Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/37

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TRUST 21 TRUST third person, but continues personally bound to do his duty. Where there are several trustees appointed, the office is considered joint, so that if one dies, the survivors continue to exercise the office. As a rule, all must join in doing any act; but if the trust is of a public nature a majority may bind the minority. Each trustee is liable only for his own acts or defaults, and this is so even though, for form's sake, he join his co-trustees in signing a receipt, if he can show that he never received the money in point of fact. When money lies in the hands of one trustee the others ought not to be satisfied with his mere statement that the money has been invested by him, but should see that it is actually done. An- other rule is that a trustee is not allowed to make a gain of his office, and so jealous is an English court of this rule that trus- tees have sometimes been restrained by the court from shooting over the trust estate. A trustee is personally liable if he trade with the trust funds, or buy shares in a joint stock bank; for, even though the trust deed authorize this to be done, he will be liable to pay the debts of the trading concern, though far exceeding the amount of the trust funds. So, if a trustee is a solicitor, and does legal business for the estate, he will not be allowed to charge for his care and trouble, but at most will be allowed only the cost out of pocket. It is seldom that a trustee can get any benefit to himself from the trust estate. Formerly if cestui que trust died without heirs land held in trust belonged to the trustee, but the rule has been altered by statute, and the escheat is now to the State. It is the duty of a trustee to keep the trust funds safe and if they consist of moneys, then he ought to invest them in govern- ment bonds, and not let the money lie unproductive. He is not entitled to lend money on personal security, or in the shares of any private company; but he may invest in mortgages, unless he is forbidden by the deed or will. If there is no power to invest in mortgages, the trustee must invest in State, city, or government bonds, or in some security authorized by the orders of the Supreme Court. As a rule, trustees must pay in- terest whether they invest the funds or not (if they have had time to invest) to the cestui que ty-ust; and they must ac- count for all the profits they make with the trust funds whether rightly or wrongfully. If a trustee has grossly misconducted himself as to the trust funds he will be charged five per cent, interest. A trustee is entitled to be in- demnified for all the reasonable expenses or outlays attending the execution of the trust, but he must in general bear the loss of any mistake as to the law; but if there is any peculiar difficulty in carry- ing out the trust, he is entitled to take the opinion of, or even to throw the chief management on the courts, as the only safe protection. When trustees are guilty of gross negligence, mismanage- ment, or misconduct, the court will re- move them and appoint others. Tr.iSts, broadly speaking, and as a term of common acceptance, any com- bination of manufacturers of a given commodity, ranging from a verbal agree- ment among them, to centralized owner- ship and management, tending toward a monopoly in an industry. Within this general field there are many types and degrees of combination. First of these is an understanding between manufactur- ers of one commodity whereby each agrees to restrict its business to a limited ter- ritory, the agreement apportioning to each manufacturer a certain amount of territory, in proportion to the trade done. Another form is an agreement whereby each manufacturer agrees to limit the output of his manufacturing plants to a certain amount, which is usually in pro- portion to the amount of capital invested. A third form, or degree, of this type of "gentlemen's agreement," and most per- nicious of all, is that by which all members of the ring agree to fix a standard price, by which all must abide, any change of price being made by a conference of representatives of all con- cerned. Such a pact, naturally, is only possible when practically all the manu- facturers in the country of the com- modity in question adhere to it, the out- siders being so few that they may be crushed by a temporary lowering of prices, entailing a loss which only the members of the trust are strong enough to sustain. It was this type of trust that was exposed by the Lockwood In- vestigation Committee in the building trades in New York, during the latter part of 1920, and the early months of 1921. Higher types of trusts include two main forms: federated unions and centralized unions of manufacturers. The federated unions may again be di- vided into two types — trusts proper and holding combinations. The centralized union is a type by itself, and includes single ownership and management, under one corporation, involving a financial union and the purchase or sale of securities or physical assets. To create a trust proper the heads of the various firms meet, a trust deed is drawn up, similar to a corporate charter, which pro- vides, first, that the common stock of the