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    January 10,1857] " THE LEADEB. . 37

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    BR1TISH POLICy IN CHINA. An impartial ac...

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    The Living Romance Of Fraud. We Insist O...

    revenue appears to be to get up a bank ; and the beauty of proceeding by tlie regular forms of business is , that you can make tools of the most influential men . You may employ in your own behalf the servile worship of "wealth and appearances . " The Story of the British Bank—How we got it up , and how it went down—by One Behind the Scenes , " is amongst the most interesting romances of

    commercial life ; and no part of life has been « o productive in romance , lately , as the commercial . Prom the internal evidence of the pamphlet which we quote , * we infer that the author is Mr . Johit Menzies , who was for a time the secretary to the bant , and for whom , in fact , the authorship of the scheme is claimed . His idea was , to introduce into London "• the Scotch system of banking , " with its cash credits and its mode of

    deposit , extremely convenient to the ordinary tradesman . In passing , we -will observe that the plan , is very suitable for Scotland , and probably for small provincial towns , "where men acquire , in ordinary business andiu their social meetings , a direct personal knowledge of each other ; but it is unsuitable for London , where the classification of society has very little relation to habits of business ; where tlie customers of the same bank , for example 3 may be total strangers to each other by sight and by name , and -where it is nearly impossible to delay business by inquiries into personal character or connexions .

    The idea , however , was natural , and had points to recommend it . Mr . Menzies mentioned it to a Mr . Edwied Mulxins , of Great James-street , Bedford-row , a pushing solicitor , who was to get together influential supporters . Mr . Edwajrd Moxhay was induced to believe that he could convert his unappropriated Hall of Commerce to banking purposes , and he for a time joined the party . But painful is the story of men who were drawn into tlie scheme , and who backed out of it , some after the first inquiry , not

    deigning even to send an announcement of their withdrawal . Mr . Moxhay was amongst the temporary supporters ; Mr . Joseph Hornby , of Liverpool , was director of the British Bank for a short time ; Mr . G-eouge 0 ba . wshat , the eminent ironmaster , listened to a conversation ; Sir Kobert Ca-Uden received a deputation ; but these , and other men of substance , figured on the scene only for a very brief period . We may , in some instances , guess at the reason of this taciturn coolness .

    One of those who was thought a ' catch * for the project was Mr . Join * Ma . cgk . egok , M . P . for the City of Glasgow , formerly connected with the Board of Trade , a great authority in economy , commerce , currency , and such practical wisdom . He was able to talk with rhetorical force on the merits of " the seestum ; " for Mr . Macgregor has the advantage of a strong Scotch accent , which imparts emphasis and a certain dignified homelines

    s to the expression of practical sentiments . Mr . Macgregob had no property qualification for a seat as director ; but a gentleman who joined the enterprise offered to qualify him . At one of the meetings of the Banking Company , a Liverpool paper was produced containing the report of a great Protection Meeting , at which a leading speaker stated that the Honourable Member for Glasgow had been connected with a firm which , failed in . business at Liverpool , and that the creditors had been offered in

    a composition of something liko 7 ^ d . the pound . Even the gentleman who would have qualified the defaulting M . P . himself , ulfci-* The Curious and Remarkable , History of the Royal British Jtank , showing " flow too got it up , " and " How it went down . " By One Behind tl » e Soonea . Efllngliam Wilson .

    mately failed , and the chairman of the embryo bank was among the last to receive that test of his fitness to be a director ! It seems to have been got up amongst the other directors , in order to prevent the injurious effect of a report that tlie Chairman- of tbe scheme had retired for want of means . Long did the project languish , there were meetings in taverns , private-rooms , clubs ; "but there was little vitality until Mr . Richard Hi-BTLEr Kennedy , afterwards tlie Alderman , entered it . The real life of the project , however , in its ultimate form , was a friend of whom Mr . Macgbegor had often

    talked—Mr . Hu & H Innes Cameeon \ This gentleman had been introduced by the honourable member for Glasgow . He had formerly managed a branch , bank in Ross-shire ; he had an intimate knowledge of " the seestum , " and a very emphatic mode of address , not unadorned with pious allusions . . "We have seen more than one pious banker ; and Sir John Deak Paul appears to have had a splendid

    rival m the manager of tlie Hoyal British Bank . Mr . Camebon became the leading speaker of the meetings . He was employed to draw up prospectuses for publication . He procured a person to contract for the advertizing of the bank ; another gentleman was induced to take shares on the prospect of being its printer . Mr . Menzies , the secretary , was sent on a visit to Newcastle , where an unusual number of shares were taken

    up on a promise that a branch of the bank should be established in Newcastle . It is true that the friends down there who invited the deputation proved to be without influence ; still , active touting obtained a good promise of support ; and this was due , as well as the first idea , to Mr . Menzies . Before the bank had been established , however , a

    change took place in its personnel . Mr . Hugh Innes Cameron wrote a statesmanlike letter to Mr . Edwaud Mullins , the solicitor of the bank , saying— "You your own good self must be our It . B . B . Secretary , at all events pro tern . ; " and Mr . Menzies was politely turned out , with a compensation of 400 Z . for his trouble .

