The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-05-01 00:00:00

THE FRAUDS OF BENJAMIN HIGGS.

During the sitting of the select committee of the
House of Commons, last week, to inquire into the
matters affecting the metropolitan gas companies, Mr.
Denison and Mr. Richards appeared for the Great
Central Gas Company, whose bill was before the com-
mittee.
Mr. Denison in opening the case for the Company
explained their position and operations, and that
£lO,OOO additional capital which they proposed to raise
was for an extension of their works. The learned
counsel said that k.::6,000 which the Company already
owe on account of extended works would have been
paid bad it not been for the frauds of Mr. Higgs, the
late secretary of the Company, which were a
matter of common notoriety, his defalcations
having amounted to twice that sum, or some-
thing over £70,000. Higgs had carried on his
system of fraud since the year 1862, and the result bad
been the astounding deficiency named. It would be
asked where was the system of audit under which such
operations could have taken place. Higgs had been in
the service of the company for seventeen years, and the
directors had considered that they could place great
confidence in him; and, with reference to the auditing
of the accounts, there was an act of parliament of 1851
which empowered the corporation to appoint auditors
on their own behalf, such officials to be paid by the coin-
pany. Directly the act came into operation they op
-
pointed two gentlemen, viz., Mr. Chatteris and Mr.
13egbie, who were both members of eminent city &MB,
for the purpose.
Mr. Henry Chatteris, in explanation of the manner
in which Mr. Higgs had managed to defraud the Com-
pany for so long a period, said:-
1 was appointed an auditor of the Great Central Gas Com-
pany in 1851, in which office I continued till the end of 1860,
being annually reappointed by the Common Council. At the
end of 1860 I became an auditor of the company, appointed
by the directors, and have continued so up till the present
time. Mr. Begbie was my colleague. Be was appointed in
the same manner as myself, and has continued as my
colleague up till the present time. The corporation
never appointed us after the year 1860. I knew Mr.
Higgs, who was a clerk in the accountant's office of the
gas company. There were six or seven clerks in the office.
Ido not know whether be held a leading position. I believe
he had been In the company's employ for 16 or 17 years.
It was one of the rules of the office that the accountant
ehould receive from the company's collectors their lists.
The collector was to take the money he received direct to
the bankers, and then take the list and receipt to be passed
into the company's books. I have ascertained since
Riggs has absconded that that course has not been
pursued since 1862, but that Iliggs persuaded the col-
lectors to take the lists and mosey to him, stating that
he would pay them into the bank. The accountant has
told me he did not know of this proceeding. The late in-
vestig dions show that Riggs was in the habit on some occa-
sions of keeping the whole of the money, and In other cases
making out smaller lists, and then paying In the smaller
sums Exmloation resumed In the course of my exatnlna.-
tion I have discovered that Higgs suppressed some of the
lists altogether and kept the whole of the money, and in
others altered them to smaller amounts. The defalcations
were entirely kept from the contpany's cash book and the
banker's paas-book, so that all the accounts tallied.
'rhe entire amount of the defalcations had amounted
since 1862 to upwards of £72,000. It was the habit of the
directors to compare the cash-book and the banker's pass-
book once a week, and to initial the cash book as proof if
their examination. The gas receipts were posted from the
cashbook into the ledger, than showing the whole amount of
gas consumed by the customers of the company. The con-
sumers' account should have tallied with the cash-hook and
banker's pass-hook, and at the end of the year, in order to
account for the deficiency, it was debited as arrears. No one,
on looking at this section of the ledger, could tell which of
the customers was in arrears. Riggs took care that the cash-
book should show that the account was paid, so that no col-
lector should call again upon the customer for an account
which had been once paid. There was also a gas rental book
' These were,

In which certain —a;:rein -idaVappeaXe.
generally speaking, false arrears—in other words. Higgs
had had the money. The accounts under the head of
••_ _ .

