The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-07 00:00:00

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, MARCH, 3.
FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE AUSTRIAN

CREDIT BAND.
The General Assembly of the Austrian Credit
Bank met yesterday for the first.time, and the fol-
l Owing is a brief account of what occurred. About
1,000 shareholders were present, and at half past 9
the sitting was opened by Prince Schwarzenberg
the President of the Board of Directors, who
addressed a short speech to a most heterogeneous
assembly. -Among the persons present were many
of the, highest nobles, the principal. bankers and
merchants, barristers, physicians, military men.
the editors of the principal papers, tradesmen,
stock jobbers, Sze. After the President had intro-
duced to the assembly the Imperial Commissary,
M. von Brentano, who is a counsellor of the
finance department, the principal director in the
Credit Bank read the printed account of the
transactions of the company during the year 1860.
Subjoined is a condensed summary of the contents
of the document, which is of considerable length :
On the 31st December the ' Debtor Account' (passiva)
of the Company stood thus —Subscriptions paid up,
30,491,42011. ; balance of current accounts, 40,685,06411.
18k. ; bills of exchange for the establishment in circula-
tion, 3,093,08711. 42k. ; interest of shares which bad not
been claimed, 56,4551 ; profits derived from the stock of
the company, 4,369,0361 52k. ; commission, 160,5221
52k. ; interests, 1,526,95911. 50k. Taken together, the
foregoing sums make 80,392 24611. 34k. ; but as 171,56311.
14k: es the outlay for bureaux, payment of clerks, and
furniture must be deducted from it, the total of the Passive
Property is £0,210,683f1 20k.
The 'Credi' or Account' (activa) wPs as follows :—Certi-
ficates of railroad shares, 8,856,03411. 15k. ; industriel
stock of different kinds, 5,198,1141 ; Government Stock,
6,468,8976. 9k.; Priority Bonds, 959,80211. 23k.—together,
21 482,8471 47k. Bill Portfolio, 22,768,0521 27k. ; ad-
vances made on Government and industriel stock,
19 836,2381 47k.; ha' ance of current, accounts, 12,234,92211
27k. ; cash in hand, Exchequer Bills, and coupons
2,886,8540. SOk. ; furniture, according to inventory,
36,0391 57k ; interest paid in advance on own shares'
965,72711. 25k. Total of active property, 80,210,6831 20k.
By the foregoing it will be seen that that the gross profits of
the establishment amounted to 5,884,6561 20. After deduct-
ing 408,65011. 7k. for the five per cent. income tax, and
965,72711. 25 c., the abovementioned five per cent: interest
on shares, the net profits amount to 4,510,27811 48k. A
the Credit Bank did not begin business; until January 15,
1856, and as the greater part of the second instalment was
not paid up until the end of November, the establishment
worked during the year 1856 with a capital of about
19,000,00011. Thus the Austrian Credit B ink pays to the
shareholders about 31 per cent. on the capital employed.

Tie net profit of 4,510,2781. 48k. w:is thus .disposed
of:--10 per cent. of that sum (451,0271 53e.) was set
aside as a reserve fund ; 5 per cent of the remaining sum
of 4,059, 250f1. 65k. was divided between the members of
the Board of Administration, and another 5 per cent.
among the directors and clerks of the establishment. As
10 per cent. on 4 059,2601 55k. makes about 400,0001,
the sum of 3,600,00011. remained, which was divided
between the 300,000 shares, so that each share received, in
addition to the 5 per cent. interest, 12f1. or 6 per cent.
By the end of November last 50 per cent. per share had
been paid up, and on the 31st January, 1857, another pay-
ment of 10 per cent was made.
Haiing thus laid before you a synopsis of the
report presented- to the shareholders-by the Board
it becomes my duty to give some account of what
occurred after it had been read. As Prince
Schwarzenberg is no speaker, Count Francis
Zichy (a member of the Council of the
Empire), who is one of the Vice-Presidents of
the Board, conducted the proceedings. After
the matter of the report had been disposed of,
County Zichy produced a list of the ninety
persons who had the largest number of shares,
and proposed that a certain number of them should
be appointed by the President to examine the
written votes of the Assembly which had to elect
three members of the Board, the three other
persors whose duty it would be to audit the
accounts of the company. M. Z-, the proprie-
tor and editor of the most influential of the Vienna
papers, objected to the plan, and insinuated that
nominated " auditors" -might possibly neglect to
perform their duty to .the satisfaction of the
Assembly. Instead of allowing the President or his
substitute to settle the matter, the Imperial Com-
missary interfered, and with most unseemly vehe-
mence decreed that -six " auditors" should be
appointed by the President. Prince Schwarzenberg
who evidently did not approve of the tone employed
by the representative of Government, put the
somewhat ruffled assembly into the best possible
humour by appointing the suspicious gentlernan
to be one of the six auditors. When the question
relative to the dividend was brought forward,
M. Z again rose, and began a vehement
I, tirade against the Board, accompanied by such
violent gesticulations that he was called to order
by Count Zichy, who told him that he, who had
for many years been accustomed to speak in
Public (in the Hungarian Diet) thought it right to
inform• him that his tone and manner were any-
thing but " parliamentary." After this reproof M.
Z-- became calmer, but as he displayed an
inclination to wander from his subject, the Impe-
rial Commissa►;y seized the bell, and ringing it
violently, desired the President to take the sense
of the assembly as to the dividend. The assembly
unanimously agreed to the proposition of the
board, although every oae present seemed to feel
that M. de Brentano had not shown due respect
either to M. Z--, or to the noble President. The
Ost-Deutsche Post thus alludes to the scene above
described :-

