THE COLLAPSE OF THE BANK 23 
abuse and detraction greater than any encountered in any 
other part of my life. 
Before leaving the subject I ought in justice to myself to 
state that, when I found that the affairs of the bank were 
to be closed up, I did not, as I might easily have done, 
and as others did, make myself a preferred creditor and 
take my money out of the bank, but on the contrary, I 
determined to take my chances with the other depositors, 
and left my money, to the amount of two thousand dollars, 
to be divided with the assets among the creditors of the 
bank. And now, after seven years have been allowed for 
the value of the securities to appreciate and the loss of 
interest on the deposits for that length of time, the de- 
positors may deem themselves fortunate if they receive 
sixty cents on the dollar of what they placed in the care 
of the fine savings institution, 
It is also due to myself to state, especially since I have 
seen myself accused of bringing the Freedmen’s Bank into 
ruin, and squandering in senseless loans on bad security 
the hardly-earned moneys of my race, that all the loans 
ever made by the bank were made prior to my connection 
with it as its president. Not a dollar, not a dime of its 
millions were loaned by me, or with my approval. The 
fact is, and all investigation shows it, that I was married 
to a corpse. The false building, with its marble counters 
and black walnut finishings, was there, as were the affable 
and agile clerks and the discreet and colored cashier; but 
the Life, which was the money, was gone, and I found 
that I had been placed there with the hope that by “some 
drugs, some charms, some conjuration, or some mighty 
magic,” I would bring it back.? 
CONGRESS INTERVENES 
So, as he has related, Douglass, believing that 
the interests of the depositors could be protected 
only by Congress, insisted to the Senate Com- 
mittee on Finance that immediate action by 
Congress was necessary. He told the Bruce 
® Douglass, Life and Times, pp. 487-493. 
C