84 THE FREEDMEN’S SAVINGS BANK
groes. A faction of the trustees, dissatisfied with
Alvord’s mismanagement, now determined to
bring about a change by electing Frederick
Douglass to the presidency in the hope that he
would restore confidence and reform abuses.
The report of the national bank examiner
brought matters to a crisis. The examiner, C. A.
Meigs, reported that on January 24, 1874, the
nominal resources of the Freedmen’s Bank were
valued at $3,121,101.00 and that its liabilities
amounted to $3,338,896.15. So there was a deficit
 of at least $217,886.15 and the depositors
could hope to get back not more than 93 cents
on the dollar, even if the securities held by the
bank were sound. The examiner ascribed the
condition of the bank to several causes: there
were, he said, too many non-paying branches;
cashiers had been given too much authority in
making loans and had made many bad ones; too
high interest—six per cent—was paid on deposits;
 during the runs the best securities had
been sacrificed; and finally there was the careless
bookkeeping, and the poor investments made in
the District of Columbia.
4 Bruce Report, pp. 163-165, 181, 183, 254, 255, 256; Douglas Report,
 pp. 17, 76, 178, 179, 180; Douglass, Life and Times, pp. 488, ¢t seq.
4 Report of C. A. Meigs to Comptroller of the Currency, Feb. 14,
1874. in Ho. Misc. Doc. No. 16, 43 Cong., 2 Sess.