Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, July 23, 1893, Page 13

- — ¢ WILDCAT BANKS IN NEBRASKA Logislative Battles in 1857 to Bstablish Thess Oorporate Beasts of Prey. MANLY VETO OF GOV. IZARD OVERRIDDEN Finaneial Panie Following Left Fortunes of Artistic but Worthless Sorip.-8100,000 1ssned by Omaha to Erect & Oapitol Buallding. Soma years ago Mr. A. G. Warner, mem- ber of the State Historical society, contrib- uted a highly interesting paper on the history of wildeat banks in Nebraska. Tie Bre reproduces it from the published re- ports of the society Just at the beginning of the present cen- tury, i the Empire stato—that congenial homa of all 18 of poiitical rascality Anron Burr had tried his prentice hand ~av stealing a arter through the New York legislature under the wuise of a_bill to porate A company to supply the city York with water.” Foliowing tho of Massachusotts and New York, vari- ous states triod first special and then gen- eral acts of incorpora the right to issue ¢ traveler choosing between two roads in an Illinofs swamp, whichever way thev went thoy were sure to wish they had gone the other, When a special act of incorporation was required for each banking com pany, the only result was that specially active” lobbyists were required to got tho bills through, Log rolling and bribery were the su nd often the ouly way to get a company sanctioned by the legislaturo, and the piss-word was vir- tually, “You tickle ms and U'll tickle you." In the legislature of Pennsylvama, in the year 1815, those who wero engine ty-five of these bills, incorporating ny banks with an aggregate capital of $9,000,- 000, combined and secured their passago. Govornor Snyder, however, votoed tho en- tire lot, but the only ultimato result was that the next year a more gencrous policy on tho part of the rollers of logs led them to in- clude forty-one banks in their planning, hav- ing an aggregate capital of 217,000,000, of which only one fitth was reqiured to be paid In, and they were then strong cnough to in- corporate them all over the governor's veto. A Litter of Wildoaiss The birth of such a litter of wildeats as this was surely a great calamity, but the passage of o general cnabling act which made possible their spontanecus gencration over 4 whole state scems to have been worse, In 1837 Michigan passed such an net. It was thought that it had been care- fully drawn, but almost immediately after its ‘passage barks were springing up all over the state, in unheard-of places, in the depths of the forest, in saw mills, in asherics aund in the pockets of dishonest wen.” Their circulation soon became S0 enormous that there were probably #00 of it for every man, woman and child in the stato. H. M. Utley prepared for tho Michigan Historical society ashort but spivited account of this disas- trous system, and this paper seems to be the only ono heretofore published which deals directly with these corporate beasts of proy. Paper cities woro brought into existenco meroely to give plausibility to the lie which made people believo that o sound bank was Toeated in some unvisited corner of the stato, and mortgages on the lots of these alleged towns were shown as tho real estate sccur- .+ but like the ity required by law. Speaking of the city and bank of Brest ho says thay the contemplative traveler who should penetrate to the desolate frog pond which the lithographic advertisements of the lace had filled with the navies of the world 'would never dream what great possibilities had been unrealized on that spot.” Three unhappy commissioners were appointed to that the banks complied with the law. s dogged their steps and notified each ank as they approached it. A considerablo amount of spe was carted along before them to enable h bank in turn to make a good showing, “An examination into the affairs of the Lenawee County bank showed the requisite specie on hand. Sud- denly descending upon the bank a few days later the amountof cash in the vaults was found to be §34.20. At the samo time the circulation of the bills of tne bank amounted to more than &0,000.” ‘The bills from the Bank of Singapore secured a wide circula- tion. Ono gentloman tells a doleful story of how this bank “busted” while he was wan- dering about in the western part of thestate looking for Singapore. There had never been such a place in Michigan, In 1830 the bank commissioners made a pathotic report, in which they af- firmed that ata low estimate thero were $1,000,000 of worthless notes in the hands af the people. In an agony of haste to get rid of the thing the law was repealed and de- clarcd unconstitutional at the same time, Referring to such banks in Indiana the governor of that stato says in his message for 1853: “The speculator comes to Indianap- olis with the bundle of bank notes in one hand andthe stock in the other; in_twenty-four hours he is on his way to some distant point of the union to circulate what he denomi- nates o legal currency authorized by the log- islature of Indiana. Ho has nommally lo- cated his bank in some remote part of the state, diffficult of access, where he knows no banking facilities are roquired. and intends that his notes shall go into the hands of per- sons who will have no means of demanding their redemption.” Nebraska's First Money Factory. The exporience of the older states scemed never to teach the new oues anything. Each one WS A8 NXI0US A8 its predecessors to try the intoxicant Influence of iuflation, and each in turn had to go through the sicken- ing, headachy process of recovering from its financial spree. en Nobraska was no ex- ception. It has been said already that the first_company ever incorporated by a No- braska legislature was an insurance com- pany. This was the *“Western Fire and arine