Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-03
"ROTTEN AS THE D..
Nelson Walker and Abe Smith on the
Collapse Of the Freedmen's Bank.
Great Excitement Among the Swim
died DepOSitOrS.

Upon the receipt at this Office last night
Of the associated press dispatch relative to
the Freedmen'S Bank at Washington,
which appears in our telegraphic columns
this morning, Z UNION AND AMERICAN
reporter set out for the purpose Of learning
what effect the intelligence from Washing
ton would have upon the branch institution
OF this city. Nelson Walker, cO.ored.
4 member Of the Advisory Committee of
the Nashville Branch, wss first visited and a
copy oftlie dispatch twas shown him, where
upon he stated that tie following dispatch
had been receiyed here from Washington
ON Tuesday last:
ITO John Caryz, Cashier; Pay no more
money and take in no more.
Signed. GEO. W. STICKNEY. AciuaIy."
He said that this order had been obeyed
from the moment Of its receipt, but that it
had created no alarm among depOsitors I'M
til Yesterday when several had applied for
money and were refused in every case.
Considerable excitement was developed,
and the situation was freely discussed by
depOsitors.
Walker further stated that the dispatch
of Tuesday UccaSined considerable sur
prise among the bank officers, because only
last Saturday a long letter was received
from the central institution at Washing
ton directing the payment of - cents on
the dollar. and asking the question how
many depOsitors had given notice Of an in
tenliOn 10 withdraw their deposits.
In response to a question rs to his Opin-
ion of the management of the Freedmen's
himself plainly:
i think" said he 1.-The whole concern is
as rotten as the devil"
'You think, then, that it is a machine 10
sWindle the blacks of their labOr-earned
pennies ? " inquired the reporter.
eyes, | spent sometime last sum
mer in Washington and got an in
sight into its management. The money
Of the hank has been habitHally invested
there contrary to the charter. 1t hes been
used in ''beautifying" the city. Ny con-
fidence was then shaken in lis manage
ment."
1.-The bank is reported to have merely
gone into liquidation; don't you think that
is 4 delicate way Of saying that il is broken
and insolvent?''
THAT is my opinion of it," was the re-
ply. Il heard several depositOrs say yes
terlay that they would never more trust
any bank to the extent Of dollar
The reporter then called upon Abe
Smith. another member of the Advisory
Committee, and who has been connected
with the Nashville Branch for seven years,
the bank having been established nine
years ago. He expressed considerable sur
prise at the information conveyed in the
Washington telegram, and said he was
very sorry 10 learn of the cOndi-
ton OF the parent institution at
Washington. "Ihere'll be trouble here
in the morning he said, ''fOr most of our
depOsitors are of class who will fight for
money when they won't fight for anything
else, and they cannot be reasoned with
'sHas the Nashville branch been doing
much business since its organizations" ques-
toned the reporter.
"Well, yes, considerable. II has had as
high as S1lSO0O on deposit at one time.
At present the deposits amount TO S., 900 .
"What are those deposits invested in?'
washington real estate, Northern Pa
cific bonds, and similar securities. The
main bank at Washington, lost $217.000 in
that Pacific bond trouble few months ago.
TCse v stments have not been made
right, and the business has been managed
badly from the first"
Il suppose your depositors, generally, are
very poor people,"
"Yes, outside of about fifty thousand
men who have 4 thousand OF so in the
bank, our deposItors are made up Of washer
women, crippled soldiers who get bounty
money, women who get bounty money on
account of their husbands or brothers hay
ing been in the army, and that class of peO-
pie. We have the bank building free OF
encIlmhrance, and that cost 81 900. Sew
eral colored benevolent societies also have
money deposited in the bank.
The cashier and advisory con mittee are
helpless in this matter. The branch banks
are all conducted according to certain rules
and regulations sent out from Washington.
In fact. the appointment of an advisory
committee was nothing more than a form,
all the business being transacted at Wash
ington for all the branch Institutions"