The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-01-10
TIE TREgDMRn,s Back.
A RECORD OF UNpREoEpKNrED sw1NpLING
AND sPoLIATIoN.

,Correspondent N. z. World. !

| WASHINGTON, December 3lst.-The re-
port of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust
Company has got into print, and Congress
| and the people at last know something of
the real condition of the institution which,
when its full history is written, will stand
forth the boldest and most wicked swindle of
all swindles that have come to light in this
era of political and financial fraud. Neither
the wild thievisbnesss of the carpet-b bag
gers in the Southern State governments,
the monstrous dishonesty of the Credit
Mobilier, the past and closed history of the
Erie Railroad, or any other rascality in this
country to date, matches the cool, persev-
ering, and successful villapy of the scheme,
by which a ring of Christian Statesmen and
Adventures have robbed more than 20, 600
innocent colered people of the South of
nearly two millions of dollars. That the
steal amounts to OF will amount to this
very large sum, there can be very little
reason to doubt. The apparent assets of
the bank are given by the Commissioners
at 50 693 0952O. The liabilities are 3d.
$40 O31 70. The assets are made up o.
what are described az tIcrns, real estate
and available" in the District of Columbia,
amounting to 1855, 226.1O. The other
million and odd dollars are made up of
loans at the Southern branches, Of which
the Commissioners say that not one-half
can ever be collected, of worthless securi
ties, and deprecated real estate. 1t is
| the bank building and adjoining real es
tate in this city, which is estimated to be
| worth 1913. 2I8 %. Bnt Congress will pro-
| badly refuse to do this, and it would not BIO
| surprising if the estate should be sold for
| ne-baififs estimated value. ANY resident
of the District of Columbia need only glance
at the schedule of loans at the principal
Office to perceive that it is utterly impro
| bable that one half Of this sum can ever be
collected. On the other hand the expense
of closing up the affairs of the bank, with
the attendant litigation and sacrifice, will
be immense. 1t is therefore no exaggera-
| ton to say that 20 per cent ut the most ia
| all that these unfortunate despositors can
ever receive of their 50 SOC, 000 This stu
pendous jobbery is the direct consequence
of the dishonesty and disregard of law OF
the men who have managed the affairs OF
the bank, many of whom have been made
infamous already by their connection with
the Freedmen's Bureau, the District ring,
and other organized schemes of plumber.
How was this frichtful spoliation accom-
plishedf How was 1T made possible ? 1t il
not yet possible to give full answers to these
questions, but the report of the Commits
sioners, which gives all the information 30
far obtained of the actual condition of the
bank, throws good deal of light on the
subject. The Freedmen's Savings Banl
was incorporated by Congress on the thirt
day of March 1865. The company was or
ganized and began business in the follow
ing May. The act of incorporation named
: as the Board of Trustees some fifty gentle
men, most of whom were known as amonl
the most prominent and respected citizen
, of the land. Peter Cooper's name headet
I the list, and after it came such name
az William Cullen Byrant, A. A. Low, 8. B
Chittenden, Gerrit Smith, A. 8. Barnes
!, John Jay, Thomas Denny, William Claain
and A. A. Lawrence. The second section
: however, failed to fxathe number of trus
/ tees required for q quorum, it being mere
! ly provided that ten should be necessary Il
fill vacancy of the board. In other re
spects the act was we'll guarded, the fiftl
\ section limiting the nveetment IF funds t.
: t'the stocks, bonds, Treasury notes, or othe
securities of the United States" The mex
! section provided that one-third of the de
posits should bekept as an "avai,able fund
> for the payment of deposits. The seventh
, section made the bank ga trust company,
| and under these two sections it will be seel
! that nearly all the swindling operations wer
!; covered. The object Of this latter section
versity the Young Mems Christian Asso
citation of Washington, and other patriot
: and pious enterprises, of which the patri
. otto and pious Howard was the protector.
is worthy of notice that the twelfth sectio
Z oethe act forbids any officer of the bank
:. obtain q loan directly or indirectly sec
ftion which was afterwards violated wit
g impunity by Howard, Henry D. Cooke, an
others Of the trustees In lending money {
themselves aud the swindling agencies an
. corporations which they represented.
is aiso worthy of note that nothing In th
I. act authorizes the creation of a singl
9 branch of the bank, the organization {
the bank anywhere except in the city {
Washington. Yet we find that the ban
b was fret organized in New York, and this
{ the Washington Office was at fret called
g branch, being started on the first of Angus
. hat eAaV.h -n hoe
b ganized all over the South wherever Their
were haudfal of negroes with q littl
4 ready money, until the expenses of the in
;, stitution had risen to the enormous figure
o of SI55, 600 year, or almost exactly pc
cent on the apparent assets when the ban
f stopped business. In reality the expense
o during the last year of it's bushes
a were probably 90 per cent of the assets av
! aitable at any time during that year.
The following table is interesting, Q
3 showing the amount of money depOsite
in different localities, as the books stoo
- III,