    At last the Royal British Bank was opened for business in November , 1849 , with a paidup capital of 50 , OOOZ ., reduced by preliminary expenses , cost of buildings , fittingsup , Ac , to something like 17 , OOOZ . The capital was to have been 100 , OOOZ ., but as that could not be raised , Mr . Cameron and his coadjutors consented to begin with the smaller plant . It was quite enough to work upon .

    When the Bank broke down , a debt of 3 O , O 0 O £ . was brought out as due to the Bank by the General Manager . He had himself l > roposed that his salary as manager should begin at 12507 ., and rise by 250 ? . a year ; also witli a per-centage on the profits of the bank . But he Lad got something else out of the establishment . As soon as he was manager , the National Bank of Scotland , for whose branch at Edinburgh he had been agent , began to press for payment of a large debt , contracted in the shape of a greatly overdrawn cash credit . To Sir James

    Mattiieson he owed 50007 . for rents collected on that gentleman ' s account , and not paid in .. Bills were drawn on a person in lloss-shire , discounted at the bank , and employed , as far as they couldgo , tomeet thoManager ' sliabilities . It ia supposed that Mr . Cameron was partner in the speculative operations of a buildei

    who had a discount at the bank of 10 , 0001 . A Baronet to whom the General Manager was deeply indebted , had a cash credit to tlie amount of 10 , OOOZ . ; an accommodation which puzfclea and perplexes people , since the Baronet was a man of immense wealth , and not at all likely to need such an accommodation , unless it were aa a kind of security for tlie

    Manager's liabilities . Mr . Mullins , the joint solicitor and secretary , who had a cash credit to the extent of 4000 ? ., overdrawn , besides advances to the extent of 80 OOZ . or 9000 Z . more , lodged securities consisting chiefly of scrip in various defunct joint-stock companies—the Chartered Land Mining and Refining Company ; the Patent Briek and Kle Company . A cash credit on a security

    in the Cefn Gwyne Iron " Works , to the extent of 10 , 0002 ., began that speculative series of advances for utilizing the works which- ended in sinking 100 , 000 £ . Throughout all these transactions , men . of the greatest respectability are found intermingled with these active projectors . One man whose position compelled him to understand manoeuvres of which he could not approve , appears literally to have become insane from trouble of

    conscience . The scenes described by " One Behind the Scenes" are more like incidents in a play than a story of London trade . A cheque paid in "by a depositor finds its way into the pocket of one of the most conspicuous in the management ; and ¦ ¦ when revoked by the depositor , after a long while , it is paid in in the form of cash , the cheque itself never appearing again !

    " Within a day or two of the grant of the charter , Mr . Kennedy expressed a desire to have the books and accounts of the bank up to that date gone over and examined . Thi 3 announcement was communicated to Mr . Mullins , who , immediately afterwards , made his appearance in the secretary ' s room , in a state of great trepidation , his face pale , and his lips quivering -with emotion . He addressed him thus ;— 'I say , Menzies , they mean to go into the books and accounts to-morrow . ' ' What of that ? ' was the answer of the secretary ; ' the moneys received by me on account of shares tave been regularly entered and paid by me into the bank . So far as I am concerned , therefore , I care not how soon Mr .

    Kennedy goes over the books . ' After a short pause , Mr . Mullins resumed , ' The fact is , Menzies ? wnen Iwas down at Newcastle , I receiyed payment of 507 . on account of the bank , which I was obliged to use , having a bill unexpectedly returned upon me . This , with other payments on account of shares ( naming the parties and amounts ) , makes me due 130 ? ., for which I shall now give you a cheque , which you can pay immediately into the bank , and no one but yourself need know anything about the matter . ' He then wrote the cheque , which was duly paid into the bank . If these were not the precise words used on this occasion , they at least convey the substance of the conversation . "

    The mativais sujets in the " Arabian Nights , " Abou Hassan and his wife , who alternately pretended to be dead , that the Caliph and his favourite Queen may grant to the survivor a present for funeral expenses , did nob contrive a more barefaced conspiracy than those who ultimately remained in pos session of the Eoyal British Bank . The story shows us that it was from first to last a pauper undertaking , dressed up with great

    buildings and handsome furniture- ; while those who really managed it were guilty of the practices which wo have in piu'b illustrated . But amongst those who assembled at its Board as directors , amongst those gentlemen who met at commercial parties or social dinner-tables , it woitld have l ) een quite impossible before the disclosures to point to one or the other and to say—That man ia the great merchant of high iritegiity , and that man is the sVindler .

    January 10,1857] " The Leadeb. . 37

    January 10 , 1857 ] " THE LEADEB . . 37

    Br1tish Policy In China. An Impartial Ac...

    BR 1 TISH POLICy IN CHINA . An impartial account of the recent events afc Canton will be more useful to our readers than any vague criticism on the conduct of the Chinese or British authorities . Oa the 8 th of October last the Arrow , a small vessel at anchor at Canton , waa boarded l > y a Chinese officer and a party of soldiers , who , iu spite of the remonstrances of tho master , an Englishman , hstuled down the British flag , seized and bound twelve of the crew , and carried them away ia avvnr-boat of large sine and heavy armament . Upon being intbrmoc of this proceeding , the British , ( jrjnaul , Mr

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 10, 1857, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10011857/page/13/