gas rentals and arrears were increasing every quarter, and
the last time that the aecennts were audited those items
amounted to upwards of £OO,OOO. The "arrears" for the
current quarter were more than 10 per cent. of the capital of
the company. The object of the corporation in appointing
auditors was that the consumers should not pay more than
their fair rental for gas; in other words, that sums should
be debited to revenue which ought to have been debited to
capital. The directors were of opinion until after Higgs had
absconded that the collectors paid their money into the
bask, and I thought so to. Higgs also dealt with "the
residual-products ac3ount," which consisted of coke, tar, ttc.
which were sold at the works, in the same way as with the
collectors' account—viz., by persuading the clerks who
received the money for sales to band it over to bins.
1:13 to December, 1898, the defalcations of Diggs, managed
by receiving the collectors' cash and suppressing it, had
amounted to £56,565. Since that time up to the 4th of March,
the date of his abscondilig, an additional £2,199 had been
abstracted in the same manni r. Higgs dealt with the residual
products account from June 30, 1e64, to December ,
and dining that time there appeared a deficiency of £3,207,
under that head. In January and February of this year,
34 had been abstracted from the same account. No sums
were abstracted from the residual products prior to J nne, 1068
Higgs misappropriated cheques which were handed to him
by Die secretary to pay into the company's account at the
bank. Higgs kept an account at the same bank, and
enabled to pay the cross cheques received by the company
Into his own account. lietween the end of the year I,sl
and June, DM, Him bad falsified the accounte under the
separate customers' consuming accounts, to the total
amount of Pey;99; In other words, lie had altered the totals
of the gas rentals, so that a less BIM appeared to the debits,
in these instances, by £8,699, than should have been the case.
The total amount of iligg's deficiencie. are £51,214 25. 2.d. I
do sod think, front the rigid examination which has taken
place, that there is anything more yet to come ont. The ac-
tual truth of the arrears, as they appeared In the books of the
compaby, was never tested. if the consumers' separate ac-
counts had been balanced, the deficiency to the extent of
£8,684) would have been detected. Mr. Higgs seems to have
had all the officers of the company under his control, and in
501115 cases to have done their work. Prior to my slO
pointinent the company had no auditor. No audit except
that made by myself and colleague ever took place until the
government auditor WO4 appointed INI6 ysar, fi wall IA

o,died 1860 that the powers of the corporation to
appoint had ceased. I was told tlis result was
attrihntei to the art of 1860. I did know that that
act was obtained to enable the company to raise the prs.e
of gas. I know that the price I gas was subsequently
raised. I sir not know whether that act afro enabled the
directors' remuneration to be increased. (11r. Hope Scott
read a clause ot the act providing that the remuneration of
the directors might be increased under certain conditional.
The directors' remuneration up till December, 1862, was at
the rate of .61,000 per annum. For the year 1863 it was £2,000,
ahli in sub,quent years up till the end of 1868 it has been at
the rate of £1,500 per year.

On Monday the Select Committee resumed their
sittings. Mr. Chatteris, the auditor of the Great
Central Gee Company, was again examined at great
length :

He said that Mr. Wyld was the chief accounts nt, and Digge
was the subordinate clerk. It wan the duty of the accountant
to enter the sums paid into the bankers' in the ledger; but
Higgs managed, some way, to get the cash from the clerk.
Since Sir. Chatter's last made an audit, Higgs had abstracted
£4,561 from the residual products' account. In cross-
examination the witness said : if the system of book-
keeping had been properly carried out by the clerks of
the company, the frauds of Higgs would have been de-
tected. The system, if properly carried out, was perfect.
The frauds were no fault of a deficient audit, but of the 1
manner of keeping the books. Mr. Higgs appears to have
relieved other giutlemen in the works of their duties,
and to have kept the books in many cases himaelf. It
never struck me until after Higgs had absconded that the
balance of " arrears " was becoming very disproportionate,
and I never heard any remark made on the subject by
any one connected with the company. In the discharge
of my duties I examined the n-hole of the principal
books of the company. These frauds have arDen from
the manipulation of the subsidiary books which were
kept ill the accountant's °Bice, and which my colleague
and myself could not check. lithe attention of anyone had
been particularly directed to the gradual growth of the
"arrears," and an examination had taken place, the frauds
mast have been detected. At the end of the year 1862, which
was the year in which Higgs commenced his operations,
the total consumption of gas was £74,180, and the arrears
£30,988 : for the year 1883, rental £74,180, arrears £31,053
1864, 4177,643, arrears £318,291; 1865,482,690, arrears £40,750
1866, £78,708, arrears £46,559; 1867, £84,041, arrears £65,287
and for the year ending the 315 t of December, 1868. the
rental was £85,765, and the arrears £65,507. For the
year ending 1060, before the frauds commenced, the total
rentals were £63,489, and the arrears £29,003. It did not
strike me that an increase of A:11,000 in the trade of the com-
pany from the end of the year 1862 would not justify an in-
crease of £.34,000 in the "arrears." I did not consider it any
part of my business to question the propriety of the direc-
tors, or their correct judgment, in giving such largely in-
creased credits.

