The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-03 00:00:00

VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA) PUBLIC WAN,
issued under the authority of the Public Loan Act, Dab
Victoria, No. 287, assented to Irth October, 1665, to be effected
by the issue of Debentures to the amount of L. 850,000, bearing
interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, In amounts of £lOO,
L5OO, and41,6004101h, secured upon the amsolididad revenue
of the moony efy)eforia, and redeemable on the Id January,
1130 L
The billed by the di emaciated Australian
hanks. Nzt6t this country of the government of Victoria
for the eilise above Lows, HEM: Y OM NOTICE,
that PUB IC TENDERS will be received for the entire meant tt
of 6050,000, at the London and Westminster Bank, at two rfeic
precisely, on the AFTS:R NOON of MONDAY, the sth November
next, up to which thee sealed tenders will be received there from
all parties who may forward the same, addressed. to the chair-
man of the committee, and endorsed "Tendon to the Victoria
Loan,' or attecd in person therewith. In case A equality of
Tenders beyond the amount to be issued, they will be subject to a
pro-rata diminution.
A deposit of Ave per cent. cm the amount of each Mader must
be previously paid to the London and Westminster Beuk. The
tenders will then be opened in the presence of all so attending,
and read publicly, and the purchasers forthwith declared to be
those who have offered the highest price not under the minimum
preciously fixed, and which shall be contained In a sealed paper
placed on the table before the tenders are opened.
Tenders by the some parsons at redoes prices mast be a...de
out and delivered separately, and parties must be careful not to
enclose the deposit in the sealed tender.
Tenders at a price including fractions of a shilling other than
sixpence will not be accepted
The Debentures so contracted for will carry interest from the
Ist July last, and will be delivered to the subscribers at the
London and Westminster Bank on the 30th November next upon
payment of the !silence due thereon.
Principal and luterest payable in London, at the Lembo and
Westmlneter Bank, and at the London Joint Stock Bank. Interest
payable on the Ist January and Ist July in each year, by coupons.
The Ad further provides that the Loan shell be applied as
follows:
For the completion of the State railways £e50,030
Towards the works of defence, necessary for the
protection of the colony against invasion lOO,OOO
Towards the construction of works for 'applying
water to various districts in Victoria, 'for mining,
agricadtural, and pastoral purposes 500,000

tAt5O ADO

The revenues of Victoria exceed three millions per annum,
and have always been sufficient tor the expenditure, which in-
cludes annually a loge provision for public works calculated to
develop the great natural resources of the colony
The Itailwasa, for the completion of which £250,000 are re-
quired, are air
producing per cent. on the cost of their
construction, after paying all the working expenses, which in-
clude tall provielon for maintaining the permanent way and
rolling stock in the highest state of efficiency. It is oonfidently
expected that In three yews the railways will return. over and
above working expenses, the whole amount of the Interest of
6 per cent. paid for the money borrowed for their cockatoo:Wm
The sum of £630,000 has been from time to time expended
from the ordinary resources of the colony in the creation and
maintenanes of works of defence. It has been determined by
the Legislature that the very large amount of property at stake
requires that the harbour defences of Melholinie shall be com-
pleted, and "100,000 are required towards that object.
The climate and soil of Victoria are fit for the prodectiou of
all that can be profitably grown in Southern harem but a re-
gular supply of water is essential for the development alike of
the agrkvitural, mining, and pastoral resource' of the country,
and for this £600,000 are required.
The City of Melbourne and Its suburbs are supplied with
water from a reservoir constructed for the purpose e. and al-
though the work was undertaken at a time when labour ww
dearest, it returns eight per cent. on the original outlay.
For the Bank of New South Wales -D. Larnach, Chair-
man of Committee.
For the Bank of Australards—D. Q. Henriques.
For the Union Bank of Australia—H. W. D. Saunders.
For the bank of Victoria—H. L Taylor.
For the London Chartered Bank of Australia—C. O. Ber-
net!.
For the Colonial Bank of Anstralasla--James A. Douglas.
London, 26th October, 1806.
N. B. YOrMS of Tender may be obtained on application at the
London and Westatiuster Bank, and at the °ace of Mtwara
Mullen', Marshall, and Daniell, 3, Lombard-street.

GOLD CHAINS.-JOHN BROODEN
to call the attention of the public to the FORM olfil?
VOICE which he deliver with Gold Chains purchased at his
mantdactory: t a. d.
To workmanship of wove pattern chain. 54 inches long $ 15 0
To (18, carat gold, welOing 2 or. 8 dwt. —pa., at
13 3s. bed. per ounce, Mint price

Total 1.9 t 6
Upon this system, the QUALITY, WEIOIIT, and VALUE of
the gold are actually defined, and guaranteed to the purcksear:
John Brogden looking for a fair remuneration on Na workman-
ship only, which is charged aLcor,ling to, the intricacy or simpli-
city of the pattern.—Manufactory, Ilentietta-street, Covent.
garden, London.