Insuranco and Exchange company, and was incerporated March 16, 1855, The powers of this body to deal in all sorts of ex- change which had been granted In the charter were 80 stretched as to enable - it to do a general banking business, and thus the first wildeat got itself surreptitiously into existence as the ‘‘Western Exchange Bank of Omaha,” ‘The cashier of this company was Levy R, “Tuttle, who was afterwards, under Lincoln, treasurer of the United Statos: the paying teller of tho bank was A. M. Wyman, who at o aubsequent period held the same high oftice. Other bauk bills came up in the first legislature and excited hot debate. A. D, Jones, then a representative of Douglas vounty and still u resident of Omaha, claims to have been the only man who voted con- sistently against all of them. Ina speech ngainst thom he became excited and rhetor- lcal, concluding with the declaration that “‘when he should be gathered to his fathers and an humble monument had boon erected to his memory upon tho site of his beauti- ful home i Park Wild, it would gratify his soul to look down (rom ihe high ttlements of heaven—Lho region of the lessed—and read upon that monument the slwple and truthful inscription: ‘Hore lies an honest man. He voted against ‘wildcat! banks in Nebraska.’" Allen H. Bradford, who was representing Otoo county in the council, was a large, fat man, with s squealy voice. Concluding 'a short' and sputtery spoech in answer o Jones, he spoke as fol- lows: “He (Mr. Jones) talks about the Lime when ho shall be a-looking down from the high battlement of heav-on. I wish he was thero mnow, a-singing forever more smong the blessed, instoad of being down here a-makin' speeches which don't do any kood away out here in Nebras-k; J. Sterling Morton's Opposition. Whether Jones' burst of eloquence won the day or whether the achemers couid not ngree Among themselves is not certain, but B any rate no other bank charters were * frautod during that session. In tho assem- Ly of 1856 the question agam came up. J, Sterliuf Morton was then 23 years old and'a member of the lower house. Kresh from college and full to #ho brim with the princi- ples of Wayland's Political Economy, he was convinced that a legitimate bauk could only be made upout of surplus capital, and ne urged that obviously there was no auch cap. Ital in the infant territory. From that time Lo this Morton has boen active in the politics of the state, always making » brilliant fight, nod nearly ‘always an unsuccessful one. In this early logislature he was made chairman of & special commities to which was referred & bill incorporating the proposed bank of tichardson county. From this committee 0 subwitied & Ay report adverse o t ( the chartering of this or any other bank, | but this report was denied a place in ths | house journal, thov it subsequently appeared in the newspapers of the time. | In that report it was urged that the legend on each bill issued by any of these so-called | banks to pass as money, to act as a tool of | exchange in measuring values, of me as 8 medium of exch should be: ‘Bill | tolders individually liabie Morton's two colleagues on the committes—Mesars. Wil- m B. Hail and John C. Campholl—reported | fayorably to the incorporation of the bank, only making certain changes in the per: sonnel of the company, which one suspects might havo much significance it only some one yet able to interpret it could be fonnd This is the Way They Did Tt The Richardson County bank was not fin- ally chartered, bit on the 1Sth of January. 1856, five banks were chartered, as follows The Platte Valley bank at Nebraska City, the Fontenelle bank of Bellevue, the Bank of Florence, the Bank of Nebraska at Omaha, and’ the Nemaha Valloy bauk at Brownville. The fact that all the bank bills were approved on the same day is indicative of the mothods by which their passs secured. Their charters had been all dr in the same form. Kach company was b up of less than a dozen persons, The stock was either £50,000 or 100,000, to be increased at will to 500,000, and was divided into shares of $100 each. When £5,000 of the stock had been subscribed the com- pany could organiz and go to work. The stock was assignable and transferable according to such regulations a8 the directors might think proper. The bank had power toissue notes, bills and other certiticates of indebtedness, to deal in exchange and do a general banking busi The stockholders were individually for the redemption of the curren d, but there was no vrovision for a fixed specie reserve, nor other guard against individual rascality or incompotency. There was, in- deed, a provision for an annual report of the condition of the bank, to be made under oath tothe territorlal auditor, and to bo pube lished in three newspapers in the territory, but no such report was ever made. Didn't Want Safogiards. While the act incorporating tho Platte Valley bank was under consideration, some attempts were mado to throw adaitional safeguards about it. Miller moved to re- duce the amount of possible stock from 200,000 to £300,000. Tabied. Kirk offered the following amendment: “Provided, That no person shall become a stockholder in said bank, by transfer or otherwise, until such person shall file a cer- tificate with the commissioner, showing on his oath that ho has realor personal proverty worth twice the amount of stock that he wishes to subscribe, and that over and above the nmount of his indebtedness, and that there is no mortgage or incumbrance on said property. “Provided further, That said stockholders shall be held individually liable for the issu of said bank while they khold even though they may transfer their st before said issuo shall be presentod redomption.” On motion of Mr. amendment tabled. Mr. the following