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SEMINOLE PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT REPLIK TO FRANK G. TOMPKINS Letter of Chas. M. Highley Charges That Frank G. Tom kins Made Misleading Statements In his Letter to Governor Blease Concerning Seminole Matter. Tho Advertiser has been requested by those close to Messrs. John Y. Garl ington and J. Stobo Young to publish the letter of Chas. H. Highly, certi fied public accountant, in reply to the letter of Prank G. Tompklns to Gov. Blease some time ago. Tho Advertis er did not publish the letter of Mr. Tompklns when It came out for the simplo reason that It was rather lengthy and because It could be seen in the dally papers by most of those who really were interested. Believing that those of its readers who are interested In the case are already familiar with the letter of Mr. Tompklns, The Advertiser does not take up the space of Its readers with it as this time, feeling that an omission of It is doing no injustice to Mr. Tompkns. The letter is as follows: Columbia. S. C, Jan. 1. 1912. To his Excellency, Hon. Cole. L. blease, Governor of South Caro lina, Columbia, S. C. Sir: I have read with great care the ? letter addressed to Your Excellency by Mr. Krank G. Tompklns, Chairman of the Board of Receivers of the Sem |noio Securities Company, and feeling that there are many statements there in which are misleading to yourself, the stockholders and the public, 1 feel it my duty to lay before Your Excel lency such facts as to my mind clear ly show that Mr. Tompklns is mistak en in many of his statements and con clusions. Mr. Tompklns confesses in bis let ter that he has not seen the petitions for clemency or heard any of the rea sons advancerd to Your Kxcellency why these young men should not re ceive clemency at your hands; and, therefore, his conclusion that he has never heard of the "slightest repent ance on the part of either of these yoting men" for what he terms "these ?utraKoous and destructive acts which made a precedent, in South Carolina hi circles of high finance" must con sequently be based upon bias and pre judice. Your Excellency has read the petitions and heard the reasons given by these young men anil the appeal of their friends and is in a bettor po i tlon than Mr. Tompklns to determine whether they are repentant or not. In justice and fairness to the young men, and as auditor of the books of the Seminolo Securities Company and being,therefore, perhaps more famil iar with them than any other man, I wish to make the following statements in contradiction of the statements made by Mr. Tompklns in his letter or which may correct any misleading statements made by htm. I make tli030 statements from my report of audit, which was used and put in testimony in the case and Is ?OW a part of the records thereof and in possession of the Court. The total assets, as shown in said report, exclusive of the stock of the Carolina Agency Company, amounted to $361,0s6.3L The liabilities, oltmi ? ating the amount shown to he due to John Y. QarlingtOll as balance of the $75,000 of stock of the Carolina Agen cy Company, viz.: $2-1,397.23, was $442,152.99. Tho book value of the stock of the Southern Life Insurance Company was $324,985.72, which is al so included in the above assets. Among the liabilities are bills payable due the Southern Elfe Insurance Company as balance of purchase of stock in said company of $154,197.37. By reducing the book value of tho stock of tho Southern Life Insurance Company the amount of the notes due them as of December 22, 1908, and deducting same from the hills payable, which appear in the liabilities, the Seminolo Securi ties Company would have liquidated on December 211, 1908, and paid si 2-:'. per cent on the par value of tho stock. I am informed that the receiv ers have paid .'t dividend to tho stock holders of but 20 per cent. I am also credibly informed that some of said stockholders have not received said dividend. Mr. Tompklns states that the re ceivers have only been able to collect $li:>,000 up to this time, and that It will he impossible to add to this sum a greater amount than $35,000; ami that the probability Is that they will never be able to collect in addition to what they have already collected more than from $2.000 to $.".,000. As suming that $;'),000 will he the maxi mum amount Collected in addition to the $115,000 stated, will make $120. 000. This statement must certainly be incorrect, as the Trusteis paid lo the Southern Life Insurance Company, as per letter of W. A. Clark, Chair man of the Board of Trustees of date December 2:5. 1908, and as per pages r>2-r?3 of my audit report, $(?7,!i2S.x7. The officers of the Seminolo Securities Company paid to them or their rep resentatives $46,856.85 In cash; and in addition made a payment on account of a note issued to the Southern Life In surance Company in settlement of said purchase of stock of $20,002.63; making a total paid to them or their representatives by the ofllcers and Trustees of the Seminolo Securities Company of $170,7SN.:{f?. and for which I delivered to the icceivers vouchers to cover. In Mr. Tompklns' statement he says that upon advice of counsel and for other reasons the receivers compromised with the Southern Life Insurance Company for $110,000, which means a loss to the stockhold ers of $f.0.78S..