Volume II Part 57 (1/2)
”SEC. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be the duty of the Trustees of the Corporation to invest, as soon as practicable, in the securities named in the next preceding section, all sums received by them beyond an available fund, not exceeding one third of the total amount of deposits with the Corporation, at the discretion of the Trustees, which available funds may be kept by the Trustees, to meet current payments of the Corporation, and may by them be left on deposit, at interest or otherwise, or in such available form as the Trustees may direct.
”SEC. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That the Corporation may, under such regulations as the Board of Trustees shall, from time to time, prescribe, receive any deposit hereby authorized to be received, upon such trusts and for such purposes, not contrary to the laws of the United States, as may be indicated in writing by the depositor, such writing to be subscribed by the depositor and acknowledged or proved before any officer in the civil or military service of the United States, the certificate of which acknowledgment or proof shall be endorsed on the writing; and the writing, so acknowledged or proved, shall accompany such deposit and be filed among the papers of the Corporation, and be carefully preserved therein, and may be read in evidence in any court or before any judicial officer of the United States, without further proof; and the certificate of acknowledgment or proof shall be _prima facie_ evidence only of the due execution of such writing.
”SEC. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That all sums received on deposit shall be repaid to such depositor when required, at such time, with such interest, not exceeding seven per centum per annum, and under such regulations as the Board of Trustees shall, from time to time, prescribe, which regulations shall be posted up in some conspicuous place in the room where the business of the Corporation shall be transacted, but shall not be altered so as to affect any deposit previously made.
”SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That all trusts upon which, and all purposes for which any deposit shall be made, and which shall be indicated in the writing to accompany such deposit, shall be faithfully performed by the Corporation, unless the performing of the same is rendered impossible.
”SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That when any depositor shall die, the funds remaining on deposit with the Corporation to his credit, and all acc.u.mulations thereof, shall belong and be paid to the personal representatives of such depositor, in case he shall have left a last will and testament, and in default of a last will and testament, or of any person qualifying under a last will and testament, competent to act as executor, the Corporation shall be ent.i.tled, in respect to the funds so remaining on deposit to the credit of any such depositor, to administration thereon in preference to all other persons, and letters or administration shall be granted to the Corporation accordingly in the manner prescribed by law in respect to granting of letters of administration, with the will annexed, and in cases of intestacy.
”SEC. 11. _And be it further enacted_, That in the case of the death of any depositor, whose deposit shall not be held upon any trust created pursuant to the provisions hereinbefore contained, or where it may prove impossible to execute such trust, it shall be the duty of the Corporation to make diligent efforts to ascertain and discover whether such deceased depositor has left a husband, wife, or children, surviving, and the Corporation shall keep a record of the efforts so made, and of the results thereof; and in case no person lawfully ent.i.tled thereto shall be discovered, or shall appear, or claim the funds remaining to the credit of such depositor before the expiration of two years from the death of such depositor, it shall be lawful for the Corporation to hold and invest such funds as a separate trust fund, to be applied, with the acc.u.mulations thereof, to the education and improvement of persons heretofore held in slavery, or their descendants, being inhabitants of the United States, in such manner and through such agencies as the Board of Trustees shall deem best calculated to effect that object; _Provided_, That if any depositor be not heard from within five years from the date of his last deposit, the Trustees shall advertise the same in some paper of general circulation in the State where the princ.i.p.al office of the Company is established, and also in the State where the depositor was last heard from; and if, within two years thereafter, such depositor shall not appear, nor a husband, wife, or child of such depositor, to claim his deposits, they shall be used by the Board of Trustees as hereinbefore provided for in this section.
”SEC. 12. _And be it further enacted_, That no President, Vice-President, Trustee, officer, or servant of the Corporation shall, directly or indirectly, borrow the funds of the Corporation or its deposits, or in any manner use the same, or any part thereof, except to pay necessary expenses, under the direction of the Board of Trustees. All certificates or other evidences of deposit made by the proper officers shall be as binding on the Corporation as if they were made under their common seal. It shall be the duty of the Trustees to regulate the rate of interest allowed to the depositors, so that they shall receive, as nearly as may be, a rateable proportion of all the profits of the Corporation, after deducting all necessary expenses; _Provided, however_, That the Trustees may allow to depositors to the amount of five hundred dollars or upward one per centum less than the amount allowed others; _And provided, also_, Whenever it shall appear that, after the payment of the usual interest to depositors, there is in the possession of the Corporation an excess of profits over the liabilities amounting to ten per centum upon the deposits, such excess shall be invested for the security of the depositors in the Corporation; and thereafter, at each annual examination of the affairs of the Corporation, any surplus over and above such ten per centum shall, in addition to the usual interest, be divided rateably among the depositors, in such manner as the Board of Trustees shall direct.