(FLUE MEDAL AWARDED.) _
ALLEN'S PATENT PORTMANTEAUS and
TRAVELLING BAGS, with square openings.
LADIES' WAS.DitOilli TRUNKS, DRESSING BAGS, with
silver fittings.
DLIPATCH BOXE4, WRITING and DRESSING CASES, and
1500 other articles for home or continental travelling. Illustrated
catalogues post free.
Also Allen's Barrack Furniture Catalogue of Portable Bed-
steads. Drawers, Remy Chairs, Washhandatands, Canteens, dc.,
post free.
J. W. ALLEN, Manufacturer and Patentee, 37, West Strand,
London, W.C.

pIVIES'S BEST REFINED COLZA OIL,
ea ad. per genus' ; French oil, O. lid,: palace parafila
candles, Is. Gd. per lb.: spenu, Is. td. and Is. ed. ; botanic wax,
is.: composite, 101., hat ; best, 11.1.; best dips, ; moulds, 80.;
yellow soap, , 414., Na, WA 48s. per 1111 b. ; mottled, 48a
forcash, at U. P. DAVIES and SON'S, Uri, tit. litarthis-lane, W.C.
BROWN and POISON'S CORN FLOUR
for CHILDREN'S DIET.
To obtain extra profit by the sale other klads are sometimes
offered budead of BROWN and POLSON'B.
"John Brown," "John Poison," Is signed by the makers on
each packet.

THE`r-1

supplied by borrowing from bankeratancl 'ahem
But how could this have retail:tea =blown I
The Committe supply the answer. " The system
" which the accountants trace in the company's
" books is not merely one of general deception of
duirehOlders and misrepresentation of the
" company's affairs : it is not merely deliberate
• falsification of the accounts from year to year,
"soas to show to the shareholders and divide
" among them a revenue which was not in exist-
" ence, and was known not to have been earned ;
" but it was, as shown in the report appended
" hereto, a careful and most ingenious fabrication
" of imaginary accounts, begun and carried on
" from time to time, for the purpose of supporting
" the falsified half-yearly statements of revenue,
" and the general misrepresentation of affairs."
This is a frightful charge to make. It is, we be-
lieve, admitted that the Chairman of the railway,
Mr. RICHARD HODGSON, of Carham-hall, was fully
cognizant of the accounts ; but the other
Directors, one and all, declare that they had
no knowledge of what was taking place in the
accountant's office. They " never imagined that
" any officer of the company bad made entries in
" the books calculated to give an untrue statement
" of the company's affairs ;" " the revenue being
"in an apparently prosperous condition," the
attention of the directors was never drawn to the
general accounts, which they believed to be per-
fectly safe in the hands of the Manager and Ac-
countant, especially when certified to be correct
by the auditors appointed by the shareholders.
The directors state that on the sth of September
last Mr. HODGSON admitted to them that the true
state of the company's affairs had been concealed
from his co-directors and shareholders.
It
was, of course, Important to ascertain as
nearly as possible who had participated in
these misrepresentations. We find that the
general manager, Mr. Roweornam, informed the
Committee that "he was cognisant of the irregu-
" larities in the accounts, and that dividends were
" declared and paid which had not been earned."
He denied, however, that he had ordered or in-
structed the operations by which the balance-sheets
were made to show results unwarranted by the
position of the company—the instructions given
on that subject emanated directly from the Chair-
man to the Accountant. The Accountant deposes
that not only were the mis-statements of the half-
yearly accounts made by direction of the Chair-
man to him, but that " these were made delibe-
" rately and advisedly, generally upon a preli-
" minary draft prepared by the accountant -show-
" ing the true state of affairs, which, after being
" inspected by the Chairman, was altered by the
" Accountant into such a form as to carry out the
" wishes of the Chairman, and show the desired
" dividend." That this is not too strong a state-.
meat will appear by the report, which is published
in some of the morning papers. The Accountant
is asked—

