The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-04-25
VOL. XLIll.-N0. 225.
EOBBING THE HELPLESS
nov rRLEDMEh WE'RE ILELcHD o'
THEIR SCdhTr SIJIN6S'

THEIR hCdhIl 81 I'"''
,, ,x.,..,.. u,ng Drnwing the Money
from nlI Parts Of tho Country ~ - -
a. hmons their Friends on -.
cnr,,y-IuvestIsutius the boto" f"''e'
>v..,,,.orox. Auril 2L-T'he bottom facts
" 's..,,. I,,nk swindc have unqucs-
,.,I, been re.obcd b, tho select comm'tteeol
~. ,,o,,se of Lepreseutatiyes. Tue mem0efso OF
,nat committee have lab0fcd zcalOuslj and IN
<,lirently In pursuing the transactions OF inc
Ipnc rocuee, who have grown rich by dcspoillnR
the poor ignorant freedmen OF their hard ehh-
ln1.
me testimony Of Mr. Anson NJ Sperry the
,,p,rL Inspector OF the branch banks. shows
rlesriy that from smOst the very beginning
there was 10th incompeten,y and rasc LILY In
t,e management OF the PRINCIPAL bank here, as
vii a. In the conduct Of the majority OF the
branches in the south. Mr.. Sperry did not be-
e,me general inspector TIL lsI0, but be almost
Immediately found, on IN examination OF the
L.ik here, that there was difference between
the elget aud the general account Of some
fQnD and he reyer was abll to have this re-
dneed below 5000. The men who were
employed as bookkceper und cashier, Boston
and wilson, were incompetent, and sub
,eo iently appeared dishon st. sperry called
attention TO the discrepancies IN the accounts
Immediately, but II was a long time before he
could get either the actu lry OF tho trustees to
tke any efficient measures to remedy the do
f,cIs Of the m manaRement. The principal object OF
one set VI tue III iuaxors sOetncd TO be to lad uce
tne freedmen TO deposit with the bank, and
"A ,thcf set devoted all their Ingenuity to profit
~ the use OF the money. hlyord was the presi-
dent aud chief mlssi Juary In the South to work
up the freedmen TO deposit with the branch
banks. The I'm luco committee here, with Cooke
Al the head, was cons tanty devlslng WAYS and
means to absorb the deposits. her required
tl the money deposited with the BRANCHES TO
be dawn to Washington. which would have
leen tho safest thing for the deposltors VI the
hangers here had only been honest, Tor the
Len IN charge Of the branche with Few eXcep-
tons, appear to haye teen both incompetent
TUE oRABBERs.
The 6nlnce committee was controlled by
Cooke, Huntington, aud Clephane. hese men
could uot have the swing they wanted us long
10 m male in Tinted s. site ties % seruTitie s " Il was
prtof the scheme OF the WASHINGTON Ring to
Use ue earnings Of the poor freedmen to carry
out their ~ gnhcent projects for enrching
themselves 10y spec ulatons In real estate and
ine Improvement thereof; 10 make this pos
h0s they had TO get the charter amended so as
t. cn,nle them t loan money on real estate.
Jhe iret,It Tor this was that politicians In the
so1ihern states waoted TO get hold OF
holding out to them greater Inducements
than the Freedmans Bank oou d IA long as It
was restricted to 10 MS on United States securi
ties They argued that the freedmen would be
ttue mercy Of INSCRIPTIONS speculators unless
the institution established expressly for their
benefit was enabled to take care Of them. Ac-
cOfdinGY Congress was induced 70 amend the
charter so as to enable the bank to loan on real
estate. Ihe men " ho were immediately selected
70 a0t as the appt isers OF real estate were Kill
bOurn and Late Tue next thing was to establish
the Seneca Sandstone Company and the money
oftne poor freedmen went 10 this sinkhole. Next
came tho new District Government, aud the Me-
tropolis and other paving companies. The c p
la O. start these concerns came out OF tho
freedmans Bank, aud was advanced on the
STOCK Of these COMPANIES, into whose treasury
not one dollar bad been paid by the stockhold-
ers The next scheme was the famous real es-
te pool hllDourn ana itta were the rel es-
tsle rcents Of the bank and trustees OF the real
estate IoOl As man gers of toe tier they
bought up large quantities Of land, and paid out
tsmal poitt!n OF the purchase money, giving
notes for th- balance. TOese notes were largely
iIrcb eed bv the freedman's Bank sfterwatd.
sn the fecommeu I'D alton Ut hilDourn ana Latta.
