The daily gazette., 1879-03-18
A Had Failure.

The trustees appointed by Archbishop
Purcell to investigate the condition of
his financial affairs have reported the to-
tai amount of debts for which the aged
prelate is liable to be 1884 ,371.57. After
starting out on the assumption that the
total indebtness would not exceed $780,
600, they have seen 3,48j creditors pre-
sent claims to the amount of SO 672, ,371 81.
Aside from this sum Father Purcell
owes to various banks S117 900, and
$85, 600 in addition to three parties, thu,
bringing the tOta, liabilities up to the
amount named above. In the way of as
sets the trustees report having found
divers pieces of real estate on which no
value was fixed, together with notes Of
hand and open accounts having nomi-
nal value of s484 900. The report states,
In regard to the claims of Father Purcell
tnat 1t is every probable that many valu-
BILE ones will yet be discovered" A
frank conf-ssi on is made that the trustees
were utterly at a loss in seeking to learn
the disposition of this immense sum of
money. No records exist showing the
particular sums spent on The Cathedral
aud other of the church buildings. The
system Of receiving deposits has been
going on for quite forty years, and. in
the absence OF regular accounts, it has
been impossible TO learn what part OF the
present liabilities is due to the accumua-
tion of compound interest, but il is plain
that much of the amount owed has been
the result. OF borrowing money on inter-
est without putting the principal to any
use which would bring In revenue. While
acq uitting Father Purcell of any dishon-
esty, the trustees attribute the disaster to
"bad Investments, shrinkage in value,
misplaced confidence, anu unbusiness-
like management"
Such is the record of one OF the most
disastrous failures, in both its direct and
indirect results, that has occurred since
the panic of 1873 In rejecting on its sad
story 1t is interesting to note how, in
1855, Archbishop Purcell issued circulars
TO the clergy of his diocese touching the
management of Church property, in
which he pointed out That, while the pas
tor of a congregation, in the discharge of
of his duty, ''may be- advantageously as
sisted" by lay counsellofs, "the evils
done the Church in the United States in
times past, and the scandals given by lay
trustees, have caused the Holy See and
all the true friends of religion to look
with dlsfavor on the appointment of lay
men as managers of Church funds" He
furthur pointed out that laymen are sim
ply the assistants of the pastor i'll the care
of the temporal affairs Of the cOngrega-
ton" This, as we have said, was in 1865,
and, In the light of the facts rs develop
ed, the Archbishop was at that very time
conancting q savings bank for his par
sh'oners III manner quite as reckless as
ca imagined. While acquitting both
tn chblshop and his brother of any
CONSCIOUS dishonesty, it would be an easy
matter To indulge i'll over-much senti- |
ment concerning his mi>fortunes. Any
sympathy should be bestowed upon the |
unfortunates who lose by his utter lack |
of fores ght AMI busines sagacity. One
of the first essentials in dealing with af-
fairs is for man to know when his
knowledge stops and in what direction
his capabilities do not extend. Not to
know this, aud yet to assume tasks for
which one is wholly untitled, is to be-
come guilty of recklessness bordering on
criminality The moral to be drawn from
these pitiful revelations is that the good
man, without practical ability and ex-
perience, is al much out of place in man.
aging the temporal affairs Of the Church
as IN politics,-Record.