The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-15 00:00:00

:a)xrant Alxce.

THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY FRAUDS.
ANOTHER case cf commercial morality (?) has
been disclosed this week. A Mr. Leopold Redpath,
living at 27, Chester-terrace, Regent's.park, a gentle-
man of reputed unblemished honour, a largo sub
criber to public charities, a governor of Christ's Hos.
pital and St. Anne's Society, and a man blessed with
so disinterested and generous a disposition that he
undertook the management of the transfer stock
and the registrarship of the share department
of the Great Northern Railway, solely from a
love of employment, and a wish to render him-
self useful to the company at the small cost of
2001. a year, has been arrested on the charge of
committing enormous frauds on the Great Northern
Railway Company. Mr. Redpath had held his
office for some years. The directors of the com-
pany, two or three weeks since, established a
distinct department for the purpose of securing a
strict investigation of the accounts. The ofEcials of
this new department met on Monday last, and on
Tuesday morning they re-assembled for the purpose
of entering upon their duties. Soon after they met
Mr. Redpath entered their room, and said to the
chief clerk, " What are you going to do?" The
chief clerk replied, " To go through all the accounts
from the commencement of the company." Mr.
Redpath replied, "That is a perfectly useless pm-
ceeding. You will find all the accounts right in the
gross, and it is of no use entering into details." The
chief clerk said, "We are bound to go into the whole
of the accounts, as the directors have given us ex-
plicit directions to do so, and we wish to begin with
the numerical register." Mr. Redpath took up one
of the books and then threw it down again, saying,
" Well if that is your intention, I will have nothing to
do with it." He then said to one of the officers, " I
am going'out for a few minutes." He went, and
never returned. The inspection of the accounts at
once proceeded, and it was soon found that trauds to
Vie amount of 150,0001. had been perpetrated on the
company by Mr. Redpath. As principal registrar of
stock, Mr. Redpath had, of coarse, the entire control
of that department of the company's business. When
he had to issue a 1001. stock, it appears that he
aided a "0 " to the amount, thus making it 1,000/.
on the company by books. This operation was not
confined to 1001., but extended to stock of 2001.,
3001., and 5001., so that out of every 1001. stock trans-
ferred he gained 900/. The directors appear not to
have made any examination into the accounts, pro-
bably because they never had any suspicion of their
officer, and it has been to them a mystery for some
years past that they were called upon to pay dividends
upon 15,0001. or 20,000/. more than according to their
audited accounts they were liable for. This mystery
is now explained. Mr. Redpath, disinterested soul,
pockeii ig this 20.000 a year. Previous to leav-
ing the office, Mr. Redpath sent one of the
ticket porters, belonging to the railway, to the Union
Bank, in Argyll-place,for the title deeds of his house
. Chesterplace, and for other securities which were
lodged there in his name, directing him to meet him
with the documents at Chester-place. The porter