The Morrills and Reminiscences - C. H. Morrill

were sold for a hundred dollars each and the purchaser moved them away to some other locality. In the city of Lincoln at that time the streets were mostly paved with cedar blocks, which, owing to neglect and decay, were in such a dilapidated condition that it was unsafe to drive upon them. Many business blocks were vacant and all hotels were financially embarrassed. Even the wooden sidewalks in the suburbs were carried off; taxes were unpaid on all outside and on much inside property. Conditions were no worse in Lincoln than in many towns in Kansas. Topeka was in a worse condition perhaps than Lincoln.

In the fall of 1892 the First National Bank was purchased by the American Exchange Bank of Lincoln.

The First National Bank was the largest bank in Lincoln and the largest in the South Platte country. Many other banks in this territory were correspondents of, and had most of their reserve in this bank. For three years, times had been so hard and deposits in all banks had decreased to such an extent that all country, as well as city banks in Nebraska were strained to their utmost capacity. It was the opinion of most well-informed people, that the loss brought about by a failure of the First National Bank would oblige many other banks to suspend business.

In the year 1896 Charles E. Perkins, president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad, requested me to come to Burlington, Iowa, for a conference with him. He informed me that he was a stockholder and a director of the First National Bank of Lincoln, and

The statement on this page that "In the fall of 1892 the First National Bank was purchased by the American Exchange Bank of Lincoln" is incorrect. The statement should have been as follows:
In the fall of 1892 the First National Bank was consolidated with the Lincoln National Bank, and continued under the name of the First National Bank and under the management of N. S. Harwood and F. M. Cook, as President and Cashier, respectively. Mr. S. H. Burnham bought the First National Bank in May, 1899.

had been informed that the bank was in bad condition. He requested that I examine the assets of the bank. It was agreed that a statement of bills receivable and other assets should be submitted to me. After going over these assets I submitted my report to Mr. Perkins. It showed there were about one million dollars worth of assets that could not legally be carried by the bank, under the national banking laws. These consisted of worthless paper, paper past due, and real estate. The report also showed that over five hundred thousand dollars worth of bills receivable were worthless, and that the signers of the notes had become bankrupt. Mr. Perkins was the owner of but ten thousand dollars worth of this bank stock, his entire liability, in case of a failure, being ten thousand dollars, while the total capital stock was four hundred thousand dollars. Already an assessment of fifty per cent had been made on the stock, which was paid by the stockholders. Many of the stockholders had lost nearly all their savings on account of drought, panic, and general business depression, and it was impossible for them to pay another assessment. It was evident that the bank must fail unless some man, strong financially, came to the rescue. After considering my report Mr. Perkins said to me, "Morrill, no man has ever lost one dollar by reason of being encouraged by me to invest in any business. I am a director in this bank. I do not know how many people may have deposited in the bank on that account, but I presume many have done so. You say there will be over five hundred thousand dollars

absolutely lost and that it will take one million dollars to make the bank sound. I have made up my mind to assume this responsibility alone, if none of the stockholders will join me in the task. I cannot possibly raise one million dollars at once in these hard times, but I will send two hundred and fifty thousand in a very short time with which to begin the work of weeding out bad assets." This seemed to me to be an impossible task for anyone to accomplish at a time when all banks were refusing to make loans. Mr. Perkins afterward informed me that in order to raise this money he was forced to sell his very best securities at a great loss. Most men are inclined to be honestly considerate of the interests of others when their own interests are not attacked, but when they conclude that their interests will suffer they are likely to be as ruthless with the rights of others as they dare. The course taken by Mr. Perkins showed that he practically set aside or refused to be influenced by any personal interests in this matter. He at once formed the Boston Investment Company, a corporation with one million dollars capital, to take over the bad assets and to replace with cash the amount so taken out of the bank. He was the only stockholder in the company of which I was afterwards made president and C. J. Ernst, secretary and treasurer.
From this time my duties consisted in dealing with the wreckage taken from the First National Bank, collecting whatever could be collected and taking over real estate pledged as security to the bank. The real

estate was located in many different counties in Nebraska and in other states. During the first eighteen months after Mr. Perkins decided to put the bank into a sound financial condition, he sent to me, as president of the Boston Investment Company, eleven hundred thousand dollars, all of which was used as above stated. After putting these matters in the best possible condition, my time was occupied in attending to the affairs of the Lincoln Land Company and other land companies with which I was connected. Mr. Perkins, by his personal assistance and from his private resources, not only saved the First National Bank of Lincoln, in which his interests were relatively small, but he also prevented a far-reaching financial disaster in Nebraska.
I remained president of the Boston Investment Company until 1912. As above stated all business connected with the liquidation of accounts of the First National Bank and replacing same with cash received from Mr. Perkins, was done through this company. After deducting the amount realized by the advance in real estate coming from the assets of the bank, the net total loss, including interest on the money advanced by Mr. Perkins, exceeded one million dollars. Mr. Perkins was a man of high purpose. He had great ambitions. His mind seemed to solve the most complicated problems. His knowledge of men and the manner in which they were influenced was most unusual. This insight extended to all branches of business, including governmental affairs. He seemed


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