%. which sum Is more than the total amount with which Garllngton and Young were charged with misappropriating, Mr. Tompklns also states that so far as tho Stockholtiers were concerned at the time of ihe receivership there SROttld have been In the treasury near ly ;"0O.00O In cash. I presume he menu In actual figures $394,062r10, the original amount collected from the sale of the stock; but he does not stnte that of this amount collected there was paid into the hands of the trustees $101,504.48. which they sub sequently paid out to tho Southern Life Insurance Company and tho re ceivers. He also fails to state that there was paid out to agents for the selling of tho stock $137,829.34; and paid to the Southern Life Insurance Company $72,859.48. to say nothing of other disbursements, a detailed state ment of which I annex, amount to $82,754.28. Hence, this statement of Mr. Tompklns Is not only incorrect but misleading. The printed letter of Mr. Tompklns says that "considering that that trans action accounted for $17,000," which I presume was evldontly intended for $97,000, "the balance of the $394,062.10 has disappeared from the treasury of the company, and it has been the con tention of the State, the receivers and the stockholders -'ally that this money was fraudulently mis appro Hated by Messrs. Qarlington and Young, who were the officers of the company charged with its custody." Th<> statement above made by me shows that he is absolutely incorrect in bis statement and that It Is mis leading to the public mind; and the inference to be drawn from his state ment is that the balance of the sum collected from tbe sale of the stock was misappropriated by Qarlington and Young. The Court records show that Qarlington and Young were charged with a misappropriation of $50,602.77, and not the amount as Im i>li. d by Mr. Tompklns. The amount it Is alleged they mis appropriated is made up as follows: Actual cash.$ 2,981 75 Stock. 7.059 00 Directors and gratuitous stock . 510 00 Making a total of .. ..$10,553 75 In addition to this there were disbursements made at sundry times for pur posses unknown to me, for which no vouchers were submitted, and consequent ly 1 was obliged to Charge same to Mr. aCrllngton, amounting to.14,549 02 In addition to this they paid to A. I?. McKlnnoy and Wilkte Edwards, In stock of the company.25,"0^ 00 Which was in accordance with a resolution of tho Hoard of Directors to can eel a contract which these parties had with the company for the sale of the stock. The total of which amounts to.$50,602 77 The amount alleged to have been misappropriated by Garlington and Young. The stock Issued to MeKinney and Kdwards was charged to Mr. Qarling ton, but Qarlington and Young did not receive any benefit whatever from tho issue of this stock. It will be seen from tho above that the statement made by Mr. Tompklns Is misleading, as it implies that they misappropriated a much larger sum. Mr. Tompklns further states that In July, 1908, aCrllngton and Young Is sued stock to Qariington in the sum of 34,500 shares; but he fails to state that at a subsequent time be cancelled 27,441 shares, leaving a net amount of stock 7,059 shares, as stated above. Mr. Tompklns states that Mr. Carl Ington has filed a claim against tbe estate of the Seminole Securities Com pany for some $24,000, balance due him on account of this transaction. The actual amount for which Mr. Oarl ington has filed his claim is $21,397. 23. which is the difference between the amount charued to Mr. Qarlington namely. $50,602.77 and the $75,000 of the Carolina Agency stock, which was exhibited to me and In my possession for several days, properly signed by the officers of tho Carolina Agency Company in the name of John Y. Qarl ington. I will not attempt to make any statement In reply to Mr. Tompklns in regard to tho suit of be Carolina Agency Company against John Y. Qarlington for $2r?,000, as I know nothing about it: but I do know that It was not a matter considered in the trial of Garlington and Young, and, therefore, a matter not before Your Excellency In tho consideration of this case. In reply to tho remarks of Mr. Tompklns in reference to the books shipped from Laurons, for which tho express company paid a claim of $"?0 for the loss of same, f would strife that at the stockholders' meeting of the Seminole Securities Company, held In Columbia, S. C, on December 29. 1908 it was thought that I bad something to do with tho loss of tho books of that company on route from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Columbia, S. C. to tho said mooting. I could not explain to the stockholders how the books wore taken out of my posses sion, and it was intimated by some that I had a knowledge of same, whereas I was perfectly Innocent and It was afterwards discovered that the books wcro taken off tho train at Knoxvllle, Tenn., by a party living in Knoxvllle, who after discovering It was not his grip tun ed them over to the ticket agent ni. 