amendment : “Proviaed, Said bank shall not issne more than $2 for 81 devosited, or loan out of its specie other pur- poses than for the redemption of its own notes.” Tabled, and bill passed with all the original loopholes in a fine state of preserva- tion, for Decker, Kirk also offered The Committes Moant Well. In the third session of the territorial assem- bly in 1857,the as a perfect swarm of bank companies struggling for future existence; but by this time there was a growing sus- picion that there might be*something rotten in Denmark,” and Mills S. Reeves and James S. Allen, a majority of the select com- mittee of the council to which were referred “sundry bank bills,” made a report dis- couraging the incorporation of more banks. ‘This report was not so much the outcome of the teachings of economic science as 1t was an ebullition of good sense and common honesty. The two men boldly say at the beginning that thoy are “not at all in favor of banking in general, but neither do they feel positive that the new stato can got along entirely without banks, for they think that in that case eastern banks would send their money here and monopolize the gold and silver themselves. Your committee would further state that if it was true that a little thing was good therefore more was better, ‘this legislature might go on and charter a bank for every county in the terri- tory. But where are 10 be found the honest men who would invest capital in” a banking operation when every twenty-four square miles has a machine for grinding out a mean ropresentation of money. Your committee can easily conceivo that ihey are recreant to the interests of the persous who would read- ily engage in the business of securing char- ers and putting bills in circulation to the extent of their ingenuity, and when no more conld bo issued » failure would ensue and the billkolder would have the privilege of holding thom.” Then in a style as ungram- matical and as innocent of punctuation as the above, they consider the eviis of infla- tion, and again shifting the view, they say: i “Look now, sir, at this machine as a bank of exchange and tell us whai banker in any of our eastern cities would honor our paver, none would dare because they would have no cer- tainty that the soulless thing would ha ny existenes when the draft should return by press.” Further on they suy: “But suf- er us ugain to return to theissue. Wehaye now six bauks; add six more and we have twelve; a bank for every 1.000 inhabitants there, with o capital stock of $250,000; each would be equal to 300,000 (£4.000,000 evi- dently intended); three times that annu- ly, which is the remaining sum which they huve a positive right to issue, would be £000,000 (39,000,000); this, upon equal divi- siou, would give to overy man, woman aud child $750 currency; allowing every fifth of our 12,000 inhabitants to be busin men, then we would have for each man #3,750. Now, sir, your committee would ask if there is a man upon this floor that does not soe how perfectly absurd and ridiculous this whole affair is; even in the supposition that the capital stock was reduced to 50,000 for-each institution this would still leave for every man $750. We would ask again, of what use would this money be to the bank- ers except to loan; but if they should loan, whero would be their security for §187,6801 Outslders Proylng Upon the State. ““There is another view of this matter it would be well to look at. Who are the men that ask for theso charterst Aro they sovereign squatters of Nebraska? Not at all; most {f not all the leading men are from other states, who would be much obliged to us now to legislate to them tho opportunity of filling our pockots with their bills, but who would laugh us to scorn when they had our gold and property in their possession,” In spesking of these banks as places of do- posit, the committee says: *Who in his senses would think of intrusting money in the vaults of such institutions, if past ex- perionces would teach us anything. We would aread them as a highway robber, for hundreds who have had confidenco’ in them have woke wup in the morn- ing and have found twhat the body of the soulless thing had evaporated and that there was nothing to represent their pocketful of bills but an old store, a counter, anda broom.” The committeo next takes high moral grounds, for after saying that it will avail us little to wail our foily and wickedness when the territory is bankrupt,” it points to the fact that “‘priviloges, ex- emption and facilities for speculation” en- courage and multiply rascals. *“The honest portion of the community with vice con- stantly before their oyes becomes assimulated with it, its odious features and soon becomes. familiarized, they wink at the mouster and At is well for them if they are not fuscinated and become parties in a id swindle of the confiding and unthinking portion of hu- wanity.” Honesty Almost Prevailed. Thus far the report of Messrs, Reeves and Allen 1s climacteric, and one only wishes that the public printer haa helped them out wore on the grammar and punctuation, but conclusion is weak. hey “are not willing to assume the responsibility of saying that there shall bo no more banks chartered at this session of the legislature,” and ounly recommond certain amendments in case the council should see fit to pass any of the bills reforred to them. The amendments recou- wended limited the amount - of stock to 300,000, reduced the maximum interest chargeablo to 18 per cent per annum, bro- vided for the deposit of adequate securities with the state treasurer ana nade the stock uontrausferablo ©xcopt after throe wmonths notice of the contemplated transfer. A minority report from the same select committee favored the chartering of the six banks in