Ia short time ueAriy mitlop and quar-
Ir Of the money mad been loaned on
T"A estate In the District OF Colum-
D.. dy ana ,eIy m,qHsn,y n, ths sro pro 9e, 2et's
lew instance deeds OF trust were given by men
VINO no graut Of title to the properly they
IupTteagvdt and IN almost every case the rea
estate was not worth the amount OF the loan al
forced sale. 1he In luce comnittee was dis
honest and 20 was toe actuary. the former
used their positions to secure loans for them
selves and their friends ON lnddeq latc securities
and " latter used his power 10 make moneJ
out Of tho commissions allowed 10 brokers fOi
Negotiating loans.
HANDS IN ALL AROUND.
While this was gong on here tue MANAGERS OF
tneif own oenent. The Inspector, Mr.. Syerry
discovering the SHORTCOMINGS OF the brlnch
managers. reported TO the trustees at Washing
ington, and tney, Indignant tnat any suOordl.
hatos shoIld steal what they aione coveted
ordered al nepo;'s & to pe i'r~sTded va leIulsty
Henry ID. Cooke, W. s. Hunting on and Clephane
wee consprins with HalleLt kiloourn and John
y, Evans to en- ible the Seneca stone Company to
Set sOOU on apparently good security, while a
secret agreement provided that the bank
sDOulI alone have the second mortgage bonus
g. (,OmDanV a Of a I'm
Iapls f4ilure to pay tue loan, suborJinates like
the cashier and bookkeeper coul1 see no wrong
accordingly Boston, the bookkesoer, FORCES the
,1ecNs o. poor depos'tor named John Wat
kns, and Wilson, the cashier, banded over the
Cue ks Wilson was th- f,ther in-liw OF Bos-
i'n and o. course the stealing was on JOINT &C
cyunt,'as Boston now insists.
I u, Eaton, who was the first actu Ty, was
boih b. poctite and knaye, as was Hsl Alvord,
Tue President All the IN nagers were con.
tpic!olsy pious anu philantnropic. Alyord
tud ton we're Trustees OF the Howard Uni
Nsrsy along with Howard and Balloch, and
were likewise members In good standing OF the
Congregational Church. ton never lost an
o.pJr unity. as II would seem from the testl-
tDid followed suit. When the Howard Uniyeri-
wai 10 be built Alyord. Eaton, Stickney.
Toward Bal och, et ornne 0enus formed them
t.eiy7s INTO ,int stock company and manu-.
ctured baked bricks out OF which to build
t,s university building; Tney all realized
tu'uga 10 build themselves tine residences on
frouni which they got at nomln L
lnce from the university. The universi-
y "as shors come $1,000. The money was
UltfoWed from the IreedmHn's Bank, and
secuted by mortgage on the university prop
cry In due time real estate 1ru, with tnI -
ferrous connection With the managers OF the
University bought portion OF the ground be-
i'hElhE to the university, and started lie Droit
Iark no price . I'D was altogether inadequate,
bhl the Freedman's Bank relieved the mortgage
On tne whole Of the university property, and
lpok lens on tho houses ana lots OF the lie Droit
ffk Company as they were sold. OF course
tomebody proAted by this crooked ttHn.Aotion
tha although the proof 10 not clear, Yet tbe in-
tteal, and that tbs humanittrtans so active In
w management Of the Howard University aud
we Freedn,An's hank should share and shaTe
ahke IN the profits.
A LIVELY sTRIKrR.
One OF tho most interesting transactions 10
H"lch Stl 'kney was engaged was that with one
yuan boIle, real estate agent OF this city This
IsdnW boyle was one OF the strikers and to ils
OF the District Ring. lie was also broker for
EuphhoH tho Actudry, ana IL was common
ttac ice when persons who had good security
70 give made application for loans at the coun-
,e OF tho freedm8n's Bank, they would be re-
leired 10 Juan Boyle. lie would manage the
hegDtatons and charge the concern a commits
son, In TINS way he drove quite lucrative
tu mess The FINANCE committee were famil-
WIN this pra tice and countenanced II. AZ
konfth' when tho panic Of 1879 came, and the
pihk had TO raise some ready c-th, there was =
~ OF United States bonds In the vaults, and
cNfku DOVle Z a In aelI nj