The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-09 00:00:00

CATHOLIC BLIND ASYLUM.

The annual meeting was held on Monday evening, the
Rev. Canon Walmsley in the chair. The statement or
accounts, read by the seereary, showed the following :
—The debtor side of the balance sheet showed that the
expenditure of the institution had been £956 123 10d,
and the receipts, including a balance from the last year
of £5l 16s 1111, had been £B3l 193 1011; leaving a
balance against the institution of £9112a 1l id. A legacy,
free of•duty, per the Rev. Canon Walliesley, of £2OO,
had been invested. The estimated value of stock was
about £lOO. The subscriptions during the year had been
£142 14s; the donations £129 153 63, the pro_
ceeds of the sale of work £294; and the share
of the proceeds of the Catholic charity ball
£4B 6.. The Chairman then read the following report :
"The committee has little more to record this year than its
deep sense of gratitude to the many friends of the institu-
tion for their continued and generous support. During
the past year, besides a very encouraging list of subscrip-
tions, two legaciea,of considerable amount have been left
—one of £l,OOO less legacy duty, by the lete Thomas
Coulson, Esq. ; the other, of £2OO, by a "sincere friend
and wellwisher." Of these sums it has been deemed
prudent to invest £l,OOO, and keep it in reserve for the
purchase of a house, when a suitable opportunity presents
itself. The premises in St. Anne street, at present occupied
by the blind, having been purchased by a third party, can
no longer be retained. The asylum will be removed in a
few days to No. 59, Brunswick ro id. The health of the
pupils continues satisfactory, and a very marked improve-
ment has taken place in the manufacture of the g ►ode
executed by the pupils" Thu report was adopted, and
after some routine business being transacted, the meeting
separated.

ELECTION LOGIC.--" I tell you wot ; the Haristocracy
is a set of harrogant, purse proud hupstarts ; and wot is
wuss, hoftentimes no better than paupers." -
Two prisoners confined in the city g:aol, named Hastings
awl Connell, for picking pocke's, last night mule an
attempt upon the life of one of the turnkeys, who was in
the act of removing them to a solitary cell, but fortunately
the activity of the man assailed, prevented the assassin
like attempt.—Limerick Observer.
A circular ordtr has been issued from the Horse
Guards strictly forbidding, in future, that practice of
what is called in the army " proving men suspected of
being drunk." It adds that the practice is highly
objectionable, that it is easy to detect drunkenness with-
out snob an ordeal, which often tends to provoke further
crime.

