Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-10

The failure of Bradley Barlow has long
BEEN anticipated. 1t was generally under
stood that he had embarked all his resources
in his Southeastern railroad, and the shaky
financial character of that enterprise was
widely known. Bat that Mr.. Barlow's failure
would lead to that of the Vermont National
bank of ST. Adams, of the St. Adams Trust
company and of a man reputcd as wealthy
as Lawrence Brainerd, was wholly unexpect-
ed by the general public. The combined
failures must result in widespread loss and
trouble, and will undoubtedly rank among the
There are some points about them that de-
mand examination.
First, as to the National bank. This was
for all intents and purposes Mr.. Barlow s
private property and he seems to have so re-
garded it. OF its capital stock Of 10000,
he owned S1S7, 900, leaving only an insignii-
cant amount for the six gentlemen who with
himself constituted the board of directors.
The banks deposits were, Mr.. Barlow says
about S330000. Mr.. Barlow becoming
financially involved, the directors advanced
him 1870, 900 on bonds of the Montreal,
Portland & Boston railroad, The sum was
very much larger than the capital of the
bank andialmost,as. large as the entire amount
Of its deposits. The. Montreal, Portland &
Boston railroad is part OF the Southeastern
system and runs from Montreal to Sheldon,
in this State. Its bonds have absolutely no
market value whatever. They may intrinsic
ally be worth par, but at the present moment
they are absolutely valuelcss, and have been
SO for long time past. SO, therefore, the
directors OF the bank appear to have ad-
vanced nearly all its funds aside from Its
capital stock, on wildcat securities to a
man VIGOROUSLY involved, financially. The
result is that the bank i, ruined, its capital
Is lost beyond all hope, and its dcpostors
will have to endure long delay and. prob
ably, q final heavy loss. The whole thing
shows the glaring evil of running National
bank on the one.man. principle. The case
under consideration is not by any means the
first on record, nor will it be the last, unless
some decisive step is taken to remedy the
matter. The man wl.o owns the bank names
his own directors and they suffer him Ia
manage the bank as he plcascs. They have nc
ealintercst in lit, and presumably pay but slight
attention to their official duties. On the other
hand, the people see list Of prominent and
responsible townsmen announced as directors
Of the bank, and their names give them con.
;,,t tha,,
their hard earnings to its care. And at last
the explosion comes and the people find that
their money has gone to the support OF some
reckless Spectator and that the men in whom
they trusted were mere dummies, simply
giving the use of their names Such a sys
TEN of banking is shame and scandal, and
it ought to be done away with.
As to the st. Adams Trust company. its
affairs have not, at the moment of writing
been made very clear. Mr.. Lawrence Brain
erd, its president, has made an assignment Of
all his property for its benefit, however, ant
from this II would look rs IL its funds, too
had gone into Mr., Barlow's ill-starred spec
ulations II such proves to be the case, thu
thing is even more fragrant than that of thu
National hank. The care of the money be
longing to the working and poorer classes i,
sacred trust, and its investment ought t
be surrounded with every possible safeguard
Too great caution can not possibly be used
These facts are too familiar and TOO obviou!
for argument. And yet the managers of The
st. Adams Trust company appear to have
been ss loose and careless in their methods