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    670 ¦ ' The Saturday Andyst mid Leader. ...

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    SUCCESSFUL EMBEZZLEMENT. THE fraud on th...

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    Laws And Morals. M Easures Are Being Tak...

    that of most of our mote innocent fiction writers in England-So the mischief spreads ; they are most-popular in Belgium and Russia , and to -a certain extent in Germany , England , and the North ' . ' It is quite possible , indeed , that they may do the least harm to the country of which they are the native produce . This if often the case ; there is a great dealin coherency and consistency of evil ; infidelity , for instance , is no doubt least felt where it is mutual , winked at , and condoned ; and mdriages de convenance are , of all marriages , the least sacred . Crimes are the worst , and in one sense the most injurious ,

    When committed against a strong conscience , and natural gaiety and levity carry off evils and calamities which would be grave , to a grave nature . These are the reasons , together with a strong external control , and police which save France , but in a measure only , from some of the consequences which are the natural fruit of the literature which she produces and has hitherto encouraged . Many Frenchmen dispute the superior morality of England . In England , doubtless whatever is done , contre la morale , is far more known than in Prance , partly from the freedom of the subject , and partly because there is less family and social condonation in such matters : ; but the literature of England shows the real state of the case , a literature which indicates not the will of the

    State , but the taste of the people . In the points above indicated , there is no comparison between the works of fiction of the two countries . 5 Te have our vices , and we cannot always keep them private . France has them , and could keep them private if she chose—at least in a great measure ; for ^ there is much , as we have already shown , to facilitate privacy . She rejoices in the decency of her streets and newspapers , at least the upper half of them , only to make a full and voluntary expose : of herself in her novels . ; and the revelations made in England for public good , are vouchsafed by her for private gains , and - private amusement ;; what we know ^ against her ~ we know b y her own description , at her own good pleasure . She draws the sketch , pretty much the same , with a legion of pens , it is not our fault if we Jake it

    for a likeness . We have spoken of M . de Girardin , we will r now quote Madame de Girardin— -not voting Dumas , or Sand , or Balzee , or Rlurger , or Steiiddal , & c—but a French lady , accomplished , patriotic , and familiar , thoroughly familial ' , ¦ with French society . Would any English lady have dared to offer to English eyes the following cold-blooded delineation as a true picture . It is on " Modern French amours" — " Un amour maintenaht , est une affaire d ' occasion , ori aime celui on ceile qu on voit riaturelleinent le * plT £ S ~ S"ouvenl , on- ^ - choisit dans sou petit cercle . Nous avions les jnariages d ' interets ; aujourdhui nous avons de plus les amours do

    convenance , ce qui est fort triste . Fort in ' ste , indeed ; and it is to be hoped that as in most French writing there is some exaggeration even here in the portrait by a writer of letters whose popularity must depend upon her truthfulness . Her remarks refer to a very recent though not the present period . The Stuarts and Louis XIV . are said to have trusted to Royal Societies , Academies , and Sciences , to divert the minds of thinking men . from political questions ; a far more wholesome distraction , however mischievous , than the corrupt romance ; and Louis Napoleon has , perhaps , the sense to see it .

    670 ¦ ' The Saturday Andyst Mid Leader. ...

    670 ¦ ' The Saturday Andyst mid Leader . [ Jitly 2 l , i 860 .

    Successful Embezzlement. The Fraud On Th...

    SUCCESSFUL EMBEZZLEMENT . THE fraud on the Union Bank of London might now bo consigned to oblivion , if it were not desirable to notico one of the most remarkable instances of successful embezzlement on record . Wo use the term successful , as all Pullinger ' s accomplices have boon allowed to escape unscathed , and consequently the sumo individuals may now be plotting some fresh conspiracy , in tho hope that by the offering up of some second Pullinger as a sacrifice , they may add to the ill-gotten gains which they have already appropriated . It is wholly unnecessary to refer to the details of proceedings whieh _ have already engrossed so large ^ a portion of ~ public" attention ; * Mr " iflSiayDe ~ i ^ viaable ~ tO ~ onqT » ire whether any additional security has been provided against another fraud of a similar description . It in greatly to bo feared that no additional precautions have been adopted , which are tho leant likely to prove effectual , if a dishonest . directorate should over bo entrusted with tho management of tho bank . Pullinger's accomplices have' not been exposed , although it is scarcely possible to believe that they still remain' undiscovered . Most persons are fUlly aware that ' in former times , when the robberies of bankers ' parcels of notes were discovered , it w «*» found impracticable to offer a reward for tho discovery of the stolen proporty ; accordingly the felony was compounded by advertising that the bunk notes luid

    been lost , and thus the necessity for a prosecution was avoided-The case now before us bears no resemblance to ordinary cases of embezzlement , for not even a hint has been given that any other person besides Pullinger was concerned . The directors have dismissed two or three clerks , who are not even suspected , of having shared in the plunder , and the . clerk who first discovered the deficiency at the Bank of England is stated , m the limesof the 14 th instant , to have retired in disgust , on account of the dissatisfaction which was expressed at his having taken the only certain means of verifying the balance at the Bank of England