Mr. Wyld, the accountant of the company, was
collet', and examined by Mr. Richards :
lie deposed that he had held the post of accountant to the
Great Central Gas Company since Its commencement.
Benjamin Higgs was the chief clerk. He had been seventeen
years in the employ of the company in the general office, and
during the whole of that time witness had placed implicit re-
liance in him. Witness had detected Higgs in a lie in refer-
ence to the appropriation of a cheque for £2OO. II igies had
after denying subsequently admitted that he had reciiived
the cheque from Mr. Bennett, a collector, and offered to give
witness his cheque for the amount. Witness, however,
declined to accept other than the original cheque, and
threatened to report the circumstance it the absolute coin
were not produced. The actual amount was £243.
By the Chairman.—Witness was not aware that Mess had
acted as intermediate collector for five or six years. Witness
did not know, as accountant of the company, the large in-
crease of arrears.
Cress.examined.—Witness had implicit confidence in Mr.
Higgs. He hail been to his house at Teditington, but saw
nothing to indicate that he lived in a luxurious nianner.
Witness had never seen Mrs. Higgs. Witness never in-
quired in the course of his duties, as accountant, why
good accounts were not paid. lie was aware that the
company had to borrow money to pay their dividend,
became they could not get iu their outstanding accounts,
but he was not aware that any inquiry was made as to
the reason why those accounts weee not collected. Witness
was still in the employ of the company. No change hail as
yet been made in the staff. Mr. Parkes was appointed to
audit the accounts on the 16th February, and witness had
applied for a postponement of the audit on the 12th. Mr.
Parkes, however, audited the accounts on the 2nd March,
and upon that occasion he found some vouchers missing.
This did not excite any suspicion on the part of witness to-
wards Higgs. Witness never in the course of his duties
checked the rental accounts. Ile simply pested the ledger,
journal, and cash-book. Ile did not post from the rental.
book into the ledger, nor di4 he trouble to ascertain whether
the figures in the ledger were correct. Two of the vouchers
missed by Mr. Parkes were subsequently found.
By the Chairman'. Witness hail been called a great deal
away from his duties upon other business of the company,
and during his absence Higgs had always acted in his
stead, lie had the greatest confidence in Higgs, and it was
a source of pain to him when he heard of his defalcations.
11 lairs had told witness that his wife was coming into
£lOO,OOO, and witness had no reason to doubt the truth of
the statement.
Mr. Alderman Dakin stated that he had been chair-
man of the company nearly from its commencement
He had a great deal of property invested in it. The
directors were not aware that some of their collectors
did not pay their money into the bank. They always
pursued a means of checking the accounts of the com-
pany that made it impossible for frauds to take place
without conspiracy. The directors did not know the
amount of the arrears, for they had the greatest con-
fidence in their sub-officials. Balance-sheets were
made out, although none had been published since 18(10;
and witness regretted that all the balance-sheets
were not as clear as that of 1860. It was quite true
that the directors did not examine the balance-sheets.
Witness was not aware that when, two years ago, they
had to borrow to pay dividend, that they had £60,000
outstanding debts. They first borrowed money for this
purpose in 1864. They might have borrowed £5,000 or
£lO,OOO for paying dividend, when, in fact, they would
have had ample funds but for these defalcations. The
Great Central Gas Company had never desired to
amalgamate with any other company; £23,000 was ab-
solutely necessary for carrying on the business during
the next winter. They had been paying 10 per cent.
dividend for about eight or nine years, and they had
occasionally borrowed money to pay the dividend.
They required at least £30,000 for a floating capital.
At this stage of the proceedings the Committe ad-
journed.

At the Judges' Chambers, on Monday, the case of Benjamin
Higgs was mentioned in reference to a claim by Mr. Park,
the freeholder of the House at Teddington, where Benjamin
lliggs lived just before he absconded. On the last occasion Mr.
Justice Barret barred the several claims made to the property
on the premises against the execution in the action " Krihl
v. Higgs," and the sale had proceeded. Mr. Park had given
notice that certain fixtures attached to the freehold (for the
purchase of which Higgs had negociated, belonged to him,
and the Sheriff of Middlesex had interpleaded, and an IX
parte injunction had been obtained from Vice-Chancellor
James, whi,ffi was appointed to he heard during the present
week, to prevent the sale of the articles claimed by Mr.
Park. The case was before Mr. Justice Brett, and he made
an order for an affidavit from the claimant, and the case was
now further adjourned.

