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Leader (1850-1860), 11th September 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16, t when stride is made under his A *« THE...

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      Responsibilities Of Directors. Tun Recen...

      discriminate and universal immolation _ of ch-SX , nothing is . now talked of but reviving- claims for losses . incurred-a ^ ims fc directors of hanks that : have failed . But disappointed invesfcers discreetly hold their tongue about returning dividends . These enterprising gentlemen were very anxious to get 10 or 15 per cent , without risk or labour , and when losses presented themselves , mainly due to their own culpable neglect , they showed themselves very ready to cast the

      blame on directors , who , in some instances , put their shoulders to the wheel in the patriotic and praiseworthy hope—not , however , to pe realisedof recovering a concern which was crumbling away . Let us not be misunderstood : we repeat , we do not desire to protect or screen the fraudulent director ; but we say , before we proceed to pass j udgment and inflict penalties for fraud , let us have a clear definition , of the duties and responsibilities of directors , and of what constitutes fraud .

      With reference to the verdict in the case of Dixon and Scott , it appears to us that the law has been strained—that public excitement has unduly biased the minds of the jury . It is quite clear that Dixon was the best of the whole board of directors—that he is a perfectly honest mail—that lie deceived himself on entering the bank—that he speedily foxxrid himself in a false position-r-that he endeavoured , by wresting the management from incompetent bands , to put the concern into a position of safety—and that not Until after the sacrifice of his time and immense labour did he discover the position of the bank was irreclaimable . So far , we can hardly see the fairness or equity of making him the scapegoat . But there are so many questions of importance bound up with this verdict that we must defer our further

      Comments . Wei may , however , announce that we have collected all the facts within our reach , and some of them are so novel , and give a complexion to the case so widely different from that which'it . lias assumed through the mutilated reports in the public journals , that we hope next week to be able to lay " before the ; public a full report of this most important trial . Meanwhile , we trust the good sense of the country at large will arrest that indiscriminate slaughter meditated on the directorial body . There are good and bad directors , we do not doubt ; but the bad will be found the exception , not the

      rule . We are sorry to find a journal like the Times , which certainly does exercise a certain amount of influence on public opinion for the time , lending its voice to swell the clamour now being raised against directors at large . We well remember the period when the sympathies of the Times were all the other way . At the height of the railway mania , when the crisis came and the , question was , whether directors of bubble companies or cheated allottees should be the victims , the Times enlisted itself on the side of

      the directors , Every one conversant with the history of that period will recollect the jubilant congratulations of the Times when the case of Woolmcr v . Toby was decided against allottees . We could draw from the advertising columns of tlio Times proofs sufficient to account for the ecstasy of tjic leading journal ; but we will refrain . We Confess wo arc in doubt as to the motive the 2 'imes has for its present course . The sensible and thinking part of the public , we knowy are opposed to the diatribes of . tl < q Times ; but as wo are accustomed to tile political and commercial gyrations of that organ , we shall not be surprised if we find , after the temporary purpose ot present directorial denunciation is served , that its columns nrc crowded with praises of directors .

      T When Stride Is Made Under His A *« The...

      t when stride is made under his A *« THE I / EADEB . [ No . 442 , September 11 , 1858 . ... "Slop . ¦ . ' . ¦ ' . . ••""•'' . - ¦ .. ' ' ¦ ' ¦' ' '¦ . ¦ — : : ' ¦ ¦ - . * - ¦¦¦ ¦• ¦ ¦ ——^ *— - ¦ ' ¦ ¦¦ ¦ —

      Algeria. Tiibrh Is Something Strangely A...

