-
newed. There we're various other discounts Of
$1,000 each up to August, 1872, which Mr. Jones
stated we're on accommodation paper for other
parties. He never had but IS, goo from the bank
that he used for himself. The books of the
bank. however, ahow. 8 record Of six discounts
Of $4,000 each in 1872, Of which two we're
apparently accommodation paper, having been
paid, while the other four we're still standing
against 1Ir. Jones. The latter nevertheless de-