The directors of the Great Central Gas Consumers' Com-
pany have prepared a report for the shareholders, which, so
far as it relates to their absconding clerk, Benjamin Higgs,
and his misdeeds, has considerable interest at present. They
express their deep mortification in having to submit a state-
ment of frauds of a startling character which, they say,
have for a series of years been carried on by hint, and their
regret at being obliged to add that the inquiries instituted had
brought to light total neglect of duty by others, from whom,
as; old and trusted officers, they had every right te expect faith-
ful service. The result of a thorough investigation, they
say, is that the large sum of £71,214 odd has been stolen.
That this could have been effected is astounding to them.
Trusting, they say, to "the long-established rules of business
in the outer office, by which a perfect system of check was
prescribed," they were not prepared for the falsification of
the company's cash-book, nor to find that the true statements
of rental and arrears placed weekly before them were
differently entered in those books of the company which did
not come under their observation. At their weekly
meetings the directors had the banker's pass-book and
the company's cash-book produced and carefully called
over, to see that all moneys paid to the company had been
duly passed to their account at the bank. They had also
produced to them a weekly statement of the rental due, with
the sum collected and the amount of arrears, and the col-
lectors were constantly called before the Board arid ex-
amined as to their collections and the reasons of accounts
being in arrear. But, while the directors were, as they
say, thus carefully engaged in checking the books, it is
now ascertained that the cash-book was falsely made up;
that the system of cheek, as described by the auditors,
was not carried out in the office; that the collectors had
from time to time paid their money into the office instead of
to the hankers; that the accountant—the superior of Higgs—
whose duty it was to check the payments into the cash-book
from the actual receipts, had contented himself with copying
the banker's book, in which a portion only of the receipts
of Higgs appeared, thus rendering the labours of the directors
lutile. Higgs had obtained entire supervision of the office,
and being an able accountant and constant at his work, from
nine o'clock in the morning frequently until late in the ex en-
ing, hag been allowed to control and conduct the whole busi-
ness of the outer office. lie had lir en in the company's em-
ployment 17 years, and hail served his articles with Mr. Jack-
son, an accountant in Guildhall-buildings, coining to the
company with the highest character, "which lie had appa-
rently deserved up to the time of his absconding."
His salary Wall originally £10r) a year, but was after-
wards increased to its present amount —£l4s. The direc-
tors did not know nor had they the slightest suspicion
that lie was living otherwise than as befitted his position,
and the accounts they had since received of his wicked ex-
travagence had COlale upon them with the utmost surprise.
1 he fact of his absconding was first notified to the chairman
by the secretary on Sunday, the 7th of M arch, and it was
then supposed that he had appropriated a small sum re-
ceived by him for gaa products. The accounts were then
thoroughly investigated with the deplorable results stated
In the report of the auditors, and the directors re-
gret to add that, notwithstanding the efforts of the
ablest detective officers, Higgs is still at large, brit
every exertion is being made to bring him to jus-
tice. The directors say, however, they are glad to be
; able to point to the solid prosperity of the company, and
' they propose, in order to meet the defalcations, to appro-
;priate £lO,OOO a-year out of money available for dividend.
In conclusion they express their deep regret at the necessity
for such a report after en many year/ of hardly-earned pros-
perity, and they assure the shareholders that they will lend
their utmost efforts to recover the losses so unexpectedly
; made.
The Report entered considerably into the details of the ex-
traiirdinary frauds, the chief facts of which are enumerated
in the foregoing explanations.

STATEMENT BY THE CONVICT
WILTSHIRE.
The convict Wiltshire, now that the commutation
of his sentence is secure, has made a long written
statement to the Rev. IL G. Layton, chaplain of the
Glocester County Goal. In it he tells how, after leav-
ing the public-house on the Saturday night, he and
Milsom found the woman lying in the mud, and he
pulled her hair, and said he thought he knew her. He
accuses Milsom of inciting him to the first offence, and
then brings against him amuch more serious accusation.
The two, he says, left her after the first abuse of her,
but returned almost at once, and pulled her about to
see if she had any money. During the operation, he
alleges, Wilson's dog caught hold of either her clothes
or her flesh, and Milsom kicked the dog aside, and then
hitched his fingers in the woman's gown, and tore it
down to her breast. The two lifted her on the bank,
and then, fearing some one WAS approaching, went
away to the convict's brother's. On the way there, so
Wiltshire alleges, Milsom wiped blood off his hand on
the grass. The most important part of the statement
is the convict's admission that when he left his brother's
he went back to the woman, as to which there WM no
evidence at the trial. He says :
I went on !town to my home, and when I came seine way
down the line I heard something, and thought upon the
woman. I went along about ten yards further, and I beard it
again silent " Murder !" I stopped and looked about, and
went in through the gate after a bit of hay for my donkey,
and there I saw the woman with her head hanging down in-
side the railings, and her hands down. She was lying across
the palings on her stomach, with One foot caught by the shoe
in the thorn, and the other foot on the rail, and her clothes
all down over her head. I asked her to get up. She did not
seem to move. I pulled her shoe out of the thorn and let her
fall over. She cried " Murder !" three times, and I went away
and left her, and went on to my home.
He then makes further accusations against Milsom.
It is said that he has not denied throughout that the
woman died from suffocation; but when asked whether
he placed his hand on her month, he replied, after a
wale, "I can't lay whether I did, Land I can't say

