The Portland daily press., 1881-06-10

1873 there was CONSERVATION in these plantation!
and elsewhere. What to do with problems Sc
vast and SO far reaching as the suspension ol
the house involved was very serious question
A committee after looking over their asset:
reported an excess of about $S,000,000-
| above the liabilities which footed up to about
Sl0,0OO,0OO. Finally an arrangement was made
by which Zachariah Chaffee was appointed
trustee, and all the property of the family was
| turned over to him, creditors taking new rates
secured by a lien upon the trust estate.
These notes were considered worth their
face, indeed 1t was supposed at the time that
the Spragues would have large fortune left
| after providing for all their indebtedness. Un-
der the arrangement to which there were but
| two or three dissenting creditors, the mills
| could be kept in operation and vast amount of
woe and suffering which would have followed
| their stoppage prevented. For year or two,
interest was paid on these notes and then it was
| stopped altogether and the mortgage notes.
| as they are called, have since been sold as low
| as 10 cents ON the dollar. The failure and sub
| sequent shrinkage carried down three or four
| savings banks, and seriously crippled two or
three national banks. OF course there has
been dissatisfaction with the trustee. In Maine,
III New York, South Carolina and Connecticut
as well as in Rhode Island, he has been obliged
to defend lawsuits and in some cases, settle
judgments.
DISQUALIFIED COURT.
In 1879 quarrel began between the trustee
and the family which finally eliminated in
suit in equity by Mary Anne Latham, sister of
William and Amasa Sprague, who resides at
Groton, Conn, in the Rhode Island supreme
court, for the removal of the trustee. When
the case came up it was shown that every
judge was disqualified by reason of personal
interest. Such an event has never before oc-
Cured IN the history of jurisprudence in this
country, and shows ifulno1,so raIniications
of the business of the suspended house.
An attempt to remove the disqualiications
which amounted 10 practical denial of JUS
tlce was made which was finally successful:
but before hearing could be had the plaintiff,
who is simply the representative of the Sprague
family, and the creditors who have about come
to the conclusion that the prospects of receiv-
ing any part Of their claim would be improved
Dy the removal of the present trustee, began a
suit in equity in the United States circuit court
under the advice of such able lawyers as Gen
eral B. L. Butler, Gen. Roger A. Pryor and
Waldo Hutchins of New York. The counsel
for trustee Immediately interposed plea in
bar on the ground that suit involving the
same matter OF controversy was in process of
adjudication in q state court. The plea was
oyer-ruled and the trial proceeded before
Judges Lowell and Colt on motion for pre-
limnary injunction and the appointment of a
receiver.
The magnitude of the interests involved and
the appearance in court Of such noted counsel
drew a large crowd to the court room.
THE CHARGES AGAINST THE TRUSTEE.
The petitioner alleges in support of her mo-
ton gross incompetence and fragrant mal-ad-
ministration of the trust estate. Among other
grave allegations it is charged that the expense
OF repairing the Baltic dam mill when washed
away by the freshet of 1876, was but $4,000,
while it was represented to the creditors
to have cost nearly 100000; that
the trustee sold 3,100 shares of the Union
Horse Railroad company of Providence for
So7 90 share to pay interest, which stock is
xvif .fsl
ter" which was afterwards put in that vast
tracts OF land belonging to the lumber compa-
MES in Maine are lost to the estate; that other
concerns are practically worthless by misnan-
agement; that he has bought cotton of his in
innate friends at cent pound in excess of
the market rate and sold the product of the
mills below the market price; that in 1880 he
bought 1000 packing boxes made of wet lum-
Der which damaged their contents, causing a
net loss to the estate of $150000; that the en-
ployment of Collins, Fem & Co. of Hartford,
selling agents, was costly mistake, as this
mouse was not competent, either from their
position, their correspondence or their knowl-
edge OF the business to do their great work
successfully" that the trustees abusive treat
ment and offensive manner toward the parties
in interest was provocative of costly animosi-
ties and expensive litigation which might have
been avoided; that he was totally ignorant of
the business and has removed the Spragues
who were competent to manage it from any su-
poihi'ouucHCo Ut COutrOi OIL IL, Clab ne desired
to enter into combination with the Spragues
to divert ultimately the whole property from
the creditors, etc., etc.
GENERAL DENIAL.
The trustee traverses these charges which
are contained in an affidavit of William
Sprague with a general denial of each and ev-
cry allegation, asserting that under the cir
cumstances of the bad credit of the house and
the clouds which litigation has cast upon the
titles of the property, he has done everything
properly and for the best interests of all con-
cerned