The Express.
London, England, 1860-07-30 00:00:00

PRIICDISII.

Tln L'enTell. WWI Tltrrill—Tbe Proverb vaudeville.
PA' DE El tik..k SANS PEI' —LVA PLTITO MI,ER7A DE LA
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111111 el MAULED. Miss Carlotta laselerai.-4. ummeme at 7.

•lIThM(IA.

ETTNIVO, r St. Cane Mr. J
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311iNT.-11A1MENT AND A00N164: or, The Spectre Num with
Ike libewhas Baznum.—Aad Wt'l 111 V. t TAX OMAN lOW.

MOH MAT= AT LONDON DILIDOL
Tirvi DAT —Marais& oh. Om Athemos, INL Um
To-Neasui—Nenlai. Ih. Im Aihmoots. 111. Voi.

LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 30.

THE disclosures which are being made from day
to day at the meetings of creditors of the insolvent
firms in the hide and leather trade are sufficiently
instructive. First impressions are frequently
erroneous. When the explosion took place, the
public leaped to the conclusion that the whole of
this branch of trade would be plunged into embar-
rassment It soon became clearly seen, however,
that the effects of the crisis would be for the most
part limited to the great house which has fostered
the system of over-trading and to the firms con-
nected with it. Up to the present time it has
been believed in some quarters that the estates of
man y of the latter would prove to be solvent,and some-
thing has been heard occasionally about the hardship
inflicted upon respectable houses which have been
brought to a suspension through unavoidable en-
tanglement with the speculative section of the
trade. The results of the hard figures laid before
the meetings of creditors are of a character to
extinguish all unwholesome sympathies. They
show, as might have been expected, that every
house which has been brought to a stoppage is
hopelessly insolvent, and that the dividends in
many instances will be wretchedly small.
It is evident that the precipitation of the
catastrophe is to the public advantage ; and the
principal source of regret is that the system was
permitted to maintain itself so long through the
undue facilities accorded by competing money
lenders. The whole of the failed houses
hung together, and at least one half of them are
proved to have habitually dealt in accommodation
paper. The amount of baseless bills traced in
Mews. S ixe's case is 56,0001., but further
ramifications may come to light in the course
of the proceedings in bankruptcy. Others of the
insolvent houses are found to have resorted to the
device of exchanging bills. Koine light is thrown,
too, upon the manner in which the no-called
"profits" of the protecting firm of S •shoo
Lsesexer., and Co. were obtained. Though
inextricably involved with its dependents, and
absolutely compelled (apart from the alter-
native of stoppage) to support them, 110
matter at what cost, the large firm knew
well how to feed upon them. For example,
there is the case of Mr. T. RANDALL, trading under
the style of PARKER and Co., and described as a
boot and shoe manufacturer and govenuuent con-
tractor, of Highatu-Ferree and London. This
trader, it appears, commenced business on his
own account with a capital of only 3501., and has
since been enabled to keep the ball rolling princi-
pally by means of ash advances from Messrs.
Sivas►rsrmcu, who charged upon them in most in-
stances 2 per cent. onntnimi ~,,, in addition to 5
per cent. discount. These highly irregular charges
went towards making up the 108,11001. of
profits which Messrs. STRLATVEILD are said to
have realised in three years. But what a farce it
is to talk of profits when they figure as creditors
on the estate of their eoustantly embarrassed cus-
tomer to the extent of 24,1181. His total liabili-
ties are 46,6161.—a tolerably large amount for a
person who began business six years ago with
3501. capital. It is rather surprising to fad that,
after what must have been a career of incessant
pecuniary difficulty, Mr. RANHALL is able to
offer his creditors is. Gd. in the pound. His
books, it seems, are three or four years in arrear.

There are further revelations of an uncom
fortable tendency. Mumma. Hoormt and Pal-
ms/me, hide and hark factors, show 43,715/. of
liabilities, and, on paper, 10,757/. of asset,, or
leas than /is. in the pound. This tins also
br,•an business with a very small capital. Mr.
WILLIAM DicLise, army boot and shoe contractor,
of Northampton, has 20,9091. of liabilities and
3,339/. of assets, or, possibly, 3s. in the pound.
The creditors of Mr. W. G. Gloms, tanner, of