It is, however, our bounden duty to state that the
speaker in :que.s'ion (1%1 Z--) was two or three times
forced to.be silent, and that when there was no reason
whatever for interrupting him. The interruption did not
come from the President, who discharged his duties most
di passionately.
Count Zichy was an excellent Vice President, but
it was somewhat ungenerous of him to taunt the
non-Hungarian speakers with their ignorance of
Parliamentary forms, Towards the end of the sit-
ting Mr. Warrens, who was formerly the proprietor
and editor of the Oesterreichische Zeitung, rose
and made a speech which seemed to produce
as great an effect on the Board as it did on the
Assembly. The discourse of Mr. Warrens
was not interrupted by clamorous applause,
but whenever lie paused the assembly expressed
its admiration of his extraordinary talent as a public
speaker by a low murmnr of approval. Mr. Warrens
touched on three different subjects : 1. He suggested
that it would be extremely advantageous both for
the Credit Bank and the public if it were allowed
to do " assurance business" on 'Change. 2. He
proposed that the tantieme should be reduced to 5
per cent., of which the Board of Administration
should have 4, and the employes of the establish-
ment 1 per cent. 3. He suggested that it would
be well if the statutes were st altered that any
shareholder violating paragraph 24—[Your readers
will understand what is meant on learning that
100 shares only entitle a person to four votes,
but if he enters 20 shares in his own name, and
80 in the names of four of his friends, he gets five
votes]—should be punished with the loss of his
right to vote, and any member of the Board with
the loss of his highly lucrative post.
When Mr. Warrens had concluded his discourse
no speaker could obtain a hearing; and conse-
quently the sitting was soon at an end. A person
who, like myself, knew Austria before she was
regenerated, could not but be greatly struck with
what took place yesterday. Had not the Imptrirl
Commissary thrown the " high Government" (hob;
Regierung) into the face of the Assembly every

ten minutes, and remained seated while he spoke,
I could have fancied myself in Hamburg, or in
any other German city in which the public is
allowed to express its opinion freely.
No replythas yet been given by this government
to Count Cavour's note of the 20th of February*
and it is probable that nothing will be done in the
matter until the Emperor has returned to Viennc•
Is It-riot passing-strange that neither his Majesty
nor his ministers seem to remark that Russia and
Prussia would be, delighted if Austria should take'
any measures ,against Sardinia which could give
offence to England or France ? My opinion in re"
spcct to the issue of the present quarrel betweeu
Austria and Sardinia has undergone no chow'.
By sending the note of the. 10th to Turin o'3
Austrian Goverument has placed itself on the born'
of a dilemma, but France and England will Pro-
bably succeed in rescuing their ally from the COw
sequences of her precipitancy without any loss
of dignity. Authentic information has to day bee"
acquired, that when the King of Sardinia lost 13614'
mother, wife, child, and brother within a couplet
of months, a letter of condolence, signed, but 13°
written by the Emperor, was sent to His Maje,styi
TheAocument, instead of being borne by a soeeia„,
messenger of rank and consideration, as is customs',
on such occasions, was forwarded like any ntl.'es'
`despatch.
Their Majesties, who left Milan for Cremona sscl
Mantua yeSterday at 10 a.m., will be back in Vier'".'
on the 12th inst. The Archduke Ferdinand Als%l'
milian is again at Trieste.