”SEC. 13. _And be it further enacted_, That whenever any deposits shall be made by any minor, the Trustees of the Corporation may, at their discretion, pay to such depositor such sum as may be due to him, although no guardian shall have been appointed for such minor, or the guardian of such minor shall not have authorized the drawing of the same; and the check, receipt, or acquittance of such minor shall be as valid as if the same were executed by a guardian of such minor, or the minor were of full age, if such deposit was made personally by such minor. And whenever any deposits shall have been made by married women, the Trustees may repay the same on their own receipts.
”SEC. 14. _And be it further enacted_, That the Trustees shall not directly or indirectly receive any payment or emolument for their services as such, except the President and Vice-President.
”SEC. 15. _And be it further enacted_, That the President, Vice-President, and subordinate officers and agents of the Corporation, shall respectively give such security for their fidelity and good conduct as the Board of Trustees may, from time to time, require, and the Board shall fix the salaries of such officers and agents.
”SEC. 16. _And be it further enacted_, That the books of the Corporation shall, at all times during the hours of business, be open for inspection and examination to such persons as Congress shall designate or appoint.
”Approved March 3, 1865.”
Eleven of these banks were established in 1865, nine in 1866, three in 1868, one in 1869, and the remainder in 1870, after the charter had been amended as follows:
”AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENt.i.tLED 'AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE FREEDMAN'S SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY,' APPROVED MARCH THIRD, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE.
”_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Stales of America, in Congress a.s.sembled_, That the fifth section of the Act ent.i.tled 'An Act to Incorporate the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company,' approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto at the end thereof the words following: 'and to the extent of one half in bonds or notes, secured by mortgage on real estate in double the value of the loan; and the corporation is also authorized hereby to hold and improve the real estate now owned by it in the city of Was.h.i.+ngton, to wit: the west half of lot number three; all of lots four, five, six, seven, and the south half of lot number eight, in square number two hundred and twenty-one, as laid out and recorded in the original plats or plan of said city: _Provided_, That said corporation shall not use the princ.i.p.al of any deposits made with it for the purpose of such improvement.'
”SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That Congress shall have the right to alter or repeal this amendment at any time.
”Approved May 6, 1870.”
The company was organized on the 16th of May, 1865, and the trustees made their first report on the 8th of June, 1865. Deposits up to this date were $700, besides $7,956.38 transferred from the Military Savings Bank at Norfolk, Virginia, on the 3d of June. On the 1st of August the first branch office was opened at Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., and on the 1st of September it had a balance due its depositors of $843.84.
Other branches were opened during the year at Louisville, Richmond, Nashville, Wilmington, Huntsville, Memphis, Mobile, and Vicksburg.
December 14, 1865, the Military Bank at Beaufort, organized October 16, 1865, was, by order of General Saxton, transferred to this company, with its balance of $170,000. At the end of the first year, March 1, 1866, fourteen branch offices had been opened, and the balance due depositors was $199,283.42.
The total deposits made by freedmen in them, from their establishment up to July 1, 1870, was $16,960,336, of which over $2,000,000 still remained on deposit. The total amount of deposits in the Richmond branch up to that date was $318,913, and the balance undrawn $84,537.
The average amount deposited by the various depositors was nearly $284. So far as the facts were obtained, it appeared that about seventy per cent. of the money drawn from these banks was invested in real estate and in business.
By the financial statement of the banking company, for August, 1871, it appears that in the thirty-four banks then in operation the deposits made during that month, which was considered ”dull,” amounted to $882,806.67, and that the total amount to the credit of the depositors was $3,058,232.81. In the Richmond branch, the deposits for that month were $17,790.60, and the total amount due depositors was $123,733.75; all of which was to the credit of Colored people, except $6,929.19. A branch shortly before had been established in Lynchburg, which showed a balance due depositors of $7,382.83.
The following table shows the business of the company for the years 1866-1871:
_Table Showing the Relative Business of the Company for Each Fiscal Year._
For year ending Total amount of Total amount of Balance due March 1. deposits. drafts. depositors.
--------------- --------------- --------------- ------------- 1866 $305,167 00 $105,883 58 $199,283 42 1867 1,624,853 33 1,258,515 00 366,338 33 1868 3,582,378 36 2,944,079 36 638,299 00 1869 7,257,798 63 6,184,333 32 1,073,465 31 1870 12,605,781 95 10,948,775 20 1,657,006 75 1871 19,952,647 36 17,497,111 25 2,455,836 11
For year ending Deposits each Drafts each Gain each March 1. year. year. year.