'ne union station at Knoxvllle, where I subsequently recovered thorn. So you can see that I was falsely accused- and It reason able to suppose that If the books from Laurens were shipped to Columbia and tho express company subsequent ly pnld a claim for the loss of same, that they were responsible for said loss and that they could not have dis appeared by any act of Carllngton and Young; and. therefore, I cannot see why Mr. Tompklns should have mentioned this as bearing upon the matter before Your Excellency. I make this statement because tho statement of Mr. Tompklns would nat urally prejudice your mind and the mind of the public against Garlington and Young, which seems to mo to be an Ulliust irr. in regard to tho minutes which Mr. Tompklns says mystorlously disap peared, it was testified in the case that those minutes, or what purport ed to be the minutes, were at the stockholders' meeting in Columbia. S. on December 29, 1908, at which time I read extracts from snmo, of my audit, and compared at said meeting by attorneys and others while I read same. It was alBO testified to before a Special Master, on December 5, 1911, by an attorney present at tho meeting, that the extracts from tho minutes, which appeared In my roport of audit and which are a matter of record in tho Court, were exactly the same as appeared in the mlnuto book of the Seminole Securities Company which was present at the stockholders' meet ing of December 29, 1908. It Is not necessary to reply In re gard to no testimony oelng offered In evidence by Garlington and Young. This matter has already been discuss ed befoio Your Excellency at a recent hearing given to tho defendants and Your Excellency is familiar with tho reasons why they did not testify. It seems to me that Mr. Tompklns' charge that this BCheme was founded for the sole purposo of loot Is wholly gratuitous, as he admits in his letter that the larger portion of the stock was sold to bankers and tho richer class of people: and, as a matter of fact, the stock was sold In large blocks to their own relatives and friends, which would not be indicative of loot. Tho information given to Your Ex cellency, that Mr. Garlington is under indictment in the courts of this coun ty jointly with others on another charge. I would suggest is irrelevant to this issue and has nothing to do with the consideration of the matter before Your Excellency. Mr. Tompklns also ?tates In hls letter to Your Excellency that a largo | proportion of the stock was sold in South Carolina. For your Information I I will state that the stock was sold as I follows: States. Shares. North Carolina.53,534 Georgia.12,275 Virginia. 7,421 West Virginia. 6,167 Florida. 5,167 Alabama. 5.046 Mississippi. 400 Tennessee . 4 90,014 South Carolina.180,658 I Total.270,672] Od two-thirds sold in the state of South Carolina and one-third in oth er states. Below I give you the statement of receipts and disbursements as taken from the books and data of the Sem inolo Securities Company, which in formation Your Excellency, the stock holders and the public are not In the possession of, and which shows con clusively that the enormous sum for ever lost to the stockholders, as charg ed by Mr. Tompklns as being misap propriated by Messrs. Garlington and Young is incorrect. I respectfully submit that this reply to Mr. Tompklns* letter bears me out In the contention that the statements In said letter are misleading both to Your Excellency and the public. They are made from my own personal knowledge and most of them are tak en from the records In the case, and, In my judgment, are not susceptible of contradiction. I am sure that Your Excellency will give them the credit that they bear upon their face nnd will not be controlled in your decision by the statements in said letter, which, coming as they do from a source nat urally opposed to Messrs. Garlington and Young, should not be given the s;.ine weigbl as coming from an un biased source and the actual reoirls in the trial of the case. Respectfully yours. OHAS. H. HIQHLBV, Certified Public Accountant. Statement of Cash Received nml Dis bursed by J, S. Young, Treasurer, to December 22, 190^ Receipts. Sales of stock.$391.062 10 Cash, loans from banks . . 12,000 00 Interest. 17 93 Rills receivable, collected 3.865 00 Total receipts.$409,045 03 Disbursements. Paid to Trustees.$101.504 48 Paid to Agents, commissions 137,829 34 Southern Lifo Insurance Co., cash. 46.85G 85 Southern Life Insuranco Co.. account note .. .. 26.002 63 $312,193 30 John Y. Garlington, ac count contract.$ 55,596 77 Traveling expenses .. .. 1,325 00 Office salaries. 1,557 85 Printing and stationery .. 769 22 Furniture and fixtures .... 745 70 Interest. 547 32 Attorneys' fees. 1,035 00 Telegraph and telephone . . 613 3S Brokerage (certificates of deposit sold). 6,146 15 Olllce rent. 479 88 Postage. 200 00 Prizes to Agents. 260 00 Office expense. 55 44 Painting sign. 35 H> Express and drayage .... 41 111 Taxes and license. 55 00 Exchange. 48 02 Typewriter rental. 0 00 Light and water. 2 20 Fuel. 1 99 Advertising. 472 23 Actuary expense. 41"! 95 Trustees' fees. '?.000 00 Commercial Agency .. .. 17 r. 2.". Auditing expense. S72 20 R. M. Marshall, account cancellation certificate No. 848 . 700 00 Organization expenses .. 1 17 \V. S. Rogburn, loan Stock retired ..... Moving office. $' 82,754 28 Balance.% 14,907 45 ('nah and certificates of deposit.$ 14,997 45 M(tu Itcward, $100. The renders of this paper will ln> pleased to learn that there is at least one dreaded disease that science has been able to cur? In all' its stages, and that is catarrh. Hall's Catarrh Cure Is the only positive cure now known to the medical' fraternity. Ca tarrh being a constitutional disease, requires a constitutional treatment. Hull's Catarrh Cure Is taken intern ally, acting directly upon the blood and mucous surfaces of the system, thereby destroying the foundation of. tho disease, and giving the pntltj^t strength by building up the constittCE tion and assisting nature in doing Pfl work. 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