question, but later the “standing commitiee on corpora- tions, S.' M. Kirkpatrick, chairman, re- riod adversely, as moro than a dozen mnh had applied, aad 16 would be maduess THE OMATA to_charter them all The resnlt of the struggle was that during the third session ! only vwo moro banks were turned loose t upon the we Bank of mah, both bruary 13, 1857 Ith of th oung territory DeSota and the Bank of ts boiug finally passed Both were votoed by the territorial governor, Mark W. [za8d, and both woro passed glibly over his veto. In the mess: Iative to the Bank of Tekamah, b saild complacently that he had many good reasons for refusin his assent to the bill but he thought it only needful to afirm honesty in pursuing the course ho did cluded as follows: ““Acting upon the prin iple that it is better that one man should die for tho state than that all should perish, most cheerfully take the responsibility 'of withholding my signature from tho bill above recited, and herewith retarn it to the house in which it originated for its recon sideration.” As hinted above. the legisla- tive gulf swallowed down this would-be Curtius without the shightest aificulty and still yawned horribly for more. Unantmously. nded tho incorporating of banks by orial assembly of Nebraska, for in me a financial panic, and those in_exi o failed unanimously But yet another attempt was made in 15 and that.of a more ambitious kind than an ana the terr the summ that had preceded it. In the autumn of 1858, during the fifth session of the terri- torial assembly, a sloek wentleman by the name of Richarson appeared in Omah bogan to “wire” through a bil and ate the “State Bank of Ne I'his Wwas to bo an extensive affair, having direct dealings with the state. It was to be lo- cated in Omaha, but to have branches in other parts of the commonwealth. The council’ passed the act of incorpor tion, but rumors of bribery other illegitimate methods of influencing votes bogan to circulate and finally, accord- ing to & newspaper account of the time, Dr. Miller found upon his desk a note promising that if he would support the measure he should receive $250 in cash and the privilege of making a loan of 5,000 without interesy as soon as_the bank should get to doing business. He made a public exposure of the attempt to bribe him and the result was that the legislature joined in the general cry to hunt down the wild " that had thus been let out of the bag. Mason, in the house, moved an investigation of tho charges of bribery. but nothing came of it. I have dwelt thus at length upon the origin of Nebraska's territorial banks be- causo the political part of political economy is 80 often the most important portion, and because this is especially apt to be true where strictly economic forces have their origin in what is known as ‘‘practical politics.” A Few Statlstics. Tho only statistical statement relative to the condition of those early banks which [ have been able to find is the one given below, taken from the report of the comptroller of the currency for 1876, Correspondence with that oficer assures me that the statements from which the table was compiled are no longer in existe samax K. § UNODSIT puw suvoy “aung wioaj ong msd w0y “ERAVE MO, 30 890N ‘SEOUAOSIN TVAIONTHL spung ' Spadg “++0p0adg 8991008030 10110 “ypors mde). **ruonwmaI) s1s0doq wurg | 401010 ana “STLLITIAVIT TVAIONTHL sanImavyT Lm0 In the study of this table itis to be no- ticed: (1) That not all the banks reported, and that only those which were in the best condition would do s0; (2) that the returns seem to have been made for June of the r to which they are assigned, and so the pani which reached Nebraska in the fall of '57 is not indicated by the table till 1858; and, (3) that for th car the names of some banks that had ol iled must have been counted, as thero were certainly nov six sol- vent banks in the territory at any time in 1858; and, furthermere, it is not credible that there could have been six banks doing business with an aggregate cavital of only #15,000. Before taking up the story of the panic of 8! also be of interest to see how far ortion that the banks were not ownod reign squatters” of the territory, made by our valorous committeemen, Reeves and Mil was borne out by the After ruin had struck the banks in N a correspondent of the St. Louis Ropublican thus places the ownership of thecapital that had been nvested in them: Nemaha Vallev bank, Galesbur Platte Valley bank, Nebraska . “ontanelle Bank of Bellevue, Elgin, 111, Western Exchange, Fire and Marine In- surance bank, Galva, 111 Bank of Nebraska, Council Bluffs, Ia, Bank of Florence, Davenport, Ia. Baunk ot DeSota, Wisco Bank of Tekama, Bloomington and Goss- port, Ind. Thus we seo that with one exception the banks were owned by men who had nothing more than a merely speculative interest in the territory. In September, 1857, “John Lawism" in by *'80: what Morton called Nebraska came to its usual amitous conclusion. The panic of this year began in Cincinnati by the failure of the Ohio Lafe and T'rustcompany, sud the collapse in New York of the then famous brokcr, John Thompson. Financial storm signals are often but tardily heeded ; news- papers especially are inclined to insist that overything 1s seour The Editor Pats In His Oar, Thus the Omaha Nebraskian on Septem- ber 12, 1857, published a clipping from the Chicago Times, which speaks of the failures of eastern bankers, and congratulutes the west on the sound financial condition of this region w general and of the western banks in particular, and then adds complacently: “Even should there be a much greater tumbling among these institutions (the east- ern banks) than we now have any reason to expect, our western banks will scarcely feel the shock, Wall street may be