The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-13
ST. LOUIS NEWS.
FAILURE or SEVERAL BANKs-pROvI-
SION OF THE CONSTITUTION
THEIR EON.
baby sh0w-Tbe ~. Louis Papers
Last Years Ipss by Fire.

baby show--The ~. Louis Papers
Last Years Lpss by Fire.
Especial Correspondence of the Domocratl
ST. LOUIS. January TO- 1879.
TWO ST. LOUIS BANKS
have gone into liquidation since tho first Of Jan.
nary. the Second National and tho Real Estate
Savings Bank.
THE SECOND NATIONAL
closed its doors Yesterday. All depositors' nc
counts have been tran slef red to tho Fourth Ma
tional Bank, md will be paid by that bank on
presentation Of The checks. certified 10 by the
Second National. The directors Of tho closed
bunk are George II. Rea, George d. Capen'
Marcus A. Wolf. q. L. JOY, W. l.. Pope. A.
Largue, David Pearson, IT, l.. Newman. q. A.
Bemis, J. s. Moss, H. d. Jones and Charles ~,
Eiaybnck. ] be dill ectors claim that the stock
holders will realize thirty cents on the dollar.
THE REAL ESTATE SAVINGS BAEH
suspended last week. The NJ. Louis aiockhold-
ders OF The bank have had couple OF meetings
since, but are az yet undetermined rs TO the
best method Of winding up the affairs Of tho
bank whether to place the bank In the hands
OF an assignee or to lot the management remain
lin the bands of the directors. About one third
OF the stock is held by residents Of Hartford.
Conn. and the stockholders here are waiting to
hear from them before taking action In the
matter. The depositors had meeting yesier
day and passed resolution recommending that
The present directors DO allowed to wind up tho
afTnirs Of the bank. A committee was also ap
pointed Mt this meeting to examine tho affairs OF
the bank and report Mt asubBeduent meeting
With Il few excsp ions the depositora seem TO DO
satisfied with The management OF the directors.
and the examining committee was appointed
merely to satisfy tho wishes Of the officers of the
krsxL In x,f ha hnpI arc III
Nanny 4. a. Russell james i. johnson. A.
Vale, Robert d. Wade. Thadeus g. Smith, VIM.
II. Pye. August b. Hart, d. II. Naylor and VIM.
n. Cozsens.
In oaHe the bank Is placed In the hands OF an
assignee. the depositors will have TO quietly
await and abide the settlement made by him, but
should the stockholders decide TO lot the board
of directors wind up tho affairs Of the bank,
then there will be u chance for every ono Of the
depositors to bring separate suit against the
bank az q corporation or against tho officers Of
the bank individually and Nil creditors whose |
deposits amount to less than $500 are allowed to |
Bis before justice of tho peace The present
State constitution makes II a misdemenDor for |
any director. manager cashier or other officer |
OF d bank TO assent to the receipt of deposits. or |
TO the creation of debts by the bank. after the |
bank Ia known by him to be in an ipsolvent or
sible for all such deposits and debts The law ,
yers here are now having u big fsht over
This clause In the constitution. ono
side claiming that Il went into operation
Immediately after the adoption Of tho constitu-
tion In November 1876. and that II has been In
force ever since: and the other side contending
that the clause was not self-operativo but that
At required n legislative enactment to put IL
INTO force. Last April the legislature passed q
hill covering the points contained 10 the oonsti-
sofa suae and the pink claim
stitutional clause. The bill passed without an
urgency clause, and for that reason did not. they
last q August 1877. Fifteen banks suspended
u ss Louis between the adoption Of tho Don on
directors OF all these banks are. of course.
deeply Interested In u settlement OF the aues-
But. they are not the. only ones. interested.
Ten thousand people. who intrnsted their little
sy1fs tS se aeepsS Of nes &c
asslnst he drect"rs q one nee" o. shs banks alone
snd Of the Is on the to tho
this particular suit in the circuit court. and II
was based on the Interpretation given by the
tuition. namely that the clause was not self
operative. An answer was filed 70 the demurrer
and the question submitted to the court. Ado
wards, In favor Of the bank attorneys.
all the Judges coneurring. and the
peal was taken by the other side to tho Court of
Appeals. This time decision WIS rendered In
favor OF the depositors. and the decision Of the
been appeaied-this tune by the bank mon, but
Nc decision has been rendered by the supreme
Court az ye'. The Aye Judges Of the Circuit
Ia the constitution. and the three Judges of the
Court OF Appeals, give 1t an entirely different
called upon t. decide tho question decisively.
The dispersion II the Real Estate Savings
Bank Is said to have beon due to
THE DEPRECIATION OF REAL ESTATE IN AND
ABOUT ST. LOUIS.
and nearly all the bank failures that have oc-
great part by the same fact he banks loaned
real estate In payment Of debts 81. ali kinds
until their assets all turned TO- real estate With
the general contraction OF business came
affected most of all. Every real estate owner
wanted to sell and nobody wanted to buy-that
ment In real estate or anything elss The re-
suit was that tho banks found themselves in
possession o, , great n,, amount Of unsalabe
due they We ,unableto meet them as they had
expected TO, by selling a part of their real
ton OF real estate In general extending
throughout the city. and to all classes Of prop
mo 1na sold fnr sac ot hg thru or
eases even as low as $50 a foot, and houses that
now sell for $1,000 could not be bought a few
years ago for $1,000. A residence on Thirteenth
and Olive streets sold few weeks ago for s12.-
900. and four years ago the owner, Judge Mar
ehal Brotherton, refused $4,000 cash for it.
Rents. OF course, have come down In proper
tton and a very good eight-room house. with .
gas bath and water fixtures. and situated In
good location for residences. can now be had
for ssh month. When rents are 50 low. 1t
would seem that the number Of vacant houses
In tho city must be unusually large but saeh /
Is not the case. Ia q report published recently :
by the secretary of the Real Estate Exchange |
here, the number of vacant dwellings-houses G
In tho city was 81 en- at 6O5 only about La per
cent Of all the dwelling houses In the oitv. /
THE BUILDING OF HOUSES GOES ON.
too. pretty much as 1t did when rents were high.
Building materials were never so cheap as now +,
and the price OF labor Is az the bottom Houses !
pan be put up for Just about half what tn same |
houses would have cost a few years ago. and +
Hose who have managed to save up a few hun
Gred dollars and are afraid to intrust the
money TO the banks or to railroad companies, or
% other corporations. invest it in real estate.
and Instead, of buying houses already built. j
they buy only the lots and build to suit them
al tal |