30 THE FREEDMEN’S SAVINGS BANK
given the power to fill vacancies in their ranks,
at least ten votes being necessary for the election
of a trustee. Meetings of the board were to be
held once a month or oftener, and if a trustee
neglected for six months to attend the meetings
his successor might be appointed. The trustees
were to elect from their number a president and
two vice-presidents. Nine trustees, of whom one
must be the president or a vice-president, con-
stituted a quorum, and at least seven affirmative
votes were required to authorize any investment,
sale, or transfer of securities. The list of trustees
contained the names of many prominent men,
but the Douglas Report (1876) on the affairs of
the bank asserted that some of them did not
consent to the use of their names and did not
accept or exercise office.’
The business of the institution was to be con-
fined to the Negro race. The object of the corpo-
ration, as stated in the act, was to receive de-
posits offered “by or in behalf of persons hereto-
fore held in slavery in the United States, or their
descendants.” At least two-thirds of the deposits
must be invested in securities of the United
States, one-third being held on deposit or other-
wise as an ‘“‘available fund” for current needs.
2¢Many of the distinguished and eminently worthy gentlemen who
figure in the Charter never gave the use of their names and never ac-
cepted or undertook to execute the trust it created. They were thrust in
for appearance’s sake and to make the delusion attractive and complete.
Some who really believed in the good professions of the projectors of the
scheme and its adaptability to promote the welfare of those for whose
benefit it was apparently intended, and who at first took seats at the
board of trustees, quickly vacated them in disgust and the whole man-
agement devolved, as was manifestly the intention that it should do,
upon a cabal in Washington consisting of a small minority of the acting
trustees.” —Ho. Rest. No. 502, 44 Cong., 1 Sess.
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