The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-08-29
THE FREEDMAN'S BANK.
SPEECH OF COLONEL 4. A. CoHKLINo IN THE
yIFrEENTH WARD LAST NIGHT.

SPEECH OF COLONEL r. A. CoNKLINa IN THE
yIFTEENTH WARD LAST NIGHT.
At the rooms Of the Fifteenth ward riden and Hen
drlcks Club corner Blocker Sullivan streets
Of which Colonel Truman A. Merriman Is President a
large crowd gathered last evening TO hear Colonel
Frederick A. Conklngs address the Freedman
Bank swndle. He SAID OF tho Frccdmans Bank
swinde that the consideration which Ia presumed
actuatc managers OF savings bank that OF char
ty-ons OF the highest and hottest motives OF human
action. any trust has peculiar sanct y and should
action.
Among tho damning infames Of Grant IS admin.
istraton Is tho betrayal OF the trus. assumed by
the incorporation OF the Freedmau's Savings and
Trust company. While denounce the frauds.
swindles, extortiops and peruries OF the numerous
Rings al Washington and elsewhere, which havo
duced millions of our people 10 iolencss, poverty
and despair, must overlook this mcanest OF all
the outrages OF which :hey have been guilty.
The organization Of this institution was promoted by
the noblcs OF Incentives While the intention OF its
founders adhered to, It's management reflected the
higLes, honor on all concerned It's charter
ported In the ned States Senate by Charles Sumner
the 17th OF February. 1865 and approved by
Abraham Lincoln and thus became law on tho Sd Of
March following 1t is necessary, in this place. TO
say much of these men. The former had consecrated
his entire public to the promotion OF the best
Interests OF his fellow men, of color creed
lineage lie had swerved in his fidelity tn he
was stricken down the post OF duty by the vndcve
tools OF Grants administration. The other, the Great
Emapcipator, when he put his hand to the procama-
ton which struck the shackes IRON the limbs of
1000 OOO OF men. appreciated fully their needs and
ceplod them AS the wards OF the nation Had either OF
these men foresecn the base uses 10 which this nsiiu
ZION was 10 be put is safe to say that It's charter
would never have seen the light
Tho war about close large would
necessarily be disburscd Tor the and bounies OF the
cOlored soldiers 1t toroseen that tins would be
the signal Tor I'm onslaught upon these men by horde
VI spectators and advenurcrs intent dcspoin 5
them OF their money Under these circumstances the
illustrOus statesman who III we have seen reported
the charter OF tho Frccdmans Savings and Trust Com
pany, conceived the phlanthropic purpose of provd
ing depository where their blood bought funds could
be received and invested Tor their benefit. a,,-
proved by Peter Cooper William Cullen Bryant Gcrrit
aud the charter oil tho company OF
tho last official acts OF President Lincoln
'.This is a benevolent institution. All pron,s 90 10
the dcposors to educational purposes for the freed
men ana their descendants"
| Everything looked bright and encouraging. and de-
posts made to the amount Of 500 00O0 O0 Even
after Grants accession to power appeared as II the
corrupt vermin which everywhere dencd the high
places OF the administration had been cncctuaiy de-
prived OF the power to tamper with this sacred
trust UnhappiIy under the new order OF things,
this hope proved TO be but snare and delu.
sion. Edmund Burke has somewhere said, mo
properly IS secure when IL becomes large enough
| TO tempt tie cupidty of INDECENT power" Grant
had not been year in office before the rapacity
| Of the which surrounded him-BosS Shepherd,
Hallct KilDourn, John .. Evans V. ". Marlborough
aud others, all OF them coniessedly members OF tho
real estate ring. IN which II is more than susi ecled
that the President himself was secret partner,
directed 10 the millions of deposits which had been
accumulated in the bank These conspirators found
ready accomplices In the Finance Committee and
actuaries OF the institution. Together they formed
combination, by the operations OF which, times and
| in ways without number, money was procured from
tho bank on worthless or INSUFFICIENT securities
or on no securities whatever. From the
moment that the Grant gang cast their greedy
eyes upon the millions which tho poor freedmen had
saved from their pny and earnings the doom OF
the bank was as inevitable AS tho grave The sum of
suffering and woe occasioncd by ITS tnilure may be
family estimated when it is known that tho unpaid de-
posters number nearly O000, scattered all
the Union, but manly IN the southern States The
funds OF many of their charitable societies
| the general wreck The Hon. Joseph H. Rancy, OF
South Carolina, himself coorcd man, IN his speech
delivered in the House OF Representatives March .,
1875, depicted the distress which had been inflicted
upon the colored the consequence OF all this
criminal profgacy. envy not the man who read
or listen TO his pathetic words without emotion.
Tho next act in this drama OF crime and rIllage
the passage by the Grant Congress OF law Tor closing
up the concern, and authorizing the appointment OF
board of three commissioners Tor that purpose Even
AT this point the rapacity OF the cormorants
satisfied They sought To swell Their gain by plumber
ing the despoed and betrayed depositors aircsh 1t
has been shown that the robbery OF the condng
man was accomplished by men who acquired their op-
portunites for plumber through the power his friend
ship gave to them.
Such, my friends has,y recital of the foul
wrongs 10 which the napess freedmen have been
eced the hands of Grant and accomplces in and
out OF Congress.
Now wish to submit proposition which hope
to live long enough TO carried into effect. 1t Is,
that the government of the United States shall paw
from the pubc Treasury sum sufficient to make good
TO the deposors In the Freedman's Savings and Trust
Company both the principal and interest of their
money, and | believe hazard nothing III predicting
that the democratic party, II placed in power Will do
iuSfic IN fha frpad