REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America: The Board of Trustees respectfully report:-That they have had under consideration the several matters referred to them, by the General Assembly of 1853, and which are found upon pages 450, 451, and 457 of the printed minutes; and, that in answer to the several topics of inquiry therein set forth, they are of opinion, 1. That all the trust funds which have been, or be may hereafter committed to the management of this Board, (except in cases where the conditions of the trust, or the resolutions or orders of the General Assembly otherwise specifically direct,) may properly be blended in making investments thereof. 2. That each of the trust funds should, however, form the subject of a distinct and independent account on the books of the Trustees; that each should be debited with its appropriate investments, where it has been the subject of separate investment, or with its proportion of the general and blended investments, where it has been included in investment with others; that it should be further debited from time to time with its appropriate accruing income, and that it should be credited with all monies paid out by the Trustees on account thereof. 3. That a new set of account books should be now opened, and that each trust fund should be therein debited, in the first instance, with the amount now standing in its favour according to schedule D, annexed to the report of the Committee of this Board, herewith submitted. 4. And that, as to the other topics of inquiry specifically included in the resolutions of the General Assembly, the Board adopts the conclusions of the said Committee, as expressed in their said report. All which, together with the report of the said Committee, is respectfully submitted. JAS. BAYARD, Secretary. Philadelphia, May 4th, 1854. WM. NEILL, President. REPORT OF COMMITTEE REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING COMMUNICATION. The Committee appointed under the resolution of the Board of Trustees, on the 9th of June, 1853, to consider and report upon the several matters embraced in the recommendation and resolution of the last General Assembly, respectfully report: That it appears, the subjects referred to your Committee are contained in pages 450 and 451 of the printed minutes of the General Assembly of 1853, being so much of the additional report of the Financial Committee of the Assembly which recommends “That the Trustees be directed to examine the books and covenants in relation to the said several funds, and see which of said funds can be properly blended in making investments thereof, and to what extent; and recommend in what manner they shall hereafter be invested, and the accounts in relation to the same shall be kept, so as to simplify, as far as practicable, the accounts of the Treasurer; and if they shall deem it expedient, to review the statements of the report of the special Finance Committee made to the General Assembly of 1852, in relation to the present amount and value of each of the funds, which is permanent in its character. That said Trustees also endeavour to recommend some plan for restoring the original capital of such of the scholarships under the control of the Trustees of the General Assembly, as have sustained losses upon their capitals, or such of them as cannot properly be united and consolidated with the assent of the donors or their representatives, and to recommend such other measures as to the management of the Finances under the control of the Trustees, as they shall deem expedient. Also the second resolution, on page 457 of the printed minutes of the last General Assembly; being the remonstrance of the Board of Missions. Upon the several matters embraced in the preceding recommendation and resolution of the last General Assembly, your Committee have, as far as practicable, bestowed their careful investigation and deliberation. The books and accounts have been examined, and the Ledger has been found to balance. The minute book of the Trustees, commencing with the first meeting, and the printed minutes of the General Assembly, commencing with the first meeting of that body, have been examined; the covenants have not been within reach of the Committee. The Committee consider the investment of the funds to be blended: no separation of investments with respect to each can be traced out, except the Nephew, Colt, and Hollond Scholarships, the Boudinot Missionary Fund, and Eastburn's Bequest. The Committee submit an adjustment, according to the best light the subject can be viewed in. It will be seen, that their plan is to deduct overdrafts belonging to specific accounts, as far as they have been able to trace them out, and then to distribute the loss upon each of the funds or trusts, that are chargeable with loss:-they ascertain the loss they have charged, by adding to the amount at the debit of the profit and loss account in the Ledger, the loss to be sustained on the stocks still held, (of the present value of which they furnish herewith a certificate from two Stock Brokers of high character,) deducting therefrom the overdrafts disposed of as above mentioned. To make an equitable assessment, there should be an adjustment of interest between the different Trust Funds; but this adjustment of interest would now be very difficult, if not impossible, and as the beneficiaries have, so far as they could, acquiesced in the distribution of income amongst them, as being the best that could have been done under the circumstances, the Committee have not felt called upon to undertake to estimate the interest. The Committee recommend that a new set of books be opened, with the funds and other accounts adjusted, according to the statement now furnished. The present system of accounts is free from material objection, if the investments, as belonging to each Trust Fund, should in every case be written on the face of the account, in the Ledger; and they recommend, that the Committee of Finance of the Trustees of the General Assembly, be requested to make a periodical examination of the books and accounts. The next subject submitted to our consideration, relates to the classification of the several Trust Funds, and deciding which can be properly blended in making investments thereof, and to what extent. Your Committee cannot perceive any advantage or necessity for such classification of the Trust Funds for separate investments; the effect thereof would probably be to embarrass the