Did you each half-year submit a similar statement to
Mr. Rowbotham, to the chairman, or to the directors ?—I
had no access to the directors at all. I usually went to
Mr. Rowbotham, and he got Mr. Hodgson to fix a time to
come in and see what was to be done, and the ways and
means were adopted to pay a certain dividend. In fact,
good account keeping has been sacrificed to the payment
of dividends.
You have stated that from your examination of the
revenue accounts of January, 1865, you found that the
revenue we. some 36,000 L deficient to pay your preference
dividends'—Yes.
Did you report that to Mr. Hodgson, or Mr. Rowbotham,
or any of the directors'—Yes, I took it to Mr. Hodgson
when he was in Mr. Rowbotham's office. I mentioned it
also to Mr. Rowbotham.
Before the January accounts were published!—Yes, I
required instructions what to do.
What were the instructions you got'—lt was arranged
what I should do. The dividend must be timid under any
circumstances.
Were these the words used ?—I would not like to bind
myself to the words. Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Rowbotham
and I were present ; and I will not be sure whether Mr.
Hodgson gave me instructions that day or a day or two
afterwards, but I was told to bring out a dividend of 21 per
cent. that half-year.
Can you not give ns a little more specifically what
actually took place, the explanation you made, and the
statements that Mr. Hodgson made—No. He was a long
time mute, and so war Mr. Rowbotham. I remained there
in the hopes of getting some instructions, but I don't think
I got any instructions that day.
Were the instructions given you by Mr. Hodgson,
specially that you must bring out the accounts so as to pay
a dividend of 2f per cent.'—Certainly.
How did you do that' By making these cross-entries'

•
The same witness said that he had been in-
structed by Mr. HODGSON twice a year to
prepare the accounts so as to bring out
the dividend wanted. On being asked whether
the cross-entries suggested by Mr. HonasoN, and
which he was afterwards instructed to make
periodically, were not designed "to confuse the
" auditors and prevent them from following the
" sums so easily," the Accountant replied, " Well,
" there is a good deal in that. I dare say that was
"an important element in the matter. You see,
" I was working for the directors, and they
" were supposed to be working for the share-
" holders." The remark of Mr. HODGSON upon
all this is that "it is not correct to say that
" the accounts have been falsified, inasmuch as the
" books show the purport of every entry." The
Committee of Investigation, with the Chairman's
explanation before them, express the opinion
that it will be impossible to allow him to retain
any official position in the company ; and in that
view the shareholders and the public will doubtless
agree with them.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS FOR THE
ENSUING Wxxx.—Monday—Roval Institution, at 2, gene-
ral monthly meeting; Entomoiotdcal, at 7 ; Architects,
at 8. Tuesday—Ethnologictl, a 8, " Skull of a Pata-
gonian," Professor Huxley ; Cultivated fruits and ethno-
logy," Mr. Crawford. Wednesday—Literature, at 4i,
meeting of council ; Geological, at 8. Thursday—Chemi-
cal, at 8, " Speoifio gravities of heterogeneous liquids,"
Dr. Sprengel ; Gradual verdation of organic bodies,"
Messrs. Chapman and Thorp; Mathematical, at 8, annual
general meeting. Saturday—Horticultural, at 3, annual
meeting and lecture ; Botanic, at 31.-Athrwrwm.
THE" FORTNIGHTLY Hgstaw."—The Fortnightly
just published contains the following announcement:—
In compliance with wishes repeatedly expressed, the
proprietors of the Fortnightly Review have resolved to sus-
pend for the present the publication on the 15th of each
month. That on the Ist of each month will continue as
heretofore." By the way, the Fortnightly, as we may still
call it, says in its " Public Affairs " article of the present
number, "Mr. Cobden used to say that he never could
understand how people could get through a page of such
useless and unintelligible books as Plato or Thucydides."
Who was it to whom Mr. Cobden "used to say" this?
When did he ever say anything of the sort ?—Star.
THE ROYAL FAMILY OF HANOVER.—We learn
from Hanover that her Majesty Queen Victoria has placed
St. James's Palace at the disposal of her relative, Sing
aeon° of Hanover. According to the last accounts the
rng had resolved to accept the offer for himself and
daughter, the Princess Friederiaa. The Queen Marie, how-
ever, who throughout recent events has shown such magna-
nimity, has resolved to remain in Hanover with her second
daughter.—Post.
THE TcrrNEB ELECTION CommisaioN.—The com-
missioners sat for the last time yesterday. As a munici-
pal election had taken place the day before some questions
were asked as to whether bribery had been resorted to.
One witness replied that the conservatives had bribed,
and that prices ranged as high as 31. per vote. Another
witness said that, so far as he knew, the conservatives had
sot bribed at all, but that the libenla had done so to •
considerable extent. Before adjourning to chambers at
the Temple, the chief oonernimioner thanked the corpora-
tion for the facilities afforded during the protracted in-
quiry. The commissioners have met on thirty-nine dif-
ferent days.