the money center, the great stock and currencey regula- tor, but the money strength of the country is in the west.” This rather obscure and illogical declaration of financial inde- pendence tailed to nullify the laws of trade. The five old bauks, those chartered in 18567, were “circulating” their paper cur- rency as fast and far as possible. As the wave of bankruptey swept toward the state it became the journalistic duty of Robert W. Furnas, who had started and at that time still edited the Brownville Advertiser, to ex- press his confidence in the sohdity of Nebraska banks. Septemver 24, he gives it as his opinion that the failure of the Ohio Iusurance, Loan and Trust company is only used by a certain rotten concern as an ox- cuse for failing and that no one need fear for really well established institutions. On the day previous to this issue of the {aper. the 23d day of September, 1857, the estern Exchange and Fire and Marine In- surance bank of Omaha closed its doors, and the president, Thomas M. Benton, sr., issued oan address to the public sayiug that the business woula be wound up as quickly and economically as possible. Lowe, Parker and Wyman were appointed trustees. The com- pany had been the first one of any kiud in- corporated by the territorial legislature, and its life, dating from the 15th of March, 1855, 1 H DAILY BEE: SUNDAY, JULY 2 1893-<SRIXTEEN PAGE *We are not figuring for | profit while our alterations are going on. We are closing' out lots of goods every day from bar- gain tables on the first floor. We shall take out our front middle window Monday night. Secure some of the special bargains which are to be had | during the sale. Now is your chance. Books, ribbons,laces, embroideries, hosiery, under- wear, shoes, boy's clothing at prices you must consider, Besides the above lines we shall place on sale Monday as long as they last PARASOLS. Every parasol to be closed out this week.’ Parasols 23c. Parasols 50c. Parasols $1.00. Parasols $1.50, Parasols $2. 50, None of these were made to sell for less than g1.oo and from thatup to $5.00, so you get them at half price and under. They are on our bar- gain tible near the door, in surah silk, changeables, stripes, figures and plaids, DRESS GOODS. A choice lot serges go cheap. 45-inch steamer serges in navy, green, tea and slate, a most serviceable cloth for this season of the.year, opening prices were 85cand $1.00. ALTERATION PRICE, 49¢. of worsted A GRAND IN OUR B We shall have a gran! clear PRIGE CUT ASEMENT. fing sale her: commencing Mon- day. The following bargains are on sale as long as goods last. A beautiful French Bisque Statue of Christopher Columbus that retails for $2.00, will be given away this week with a $10 ]All]'t‘h;l.\‘(‘ or over. Muson’s pint fruit jars 60c dozen, Mason's quart fruit jars 63 Tin top jelly tumblars lc. 200 dozen table tumblers be, 25 Per Cent Off on All Granite Ware, 50¢ goods go for 88c. 75¢ goods go for 5 $1.00 goods go for 5e. Blue and White Steel Ware. An immense assortment of pieces worth 90¢ to 81.25 each, all on sale at 63c. All 50¢ and out at skets to be closed All through our basement the same cut prevails, in housekeeping goods you can prices. Be sure and see our 10c a choice pieces of Chinaware at les: All tin and woodon ware cut down to nothing. Dinner Sets, All 840 sots reduced to 36,49, All 312 sots reducod to $7.05. All 822 sats reduced 1o $9.98. AlL 810 tea sots reduced to $1.98, Toilet Sets. Dacorated sets, 6 pieces, $1.75. 85.50 sots, with jar, $3.98, $7.00 sets, with jar, 84.95. $10.00 sets, with jar, 85,90, All $15.00 sots go at $11.7, All $20.00 sots go at $14. Anything pick up now at very attractive nd 15¢ bargain tables filled with s than half price. YOU CAN GETA $2 S Very dainty FREE WITH A TATUE of COLUMBUS for the parlor, +10 PURCHASE IN THE BASEMENT ONLY. was quite extended for an Institution of the kind and time. 1t had issuad currency with- out check, apparevtly, as its charter con- ferved no power to doso. and therefore no regulations regarding the issue. Reviewing the Rulns. The assets, as given in ‘the schedule pub- v the trustees, would not be very ug to anxious creditors. There were of “bills receivable and notes dis- ounted.” There also purported -to be stock certificates to the amount of 50,000, and be- sites these more than doubtful resources was only £191.30 in specie and $121 in bills of the insolve The Nemaha Valloy bank had begun op- eratious November 10, 1556, under the pres dency of S. H. Riddle. He had beer su ceeded by Barkalow, and the latter by Me- Koy, and at each clinnge of administration the ' Brownville Advertiser expressed re- newed contidence in its soundness, As John L. Carson was sittiug in his pri vate bank at Brownville, one fine midday in the fall of 18 axander Hallam, cashier of the Nemaha Valley bank, came in at the ar door with an anxious look on his tace. Carson understood the condition of things woll enough so that he guessed the cause, and said: “What's the matter, Hallam,bank closed " “Well, not closed exactly,” was the answer; “no use of closing, nothing to close up on.” But the cashier was not quite so confiden- tial with everybody. At his request Editor Furnas of the Advertiser inspected tho ac- counts of the concern, and finds that the bill- holders are secure against all possible loss. The resources of the bank are: Stock notes, £73,000; discouated paper at thirty and sixty days, over #5,000; cash, over £1,000. The books alsoshow that thero are §33,000 of the bills of tho banlk in circulation, He Never uan Back. Tho Brownville Advertiser noted 1t as a misfortune that MeKoy, the president of the bank, was absent in the east at the time of the crisis. This may have been a misfor- tune, but certainly it was not so for the gentieman