Trustees, by restricting their loans, so as to occasion much trouble, and sometimes loss. The Trustees are exclusively the legal party; in their name all loans must be made and securities taken. It is always important to obtain the first mortgage or security on real estate, and to accomplish this, it is necessary to offer large sums. It might so happen, that the funds of any class we might designate, would be insufficient, when the amount, to be invested from all sources, would, in the aggregate, secure a safe investment. Sometimes, from the smallness of the sum, it might be impossible to effect a loan, and it would have to remain uninvested, and occasion a loss of interest, when by union with other Trust Funds, it would be productive. But as the loans, if made of the funds, of classes of trusts which we might designate, would always be in the name of the Trustees, and the interest of the trust could only be apparent by indorsement, the classification would seem to be productive of no other result than that of multiplying the number of mortgages in the hands of the Trustees, when the object would be as well and better accomplished by a single mortgage, and the risk more generally distri buted. Your Committee, therefore, (when the author of the trust has not otherwise specially directed,) in lieu of the classification, recommend that when any investment covers more than one trust, that the amount of interests of the several trusts should be indorsed on the mortgage or ground rent; and they advise, that the direction of the General Assembly to the Trustees to invest separately, be rescinded, and that hereafter all investments shall be made on first mortgages and ground rents. The Committee have reviewed the report and statement of accounts furnished by the special Finance Committee made to the General Assembly in 1852. We should have been relieved from much of the difficulty incident to the subjects of our investigation, if we could have adopted the basis on which it is founded, by discovering that the distribution of the trust funds, as therein stated to have been made in 1835, had been so made or sanctioned by order of the Trustees. But, from the best information we have been able to obtain, this distribution and apportionment of the trust funds was probably made by the Treasurer, without the order of the Trustees, and therefore has not been followed by such subsequent action as to indicate that the blended condition of the trust funds was thereby determined. The statement made by that Committee on page 377 of printed Minutes of Assembly in 1852, "that the stock and other securities held, were in 1835 apportioned among the several funds," we have not been able to regard as well founded, especially, when accompanied with the remark," that no distinct or separate account is even yet kept, in a Ledger regularly posted up, of the amounts due, received, and paid on account of each fund." For the purpose of ascertaining whether, at any time, the stocks and other securities had been apportioned among the several trusts, we made a full examination. Although, in some of the annual reports of the Trustees, it is said detailed statements of the several trust funds were exhibited, yet, after diligent search, we have failed to obtain such statement, either from the Minutes of the General Asssembly, or of the Trustees, or from the papers filed. In the absence of any information showing an authorized distribution, we have concluded, that none has been made, and that, as we have stated, the invested funds are blended. It necessarily results from this conclusion, that whatever losses occurred, from the purchase and sale of securities or stocks, must fall generally on all the funds, in proportion to the capital of each invested, and that the overdrafts made for the benefit of any fund, will be a legitimate charge against such fund. There are a few trusts, whose funds have been separately invested, in conformity with the special directions of the authors of the trusts; they are not included in the average, but will remain as heretofore. And the items numbered 40 to 55 in the tabular statement D, with the exception of 54, are also excluded. The Committee recommend that the losses be repaired, and that the original capital of the trust funds should be made good. We can suggest no other mode than the appointment by the General Assembly of a special Committee for that purpose. The remonstrance of the Board of Missions has been considered, in connection with the whole subject, and the principles adopted in this report, by your Committee, will afford the relief sought. The Committee recommend that a duplicate sett of books be made, (to be designated duplicates;) that they may be forwarded to any point, where the General Assembly may see fit to meet leaving the originals in a secure place; and they ask that attention should be given, to provide a safe place for all the books and papers of the General Assembly and Board of Trustees. The Committee have found, in the course of the examination of the Minutes, reference made to property, about which they found no particulars; for instance, they find no distinct record in the books of the real estate under charge of the Trustees; would it not be well to take some measures to ascertain what real estate is held by the Trustees, and how it is situated? Your Committee would also remark, that they consider the practice of assessing the contingent expenses of the Board of Trustees, upon the different funds, is open to serious objection; and if these expenses could be provided for in the same manner as the Commissioner's Fund of the General Assembly, or in some other way, it would be desirable. The Committee furnish their notes of examination, as they may be useful. The result of the labours of your Committee will be found in schedule A to D, inclusive, appended to this report. The Committee have received valuable assistance from Mr. Edelman in this investigation, and they bear testimony to his skill and zealous desire to advance the interests of the Church. KENSEY JOHNS, Philadelphia, January 20th, 1854. We, the undersigned, Stock-Brokers of the city of Philadelphia, do hereby certify, that we consider the prices attached to the following list of stocks the market prices as near as can be obtained, while the quotations of some of them are so nearly nominal, that it would be difficult to quote transactions at any price. 100 Shares Planters' Bank of Mississippi, Philadelphia, January 11th, 1853. |