s. Said commissioners,
before they proceed to act, shall execute a joint bond to the
United States, with good sureties, in the penal sum of one
hundred thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge
of their duties as commissioners aforesaid, and shall take an
oath to faithfully and honestly perform their duties as such,
which bonds shall be executed in presence of the Secretary of the
Treasury, be approved by him, and by him safely kept; and
whenever said trustees shall file with the Secretary of the
Treasury a certified copy of the order appointing said
commissioners, and they shall have executed the bonds and taken
the oath aforesaid, then said commissioners shall be invested
with the legal title to all of said property of said company, for
the purposes of this act, and shall have full power and authority
to sell the same, and make deeds of conveyance to any and all of
the real estate sold by them to the purchasers. Said
commissioners may employ such agents as are necessary to assist
them in closing up said company, and pay them a reasonable
compensation for their services out of the funds of said company;
and the said commissioners shall retain out of said funds a
reasonable compensation for their trouble, to be fixed by the
Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency,
and not exceeding three thousand dollars each per annum. Said
commissioners shall deposit all sums collected by them in the
Treasury of the United States until they make a pro rata
distribution of the same."

There are several legal questions that history would like to ask. 1.
Did not the trustees of the Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust Company
violate their charter in establishing branch banks? 2. Were not the
trustees personally liable for receiving deposits from persons who
were neither "heretofore held in slavery" nor the descendants of such
persons? 3. Were not persons "heretofore held in slavery" and "their
descendants" preferred creditors? 4. Had Congress the authority to go
outside of the Federal bankruptcy laws and create such special
machinery for the settlement of a collapsed bank? This matter may come
before Congress in a new shape some time in the future.

The three commissioners, at a salary of $3,000 per annum, were charged
with the settlement of the affairs of the bank. They were Jn