, 1876-11-12
,STROUSBERG.
incidents OF the Trial of The Rus
sian SWind!er at Moscow
The Prisoners Address to the
Court---Remarkab Self
Complacency.


lenses against Ihe huss'in commercial laws H.
rolyed in his transactions with certain iinan-
,;., association iu Moscow called the CONNER
s;.1 ran Bank It was laid to his CHARGE TINT
he secured au'anees from .he Dank on terms
unduly favorable TO nlmsel1 ny bf1bing some OF
us chief officials. The jury found DR.,
Strousberg aud u. ". Hantlcn, Pol
;ausi, and Schumacher guilty. The
s"thcr accused parties were acquittcd.
The number Of persons accused was very great
Seventeen members Of the Council Of the Bank
1rere charged with having presented fictitious
report for the years 1873 and 1874. Two of the
DIRECTORS were accused Of having accepted bribes
from Strousberg to advance him some 1000, 900
Toublcs without sufficient security, and OF hav-
iuc presented to the shareholders and published
in Tie newspapers false balancc-shect I'D to
Oct. /, 1916, and fifteen members Of the Council
we're charged with having, either by negligence
or couniyAncc. lacilitatcd these and other ne
furious transactions. A dispatch from London
dated tie 7th inst stated that the Doctor had
been sentenced to perpetual banishment from
Russia. The following is q summary Of his all
dress to the Court at Moscow:
ssUp to 1874 did not know the name even Of
the Moscow Commercial Loan Bank. In that
year NJ. Manczyk, the partner Of q Berlin bank
Ing firm, went to St. Petersburg to cash a bill Of
mine. On his return be told me that While at
St. PETERSBURG he had renewed his acquaintance
with NJ. Landau, Director OF the Moscow Com
NeeFC14 AosAA osAnh3 "a0 "00 ~AAAAOAS W NAIC0O
Ills business: Before describing my transac-
tons with the bank, ! beg to be allowed to say
q few words upon the manner in which this
subject has been treated by the Public Prose
cutor. I am q stranger here, unac-
quaintcd with the institutions and habits OF
The country: but from what l baye seen
III my own land, and IN other countries, 1t seems
to me that the Public Prosecutor, conscientious
~ to fulfill to duties OF his oiice, should have
Included in his statement not only what he
It, Is 1rH &c
favor. To blaskcn my name and reputation,
the Public Prosecutor has gone SO far as to rep
resent the mere fact Of my requiring large sums
Of money as proof that something was alniss.
II wanted much money it was because s ;l had
capital, great as it was, did not suffice; and
if It is alleged that I had no credit, a
gancc at my ledgers will show that many OF
tue greatest firms in the iron and engine manu-
facturing line we're in regular md mutually
tain Berlin bankers have always been against
nc You are probably aware that when no rail-
ways had been constructed in Germany for
Years, because the public could not be induced
to invest under arrangements and usages Of
those days, laid down hundreds OF miles Of
rail, and aoatcd shares to the amount Of hum
dreds of millions. [ did this at nv personal
risk, and without getting any assistance on the
part Of bankers. I incurred thereby the hatred
of those whose help did not need atthat time,
for it at q later period. when the
rapid growth of my iron-works, the
establishment of locomotive and railway car
riaec manufactures, and other concerns con-
command. To give an idea Of the business I
was doing, and the property owned, need
uuly say that nv Bohemian estates contained
fuli third Of the immense mineral wealth OF
that country. I have created this business in
.,,,t,,a .,~1 %1,;r7 rf
did me serious harm, this, believe, is no ar
eument aaainst me particularly. Many others
suffered while I managed to keep my
head nboye water. AS was eventual
tors OF nv Austrian business, should
have recovered lost ground and founded the
greatest iron-works and manufactures in exist
cncc had been able to complete my Bohemian
enterprise, instead Of being snatched away from
Wanted one1 fer the
toned, aud as NV books proved me to have
owned ten million roublcs at the time, it cannot
with truth be said that mad no stake in my
business. Nor has it ever been doubted By any
nv own capital. we,it to the works, to complete
which strained every nerve II borrowed
1uuch, it was not to make a private purse,
but to form aud perfect concern the profit
able character of which has been recognized
81 spopsille n for what borrowed, and had much
to lose Of my own. The Public Prosecutor, #
he chooses, NAV call me rash, imprudent, and
tlourltlcss, but he has no right to doubt my
integrity lust because / was doing business on
a large scale Nor is it very likely that he, or
certain commercial gentlemen in small way
whom he has consulted, should be able to form
an ADEQUATE idec Of the 1ucrativencss
of enterprises such as was en-
gagged in received large advances
from the Moscow Commercial Loan Bank,
1ur which gave bills and pledged mortgages,
shares, and bills of lading. The bank eventually
became bankrupt when / happened to be at
Moscow to negotiate for a further loan.
Though had fulfilled my obligations to the
bank up to that date-though no bills Of mine
in the possession Of the bank were due at the
time Of the bank stopping pavmcnt-still, when
the bank did stop payment, was arrested On
the pretc1t Of being q borrower to large
amount. Unacouainted with the Russian laws
as / :am, il was evident to me from
the first that no civil or criminal case
could be based upon such q pretext.
If to borrow is a crime. no foreign
merchant en- afford to buy ANYTHING in Russia.
After I had been detained in prison for some
time, for no other reason than the one stated the
Public Prosecutor preferred another charge
against me, [ was accused of bribing the
Directors Of the bank to lend inc money, which,
had ther had the hanks iute7cst at heart. they
would have refused. All / can saw in reply is
that +ha fam ,rif;,r rrcsnnts I made to Two