The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-10-19

rive. Amounting to 964 ,515 lis ID. but as the
| bills of lading are held by bankers, and the
| title never has vested in f. Shaw q Bros, and
| believing the merchandise TO be ample to
| protect the accsptancee, have not tncluoed
( the amount in the liabilities.
The contingent liability at this date (Octo.
ber 5th,) is $715 1853 go, viz: Endorsements oi
| trade paper, 1884 1921; accommodation en-
marked GA" S104, ,00075 1t is believed that
there will De no liability of f. Shaw q Bros
/ ON any of this
The assets of f. Shaw & Bros, as shown by
| inventories anu by their books, amount to "a :
| 419 7431 10, and do not include any claims there
may prove to be against firms with whom they
| have bad dealings in notes. The liabilities in
| clude amounts owed for merchandise, cash. Ia
Dor and as indorsers on notes held by third
1 parties 1t does not include whatever liability
| there may prove TO be in an accounting be-
tween F. Shaw & Bros. and the several parties
| with whom they have had dealings in notes.
| This exhibit shows the direct liabilities to be
| S5,479 040.92, and the contingent to be $7l5,-
| 86860.
Very respectfully yours,
HENRY A. PIPER, Accountant.
| At the conclusion of the reading the chair
man offered to furnish any additional inform
| alton the meeting might desire.
| Mr.. T. A. Wyman, assignee of the firm, was
called upon for statement, and submitted the
| following.
THE AssIGNEE'5 q STATEMENT.
Gentlemen: When 1 accepted this trust
made up my mind that somebody had to do
some work. and, as trustee, didn't propose to
shirk my share of it, and propose to submit
to your Judgment the fact whether have
been negligent in my duties, or whether have
been at work for you.
Ny deed says tnat shall reduce the proper ty
| to money soon as the same can wisely, pru-
| IDENTIFY and properly be done, and / have done
| my very best to sell the goods wisely, to col
| lect the accounts properly, and to spend the
money was obliged to spend prudently. And
/ have in every instance consulted the bes
interest of all the creditors in every move thai
| have made. / fully realized in the begin
| ming that unless the leather on hand and in
| process was carefully manipulated the pr ice ol
leather IN the markets of Boston would have
been twenty cents instead of twenty-four, and
made up my mind in your interest, that the
price must be kept at twenty-four cents; and
have sold the leather car fully.
have sold, in round numbers, five hundred
thousand dollars worth of leather, collected
four hundr red thousand dollars in money and
paid out one hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars for redeemng collateral and absolutely
necessary expenses for every cent of which l
hold voucher, and I have invested the re-
naming part of the money that belongs to the
creditors in perfectly safe manner.
fully realize that this is an immense estate,
requiring the most careful deliberation at all
times, and also requiring at times an instan-
tsneous decision upon matters involving thou
sands OF dollars where, great many times, to
hesitate is to lose.
Every sale that has been made has passed
under my especial supervision, and in every in
stance where have given credit l have done
so upon my own responsibility
have opened every letter that has come to
the store myself and dictated and signed every
answer. When go go into court know what
my witnesses are going to say and have guessed
what the other mans are going to testify to.
don't think that any man can say with
| trRth that have been guilty OF laches in this
matter, or that have let anything go by de.
| fault. L can frankly acknowledge that durin z
| the first six weeks OF this assignment, while
| the matters were in such a chaotic state,
| had my hands full. have worked in no new
hides of any account, but have simply endeav-
ored TO protect my trust property from deter
| iorating IN value in any way.
| have not forced the leather upon the market
but have sold it in the ordinary course of busl-
| ness, to realize the utmost possible for you.
have had five law suits, three OF them invol-
| vino jury trials, upon the direct question as to
| whether the deed from II. Shaw 81 Bros. to me
| was good, and in the three instances the jury
brought in a verdict that the property belonged
| to me as Trustee
| Another trial was case so intimately con-
| nected with this that we made it part of this
case. and we fought in the Court of Iusolven-
| cy, as to whether an estate similarly situated
could be put into insolvency by the creditors,
| and the Judge decided it could not. The only
| case was bill in equity, in which they asked
| for an Injunction TO restrain me from selling
certain notes or collecting them. The judges
in deciding that question decided that must
not try to sell TO innocent third parties without
his consent.
Now, gentlemen, in order to have these trials
at once, so they would be connected, We had to
| work.
| Gentlemen, have the best lawyers the State
| of New York can offer. My attorneys in the
| State of Maine cannot be equsled at the bar.
! The Dominion cannot find better men to fight
| lawsuit than have in the Provinces. With
| my force of legal talent in Massachusetts / am
| not afraid to cross swords with any man.
have organized the forces, a general or
| ganizes his army, and hold regular councils of
war. Our headquarters are in Boston, and
every work is directed from here. have al
ways found that by showing that meant busi-
ness in law, that was not troubled with so
many lawsuits. Each suit that L won in New
York stopped fifty from being brought against
my trust.
am forced to fight for you propose to fight
with powder and ball. never believed in fir,
ing blank cartridges I have on nv docket $50
law suits, worrying in amount from $50 to $780,
600. Gentlemen, have never lost law case
in my life yet, and have settled thirty estates
as trustee, assignee and administrator. have
had law suits without number, and don't
propose to begin now to lose them.
am here for business, and any one who
| wishes to attack this trust must attack it with
| his eyes wide open. And every time that We
| have fight propose to be in the middle of it.
| have had experience enough to know that
| the satisfaction the creditors of r. Shaw &
Bros. want is money, and they will thank me
more in five years from now If l give them
money than If allowed it to be scattered by
some fancied or real grievances.
ask your cooperation, gentlemen, in the
names of the widows, in the names of the or
phans, that hold stock in your different banks.
tell you, gentlemen, it is serious question
with the National banks ofs the New England
States as to whether they shall get all the divi-
dends possible out of the estate, or whether
they shall allow personal prejudice to come in
here and wreck it..
And now, gentlemen, ask you, for your
moral support. l have walked the streets of
Boston fifteen years with my head up, not
ashamed or afraid to meet any man, and pro-
pose, if live, to walk the same streets twenty
years longer in the same way.
My deed is good.
FRED A. WYMAN, Trustee.
| Mr.. Brooks called attention to the fact that
| the terms OF the assignment called for the ap-
| pointment Of co-trustee within three months,
| the deed being dated July 2Sth. Competent
| business men of Boston have declined to as
| sumo this trust Mr.. Forgan, although living
| in Nova Scotia. has succeeded in temporarily
| coNoKluS COuH0CtlUu Win tuo Dduh Vi
Nova Scotia and will give his entire time to
the trust. The speaker urged the immediate
appointment of Mr.. Forgan.
Mr.. Sherman of Pawtucket asked for the
terms of the trust, as he did not believe in
making an assignment for an indefinite
period.
Mr.. Brooks replied that it was now impossi-
bic to alter the terms of the assignment, be-
cause so many attachments had since been put
upon the property The assignment provides
simply for the conversion of the property into
money for the benefit of creditors. The speaker
hoped creditors would make up their minds
before the next meeting as to what per
centage they would take in setIle-
ment. The Shaws bad intimated that they
would like to hear what the creditors expected
in this regard. Mr.. Brooks spoke in high COM
mendatiSn of the management of Mr.. Wyman
as Trustee. Had it not been for him the whole
property would have been wrecked, while now,
it is believed, the whole would be saved. Had
it not been for the accommodation notes issued
by the firm, the assets would amply pay all lia-
bilities As it is dividend must be paid on
81 100000 from which +. Shaw s. Bros. never
derived dollars benefit.
II ~ =