New-York tribune., 1893-12-30
JM MWATERBURYE EXONERATED
NO CASE AGAINST CoRDAGE DIRECTORS
MT. NICOLL DISMIsSES Mr.. ALIENS CON-
PLINTs-TIE CORPORATION HAD BEEN

Mr. NICoLL DIsNusSES MI. ALIENS CON-
pLAINTs-TuE CORPORATION HAD BEEN
EARNING MONEY HEAVILY.
District-Attorney Nicoll has decided that Henry
Aliens charges against James NJ. Waterbury anu
other officers of the National Cordage Company are
not OF sufficient weight to warrant their being iad
before the Grand Jury Mr.. Nicoll made the fol-
lowing statement
Some months ago there were submitted to me
several complaints which have since oee etb the
crime of grand larceny by false pretences i ana
also charging him. in connection Th Others oSped %s
that by false representations concerning the ilnah-
ca condition Of the National C1rase tS eoc of Of
that company. knowing that the representations nS
mafe ha My hy m and Others had
combination to defraud Henry Alien @ o. Out VI
have been at great pains to examine carefully K
both OF these complaints anf have eolecteH nos al
bic / have also considered whether or not the the
Of the for Naoa h Offence Tor@@ss o Voting to declare
dividend except out Of the surplus p prors o Oo 'to o
cUhm 10 the Grand Jury the evidence collected
by me In any of the cases for the following reasons Ms
d2 not Of GRAND "at larceny ts by
representations could possibly be susta,neu IL maS
Allen G. Co. by means OF representations which
were false. and which he knew to be raise 10 puI
anpears however. on investigation that Mr. Water
bury and others had entered into pool agree,
buying "t the Stock and that after the purchase Of 1t
by MIR Allen the agent OF the pool ~ Mf bs
and paid for it by the check Of J. NJ waterbury os
Co seems impossible to believe s eo1 sha6 9 be he false
TO induce another to purchase STOCK "nicn ne 'a 7,
to & pay @ Ior to soUn Conclude Also that Mr.
Waterburys representations to Mr. Allen were
IL was claimed by the complanants that the
Cordage Company. which failed In the early part part
1 tme ehf nsoSen mEnim 0 Soon May after its failure
Reorganization Committee was appohinIeu, upn aud
critical examination OF its affairs for the protec;
ton OF its creditors. That committee employed
fSl tborpueh nyes,igation into tie business Of the
company There is no reason whatever 10 donDs e
leave little doubt in my mind that the National
Corage Company was not at any G sme ,s,p s a
bties; although. on account OF the ,u9 eStreme ne
,s yenF It Of found 5as @ s"c
sary to meet rs daily obligations ON tnaI nd aG in
that sense became bankrupt. But. as matter
OF fact there was no time in its history when
rs assets, fairly estimated did not exceed tFe ia
II appears from the evidence submitted to me
beginning OF May. Mr. Waterbury was very large
purchaser Of the stock OF the Eatlona oorgasi
owner Of upward OF 5000 shares. which he had had
purchased declining market IT Is I'm mpossoe
fortune such extent in the stock OF the COM n
pany II he really believed that IL was insolVeh'' UT
was approa ching insolvency , ., ,,,,
The charge OF conspiracy TO defrand falls %irhn
the charge of grand larceny by false represelltt-
lions already examined Before such charge can
be maintained Il Is necessary TO prove tnat the ue
PENDANTS were inspired In their several acts anu
represen entatons by intent TO defraud the coti-
planant For the reasons which nave aireauy
stated | do not think II would be possible Tor the
prosecution to establish such an intent to the sas-
faction OF any jury. =, - -. .
a.. 10 the charge OF declaring dividend upon the
stock OF the company except out OF It's surplus
nro0ts I have come to the conclusion. In Vie" OF
The reports OF the accountants and appraisers ei-
nloycd by the Committee OF REORGANIZATION ABOVE
referrel To- that such a charge could not be sue
cessfully prosecuted At the time when the 1 aiv,-
dcnd I'M question was declared the NationaL CORD
age Company was doing enormous business, iar
I'm excess OF that which II had transacted IN me
rreyIous years. Had failure not overtaken H. Tor
the rea sons which have stated and had IL peeh
enabled 10 20 on and carry out the contracts whlch
II had then on hand. there is little doubt that tne
pronts which appeared upon the books would nav
been collected. What done was 70 antclpato
nrofts which had really accrued TO the company
vhen the contracts entered into, ana Whlcn
would have been realized in cash II the business
had not been interrupted