Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-17

misery loves company. Ii were 10
venture any opinion at all. should say
that better times would follow" mat
yesterdays panic was the elimination OF
the persistent liquidation that has been
going on in Wall street during the past
two years was very generally believed:
The extraordinary depreciation OF securl-
ties. il was argued, had left the country
in much better shape to cope with
financial panic than it was in either 1859
or 1878. Figures were cited as follows:
The present total capitalization Of the rail-
roads Of this country is s., 320, 409, 461. The
highest market value Of QuOtable stocks
and bonds since July l, 1881. was $685.
All. 755. The market value of the same
securities in March, 1884, was $4,47S, $751;
574, showing a depreciation Of S1,ls5,-
500, 1s1. The process Of liquidation
received a strong impetus in the
collapse of the Northern Pacific securities
last fall. Since then the most strenuous
efforts Of such men as Vanderbilt and
Gould have been required to keep the
market braeed up. The financial down.
fall of James X. keene, fortnight ago,
seems to have acted as the entering wedge
for the present disruption. Distrust and
fear was aroused in financial circles by
the ugly circumstances attending the sus-
pension of the Marine Bank and the failure
of the firm of Grant & Ward, and utter
decentralization " dS CducEu w AuC tAAlN-lA
defalcation of President Emo, of the Second
National Bank. and the consequent en-
barrassment entaIled upon the firm Of A.
Dyett & Co.
AFFAIRS OF GRANT s WARD.
The facts seem to show that the firm of
Grant 81 Ward did very little legitimate
business. The nearest approximation
that Mr.. Davis. the assignee. has been
able to make to the condition of the broken
firm was that it Owed S12, 1883 80
for moneys borrowed on cOllaterals and
for stocks borrowed. S1.2S9, S0T 81 to de-
pOsitOrs of money, 1927, 223 s. for balances
on stock transactions, and TO general
creditors. including the Marine Bank,
1884. 1862 80. He had a general idea that
the value Of collaterals held by creditors
was 100000 or $12000,00 The total
liabilities, so far as he had been able to
ascertain, were 4,501, 531 o.. The unse-
cured Indebtedness of the firm would
therefore be in the neighbOrhOod of s., OOO,
900 or 100000.
WARD AS A WITNESS.
Ward was on the witness stand Wednes-
-day. He produced a check book showing
enormous payments Of moneys since
March, 1888. and receipts under these
made out to J. Nelson Tappan, City Cham
berlain, w. 5. Warner. eX-MayOr William
H. NEdEt. UdllltS u It 1911 anu OAutA5s
"Did Gen. Grant know anything con-
corning such transactions as these?"
''NO, sir. The receipts were never en-
tered in the books of the firm. l kept an
account of them in little memorandum
book Of my own. Profits were at the
rate of 20 per cent. per month and amount
ed to $20,000,000. Some Of the certificates,
| admit, represent fictitious values and
moneys never actually received. Mr..
Warner represented other persons, among
them J. Henry Work, the partner of Mr..
Davis. The only thing received for con-
Yeyances to Warner was a package of
these certificates"
memorandum of the moneys received
by the witness, for which he gave certif-
Gates, had been given to Mr.. Davies. As
he had received moneys the witness had
put the sums down on this paper, and as
he had paid them back he scratched them
off.
'Was Mr.. Work interested in those
transactiOns?"
''He was; cannot tell to what extent"
Lawyer Bangs asked Mr.. Davies, who
was present, to produce the paper re-
ferred to, but the latter said he had never
seen it; he had only heard from Mr.Ward
of its existence within a day or two.
zone or more Of the receipts given to
Captain Spicer acknowledges the receipt
of money from him to be invested for him
in some contract; what was that con-
tract:"
"There was no contract"
"What did those words mean in the re-
ceipt- TO be invested in a cOutract?'"
"That's all they did mean"
"They did not mean anything thenW
'sNO, sir.''
''YOu did not invest in any contract:"
"NO. sir"
''What did you do with the mOney:''
1T went into the bank, that's ALL
"AmOng your depOsits?"
eyes. sir"
"Had you ever any contracts personally
or as a member Of your firm with the
Government of the United States 2"
''Not that know Of"
''NO contracts for anything?"
''NOt that 1 know Of"
"Did you invest in any particular thing
the money received from the parties to
whom you delivered these certifcatesT
'NO, sir"
After Mr.. Ward had testified for long
time, he looked as if he was likely to break
down from sheer weakness. His face
bore a deathly look, and the lawyers were
evidently startled. Mr.. Bangs, who con-
Quoted the examination for the prosecu-
ton, was on the point Of asking him
question, when he noticed his condition.
He said:
"Mr. Ward, you are i'll, think, and
anyhow you do not appear to be well
enough to go any further to-day; suppose
we suspend the remainder of your exami-
nation until some other time%'
Mr.. Wards weary cOuntenance relaxed
into weak smile, and he assured the gen.
tlemen that it was only a question Of
short time when he would break down
altogether. He was then excused and
went to his office.