128 THE FREEDMEN’S SAVINGS BANK 
morally and equitably responsible to its credi- 
tors, and it should, therefore, reimburse them 
for any losses they have sustained in its failure.” 
A minority report by Representative Money, of 
Mississippi, maintained that there was no war- 
rant in law for paying such a claim, and that 
such a precedent would be extremely embarass- 
ing to the government. 
President Cleveland, in his message of 1886, 
reviewed the history of the bank and declared 
that to assume the losses was a “plain duty which 
the government owes to the depositors, and that 
the latter should be paid by the government up- 
on principles of equity and fairness.” In pur- 
suance of the President’s suggestion a bill was 
introduced in 1888 appropriating money to pay 
the claims of the depositors. But after passing 
the Senate it failed in the House. 
In 1907 Senator Gallinger introduced a bill 
to reimburse the depositors. The bill again 
passed the Senate but failed in the House.’ In 
1910 the matter was again brought before Con- 
gress by Representative Austin of Tennessee 
but this effort excited very little interest. 
Since 1910 there has been no serious discussion 
of paying the depositors. Those who were in 
favor of paying the losses of the N egroes in 1875 
no longer urged it for various reasons: The de- 
19 Ho. Report, No. 1901, 47 Cong., 2 Sess. 
1 Messages and Papers of the Presidents, VIII, 525. 
2 Ho. Report, No. 3199, 50 Cong., 1 Sess. 
13 Sen. Bill 48, 60 Cong., 1 Sess. 
14 See Banking and Currency Committee, Hearings in January, 1910, 
on House Bill 8776 to reimburse depositors of the Freedmen’s Savings 
and Trust Company. Extracts from this document are given in the 
Appendix, p. 159.