NEW ORLEANS, May 11,
1862.
Major-General BUTLER, U.S.
Army,
Commanding Department of the
Gulf:
SIR: I take the liberty respectfully to submit to you the
following facts:
On the 1st of April last I presented for record in the books
of the consul of the Pays-Bas, Am. Couturie, esq., the following resolutions of
the Citizens' Bank of Louisiana, bearing date 25th of February last, placing in
my hands for the purposes therein stipulated the sum of $800,000 in Mexican
dollars, as agent of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam:
James D. Denegre, president; Eugene Rousseau,
cashier.
CITIZENS' BANK OF
LOUISIANA,
New Orleans,
February 25, 1862.
Extract from the journal of proceedings of
the board of directors of the Citizens' Bank
of Louisiana at their sitting of 24th of
February, 1862.
“Whereas the present rate of exchange
on Europe would entail a ruinous loss on this bank for such sums as are due
semi-annually in Amsterdam for the interest on the State bonds:
"Be it therefore resolved, That
the president be, and he is hereby, authorized to make a special deposit of
$800,000 in Mexican dollars in the hands of Messrs. Hope & Co., of
Amsterdam, Holland, agents of the bondholders in Europe, through their
authorized agent, Edmund J. Forstall, esq., for the purpose of providing for
the interest on said bonds.
"Be it further resolved, That
such portions of the above sum as may be required from time to time to pay the
interest accruing on the State bonds shall be so applied by Messrs. Hope &
Co.: Provided, however, That the bank shall have the option of redeeming
an equivalent amount in coin by approved sterling exchange to the satisfaction
of the agent of Messrs. Hope & Co.: And provided further, That in
the event of the blockade of this port not being raised in time to allow of the
shipment of said coin, then the said Edmund J. Forstall will arrange with
Messrs. Hope & Co. for the necessary advances to protect the credit of the
State and of the bank until such time as the coin can go forward to liquidate
said debt; but no commission shall be allowed for such shipment of coin or any
other expenses except those actually incurred, and on the resumption of specie
payment by this bank this trust to cease and the balance of coin to be returned
to the bank.”
On the 12th of April, as agent of Messrs. Hope & Co.,
and with a view to their better security in such times of excitement, I deemed
it my duty to withdraw the said sum of $800,000, already marked and prepared
for shipment, say 160 kegs, Hope & Co., containing $5,000 each, and to
place the same under the protection of the consul of the Netherlands, Am.
Couturie, esq., for which I hold his receipt as follows:
CONSULATE
NETHERLANDS,
New
Orleans, April 12, 1862.
Received on deposit from Mr. Edmund J.
Forstall, agent in this city of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, 160
barrels, marked H. & C., and containing each $5,000, total 800,000 Mexican
dollars. The said barrels are deposited in the vaults of the Netherlands
consulate, 109 Canal street.
AM. COUTURIE,
Consul
Netherlands.
I also placed in the hands of the said consul on the same
day ten bonds of the New Orleans City for $1,000 each, and eight bonds of the
city of Mobile, for which he gave me the following receipt:
NEW
ORLEANS, April 12, 1862.
Received on deposit from Mr. Edmund J.
Forstall, agent in this city of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, ten
consolidated bonds debt of New Orleans of $1,000 each, eight bonds of the city
of Mobile of $1,000 each, which bonds were placed in my hands to the account of
Messrs. Hope & Co., Amsterdam.
AM. COUTURIE,
Consul
Netherlands.
On the first reliable opportunity offering of communicating
with Messrs. Hope & Co., which was on 1st of April last, I wrote them as
follows:
The Citizens' Bank and Consolidated
Association, unlike our other banks, being based on foreign capital, I have
thought it my duty to interfere in behalf of the bondholders you represent in
order to secure as much of the cash assets of the institution in question as
needed punctually to meet running interests in Europe until communications are
again opened. For this special purpose the Citizens' Bank has placed in my
hands $800,000 in Mexican dollars under the following resolutions. (Same as
before transcribed.) This document has been registered as follows:
"Seen and registered in the
journal at the consulate under the heading of Order 1, New Orleans, April 1,
1862.
"AM. COUTURIE,
"Consul
of the Netherlands."
For the protection of French property
in case of need, the French consul has taken a fireproof building formerly
occupied by the Canal Bank with vaults for coin, &c. The French consul has
consented to receive for safe-keeping under the protection of your consul the
above amount of $800,000 of Mexican dollars. I am also depositing there ten New
Orleans City bonds and eight city of Mobile bonds belonging to you. I am doing
the same with the bonds belonging to Messrs. Baring Bros. & Co., under the
protection of the British consul.
The French consul having subsequently declined receiving the
above specie, Mr. Am. Couturie used his own vaults in Canal street.
I hold the power of attorney of Messrs. Hope & Co.,
covering my whole intervention in this matter; also the originals of all the
documents before transcribed, which I am ready to exhibit if desired. I may be
permitted here to remark that so far back as the middle of February last I
called the attention of both the Citizens' Bank and Consolidated Association to
the propriety of securing against all contingencies, and, so far as they were
able, the bondholders represented by Messrs. Hope & Co. and Baring Bros.
& Co., who had supplied them with their banking capital.
Under these circumstances I deem it my duty to claim in
behalf of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, the above sum of $800,000, say
160 kegs, marked H. & Co., containing each $5,000, which, I am informed,
has been forcibly taken out of the possession of the consul of Holland, Am. Couturie,
esq., and I trust that on a consideration of facts no doubt unknown to you you
will see the justice of ordering said money to be returned to me that I may
ship same to Europe in accordance with my contract with the Citizens' Bank so
soon as I may be permitted to do so.
I am, very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
EDM. J. FORSTALL.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume
2 (Serial No. 123), p. 117-9
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