himself. Nor did he hasten td get back with all the sped that had been expected of him. In fact, ho never came cik at all. The paper that had regretted his absence on his own account came eventu- ally to regrot it on account of others. **Legal notices” were published to inform him that he was wanted, and the calls were loud and frequont which summoned *Thomas L. MekKoy to come into court,” It might have been thought that when the steamboat tied up at the Brownville landing that fine Sep- tembernoon and the b ands and others started up town to get their supplyof Nemaha Valley currency turned into svecie, that the end of the thing had come., It scemed quito final to the men that beld the bills when they found that Hallam had closed the front door and slipped out of the back one, and they had to return to untie their steamboat, and float off, somewhat wiser and a good deal poorer than they had landed. But some of the most interesting incidents concerning such money mills are apt to come out after their emaciated ghosts get to haunting the law courts. Evaporated Assets. In the cramped pigeam, holes ‘‘where sleeps in dust” all that is legally mortal or memorable of bygone ‘misfortunes and de- parted viliainies, one mayat times even hap- pen on to a sort of intimation of something that might in its time have been almost hu- morous. In the record$ ol #he district court, which then sat at Brownyille, we find four cases agamst tho Nemaha Valley bank. Hallam, McKoy and all”'that been con nected with the banic suddenly vanished. Advertisements failad to bring them to light, but each time asa given case was about to go against them by default an attorney would put in an appearasce:‘aud spend his timo making techuica), peas designed to delay proceedings. Property was levied on that turned out to belong t6” other folks; a lot or vwo was sold. Filably, in June, 1550, Sheriff Plasters levied y) P safo, a table, a stove and a letter press, which altogether brought 33, and subsequenfly, in the case of S. F. Nuckolls vs the Nemaha Valley bank, an execution is returned unsatistied, the sheriff reporting that he can find noth- ing o levy on. Stored away with the other ovidences in this case is nearly $1,000 worth of the old currenoy. The engraving 1s ex- cellent. The writer thoughttully Euhl one of the old, worthless promises w “pay up to the = light, expecting to find a water mark representing a wild cat rampant, but noue was visible. The printer had done is utmost to make the bills valuable, and s0 well had ho accomplished his purpose that long after the bank had failed an en- terprising citizen of Brownville took a pocketful of the currency down below St. Louis ana passed it as good money. The last plea which McKoy “ever ventured to wake (even by attorney) in a Brownville court was that the “Nemaha Valley bank,” 80 called, could not legally be sued. since, as a matter of fact, it had never been in- corporated at all! Only a Xemlniscence. Most of the other concerns died ignobly, without the formality of “trustees™ or “ad- dr " or “statements,” or anything clse pertaining to a decent or oraerly ng off. For instance, we find the Bank of Tekamah leaving more than 23,000 of its currency to gather dust in the vaults that hold the records of the district court of Omaha. The bills are quite captivating. Miss Columbia, at the top of tho ones, is leaning over to tickle, with tho rod of Mercury, the ribs of avery Greekliko Indian, and from tho op- posite ends of the fives James Buchanan scems to be carrying on a flirtation with a kadaisical girl, who has curly hair d bare feet. This bank was also adver- tised for in the Nebraskian, and reported by the sheriff of tho county as “not found.™ The last suit this bank was engaged in, Messrs, Frank and Matsenbaugh put $428 of the currency in evidence, and J. M. Wool- worth, as attorney of the bank, moved to tachment, because in tho poti- plaintiffs had brought suit against tion the ‘‘the Bank of Tekamah, in Burt county,” whereas, the institution had been incorpor- ated as “the Bank of Tekamah, in Burt count;, Nebraska territory.” “The only record we find of the assets of tho Bank of Nebraska at Omaha, is in the re- turn of a writ of execution by the sheriff of the county, when he reports having levied upon and sold the following property: “Thir- teen sacks of flour, one large iron safe, one counter, one desk, one stove drum ana pipe, three arm chairs,'and one map of Douglas county.” Though there was much trouble about finding some of these banks. others have continued to keep their existence, or rathor their huving existed, before the public for a very long time. The name of the Bank of Florence remaius in gilt Je s upon the old building even unto this day, though the old Mormon town of Florence has long ceased to be Mormou and has also ceased to be a town. De Sota was also st one time an ambitious place, but has since ovaporated to such an extent that there is nothing left of it but old mill an building. Kountze, au that time a real estate man of De Sota, and still prominent in Omaha business circles, redeemed the issue of the bank of De Sota in a sort of desultory manner, buy- ing it up for what it was selling at in the market, and 8o getting most of it out of the way. This bank did pot try to start up till after the panic of 1857, and some of 18 bills bear a date as late as 1803, One Honest Bank, When one of these banks was in any sense scoure it was because tho men who es- tablished it were honest enough to be willing to suffer themselves rather thau to let others do so in consequen of their mis- takes. This was the case with tho Platte Valley bank. Sogreat was the contidence of the people in thut institution that even after the banks at Omaha had failed and the rush on