The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-12 00:00:00

a system of partnership as this, is really lamen table

and that

all they

and "monetat

to banking and

have said mon

SPOONER,

and Mr

said on Curren

restrictions

did not

surance com

Inies, is equally

AM CLAY candidly adnaitt(

eat want of " capital,"— he ought
among the humbler classes of

and that he felt satisfied that " there were

" many trades, the development of which would
" be valuable and useful to the community, and
" which would draw forth a great accession of
" of capital if the existing system were done away
with !" If the right of association, with limited
liability, were extended to the millions, there can
be no doubt that innumerable trades yet unknown
would be called into life.

The most profitable undertakings of the present
day are those connected with recent discoveries in
chemistry, and the application of the mechanical
sciences. Mr. MuNTz knows full well what has
been done by the amalgamation of metals, and Mr.
SPoosEn can form some idea of what might be
gained by an improved method of separating gold
from quartz, and where have all our improve-
ments come from but from men of humble means,
whose valuable discoveries have been kept back
for years by that law which prevents a man
investing 1001. in an experiment without
endanger
ing his whole property ? To the principle of Mr. '
LOWE'S bill, no man who looks for the
increasetur
for
n
of
new trades, which give such an ample
return
capital and labour, can offer any objection. But
it does appear strange that its limitations have.
passed without opposition. We have already more
trade than money. There are many invaluable
experiments which have been successfully tried,
but which cannot be worked owing to the state of
the money market. Alen may discover and make
what they please, but what chance would they
stand of selling it in these years of panic. And
yet, Mr. LowE's bill is not to extend to banking,
which would enable small capitalists, and even the
labouring classes to enjoy the benefits of bank-
ing, and insurance, as well as the rich. The fact
is, trade and commerce require more money,
and the Government give us a limited liability act,
which stops short at banking, without inordinate
risk, which is just what the country requires !
Still, the public may accept Mr. LowE's Bill
as a step in the right direction. It will give us
enough to show what is really required to make it
work for the general good. The more we encourage
the development of trade, the sooner the people
will feel the want of banks,' and other facilities to
a thrnew law is.
cutirdr ye r it That some fraud will be practised
possible to prevent dishonesty
i s
thinksl ture
likelyb ,tietcer certain; na;n
yb but how
enactmenti i?t
to be
wTlhliechLeitgpassbeneficial
om
se
oa
cs
iuerteys,
define ;hat is fraud, and
• and, having done that, to
that not likely to
glen who. do not
Can be laid
to provide for its punishment.
regard the Ten Commandments
respect the soundest principle'
down in a statute of man's making
o
nothing more, then, than to endeavourW e Can to get at
what is, in our judgment, sound in the
d
will prove equitable in practice. Ravin; an
e, one
this, fraud assumes a deeper dye, and the penalties

directed against offenders will naturally become
heavier. But there can be no greater frauds
perpetrated in trade than there are at present,
under unlimited liability. A man can now lend
money to a bankrupt concern, on the stock actually
in hand, and having, for the moment, stayed a few
urgent creditors, come in at the end of three
months and sweep away all before him, or with-
draw his capital, and leave the firm resuscitated in

credit, to go on without a sixpence of money.
Anything may, in fact, be done now, by secret
partnerships, which money can effect, and with
perfect impunity. It is only necessary that a
capitalist should see his way, have a little confi-
dence or some friendship for an embarrassed
house, to bolster up its existence when it ought
not, in justice to bona file firms, to be allowed to
go on. It is, therefore, ridiculous to say that
any law which can be made will open the door
to greater fraud than may be carried on at
present. Trade is now based almost wholly on
the moral character of those engaged in it. There
are thousands of men who are known to possess
wealth, but with whom very few people like to
have any

dealings; while there are others, of
humble and very doubtful means, who con obtain
credit to almost any extent. If we compare the

actual amount of our commercial transactions in

e means,

which is called "money", or" capital," the enormous
amount of credit which must be given without
reference to anything :beyond the character
of the trader will be :seen ; and no change
in the law can alter this state of things. Men
2redit on their character as citizens : and
public companies are trusted simply for the names
which compose their lists of directors, the nature
of the undertaking in which they embark, and the
amount of public confidence they enjoy, irrespect-
ive of their capital ; and this will continue to be the
case through all time. The public will always ask
with whom, and not with what, they are dealing.
They will always give a company with a
capital of 100,000/. credit for not running into debt
to the extent of 1,000,000/., and they will always
give a mercantile house credit for being able to
meet the engagements it enters into without
reference to sleeping or other partners. Trade
cannot exist without this species of confidence
between man and man. Individuals, and society at
large, must encounter its risks alike, and all that
legislation can do is to promote trade, leaving fraud
to be punished when detected; and as the present
measure is meant to facilitate the formation of Joint
Stock Associations among the working classes, it
cannot fail to be a great boon to society in carrying
on several branches of industry which capitalists

I get c:

never touch

NORTHERN TIMES.—LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY i 2, 18Sei.