The record-union., 1891-06-15

chlef, but within day or two I have
Deen forced to entertain suspicious of
him. hope these suspicious are ground
less, but 1 shall endeavor to satisfy my
self as soon as / can"
Drew had laid before the Directors the
Comptroller's conclusions about an as
sessment, and while some were willing
to pay, the others feared the order would
create another attack on the bank.
On February Goth Comptroller Lacey
wrote to Drew acknowledging receipt of
draft OF Drew's full report, and direct
ing him to give an estimate exact of the
value OF the resources and estimates of
the discount upon each class of invest
ments. my object in this is, If possi-
ble,' wrote Lacey, s'to arrive at pre-
cisely the amount of deficiency necessary
to make up by an assessment upon the
capital stock. should be glad to see
any committee of the board which may
visit Washington, but can conceive. no
better way to put the institution in first
class shape than that suggested by me.
one thing is certain, that some action is
lmperatiyely necessary, and the sooner
it is taken the better will be the results.
The next communication referring to
this matter seems to have been final, and
formal report, as developed by the ex-
animation, which had been in progress
continually since the communication of
July 24th. This was dated February 2Sth.
and reached me on March I'd. Having
duly considered all items stated in this
report, it became apparent that the i'm
pairment of the capital existed to the
extent of at least $250, 200, whereupon,
under date of March 7th, levied an as
sessment of S250,000 upon the association
to make good the impairment of the capi-
tai to that amount. This assessment was
levied under a positive promise made by
the committee who visited me that the
amount assessed would be paid in one
week at the most.'
On March 18th Lacey had not been ad-
vised of the payment of the assessment,
and on that date wrote to Drew asking
what had been done. The 18th of March
Drew replied, saying: 1.-The board has
not as yet inaugurated any measures to
obtain the assessment, and no portion
has been paid in. Although the old
board was reelected in January last
several of them failed designedly to quail
lfy, or have rendered their designations.
Among them is D. P. Nichols, whom
had hoped would accept, for the time be-
ing at least, the Vice Presidency, and
who is President of the Central Trust
Company. have earnestly endeavored
to supply the vacancies in the board with
other desirable men, but, under the cir
cumstances, few such are available" 4
Drew adds: "Ouside of the account of
the City Treasurer, who has all along en-
deavored to assist the bank, so far as he
properly could, by putting every day
checks, etc, in the bank to cover, SO far
as possible, his drafts the next day
through other banks or lthe Keystone
National Bank, the individual deposits
have diminished since Febeuary 10Th a
little more than 100000. This large
amount could be collected from over
drafts and overdue papers, and, in short,
if the directors of the bank would, as 1
4fD<ll i Al II
their own hands, instead of placing 1t on
the President, who is absorbed in other
matters necessarily connected with the
conduct OF the bank, under the present
embarrassing circumstances, S1O6, 200 at
least could be collected from these sources
within short Time"
This letter by Drew concludes thus:
u am greatly disappointed in finding so
little active support given by the direct
ors in an effort to rehabilitate the bank.D
The above reached Lacey on the 10th.
and three days later he closed the bank.
The statement next sets forth the let
ter from Lacey to Drew on March 18th,
replying to Drew's letter of the 14th, in
which he says, the condition Of the Kew
stone Bank is such that I must insist
upon the prompt payment of a larger
part Of the amount of their assessment
within the next five days, or else shall
feel called upon to take peremptory
action"
1.-The bank was closed on the 10Th of
March," continued Lacey, land did not
reopen for business. The order to close
was given after an interview with Marsh.
He was informed of the fact that GER
tificates representing about $500 shares of
stock in the keystone National Bank
had been improperly delivered to John
Wanamaker during the lifetime of John
G. Lucas, and negotiations for the sur
rQndnr and nj tha Ho<l
failed, for the reason that Wanamaker
claimed to hold them as pledge for the
payment of certain sum of money due
him from the estate of John c. Lucas,
and he declined to surrender the stock
until the debt was paid.
Complaint has been made because of
the delay in appointing receiver. This
IS utterly without force, as no interest
whatever has thereby suffered, and for
the further reason that the delay was not
unusual. The bank closed on March
18th, and receiver was appointed on
May 9th., This bank was, therefore, in
the hands of the Examiner fifty days
after being closed, during which time he
was, in effect, acting as receiver"
In closing the subject, in justice to
one whose name has been brought into
the discussion of this failure, I desire to
say that Hon. John Wanamaker has
never directly or indirectly suggested or
of the bank, nor in the appointment of a
receiver, as appears by telegram here
matter quoted. In fact have met him
but once during the present year, and
that meeting was on the 2lst day of
March, at the suggestion and in the pres
ence of a. b. Nettleton, Acting Secretary
of the Treasury. This interview was on
the day after the keystone Bank was
closed. and he substantially confirmed
the information 1 received from Marsh.
and said he held as a pledge certificates
representing about $500 shares of stock
in the Keystone Bank. / urged him to
use his influence in aid of the efforts be-
ing made to reopen the bank. 1 failed,
however, in my attempt to enlist him in
the enterprise, and SO ended all commu-
nication between US, excepting the fol-
lowing telegram, dating Washington,
April 18th:
'''Marsh came down last night to say
that it was reported that you intend to
appoint receiver unless something
more definite was done to-day. believe
nothing more definite was done to-day.
i believe nothing would suffer from Civ
ing them twenty-four hours longer, at
the end of which they may put on paper
something more definite to be presented to
you. From what he says, they are get
ting along pretty well in securing sub |
scriptions TO the new stock. / would
recommend the appointment of a re-
ceiver be deferred, say one day, until he
has an opportunity to state something
more definite. JOHN WANAMAKER.'
I'm concluding this statement, I deem |
it my duty to say that, in my opinion,
the several reports made by the Bank |
Examiner did not reflect the true con-
dition of the bank under consideration. |
The degree Of blame, if any, which prop |
erly attaches to Drew, is yet TO be ascer- |
tained. In the meantime, however. he |
has been directed to suspend examina- |
tions until the facts are submitted and |