The  plaintiff  complained  that  the  board  of  directors
of  The  People's  National  Bank,  among  whom  were  the
defendants,  in  February,  1890,  and  at  sundry  other
times,  before  and  after,  caused  to  be  published  reports
of  the-stat«s-<>f  the  bank  which  showed  it  to  be  amply
solven^t^  whereby  the  plaintiff  waa  .induced  in  April,
1890,  to  purchjase_eleyen  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of
said  bank,  whereas  at  the  times  aforesaid  the  bank
was  hopdesslj;^ jnsolyent,  and  had  been  so  for  at  least
five  years;  that  the  said  directors  either  knew  this  to  be
the  true  condition  of  the  bank  or  with  proper  care  could
have  known  it.  The  complaint  is  full  and  contains  a
detailed  statement  of  the  acts  of  negligence  alleged
against  the  defendant.  The  bank  was  declared  insol-
vent on  the  31st  of  December,  1890  and  the  receiver
took  charge  in  February,  1891.  The  plaintiff  not  only
lost  the  whole  sum  ($1100)  invested  in  the  purchase  of
said  eleven  shares  of  the  stock  of  the  bank,  but  under
the  liability  clause  of  the  National  Banking  Act  has
been  assessed  50  per  cent  on  her  stock  and  a  judgment
has  been  obtained  against  her  by  the  receiver  for  $550
on  that  account  in  the  Federal  Court.  The  published
statement  of  the  bank,  Januaiy  2,  1  <S90,  showed  that
the  capital  stock  was  $125,000,  the  deposits  $87,800,  the
surplus  $32,000,  and  undivided  profits  $^?,795.  The  for-
mer cashier  of  the  bank  testified,  without  contradiction,
that  this  statement  was  made  by  the  order  of  the  direc-
tors; that  it  was  untrue;  that  there  was  no  surplus,  no
undivided  profits,  and  that  the  bank  did  not  even  have
its  capita]  stock;  that,  if J;he. directoi-^  had  examined  the


■^^>-  V  /  t


368  IN  THE  SUPREME  COURT.  [122


H01T8TON  t'.  Thornton.