Godalir.ing, have handed him over to the Bank-
ruptcy Court, the liabilitios being 150,0001., and
the assets about one-third of that large ainuunt.
A similar measure is dealt out to Mr. Jost.rn
Hoorr.a, whose estate is reputed to have been
worth lila. in the pound on the 31st of December
last, against 3s. 641. now. Mr. Mt-itiov, tanner,
of Berueindaey, would have been nearly solvent
but for his fatal connexion with Messrs. Brue.tv.
rano, who persuaded him to permit overdrafts,
or acoonunixlation bills, to the extent of 25,8011.
He will now not pay more than 11a. in the
pound. Mesons. W. and J. MACKINTONS, tanners,
a firm in comparatively a small way of business,
make a somewhat better show, being enabled to
otter a composition of 12s. in the pound. Even in
this instance, however, bills have been " ex-
" changed " with other houses in the trade.
The same is the case with Mr. D. C •
leather seller, of the New Kent-road, whose
creditors accept a composition of fts, in
the I' ma. Messrs. Jove ltioLer and Sow,
hide and leather nwrchants, of Newcastle and
Lau ~,,, hate liabilities to the extent of 23,0841.,
and, hat iog carried on lenitive' 'luring the last
two or three years without any capital, offer a
composition of 4s. in the pound, payable some time
within the next nine months. MOM'S. W. A. Paint
and W. J. A hipera..‘o are small trailers : iu malaise
in the pottlitl has been accepted. Mr. H.
MoUTIMOIIt, tanner, of Chippenhani, likewise pays
10a. Mr. 111.71JAIIIN titbit., leather merchant, of
Berusondasy-street, *bows M the Bankruptcy
Court 1 7,978 f. Of liabilities, end 6,352 E. of 'meet,.
Finally, reverting to cases of a kw days' older
date, we may recapitulate those of Menem J Sete
H • • SMITH ILIA Co., tanners and leather
merchants, who, with liabilities to the respectable
extent of 1138,3064, offer he. in the pound ; and
Mr. .1. I:. tun LLIVAN, hoot and shoe manufacturer,
of the Mirough, ale troubles the Bankruptcy Court

to take charge of an estate nominally of 60,0001.,
of which 47,5001. is blank deficiency—there is,
therefore, a doubtful shilling in the pound. Mr.
SULLIVAN must have been, in his time, a good
customer to some money lender or other, for his
balance-sheet exhibits payments to the extent of
4,0001. for " interest."
An instructive list this. Considering the cha•
racter of the firms with which the great house
of STILLATIZILD and CO. were in the habit of
associating, one can scarcely be surprised at finding
that their creditors will think themselves fortunate
if the ss. 6d. in the pound, or thereabouts, which
appeared in the balance-sheet, does not dwindle
down below 2s. 6d., particularly under the
by no means inexpensive or hasty ad-
ministration of the Court of Bankruptcy.
The dissipation of capital involved in this
case is of itself a matter of great public concern,
the direct liabilities of the house reaching three-
quarters of a million. It is probably fair to
Legume that the statements which have hitherto
been submitted to the public eye put the best
aspect possible upon affairs, and that many ques-
tionable features have yet to be dragged forward.
We dwell upon the details in no invidious spirit,
nor with any desire to aggravate the tendency to
distrust which is already observable in trading
circles. But it is absolutely neceinary that
the progress of the commercial gangrene
should be unsparingly exposed for the pub-
lic benefit. Satisfaction is felt at the spirit
of stern justice displayed upon the present
occasion by many of the creditors. There is less
than the usual amount of morbid sympathy with
groan offender► against the usages of legitimate
commerce. The manufacturers of accommodation
bills are beginning to quake, for a disposition is
manifested by the class on which they prey to
turn over all transactions of this kind to the

pitiless scrutiny of the Bankruptcy Court. Let
this wholesome rule be by all means rigidly
acted upon. The public owe thanks to those
creditors who, even to the diaregard of personal
considerations, contribute to the purification of
the commercial atmosphere. The thought of the
sacrifice, both of time and money, required for
putting the legal machinery in motion, must
deepen the feeling of regret with which the fate
of the Government Bankruptcy and Insolvency
Bills is regarded by the commercial world.
In the market for public securities, interest
centres almost exclusively at present in those
of our British railways. The declaration from
day to day by the principal companies of
dividends larger than even the more sanguine of
the shareholders had permitted themselves to hope
for, furnishes a standard of the position which the
whole of this class of property may yet acquire by
means of economy combined with the judicious
development of traffic. As home investments in-
timattly bound up with the real sources of the
national wealth, our railway stocks appeal
with peculiar force to the small investor,
and not by any means in vain, av the
scarcity of stock in the market and the rise
which is taking place in prices sufficiently prove.
What can be more significant than the continued
upward movement in British railway stocks, which
has carried the price of Midland up to 123, and
that of Lancashire and Yorkshire stock to 109, at
the very time when Consols are daily drooping ?
We have here additional evidence that the public
are at last beginning to appreciate the intrinsic
merits of our home railway investments, discern-
ing in them a medium of obtaining the fair rate of
interest which is needed in these days of heavy
taxation, and which Consols yield but ina-
dequately.

TIIE ANCLO•FAENCH ALLIANCE.

(From the Mo►ning Post.)