whether! didn't. I'd rather say no more about it. 1
I'd rather talk about something else." On Saturday
his wife received a letter he wr,,te to her, in which he
says—"l am thankful to the Almighty that my life is
to be spared; but I am very sorry to think I shall be
parted from you as long as I live. The chaplain tella
me I am to be sent into penal servitude for his; but I
, am very thankful I have got this instead of being hung.
Everything was got ready for uie to be hung last Mon-
day, and on Friday I gave up all the world to die; but
I couldn't get my wife off iny mind. I was in such
trouble about you. I cannot tell you how very thank-
ful I am for my life being spared till God shall see fit
to call me instead of being hung." He then tells how
he prays to God five or six times a day, and refers to
the time when he and his wife served God, and says he
thinks the trouble that has fallen upon him is a punish-
ment for his desertion of religion. Most of the details
in his written confession are so revolting that they can-
not be published.

On the subject of Wiltshire and his reprieve, the fol-
lowing letter appeared in The Times on Tuesday:—
As the forms of the House precluded me from making any
reply to Mr. Bruce last Thursday on the above subject, and
as the subject is one of very great importance to the public,
I trust you will kindly allow me space in your columns to
advert to it shortly.
Mr. Bruce in the tone of his reply complained of my
question, and said the House would agree with him if hs
declined to answer it. Why so ? If his case is so good he •
should be glad of the opportunity of answering such a ques-
tion; and so all the Press, Including yourself, appeared
to me to be of opinion, as well as that the case required an
explanation, so far as the public were in possession of the
facts. He therefore ought to have been obliged to me for
putting the question to him. But he discreetly avoided
answering one important part of my question—via, as
to the man C. Wiltshire—poor ill-used imncent—having
endeavoured to murder the warder in charge of him in his
cell in Gloucester Gaol since he was condemned tabs hung.
That was a rather awkward bit to answer, especially as I
have the best authority for knowing that the attempt was
known at the Home Office before the reprieve was decided
on, and was, moreover, remarked upon when the application
was made. So important was the matter thought that two
members who sit on the Government side of the llouse told
me they should have asked the question ill had not done so.
All right thinking men must agree in your remarks as to
the necessity for the establishment of some tribunal of ap-
peal, the decisions of which shall be made public.
It may be right that women are never hung for the mur-
der of their children, but I doubt the wisdom of such an
announcement being made in Parliament by the Home Sec-
retary. It may be right that juries should convict pro forma,
and say " Guilty " in public, but "Not Guilty" privately.
It may be right that Judges should sentence convicted mur-
derers to be hung in the same way—with a private reser-
vation ; and it may be right that, out of 11 murderers no
convicted and so sentenced, six should be hung and live re-
prieved, some being alleged to be innocent and some insane,
though not as found at the trial, and on no subsequent evi-
dence that anyone has ever heard of. It may be right that
Sheward should be hung on his own sole confession, unsup-
ported, for a murder done, as he says, eighteen years ago,
and that this vice man, C. Wiltshire, convicted of rape, a
murder, arid attempted murder since, should not be hung.
But all this, if right, should not depend solely on the
private derision of any one man, be he Home Secretary or
any one else, but should he decided by some tribunal, on
some evidence which should he made public, and which
could bear the test of examination. Yours, An,
GgvanE INSON.
Eastwood-park, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, April 25.

In the House of Commons, on Tuesday evening, Mr. Bruce,
referring to a question put to him the other day by Sir George
Jenkinson, with regard to the reprieve of Wiltshire, said he
had omitted to reply to that portion of his question which
referred to the assault which the prisoner had made on the
warder who had charge cd him. The facts appeared to
be that the warder had fallen asleep and that the convict
lied availed himself of what he believed to be a favourable
opportunity of obtaining the keys of the prison, and then to
set himself at liberty. He was sure the hon. baronet, who
wae himself a magistrate, would see there was a material
distinction between an assault of that nature and a deliberato
attempt at murder.