Jesse Van Tol suggested in his Feb. 26 op-ed, “Let the Freedman’s Bank debt come due,” that the amount to be distributed to descendants of the victims of the Freedman’s Bank failure be calculated, based on the $3 million depositors lost, by first adjusting for inflation and then factoring in 150 years of interest at 5 percent. This would represent a superb rate of return. Banks ordinarily do not give their depositors an inflation adjustment in addition to 5 percent interest.
Martin Regehr, La Canada, Calif.