Haworth's solicitor told the unwelcome story of a deficiency. Enough was said to make the trustees at once decide to call in the depositors' books, and in the course of a few days it was ascertained--though it took a much longer time to credit it--that the liabilities of the bank amounted to 100,403_l._, that the total assets were calculated to realize 28,686_l._, and that the deficiency amounted to the enormous sum of 71,715_l._ In the course of two or three weeks the trustees made the announcement of the defalcations to the public, with what result may be better imagined than described. At first the depositors took the matter very calmly--a feeling in which was mingled incredulity; and a disbelief that they would be allowed to lose so much money got possession of the people's mind. The general opinion was, till undeceived, that the Government would have to stand to the loss.[124] Of course this made it all the more deplorable when the real facts became known. One of the witnesses who was examined before Mr. Slaney's Committee on the savings of the middle and working classes (1850), gave the following evidence of the feeling in Rochdale at the time:--"I was in Lancashire some time ago, meeting with large bodies of working men at the time of the failure, and I shall not soon forget some remarks that were made about the Government. One man said, 'Dr. McDowall came here, and told us that the Government was a set of robbers, and that they did not care about the property of the working men.' He said, 'I did not believe Mr. McDowall then; but when I see there is no security for the savings of the working men in the Savings Bank, and we supposed Government had them under their protection, I believe now that Mr. McDowall was right, and that Government cares nothing about either the poor man or his savings.'" Of course we give this extract simply to show the effects of the fraud on the minds of the poorer classes, for nothing could be more unfair than such conclusions. Soon the depositors came to look the loss fairly in the face; they elected a committee of their number to act for the rest, and Mr. Taylor, the witness before the Committee of 1858, was appointed chairman; they agreed to avoid litigation if possible, and relied on private benevolence and the possibility of a grant from Government to make up the deficiency. The sum of 17,000_l._ was readily subscribed among the trustees and their friends; another sum of 17,000_l._ was realized out of Haworth's estate, and ultimately the managers were enabled to give a dividend to depositors of 12_s._ 6_d._ in the pound.