THE WORK OF COMMISSIONERS 103 
Leipold, an exceedingly unpleasant though very 
efficient person, was soon at loggerheads with 
the other commissioners because they would not 
work, and for other personal reasons. 
DISAGREEMENTS AMONG THE COMMISSIONERS 
Purvis drew his salary to the last for being a 
Negro member, and Creswell drew his for being 
a friend of the Negroes. Leipold, who was cer- 
tainly not a friend of the Negroes, treated rudely 
all of them who had business with the commis- 
sioners. Purvis, who had all the American 
Negro’s dislike of foreigners, complained that 
Leipold was a lowborn, bad-mannered, foreign 
fortune hunter, whose eccentricities amounted 
almost to craziness, but both Purvis and Creswell 
testified that their disagreeable colleague was an 
efficient business man.* 
The squabbles among the commissioners soon 
attracted the attention of the public. Some were 
as interesting and about as dignified as a dog 
fight. Leipold objected to being made the only 
burden bearer, but when he suggested that the 
other members do some of the work or pay for 
assistants to do it, the latter were quite indig- 
nant. Creswell recalled that when he was nomi- 
nated the trustees told him: “General, we don’t 
want your time, we want your name.” “Mr. 
Leipold,” Creswell said, “was to have charge of 
the details and Mr. Purvis and myself were to 
assist in all matters of advice and generally in 
the conduct of affairs.” When Leipold com- 
plained later that he had been “the pack horse 
¢ Bruce Report, pp. 73-89, 127, 128, 187, 239, and report of the 
committee: Douglas DD ps 77.