this one at Nebraska City had be- gun, many of those who happened to have gold or silver on hand went to the bank and deposited it. This ma of porfect confl dence and tender of practical assistance could not, however, prevent the suspension of specis payments, But 1n this instance public confidence had been well placed. All the vills of this bank were redeemed ut par, and it was the only territorial bank of issue of which this could be said. It was true of the Platte Valley bank, not becauso the in- stitution was intrinsically sound and pros. perous, but pecause S. K. Nuckolls would nover allow it to be said that paper bearing his name had been worth less than its face value. . Ono effect of the circulation of so much bad money in the territory was that people came to feel as though anybody had a right to start a bank If ouly he could get the bills property engraved. All the banks that had takon the trouble to secure charters soon violated even the loose provisions of those slipshod documents, and therefore it did not seem very extraordinary that banks should start business without auy charters at all. They Had to Huve Monoy. Such, for instance, was the ‘‘Waubeek Bank of De Sota.” In July, 1857, the De Sota Pilot felt it its duty to warn people against this institution, saying that the bills were being circulated at a distance and that when the crash came the reputation of the town would suffer. The Omaba Nebraskian alluded o the item in tho Pilot and urged that such & bank was just as safe as those that had charters, siuce it must at best depend ou the individual stockholders, snd then took advantage of the occasion to call atten- tion to the Waubeek bauk in another col- umn. Otber bauks that operated without charters or under a straived construction of some general statule were numerous. Such were the Omaba and Chicago bank, the 13 AVEYOU HEARD OF OUR ALTERATION SALE? SILKS. | SILK' GRENADINES BADLY WOUNDED. We take the balance of our stock, embracing high cost novelties which have brought §3 a yard and give them to you at our alteration sale for 98¢ In plain mesh, satin stripes and brocaded stripes. These goods will not last long; they are sure sellers. WASH GOODS. One lot of printed pongee and canton cloths, price all the season was 15c, alteration sala price 3C One lot of choice high grade satines, opening price was 60oc, alteration sale price 25¢ Hostery Underwear Our 25c jersey ribbed vests Alteration sale price 1240 A fine summer Swiss vest Alteration sale price 19¢ Ladies’ opera length hose Alteration sale price 43¢ Men'’s 35c fine colored hose Alteration sale price 15€ Boys’ heavy double knee, heel and toe hose, regular 35¢ quality Alteration sale price 140 Bank of Dakota, the Corn Exchange Bank at Do Sota and the Omaha City Bank and Van comp: Tho paper of these banks looked as well as that of the others, and no one seemed to have cared whether the date and fuctof charter were in one corner or not. The state was in much the condition in which Wisconsin found herself when, us is stated by a sometime member of her senate- the members of the legislature used to have 1o sort their money each morning after read, ing the puper, and throw away what was worthless. y ‘Where Omaha Figured. An article that might haveserved for such a purposo appeared in the Omaha Times of Avril 5, 1858, This article was_clipped from tho Council Bluffs Bugle, and from its gen- eral tone may, I think, bo taken to be unre. linble. According 5 this statomont tho sucs of the bank of Nebraska and of Do Sota and of Platte Valley and of the Wau- beek banks wero thon at par; Nemaha Val. ley at 50 per cent, Westorn Exchango at per cent, Fontenelle Bank of Bellevue at 60 per cent and Bank of Florence at 80 per cent discount; Tekama nowhere. S0 great was the tendency to manufacture ths “Brownville Hotel com- jssucd scrip to enable them to put up a hotel, and the Advertiser endorsed their E on. Omaha early took advantage of the sume mothod of borrowing monoy without mterest. Tho need in this caso was cer- tainly pressing. The general government had made a limited appropriation for tho crection of a capitol building on the spot where the Omaia High school now stands. Tho territorial authoritios, sotting an example which has b assiduously followed by their suzcessors of the state, adopted plans for the building which called for more than double the wmount of monoy at their com- nd. The gene government, strange to say, rofused to boliove that more monoy was needed, and the walls of the abortive struct- ure stood pitcously incomplete, ruined and stormed on, and rapidly falling into decay. towns that wantod tho capitol ther- selves w 1y tickied at the prospect. So, durf ecordership of H. (!, An- derson, the ity issued ®0.000 of serip, This sum being speedily exhausted, and the capitol still being uniinished, another issuo of tho samo amount was mado. There aro still dark rumors wandering through the back alleys of Omaha that some of this was not apolied in a manner w promote most rapidly the building of the needful edifice, but they are intangiblo and it is idle to pursue them, The serip issuod at first passed at par, hut soon depreciated, was good only to pay city taxes with, and most of it was o dend loss in the hands of the holders, The people of Omaha were quite complacent regarding tho issue even after ivhaa become worthloss They looked upon it as “a war measure’ necessary Lo Keep tho capitol, and as citiz of the town were for the most part the lose) by the depreciation of the stuff, so they also were the chief gainers by the completion of the capitol. In the possession of Byron Reed of Omaha is an almost complets collection of the issucs ofall the sbove named banks. Only the Platte Valley and the Bank of Nobraska are not represented, and the collector would gladly givo face value for specimen notes of e the and while Jesse Lowe was mayor, these panks. Looking at the two large frames fil with these, for the most part dishonored, promises 1o pay, one may have a very instructive objoct losson in financ Only two of the banks issucd bills of & d nomination as high as $10, and nono higher, and the intenttion was obvious that they should wander awny and never come back for redemption v'll the concern that issuod them should be “beyond redemption.’ We have tried tho experiment of cheap state- bezotten banks, and the experiment has taught us that the power Lo issue money should not be left 1o the regulation of vai ous state legislatures, because many of th 4ro sure to prove unwise, and some of them dishonest. ‘The currency must, on the other | hand, be controlled by & power wiso, and honest, and strong enough Lo properly under- stand and minister to the nceds of tho wholo people. If this lesson has boen thoroughly learned it is worth what it bas cost. . QUAINT AND CURIOUS. The tomb of Mahomet is covered with d monds, sapphires and rubies valued at $10,- 000,000, A legal fence” has been defined in Ken- tucky as one that is “pig tight, horso high aud bull strong.” The much-maligned English snarrow scoms 10 have found a mission of usefulucss at last. 110 has been devouring the devastating pine beetle in West Virginia by the million H. B, Tingle of Perrydale, Polk county, claims to possess v most remarkable hen, The very next day after hatehing a brood of her owner by laying threo fresh eggs, all with the shell on, within tho space of a fow hours. According to a report by the French mine isterof finance 143,808 families in France have claimed exemption from certain taxes recently voted by the parliament on account of having seven or more children. The supreme court of Louisiana has de- cided that several clubs which soll their members liquor must pay the regular license fee of 81,000 a vear. The clubs’ defense was that they bought and sold liquor to members at cost. Farmers of Moxico use oxen of one color in the morning and another color in the afternoon. They have no reason for doing 80 beyond the fact that their forefathers did it and they conclude it must be the right thing to do. According to statistics 244 persons were killed in the streets of London in 1591 by the different vehicles, while the total number of railway accidents in the whole United King- dom had only 100 deaths to account for. T'he omuibuses alone killed as many persons as died from the collisions of trains. It is thought that these figures fall below the actual reality. Lagrand Larow of Barton county, Mis- souri, who is six fect in height, has whiskers just seven feot in length. Ho was born in ‘ompkins county, New York, and comes of a family whose men w oted for their long beards. Some of his friends think he ought to become & populist statesman, but he refus s to leave his farm for the uncertain prizes of political life, Probably the most remarkable knife in the world is that in the curiosity room of tho factory of Joseph Rodgers & Sons, in Shefleld, England. 1t has 1590 blades, and ten blades are added every ten v . An- oth ity is thre s of scissors, all covered by a thim 'is an expression ored- But it had its origin in standard coin in Rome was the and it weighed o pound. It was the shape of o brick, and when tho in- fluence of a Roman senator was wanted it obtained by giving him a libra, and his constituonts alluded to him as being “hit with a brick.” Prof. J. 8. Newman, professor of agricul- ture in Clemson collego, South Carorina, has told a gentleman in Berkeloy county, that state, who said that land there had been much more productiue since the big earth- quirke, that th duo to tho fact that tho earthquake providod better drainage. The me gentleman said that there have boon no chills and fever in his family since the earthquuke; wheveas before that scismic surprise they suffered greatly from that scour, A man who has a home on the Hudson, a few miles above New York city, numbers among his live stock properties a large, fat v evening in warm weather this rges from a hole under the walk r front door, just a8 the gas is lighted, and hops about'tho lawn. apparently all night, preying on insects. In the morn- ing he ref 10 his hole beneath tho f stones, for “John' is a fellow of regular habits. The man occasionally picks himup, to the astonishment of the servants, who bo- lieve the skin of the toad to be poisonous, A common belief in rural neighborhoods is that it causes warts to appear on the hands of those who touch it—a belief that prob- ably arises from the similarity of warls to the roughness on the toad's skin, ———— MMER HOTEL *Hit with ited to Ame Rome. ‘I'b aes, or libra AT THE 5 New York Sun, On. on the lithe young malden sped, With parted llps, and oyes That burnod with the resolution which All obstacles dofl On, on §ho sped, s touching earth, O'or beach and gravel walk, Till sho stood on the poreh of the big hotel With barely brouth to talk. “I saw—" she scroamoed; then stopped for breath, Exhnustod, . Whille ninut And s L saw [ Aud then, whilo they L aw--"" she suid, with and stoppod, tho fin, s inal gusp, — m uso sens bla Is that people have no inclination to make thom sick o day for every dose thoy take. They have learoed that the use of De Witt's Little Barly Risers does not in- terfere with their health by causing naussy pain or griping. These littlo pills are per, foot it action aud resulte, regulating thd stomach and bowols 80 thit headaches, diz- ziness and lassitude are proventel. The cleanse the blood, clear the complexion an oue up Yo systews Lots of health io thess chickens this rewarkable fowl astonishes Itlefellows,