The daily gazette., 1877-09-24
THIRD EDITION.
FRAUDS IN PHILADELPHIA.
$1,000, 900 DEFALCATIoN.

Dhr AbAAI1ONs
ovER-IssUE OF STREET RAILwAY STOCK
"A PROMINENT CITIZEN AT THE HEAD
OF THE SwINDLE, ETC.
There was great excitement in Philadel-
pf1ia on Saturday, consequent upon the an.
nouncement of heavy defalcatien COM
prised In an over-issue of stock of the West
PHILADELPHIA passenger Railway Company,
market street line) and the further an
nouncement that Mr.. Jno. r. Norton, pres
ident of the company, as well as president
of the permanent exhibition, was at the
head Of the conspiracy. A Philadelphia
dispatch to the New York Times gives the
following particulars of the affair:
"Mr. Morton, as the head of the road, in
conjunction with Samuel P. HUM, the
treasurer, and B. p Stokes, the secretary,
has issued, according to their own confess
sions, about 10, 900 more shares ofstock than
the charter provides for, and raised on this
over sl 900 900. The par value Of the stock
Is $50, but it has been selling in the market
no later than Thursday al $3.50 per share,
and large quantities have been disposed of
at $3.50. The fraud first came to light by
the fact that one OF the directors Of the road
who is also q director of the Corn Exchange
Rauk, found an immense amount OF Mr..
Morton's paper ON the street, with the stock
of the road pledged as collateral. This was
was communicated to Mr.. Samuel c.
Baugh, one OF the heaviest stockholders in
the road, and he investigated it and ascer-
| tained that something was wrong He call
| ed on Mr. Morton and that gentleman ac-
knowledged that there had been an over is
sue, and that he was ready to resign his
position at once.
Attempts were made to fixtthe matter up
but no satisfactory conclusion could be
| reached, so a meeting of the directors vas
held to-day, when the designations of the
officers were presented and accepted and
new ones selected in their places, and the
road will continue in operation. Mr., Nor
| ton was called upon at his residence, and
| to your correspondent made the following
statement concerning the rumor The re-
port is only too true and 1 have nothing
to say in justification Of my action. have
resigned the presidency of the Market
street road, and will face the consequence
of my acts. Many of my friends have ad-
vised me to leave the city, but 1 will do
nothing of the kind. 1 have the conscious
ness of knowing that have not made a
| uoildf lOr hybcu III tuc tidusaSolOhs, uul
have been actuated by desire to aid others.
I could criminate many others, but will
| not do so under any circumstances. am
no coward, moral or otherwise, and there
need be no fear of my committing suicide,
as some might think 1 might do. I was
drawn into the transaction by others, and
was led on until the thing got beyond nay
control. Even up to last Thursday had
hopes OF being able to meet all obligations
and save myself and others, but IL was or
dered otherwise, and 1 will have to meet
the consequences whatever they may be as
those who got me into it will do nothing to
| help me out of It, have put no money in
my pocket when could have done SO had
wished. 1 am conscious Of no dishonesty
in my action, and my desire is to make
everything plain and clear to all. 1 have
nothing to disguise, and will do nothing
dishonorable, but will use my endeaVors to
| straighten things up. 1 have been offered
any mount of money-hundredso of thous-
ands efdollars-by friends, but refused to
accept aid from any source, and have de
, termined to face the consequences. This
over-issue has been going on since 1870.
found great difficulty In fixing loans, and
had to resort to extreme measures to save
others from losing, and in doing SO was led
on by the false hope of being able to come
out of the difficulties. failed to do so and
now am compelled to meet the consequen
ces. The over issue amounts to about 100,
| 600 shares 80 '.''.'' '.. ..