The Express.
London, England, 1865-07-31 00:00:00

LIFEBOAT BERVIOEB.—During the storms
at the past year. INS, the Hoots of the National Lieboat
Institution have mired In pongee from Menai wrecks as our
coasts. The lagattatkm haa alga espeated Au,6st Ma 64. mew
some period on Us Lifeboat eehthnsaM. in addition to nt-
ing ALIN se rewards for gavial On &Unlimited Pomona by to
tag
lifeboats and other mama The Committee of the Inatitutton
earnestly APPEAL to the paw far ASSISTANCE, to enable
Chem es gas.s tat mosisoed heavy demands on the Inatitatioas
160 Mihail Eatablishments.
Osatributions are received by Belem Willis sad Ce. ; Berries
and Co. ; thane and Co.. sod gchalth. London and country
hankies and by the Lewis, Esq., at the 1401
141a04. 14. 34h44114448eCA141.111.

/*VERA and RACK GLASSES, by NEGRETTI
NJ, ame 7AXBRA, tla. sad 42a, la leather awe, with reek
cereal lesera or in shualanue, I inkier and arrararda Tolle
bad ugly ea their tour estabilahaseetelpt44o.lleaterardee; kg.
Gorphil : 1% Beireetlareet ; sad LK

JOHN BROOD'S.

ORIGINAL GOLD °HAM MANUFACTORY,
11. lIINALITTA4rTAZIM COVINT-GliMalf.

JOHN BROGDEN'S GOLD °HAIN&

JOHN BROGDEN'S GOLD GL ADD ORAENS.

JOBE BROGDEN% G OLD ALBERT CHAINS.

JORN BROGDZNI3 GOLD BR 0 OCR CHAINS.

WU, evorefifS.

TO 001t1raTONDANTS.
ebsellsementa Wended foe " Tito Ispeoes • Lesbos Zweetas
, must be at the Mee, 10, bonverbeetreet, by Too
leper
on the day oe pablkotion.

HAYMARKET.
Tors Eririnto, THE MIDDY ABHORL Mias Oars DenviL
—HAMLET. Messrs O. Mantas, Voltaire, Montague. Fernan-
des. and Walter Mont's/seri; Maras Atkisson and Robertson.
—Asti • BALLET. Ma. PAULI We/W.—National Anthem at 7.

PAINOSIOS
Pitt IMMO. NIART-8731.1N011 AND VTDDLESTRINCIL
—ARNAH NA MGM Mean. D. Bonelcoult.
H. YandosboN. D. libber, D. Narroy, lloytoc, Chi: D.
'becloud& end Ms 1L 011ur.—Aad AN ANPLI APOLOGY.

BRITANNIA.
Tins Evraeo, THIRD CLAM AND FIRST CLASS. Mews.
Crautord, Drummond, Bliwood, sad PIM ; Mesdames Yarn°ld,
Mottos', and Scott —Wdll.l SHALL I DIN/ I Mi. J. Rep
nolds.—And TIIS HRBRIN DIAMOND. Miss St Mass.

HIGH WATIA AT LONDON-113.111011.
MP DAY Marsha Th. lam.....AMensaa Th. 37..
Zmicasoir Mania& 81 Ltlasoca. Bh. 31S.

LONDON, MONDAY. JULY 31.

Tax present periodappears to mark an important
crisis in the development of joint stock enterprise.
The movement has passed through many phases,
and met with much opposition, but its impor-
tanoe to the extension of modern commeroe has
been fully and finally acknowledged. Hardly a
family can be found that is not more or less in-
terested in the suooeas of a joint stock under.
takeng. While shareholders were formerly few,
they are now to be reckoned as the majority of
the middle class. The enterprises conducted
on this principle are rapidly spreading over all dc
partments of trade, even over those which, a few,
years back, would have been thought to have
been exclusively the province of private firms. Thy
system has hitherto worked well, but it is
evident to careful observers that evils are begin-

sing to creep in which bid fair to stifle all the
good, and to bring with them a very considerable
measure of harm. Over-speculation is, as usual,
at the root of the matter.

The chief thing considered by those who under-
take to introduce a new company is the quoted
price of the shares. Although this is frequently no
real criterion of the solid value of the undertaking,
still it has become almost • settled point that a
premium must be quoted, or the public, will not
subscribe. Hence the practice has been gradu-
ally introduced of giving • fictitious value to shares
by what was lately termed by one of the judges
" delicate manipulation of the market." For •
time this plan was tolerably successful. Investors,
seeing a new company quoted at a good pre-
mium, naturally inferred that the property was
well worth subscribing to, and there-
fore readily embarked in it. In many cases,
however, it turned out that the price, which
just before the day of allotment stood at
a premium, fell to par, or perhaps a alight dis-
count. The object had been attained of floating
the company, and there was no longer a necessity
for " supporting the market." The manceuvre
NOD began to be understood, and the speculative
portion of the public contrived to gain from it no
►mall advantage. It is now • regular practice to
sell the shares of. any new undertaking the mo-
ment it appaars, on the chance of buying back at
a profit. In nine cases out of ten the transaction
turns out successful, and thus the promoters of
companies have begun to be beaten_with their
own weapons. In order to counteract
these operations the introducers of a company
occasionally adopt the plan of buying as many
shares as are offered, and of allotting as few as
possible. The result, of course, is, that when the
settlement is appointed, there are no shares in the
market to be got for delivery, and the speculative
sellers are forced to submit to the most exorbitant
terms to be enabled to carry out their contracts.

_ -
Of the morality of this sort of antagonism it is
not necessary to say much. On the one
hand, it may be said that introducers of oompanies
ars morally defrauding the public when tempting
them to subscribe on the strength of a purely
fictitious price. On the other, that no'
one has a right to depreciate the merits
of a concern of which he knows nothing, by
systematic and reckless speculation. In the
great majority of cases neither side deserves any
sympathy. It is worthy of remark, however, that
complaints are never heard from the party that
supporta the market, but only from the other.
This, surely, is most unreasonable. A speculator
engages to deliver on a certain day so many shares
of a company, exactly the samosa an ordinary con-
tractor binds himself to deliver so many chests of
tea or tons of iron. In either case it
is a simple mercantile contract, and ought to
be enforced. If the transaction should prove a
heavy lose it is a necessary consequence of an
error of judgment, and should be accepted as such.
The case is but little altered when it applies to
'hares in new companies. All that can be said
is, that then it is simply a question of sharp prso-
Um on either side, and the one outwitted hes no
right to complain because he has been inoom-1
patent to outwit the ether. It is very hard upon an
originator of a serious enterprise that, after spend-
ing much time and money, and anxiety upon the
formation of a project of really legitimate value,
his efforts should be set at nought by the
operations of a body of speculative milers who
never attempt to use the slightest discrimination
as to the value or bona fides of any
investment that may be offered. Many asses have
occurred where reckless speculation of this sod
has absolutely compelled the founders of a com-
pany to incur a large responsibility in addition to
that which they have already been obliged to
undertake. They have been placed in the posi-
tion of necessarily purchasing large amounts •of
shares in the market in order to prevent the
fruits of their time and labour from being alto-
gether thrown away. It is tree that the specu-
lative sellers lost their money in the end—a fitting
return for the needless anxiety they had pre-
vious'y caused.