      ALGERIA . Tiibrh is something strangely anomalous in the French possession of Algeria . The expedition which , oight-and-twonty years ngo , succeeded in ^ lfttiting' ^ ie ^ bannei ^ oUthe . ^ llQuivdc ^ is ^ , abQ y , Q ) , l \] t 9 prostrate standavd of the Ocaccnt on the shores of . Northern Africa , was undertaken with the most explicit assurances to the other powers of , Europe

      that there was no intention whatever of conquest or annexation : yet the viators of 1830 have never ceased for a day to occupy their acquisitions of that year , to which they have since considerably added ; and by a decree in the Moniteur of last month t ho whole of the province lias been incorporated with the French empire . For several years the English Government refused , to acknowledge this partial partition of the ~ Ttt 1 $ teU ~ empire ; and it was only , upon theprofesr

      sion by Louis Philippe of his desire to establish on the Lybian shove peaceful and commercial settlements , that a tardy recognition was given ; yet we have now the confession , on the highest official authority , that Clmstian industry and civilisation have up to the present hour taken no root , and that the work of colonisation is still to be begun . All projects or intentions of assuming a position of ascendancy in the Mediterranean were vehemently disavowed at various times by the successive cabinets of the Tuileries ; yet the obvioxis tendency and aim of such an outpost hardly admits of question , and M . Thiers told tho truth when he said from the tribune that " " the real use of Algeria to France was that it enabled her to hold in readiness there an

      army of reserve 70 , 000 strong , which she might launch at will against any point of Southern Europe . " Aud now we have the electric cable , enabling secret orders to be instantaneously transmitted from Paris to Constantine ; and the administration , civil and military , of the province placed under the direct control of a department whereof the Emperor ' s cousin is the head . In the elaborate historical and statistical report

      on the condition of Algeria , with the publication of which the Prince , has " thought fit to commence his duties as Colonial Minister , singular' care is taken to show how utterly the expectations originally held forth have been falsified , and how little there is of colonial spirit or life in the so-called colony . Every inch of ground which owns the imperial sway has been bought at a usurious price . of blood . The resistance of the warlike tribes has .

      indeed , been crushed for the present , and it will require some years before the growth to maturity of another generation can cause serious uneasiness to the veteran garrison permanently .. encamped amongst them . But even amid the ' ¦ .. tranquillity of exhaustion and the . order established by repeated decimation , confiscation , and . the laying desolate whole tracts of territory , the maintenance , in its undiniinished force , of the aimy of Algeria is declared to be indispensably . A considerable , naval force , with vessels of transport and commissariat attached , specially devoted to this particular service , is likcr

      wise pronounced essential . Every expedient and device ( save one ) will , it is said , be tried to stimulate the development of local activity throughout the province , as well as to induce the emigration thither of Europeans . Splendid promises of protection and encouragement , somewhat in the vague aud Bonapai tean style , indeed , but still goodly and glittering to look upon , are held forth to colonists . The produce of their industry is to be admissible to the great markets of France ; the security of their property is assured ; the sanctity of their religion guaranteed ; and the new means of rapid communication with home held out as an additional

      inducement . The inhabitants of the province are no longer to be subjected to the proconsular will of a military Governor-General , but aro to be as directly subject to the Imperial Government itself as those of any of the eighty-six departments of France . Only one lure is left out of the catalogue—that of local liberty . It never seems to have entered the imperial head Ihut the one element which in all time ? , all regions , and all races , lifts characterised

      successful colonisation , is indispensable still . The greatest colonial aud maritime empire of antiquity had its metropolis on the very coasts which French imperialism now desires to plant and civilise ; and how did ' flint " marvellous power arise ? Everywhere along the shores of Africa , of Spain , of Gaul , of Sicily , the Phoenicians went forth as free wen , to found free settlements ; and il . was aggregation and union of the free communities thus founded , which ,

      headed and led by Carthage , kept for centuries the all-devouring ambition of Koine at bay . In modern times there is nothing comparable to Phoenician colonisation in extent or glory , 3 avo that of England . And . what is the source ol life and health in the various societies we have founded P What , but the timely concession to them all of the right to govern r thQi ^ Bplyejs . J . J-Vj'ttps it would not do , however , to talk of local ¦ " 5 elR ! uTo 6 n' oiio ^ sftlcnrf-tlro ^ fcditrcr rancan when nil but its faintest shadow has been obliterated on the other . Algeria , Langucdoe , and Normandy , are to be In future part aud parcel of the same administrative system ; aud to set Lite firccedent of free discussion , or free institutions ,, u any one of them might lead to inconvenient demands in all .

