The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-11-02 00:00:00

THE CITY OF GLASGOW BANK.

At a meeting of the luidators of the City of Glas-
gow Bank, held on Friday in last week, it was resolved
to make a call upon the shareholders of £5OO per £lOO
of stock. payable in two equal instalments on Desem-
ter 22 and February 24 respectively. At a conference
held with the committee of shareholders, the liqui-
dators intinar.ted their anxious desire to give every
assistance and facility to shareholders v,ho might find
it difficult to realize their assets on the moment except
at serious loss.

The Glasgow Correspondent of The Times says :
" General commiseration is expressed for the unfor-
tunate shareholders of the City of Glasgow Bank.
The call of £5OO is considered a large one, but it is
admitted that the liquidators had no alternative, and
the course they have adopted in making the money
payable in two instalments is being universally com-
mended. That to many it will tend to lighten the
blow is certain; to others it will matter little, they
Will simply be unable to contribute anything. Opinions
differ as to the exact proportion of the partners who
Will be found to meet the call in full, but there is a
Unanimity in the feeling that nothing like the
£4,0u0,000 calculated upon can be forthcoming."

In remarking upon the call made upon the unfortunate
ahareholoers the Daily News (in a leader on Monday)
remarks :

• . . . The quickness of the call and the likelihood
that those who can pay must submit to still heavier
demands bring home to the imagination what the
failure really means in a way that mere figures cannot
do. The loss implied is something appalling. A
Month ago shareholders in the City of Glasgow Bank
knew that the market value of their property was
£240 per share, and those of them who were
not behind the scenes might have had the
Impression that this was the real value of the
Share in the business—that if each £lOO they held was
at so great a price there was a considerable margin to
oome and go upon before there could• be any question
of their being liable on the bank's debts. Now they
know that, not only has the £240 wholly disappeared,
but besides losing that property they have to pay £5OO
Per share besides. For every £lOO share they possessed
they find themselves £740 poorer than they believed
they were a month ago. To a man with ten shares only
the difference is more than £7,000, with a certain
liability besides if he has any means left. Even to
people who had been careful not to put all their eggs
Into one basket, and who had perhaps only put into
the bank a third or a fourth, or even a Jess part of
their money, the difference between their fancied posi-
tion and the one to which they now wake up is the
difference between wealth and ruin. In this magni-
tude of loss to the shareholders, the City of Glasgow
tank disaster is unique, we believe, among great
failures. . . .

The Daily News of Tuesday, (in their City article)
remarks:—
We understand that iR some influential quarters in the City
there has been under discussion a proposal to open a
national subscription in aid of the sufferers by the late Glas-
gow bank failure. In ordinary circumstances, it is very
common to ignore the misery inflicted by losses incurred
through participation in any trading venture, while the
Victims, or their survivors, in accidents by land or water,
the
assisted by generous contributions. The case of
_me unfortunate shareholders in the City of Glasgow
xiank is, however, one of such an exceptional
Character that if a well • developed scheme can be
originated, it will be sure to meet with substantial
repport. It will require no Mansion House meeting to start
,
and as standing at the head of commercial and financial
establishments in the kingdom, it would be a graceful act if
the Bank of England for once in a way took the lead and
Initiated the movement. The incalculable value of such an
hiltiative could not be overrated, and the success would be
hidisputable. Apart from any other impelling motive, it
would show a feeling of sympathy with many hundreds of
ruined families in Scotland who were powerless to prevent
the catastrophe which will drag them down. In England,
the loss from the bank's failure will be comparatively
trilling, as can be judged by a perusal of the list of share-
holders.

The Daily News also publishes the following letter:—

Bir,—This Country is always ready to listen to the cry of
real distress, and to respond to that cry from whatever
illtarter of the globe it may come. Be the suffering and
Misery in Bulgaria, China, India, or in our midst, thousands
,of sympathisibg hearts are always to be tnind who come
forward on these occasions and prove the reality of their
BYmpathy by contributing liberally towards the alleviations
Of distress. I feel sure lam understanding the truth when I
lay that hundreds of thousands of Englishmen and English-
Women are (like myself) at this moment waiting for an ap-
Deal to be made to the country on the behalf of those of the
Shareholders in the City of Glasgow Bank who, owing to its
failure, and through no fault of their own, have been brought
tO ruin, to show in a tangible form how their hearts
have been wrung by their sorrows, and how deeply
they feel for them in this their hour of bitter
trouble. As I write this I seem to see before me the crowd
Of fathers, mothers, widows, children, aged, infirm, and
,lfck, who will be, before the lapse of many days, abso-
lutely penniless. The law demands their all; their all
lutist go. Ought we not as a nation to do something for
themi The answer of this country to this question I am
confident is this: "Let a committee of leading merchants
and men of business be formed, and let an appeal be made,
ISI2d from every corner of this land such a response will
SOrne as will prove utimistak4bly what the feelings of
ungland are." It is to suggest the formation of such a
,committee and the issue of an appeal that I write this
letter, hoping you will find a place for it in your columns.
beg to subscribe myself
A COMPARATIVELY POOR MAN, BUT BEADY TO GiVB
£3O SHOULD AN APPEAL BE MADE.
October 27.

The imprisoned directors mid officials of the City of
Glasgow Bank were again examined on Tuesday before
the Sheriff in private, and remanded. The Govern-
Ment have taken possession of the books and papers of
the Bank.

The Edinburgh Correspondent of The Times, writing
on Tuesday night, says :—" This afternoon a conference
of the leading citizens of Edinburgh was held in the
Council Chambers. for the purpose of considering what
steps should be taken to raise a fund for the relief of
the sufferers by the failure of the City of Glasgow
hank. The Lord Provost presided, and there was
an influential attendance. The unanimous feeling of
the meeting was that the scheme of relief ought
to assume national proportions, and that local com-
Mittees should be appointed throughout the United
kingdom to receive subscriptions. It was also con-
eldered advisable that the question of the applica-
tion of the fund should be left over for consideration
Until after the most necessitous cases have been ascer-
tained. The Lord Provost undertook to communicate
With the Lord Provost of Glasgow, who has put
himself in communication with the chief magistrates
of the large towns of Scotland, with the object of
their eliciting opinions as to what course of actim
Should be adopted. It was hoped that this would be
hnown.in a very few days, when the movement would
take definite shape and subscription lists be opened.
The Lord Provost was desired as soon as he was in a.
Position to do 80 to call another meeting. A meet-
mg of representatives of the various banks was also
held to-day in Edinburgh to consider the propriety of
tocommending to their shareholders that the banks
Should contribute to the proposed relief fund for the
Shareholders of the City of Glasgow Bank. It was
arranged that an adjourned Meeting shoulct be held
When further information shall have been obtained."