    The power of the directors of joint stock companies to pay losses out of capital-to much doubted , and it is therefore important that the case submitted to Sir Hugh Cairs and Mr . Daniel , Q . C . should be brought under consideration . The point was . " whether , after applying the existing surplus fund , and the whole , or a part of the current half-year ' s profits , to the liquidation of the ^ present deficiency , the directors or the shareholders , by a majority o { votes at a general meeting , specially convened for the purpose , have power to write off the balance of the present loss against the of

    capital of the company . " The answer was , " we are opinion that it is within the powers of the company to resolve by a majority at a meeting duly convened , that the loss of £ 263 , 000 , sustained in consequence of the frauds referred to , shall be made made good in the manner pointed out , that is to say , first , by applving so much of the capital as consists of the £ ltt ) , Q 00 capitalized in July 1859 : secondly , by applying £ 100 , 000 . of the reserved fund ; thirdly , by applying £ * KhOOO out of the year's income ; and we are further of opinion that the company may . in like manner , resolve , that all or any part of the remainder ot the earnings of the year shall be divided as a dividend . " it is im

    Without questioning the soundness of this opinion - peratively necessary that there should be s ? oine clear understanding respecting capital accounts . The payment of dividends ¦ ¦ ou t of capital has been pronounced not only objectionable but illegal ; and whether the payment of losses be strictly legal or not , there is too much reason to fear that the ease with which the loss of n quarter of a million has been surmounted by the Union Bank may operate as a most baneful example . It is impossible without seeing the books of the establisliment to know how this loss has been written off , but tire explanation of the chairman at the general meeting was cpnfusiori worse confounded : " Your shares will remain at £ 12 paid up capital . We have not altered yonr position , nor our own , for the directors are in the same position with , vou . ; as each of us holds a large stake in the company , I think it right to explain this , as some misapprehensions have been circulated , and it is difficult to frame a statement which shall not be misunderstood .

    to state tliat the shares have not been reduced from £ 12 to £ 10 . Each share is £ 50 , and each shareholder is liable to pay the unpau portion of his shares , if called upon . Each of you having paid £ 12 is still liable to pay £ 38 , and no action that we can take can make you liable to pay £ 40 . " What the chairman rneamv is altogether beyond comprehension . The report distinctly states , thafit is . " note * proposed tor re-debitcapital account with amount carried last year to credit of that account from reserved jfind £ 120 . 000 ; " therefore , ' if ¦ ¦ this be done , the shareholder ^ will nbviouslv have that amount less capital . Instead ot £ / 20 , 000 ,

    they will have only £ GOO , 000 , as no trickery wifirTigifi- ^ s—car alter the fact that this £ 120 , 000 has . been taken , to make good part of the deficiency of £ 2 G 3 , OOO . The very roundabout way . however , in which tlie chairman tried to persuade shareholders that they could take away £ 120 , 000 , without diminishing . . their capital , suggests another enquiry . I * it the intention ot tho directors to carry the balance of the deficiency , after deducting the £ 100 , 851 15 . ? . IQd . reserved fund , and £ 31 , lo 6 l ( w . - <' . proportion of profit devoted to making up tho loss to capital account , or to a suspense account :- ' Without entering into technical ' explanations , it looks very much like an intention oi " cooking the accounts to make things pleasant . " that has yet been

    This is by far the most serious matter mentioned : in connection with this marvellous case , for , it under any circumstances the payment of either dividends or losses , out of capital , can be justified , it will be extremely difhi-ult to define how far this mischievous doctrine may be extended . v \ «? n "it chairman told the shareholders that they were only liable for £ 38 , and that no action could make them pay more , it is surprising that no one should have reminded him , that the company wan founded on tho principle of unlimited liability , and that each proprietor was consequently liable to his last acre and ln « lasi shilling . The chairman said that tho directors were ublo to certify that all tho accounts were now perfectly correct ; Hut as tho same assurance has been unnually given for tho hist twenty yenrw , it would have been more satisfactory to have been able to ' append a certificate of accuracy by some independent person . i >«» doubt the directors are anxious to avoid the indignation which

    might result from a full exposure of all tho facts ot tho case ; but the- public will-not-Bulfer ^ mBttew-to ^ wit-ua ^ bcy jiW , w »» i ilie warning of tho Western Bank of . Scothind -Iwloi-o , tl »« <•• A bill in chtmcorv was filed on tho ltth instant , by ' , ^ ' ^ ^ Duvidson , Bradbury , and Himlwick , uctinur on bchnU . « t w Hharehojders , against the Union Bank of London , to restrain tin . n i ) nying dividend out of capital , and to aacortam tho »« b » lt . \ A " tho directors to make good the tlefnlcations occasioned Py ino frauds of Pullinger , and thero is now every prospect of a I explanation , however desirous tho directors muy Uo ot sun preserving silence .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1860, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21071860/page/6/