Friendly words are always acceptable from a
neighbour, especially when it is in his power to give proof
of his intentions and complete our satisfaction by deeds.
If we are not misinformed, a letter has just been received
in Loudon which cannot but ensure a hearty welcome from
any Englishman who may become aware of its contents.
An earnest desire for our alliance, coupled with the practical
request that we should work out in Italy and in Syria a
unitod policy, are subjects worthy of our willing attention ;
especially when in the east the firm maintenance of the
Ottoman empire in its independence and integrity, sod in
Italy the renunciation and hindrance of all and any foreign
intervention, are the lines of policy suggested as both
judicious and desirable.
If we add to this, that we have reason to believe that

assurances relative to military and naval strength, of a
frank and explicit character, form a portion of this duct'.
bent, it will be readily admitted that we can hardly over
• ita importance. The thought which would appear
to have guided its author, and which we understand is
repeatedly expressed, is the maintenance of peace through-
out Europe, the development of the commercial resources
of France, and the cultivation of a good understanding
sad common action between the two great Western Powers.

LETTER PROM THE EMPEROR OP THE
FRENCH TO THE IRISH PRESS.

CIANNEL, MATriUUT.

The following letter appears in this day's issue of
the Tipperary Leataimer, the editor of which has repeatedly
declared his divseut from the charges of euntity to the
Pope which were mule by many of the Irish catholic
journals against Napoleon 111. The letter is introduced at
considerable length by the editor,who gives it as a complete
pistitioition of his views of the French policy in Home.
The following is the translation :

" tin) Emperor'. Cabinet, Palace of St. Cloud,
"July 6, 1860.

" —When in a country the press passionate ly persists
in forgetting itself in order to calumniate and misrepresent
the intentions of a foreign sovereign, nothing can be more
ideating, or even more consoling, than to see a clever and
disinterested writer rise up sputituntnmsly to defend him.
Pont, sir, have been that wiitar. You have hail the singular
merit, iu resisting the general overwhelming timiteee, to
oppose a conscientious judgment to false interpretation, and
a calm voice to the clamours of malevolence. Thus ILICIANIS
bas gruilutilly eniwneil your efforts, and if the error he nut
totally destroyed it is at least already much enfeebled. Su
much power &ea ti nth bestow on hint whom she animates
with her inspirations. I have then, with teal satisfaction,
submitted venous articles published iu your esteemed
journal %tithe Emperor, and his Majesty entertains for
them the wise of gratitude, the sincere expo' nsion of which
he charges me to address topic'. Accept, sir, the assurance
of my moat distinguished consideration.

" The ilioperor's tiecretary, Chief of the Cabinet,
••
Dltu'Vl AND.
" A W. Hornet. Esq., proprietor and editor of the Lint-
wh, nrperury, dud Waterford Examiner, tloninel,
Ireland."

Loan Ctrns.—The Cosmopolitan Club, of which
Lord Clyde has long been • monolog., h..d the honour of
bring the fir.: to eutertein his lonLehip and hie personal
stns on Matoinlay night, ou hie return from the *retie of him
dnainguished services. The dinner took place at the
Alderegskatreet, and was attended I. the following gentle.
men :—Mears. E. C. Stirling, (i. Enseell, W. M. Tluickersy,
JaereaSpedding, Sir John almscis, Colonel Sir Anthony
Surlios,X.C.B. ; Lord Manley M.P. ; Higgins, the
Hon. P. Braes, Alfi od Lirdsoit, Charles Wynne, F. W.
Gibbs, C.B. ; Alexander Mourn, (i. K. Venableo. Captain
Eastwiek, Grant Duff, M.P. ; Henry Gielifell, M. 1., ; Besot,
Manalsetti, H. A. lime, M.P, ; Manuel linear, James
Ferguson, Jahn Lod* M.P. ; Mr. Couinghein, M.P. ; Mr.
Issysrd, W. S. W. Vaal, N,P. ; Mr. A. Russell, M.P. ;
H. U. Memoir, M.P. • Mr. Justioe Willem, Alfred He y•
.our. Torn Taylor, Heap °re dell tiro. M.P. ; Lord
W.1011104101‘ Lord de Grey. Colonel Herbert, M.P. ; Homy
Sears, Manatee Milne', ILP. ; H. W. PM'S., H.A. ; A.
IKklOoke. M.P. ; K. B. D. Norier, (horn. Clive, M.P. ;
It (hay, IR. Kingsley. W. Weill, M.P. ; Lieut.. Colonel
Nome" Liest.-Colonel Metcalfe, Major Alison, (keen!
Lord Clyde. A amber of oisaphrneotary tussle were pi,.
laced in Lire r.ftirve of the emesuog, mud the company did not
...panda Instil a lote Lou,.