Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-01-02
TOMPKINS SAYS NAY.
Receiver Of Seminole Answers Gov.
q efnOf BleGSe.
JUSTICE FOR DARLINGTON and YOUNG.
A Full and Comprehensive ExpIana-
tion of the Manner in Which South
! caroIina's Big High Finance Con-
Z spiraey Was Handled.

Il =
spiraey Was Handled.
Columbia State. Saturday.
as given have not been representative
Of just punishment for them both"
Is the statement made by Frank G..
Tompkins, chairman of the board of
receivers Of the Seminole Securities
company, in making reply to the gov
ernor as to clemency for John Y. Gar
lington and James Stobo Young. for
mer officers Of the company, under
sentence Of three years and one year,
respectively, on the charge Of breach
OF trust. The letter was written upon
request Of the governor. In his let
ter Mr.. Tompkins states that he feels
safe in saying that what he writes has
the Endorsement of the board OF re-
ceivers .
a"I have never heard" continues
Mr.. Tompkins. that there has been
the slightest repentance on the part
OF either Of these young men for
these outrageous and destructive acts
which made a precedent in South
Carolina In circles Of high finance"
The letter Of Mr.. Tompkins' fol-
lows:
Mr.. Tompkins' Letter.
Your letter addressed to me as
chairman Of the receivers Of the Sem
mole Securities company reached me
the 22nd day Of December, and copy
of the same was duly mailed to each
OF the other receivers for such action
as they deem proper. From informa-
tion given me by some Of the receiv-
ers. however, and my knowledge as
to their views with reference to the
question before you, feel quite safe
In saying that what l am about to
write has the Endorsement Of the en-
tire board of receivers though cir
cumstances have been such that 1t Will
be out of the question for us to meet
before January l and prepare a joint
answer to your letter.
""I desire to say In the beginning
that / have no I'll will or feeling
against these young men whatsoever,
and what I write with reference to
their case Is out Of sense Of duty
to the stockholders for whose benefit
am acting, and in response TO the
feeling that any answer to a request
from an officer of the state should be
not only true, but candid and entire
ly free from bias.
Stock Was Sold.
1T Is a matter Of common knowl-
edge in. South Carolina that the off,
cers and agents of the Seminole Secu-
rites company sold stock in the said
company and collected money and
certificates of deposits in the sum OF
t$394,O62.1O from people Of this and
several adjoining states, the bulk Of 1t
coming from South Carolina, for the
avowed and stated purpose Of form
ing Herewith a casualty insurance
company, to be known as the Sterling
Accident company 1t Is also quite
we'll known that the receivers Of this
company, with the most diligent eff
forts. have been unable to collect out
of the assets Of the said company as
much as $4,000 up to this time. and
with the most favorable decisions
from the courts and the best Of luck
that we could hope for, 1t will be i'm
possible to add to this sum a greater
amount than $4,000. The probable
ity Is that we will never be able to COL
lect, in addition to what we already
have, more than from $4,000 to S5.-
600. 1t will be noted that receivers
were appointed, and the court took
charge of this company within less
than one year after the charter was
issued and before the Sterling Acct
dent company had ever been formed;
so that so far as the stockholders OF
this company were concerned. the
treasury should have shown nearly
$4OO, 900 in cash when the court took
charge Of the company. 1t is true that
in violation Of the representations
made to stockholders and the written
agreement made between the officers
of the Seminole Securities company
and the trustees. some $4,000 in cash
and securities in the hands of the
trustees and about $4,000 in certifi-
Gates Of deposit were delivered to the
officers Of the Southern Life Insurance
company in the purchase Of con-
trolling interest In their stock. at what
was proved to be about three times
the actual value Of the said stock.
So that considering that that trans
action accounted for $4,000. the bal
ance Of the $394,O62.1O has disappear
ed, and 1t has been the contention OF
the state. the receivers and the stock
holders generally that this money was
fraudlently misappropriated by Messrs
Darlington and Young. who were the
officers of the company charged with
it's custody.
I'VE were never able to recover
from the Southern Life all Of the mo-
ney which they received; the $4,000
part of it having been settled by us
with them for $4,000. they claiming
that they as we'll as the stockholders
had been injured by the fraudulent
act of the officers of the Seminole Sc
curities company. and under the ad-
vice of counsel we deemed 1t best to
take that amount of money and avo:L
a long, tedious. and to some extent,
uncertain bit of litigation. The claims
amount to some $4,000. $4,000 Of
which is claimed by Mr.. Darlington.
Only Small Part.
"Messrs. Darlington and Young
were tried for misapprOpriation of the
sum of $45,596 in money, the proper
ty of the Seminole Securities company
and it will be borne in mind that this
was only a small part o the enormous
sum of money lost forever to the
stockholders of the company by the
acts Of those parties. Evidence was