The St. Clair Bank

As the failure of this institution is a public culiiiiiity, quite ns desiructive tn the property and n'.erestB of the citir.cna of iho West as o furious tornado, or an extensiveconflngrntion, ond as it lias heen brought tipou iho co.nmiinity by tliemií fort une, minnanagement ordis Ijonesty of thosn who had charge of the institution, t secma desirobïe that nll the facts respectinjj the failureuf the Bank, by which so tnany tbonsands are subject ed to inconvenience and Iossj diould bc spread before the pub'.ic. . The principal cause of suspension by the Bank 3 al'egcd to bo the failuie of Jesee Stnith and Sons, of Cleveland, Oiiio, to meel tlieir liabilitie These gentlemen are large stockholders in the B;mk, and are stated to be cxlensivcly encoged in the batikm, trading1, distilliug-, milling, lumbering and shipping business, with ej-tublislirricnts located in vari'ins pluces through the West. 'Mievaluo of the notes of the Sti Clair Bank will de pend somewhat on the surcess of this firm in pnying their debts to the Bank. The nrnonnt of notes in circulation is esfiinnted by most pnpers at S.500,000. The Ohio papors frtate that the greaier part of the circulation of the Bank was in thut Slale. The public hnve ño dnta by which lo judge of tlie uctual volue of the bilis. As far ns we have lenrned, business mon w!io have thein on hand 6erm ia (hink theydo well todspose o!' them nt fi'ty cents on the dollar. If we mny be nllowed to judye of the probabl? dividend of iliis institution by the atnounl pniri by the rutten e.-t8blishmpn a f Michigan that have preceded it, itwill noï exceed twciity five per cent , and is more likcly to be nothing at all. Amid the general scrnmblo on occasions of this kind, the most avai'nble menns are flrsl used np, nnd tlie honest and patunt b.ll hoN der, who waits for lus dividend at the final winding up of efFuirs, seldom receives any thing.ít 5erms by the fl!owing' extract from :Iie Frec Press tlmt the funds taken by the átate for School Munies, Lnndd and on the Public works have been made good in an "honorable" mnniier. What n pil y that the State cat not make nn arrangement by whicn the individual b' liolders can obtain their just dnesJ "Uuder on net of 1012. the State Ttensurer nnd all other recoivinir cfficere of the SHte are prs'-nallv responsible ftr all Bank huls receiveil - nnd precnutionary mensure.- hivinr therefbre heen tnkpn by the Tressurer in beh'ilf of himself ond the Ommissioner of the Land Office and the Coljecloid oftheStaie Public Works, and assurnnres h'áving alo been given by ihe oificers of the Bank, wlich we re honora'jly observed by tlie assignees, not n dollar has been lost either to the State, to the School or University Lnndá, or by the fficers theiuselves, in consequence of the ab'-ve faili'.r, althutih the bilis of the Bank continoi-d lo be received by ihem all np tb the dny of ossi{jnment made by the Bank." The failure of the Bank at the present time, when thero is a ecarcity of money on accoun1 of the ehortnpds of thecropslnst Beasor, mtist bear heavily on greal numbers of individuals. The Marehall Exponnder pnys: 'The shaving" mili known ns the Bink of Clnir, has made a rand swoop - pocketed the staken, und kickrd over the farotaide. VVIl, we are glad of it. We sympathise deeply with those wo have had their pockets picked Hiindreds liave been ruined,nnd thousands will sufTor severeh ; but ihis explosión must inevitably have come at some time. und the soonpr it )ccurel the tooner ihe depredntions of tliis unncr must ceafp. Our Coun'y Treasurer had iilüO of its money, and our merciianis have lost pums vnrvmg frnm $600 donwnrds. - The land Office, we hoar, had #2 000 on hand. Several cn?es have cume to our knowl cdgp, of persons who have been robbed of nl iliey were were worth; nnd must pofTer the evils of abjpc' povortv that these "Rng Barins" may wallow in wenllh and luxur}." The Mt. Clemens Patriot has the following statement : "Mr. Bnrton, nn nged citizen of Worren, in thit county, (i-out 30 years oíd) a tiller of the soil, hal bis fnrm incumben-d to Ihe mnouut of about 8200. He was in possea t-'wu of an eastern certifiente of rippoüite, and no lonper than n week tnjn last Wednesdav, os we are infurmed, ihe day before the bank finallj concluded tocheat the people and close its door?, he pot it exchnnged at the St. Clair Bank, nnd not suspecting ihe hones'y cf tho-c he was dnaling wit li took their bilis in ptymen'. Uecniue to lli'S villnge on Saturday lust tosettle up the detunnd npon his property and wns told Ihat St. Cluir poper was worih le$s."The Newark (O.) Gazeltc says "the failurr come like a clap of tlunuier in o clearsky.- No onc dreiimed of such a thingf. And the consequence is Uiat probably from $50,000 to s 100,000 was in the hands of the people f Licking connty. We saw a farmer who haü sfS40. Giils who tanglit school suffered seveiely- one to the omount ofnearly one hnndred dollnrs, Lc others in minor omuunts. The pchool fund was all :n thw money, and severii] of the townahipa will suffer loss." The Constitutionalist mëntlf'tu a case in Lick'mg county of a o individun] who receitly snld his farm tbr $4,000, and received hip pny nll in St. Clair moncy, every dollar of which :e nw tli'.id upon hts liands. The Press of all parts of the State, as far as we have noticed, are not tparing in dennnciations of the Bei.k and its managers. We shüiild exccpt.however, the Detroit Advertiser, the Editor and proprietor of which was fotmerly Presidcni of the St. Clair Bank. We are nol ditposed to j-.in in this general condf mnation of the bank or its directors any farthei than fncts and rigid justice will warrant. Il is evident ihat an institution of this kind can only fail llirough an uucommoH pressure in money matters, throngh mismanngement, or fratid. Theie seenis to have been no pressure npön the Bank which could not have bren resi6ted, hnd its allairs aUvayj; been cunducted on a jiidicions basis. There was no run upon the Bbnk whatever; and the only necessity for its faflure 6eems to have betn because its funds had been loaned largely to certain individuals without adequate security for their prompt repayment. Thie might easily have bf-en done without any in tention of fiaud on the part of the tlirectore, and we do not see ihe jnstice or propriety of chnrging it upon them without adducing the lenst purticle of proof. We regard the failure as one of thoie events necessarily consequent on tho very nature of banking rnstiUitions as now organized. If the low gives 6ct of tncrr Ihe power tostic as many notes of hand at they picase, artd tells them at the same time that thcy need not redeem them unless it buits thcir disposition or convetiience, and cxempts their propcrly from liubility to pay them- H3 it at all wonder lul that they should issue more than they can redeem? The fotilt lies in the people in permittitig sncii institutions 10 be clmrtcred; anJ the wholecomtnunity will continue to be cursed with b roken banks fur a tliousancl year to come, utilcss they becohne wise cnough to cease charcering institutions on a basis so absurd and ruinou.