The Express.
London, England, 1856-11-19 00:00:00

name, and ten out of it, but what amount of stock he
fraudulently added is not stated. It is clear, heweree►
that although he had falsified theregistse. the Gegen
would not tally with it, and as the coupon must as-
company the transfer in selling the stook, that bad to
be altered likewise. And hers the Great Northern
Company has absolutely invited hand. The coupon
is a slip of red paper, stating that LEOPOLD RED.
PATo is the registered proprietor of 260 L of A stock,
with a referees* to the number and date of the
transfer, and 'ivied, as we have before stated, by the
Transfer Clerk and Secretary, or rather stamped by
the latter, for his signature is not autograph, but a
printed far simile. Now so carelessly is this docu-
ment framed, that the sum it represents is nowhere
stated in words on the face of it, nor is the
amount even in type, bat is filled in with a pen; so
that REDPATTy after the whole genuine transaction
was perfect, had nothing to do but place a 1 before
the amount in the register, and the same figure be-
fors the amount in the coupon, and the fraud was
complete. It is said, moreover, that this alteration
is not in his writing, but is that of Barn, the clerk
in his office, so that RIDPATR perhaps did not
with his own hand commit the forgery; he only
profited by it. It is cleat that by adopting coupons
so ill devised, the Company has laid Itself open to
fraud, and it is only marvellous that the crime was
not perpetrated earlier, or to a greater extent.
While on the subject of railway coupons, we
may cite those of the South Eastern as
evincing a laudable cars on the part of the,
Directors to guard against any possibility of
tampering with the document after it leaves the
hands of the Secretary ; the whole must be forged or
none. But it is to be hoped tkat even this risk will
be guarded against by every available means, and
that at least a water mark of the amount, as in the
South Eastern warm, will be universally adopted ;
besides having, if possible, some design introduced
in the plate, as in °matey bank notes.

Bat what are we to think of the audits of these
Greet Northern amounts, where the amount of stock
issued and entitled to dividend could not possibly
agree with that whisk appeared on the face of the
register to whisk REM = had been so ingeniocaly
adding his thousands? Wm there no system of oh/eking
the two amounts P Clearly there was, and a very
dimple one; bat between April, 1863, and November,
1866, it wee never put is practice. Had it not been
for ROBSON it would probably not have been done
even then ; but we find that so gamy was the promo,
that although the examination of the books did not
commence until Tuesday, the frauds were discovered
the wale day, and BM, RIDPATR'S instrument,
was examined ca Wednesday. The accounts were
duly audited, and by; auditors of the first 'NILSSON
bat although the dividend warrants Wald and the
amount of stork is the hands of the publie could not
by any possibility have agreed if a good system of
aceounta were employed, we find the following letter
is the lost report of the Great Northern Compasy
Aaeoastaat's Departamat. Aug. 7,1866.
To the Chairs= sad Directors of t►u Goat Idarthara

Railway Company.
Geatleatea,—The somata sag beaks fa every depart.
neat matins to be se estistasterily kept that we kers
simply to meets ear satire approval of thee, sad to m-
oat thew to yea, for the islcoreatias of the skarekolden,
with ear awl wrtifleate of their eenestasse.

WI have tho bower to raga, rationale, your very
Isithfal aad net o►odlnt aervaata,

Joint CiAnwr, } Anditen.
J. CArrizy.

There is the valuable result of the audit;—boob
admirably kept, their correctness artified, and a
mere trifle of perhaps 100,0001. forged stock recorded
in them, carrying a dividend of some 3,0001. per
annum, some of it dating apparently (fa there is
lemon to believe that part of it is ante-dated)
as far back as 1863; bat the books are duly audited,
sad the amounts vouched for by Messrs. Quillen
mid CAM= as eorreot in August, 1868.
And here foe the present we leave the Babied,
for the question of audits is one which is becoming
far too important to be slightly alluded to. Oar
pr sent object has chiefly been to show, that by its
mode of inning coupons the Great Northern Com-
pany gave every facility for falsifying the prime
facie evidence of title; and that either its system of
book-keeping or its system of auditing is absolutely
worthless as a security against the most gross
frauds.

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