Daily globe., 1879-09-30
sHERMAN's BANK SPECULATION.

HosV lie Became a StOcfShOlder in n NJ
tiOnaI Bank Without IncnrrtnO Iuv
Liability.
Washington SpeciaI.f ...
One of the national banks which was
organized under tho provisions of the ma
tional banking act, was the First National
Bank of Washington, D. G. It was flyer,
so to speak, of the great firm of Jay Cooke
& Co. Its capital was $780, 900, and Henry
D. Cooke, Jay Cookies brother, was its presi-
dent, and w. s. Huntingdon, now deceased,
its cashier. The bank did q good business,
and was supposed to be as firm in it's credit
as the everlasting hills; but when the house
of Jay Cooke was swallowed up in it's North
Pacific railroad investment, the First National
also collapsed. To wind up it's affairs a son
of e1-Secretary of War Stanton was appoint
ed its receiver. After making an examina-
tion of the available assets Of the concern,
and comparing the same with the liabilities
of the bank, Receiver Stanton de-
c1ded to make an assessment of
the stockholders Of the bank to
help swell the assets of the bank in declaring
q dividend. One of those thus assessed was
John Sherman, now, secretary of the treas
ury, but at the time a member of the United
States Senate, and of it's leading finance COM
mittee. Sherman refused to pay the assess-
ment, wherupon Receiver Stanton entered
into an elaborate correspondence with the
comptroller of the currency to show good
cause why John Sherman should pay. The
claim upon which Sherman resisted the pay.
ment was that he did not appear as stock
holder, and he employed his brother-in law,
Judge BARLEY, as an attorney to resist the
payment. While the matter was pending
Receiver Stanton died, and meanwhile son
of Henry D. Cooke bought up all the
claims against the bank at nominal fig
ure, and the matter was dropped.
To-day your correspondent called on
young Cooke, who is now doing banking
business here, to ascertain if he ever pressed
Secretary Sherman for settlement. He
said that he had not, and for the reason that
Sherman did not appear as stockholder of
record. He did not deny, however, that
sherman mad an interest IN the profits of
the bank; and to use his own words, "Sher
man was very good to the Cookies, and it was
natural that we did good deal of business
for him. can say only this, however, to
the direct question as to whether Secretary
Sherman was or was not stockholder-
he did not appear as a stockholder of record.
I have no more to say.'' There is abso-
lutely no doubt that Sherman was stock
holder to the extent of being beneficiary
in the banks profits, and that
the receiver of the bank
levied an assessment upon him as stock
holder. The mystery of the proceeding is,
why did Secretary Sherman want the fact of
his being a stockholder suppressed? Right
here is hint for Secretary Sherman to act
upon. John Jay Knox, his comptroller of the
currency, has the correspondence between
Receiver Stanton and others to show that he
(Stanton) deemed Sherman stockholder,
and assessed him as such. If Secretary
Sherman will make this correspondence pub
lie it will define precisely what the receiver
based his conclusion upon, and will also
show upon what grounds Sherman refused
to pay. Copies of it have already been made
for interested parties, and it is said that
William E. Chandler has copy, which he
holds over Secretary Sherman's head for fu-
ture use. -