      It is curious to hear M \ dc Mprny declaim upon the . evils of over-centrtiHisation , and upon the patriotic intentions of the Emperor to reform the abuses . whjJQh hfl , ve sprang therefrom , at the very

      momen a huge Majesty ' s special auspices in the same direction . The forms and shows of exorbitant power are infinitely varied ; and its names and pretences are equally so . But the essential evil of centralisation consists in this , that it is a -monopoly of power in the" hands of a few , and that it divests the many who arc competent and fit to exercise political discretion , authority , and control , of the power and the duty of doing so . The absorption of all administrative authority , into one metropolitan council , senate , or cabinet , is the highest stretch of aristocratic

      oppression ; but this . is outdone by the absolutism which in Itussia , Austria , and France , reduces the narrow circle within a circle narrower still , and concentrates the whole ultimate authority of the state in a single family or in one man . This was the insatiable ambition of Napoleon , and this is the insatiable desire of his nephew and successor . Instead of relaxing the administrative bondage of colonial dependencies he tightens them ; and instead of ottering scats in the cabinet to men of independent genius or motive , he confers the portfolio of colonial aifairs upon one of his own family .

      Future Military Policy In India. A Commi...

      FUTURE MILITARY POLICY IN INDIA . A commission has issued in this country to inquire into the future military reorganisation of India , and the manner in which the commission has bceu composed has subjected it to some criticism witk the organs of the ¦ late Government , though it is to be adihittcd . that the criticism is not severe . Originally it was intended that the commission ' should consist of the Secretary for War , . the Commander-inchief , and . the ' Indian . Minister ; whatever his title should be , with three officers of the Queen ' s service , three of the Company ' s , and three eminent civilians . In the commission issued under Lord

      Derby ' s administration arc appointed the heads of the three departments which we . have-mentioned , with four officers of the Queen ' s service , four of the Company ' s service , but no civilians . It may be conceded that the list of names is not very remarkable , although Lord Stanley has more than ordinary information , and Lord Melville has confessedly had opportunities of becoming acquainted with the

      working of botli armies in Bombay and Bengal lor eight or ten years of command . Others of the military members are experienced men , and ihc secretary , Colonel Bluchcr Wood > is allowed to be thoroughly efficient . It is to be regretted , perhaps , that men like Lord Grey or Lord Panmure , or still more , Mr . Sidney Herbert , were not included in the commission ; but we shall have the report , and after all the Government will be responsible .

      There has been some rumour of another coirmus siou , appointed in India , to consider the reorganisation of the Bengal army ; but it is to he doubted whether that ' commission can have been properly desoribed , for the Indian Government is not likely , particularly now , to run in the teeth of the Homo Government . The great fact , which is before us is , that Uic reorganisation of the military force in liufia is under official consideration . It is not n party subject . ; and it must be admitted that , upon the whole , tiio present Ministers have risen above pai'iy considerations with reference to their appoint ments , the

      and therefore necessarily with reference to practical course which they will pursue . If it were possible to find any party leanings in the commission to which we refer , such a suspicion would be entirely corrected by ihc composition of Lord Stan ; ley ' s Indian Council , which contains the names ol men like Lawrence or Cautloy , whose party politics are scarcely known , with the names of Kuwlinson aud Willoughby , known Liberals , while a post wns offered to John Stuart Mill , who is not Valus , »« l something more . Indeed , the selection <>! 1 IC Indian Council has evidently been guided by lno desire to obtain t lie most varied experience , couple' * with personal ability . The same tendency way " ° scon in tlie minor appointments , as in that ol Jlr . t

      . JainoB ~ CQSino . Mflli . ilLto . be Assistant . L . ulcr- ^ ec - fury , of State , with SirGcorgo Clerk nWinnrHynw Baillic as under-secretaries , — Sir Ucoryo * ' j who has served under several nilministnilions , n » u Mr . Henry Bnillio , a Conservative by coiinexloiw . but an intelligent and liberal member . jS « v , tno same spirit may bo seen in other departments , » s »» the distinctions conferred on Sir Hieliard Mm * " - Bromley , now a Knight Commander of the JJ « u , and Dr . James Ormisfon . M'William , n Co »» pnnio » of the Bath , men who have earned tlio luvour ° » Previous administrations , and arc now rccogm *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1858, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11091858/page/16/