THE LATE UUDDSRSFIELD ELECTION.—The Rudders.
field Examiner says : " Of the 64 3 positively pledged for
Mr. Cobden, forty eight broke their pledges, and voted
for Mr. Akroyd. Thirty nine of the ' favourables' also
violated their engagement, and voted for Mr. Akroyd.
If we deduct these from the 823 polled for that gentle
man, we have only 736 left. Besides these, thirty two
pledged for Mr. Cobden abstained from voting altogether,
as did also five of the favourab:es.' " If the pledged and
avourables had voted as expected, Mr. Cobden would
have been about equal with Mr. Akroyd.
THE SPEAKERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.—II i
reported, and we believe not without some foundation,
that Mr. Baines will probably he proposed for the
speakership at the meeting of parliament. We know of
no better choice that could be made, During his parlia-
mentary career Mr. Baines has secured the esteermof all
parties in the house. The Conservatives would haVe the
fullest reliance on his honourable impartiality, while on
his own side there are few men who, is point of political
concurrence and personal r spect, would be more likely
to obtain the unanimous support of that great Liberal
party which will farm such an overwhelming majority in
the new parliament. —Globe
EMIGRATION OF THE UNEMPLOYED.—The first body of
emigrants to Australia, under the auspices of the " Wel-
lington Emigration Fund," will leave London on the 16th
instant, in the ship Essex, belonging to Messrs. Wigram
and Sons. They have been, we understand, carefully
selected from unemployed artisans who joined in the move-
ment resulting from the late meetings at Smithfield. We
are happy to add that the funds at the disposal of the
association are increasing, and it is truly the duty of al
who can to render pecuniary assistance to objees so
beneficial to the recipients and society at large. Mr. Neale
Porter is actively engaged in this matter. The selections
already male most judiciously include several men with
families.—Australian and .New Zealand Gazette.
THE ENGLISHMtN IN CANADA.--LTO always talks of
England 'as his home, and as the happy land ; but never
wishes to leave Canada—except, he says, " he should like,
when he can spare the time and the money, and his boys
are old enough to carry on the work, to revisit the scenes
of his youth, but that he would not like to remain."
The old country, he says, is too full for poor men to
live there eomfertably. He reads the paper, and rejoices
at England's success and prosperity, and laments over her
losses with more feeling than thous of his own station
who still live in England. Absence has made his heart
grow fonder, and he has taught his eons, although
Canadian bore, to be proud of the eountry of their fore-
'fathers and their Eaglish blood. And it would be a
great grievance indeed that would make the descendants
of these men throw off their allegiance to the British crown.
—Mr Boys' Pamphlet on Canada.
A Lost. CHEW FOUND.—The North British Mail, under
the head of Greenock, has the following, ter the authenti-
city of which, h. waver, it does not vouch :—Eleven years
ego, a gool ship sailed from the Clyde on a voyage to the
West Indies, but she shared the' fate of many a well manned
and well i'qeiptied craft. Up to within the lust few days
nothing haft transpired regarding that gallant vessel, and
long'ago the in surn6rs of her devoted crew might have been
seen ping about our streets. More than a dczen had
become widows by that mysterious and by no means uncom-
mon veyage, which knew of no returning, and seven of these
were said at one time to be located in or near this "district.
8u,4 sorrow never can revive the dead, or if it could, hope
would prevent our tears;' and to these faithful widows,
having exhausted the fountain of their griefs, looked round
them for (Alta. behinds. And who will dare impugn the
wisdom of their resol:e ? One is said to occupy the same
house on east Quay lane which she occupied when her dear
sailor left her to go on the fatal voyage, and to be now the
mother of a family of children by another husband. Another
has followed her example in Port Glasgow. Indeed, no
less than six of the widows are said to have become wives
again, and to look back to their early attachments, and the
sad voyage that followed it, as a little dark episode in their
lives, which gradually grows dimmer as years rollover it.
But the story goes that a. few days ago information had
reached the owners of the long lost vessel, to the effect that
having been cast away on the African or Morocco coast, the
whole crew fell into the hands of a tribe of Moors,who have
long held them in captivity, and that they managed to
regain their freedom ; and if not already in Britain, are on
their way hither. It is further said, out of seven supposed
widows—widowed by the hypothecal disaster—only one
now remains a single woman, and she is the wife of the
long lost, though now found, captain of the long lost ship."

THE UNITY FIRE INSURANCE .ASSOCIATION:

On Tuesday, the half yearly meeting of the Unity Fire
Association was held in London, for the ourpose of
receiving the report of the committee of investigation,
and also that of the directors, anal on other business.
the proceedings were, throughout, of a rather excited
nature, but, still, the greatest good humour prevailed ;
great interest, hovVeter, was evinced, and the attendance
of shareholders was very. numerous. Dr. Lloyd,
the deputy chairman, presided. Mr. John
Bradshaw, the chairman of the committee, then
read the report, which stated that the committee was
appointed at a generanneeting, in. May last, to enquire into
the financial condition of the association, with power to
appoint, a competent accountant to go into the accounts,
and, with that power, Mr Coleman was appointed; After
going at some length into some correspondence between the
committee and Mr Coleman, the report went on to cOndtimn
the manner in which the affairs of the company had been
conducted, stating that no less an amount than £14,715
was paid as commission on the sale of shares, being
at the rate of ten per cent., and this exceeded the charges
of any other oflice. It might, then, have been expected that
the other expenses would have been curtailed, instead
of which they found that there had been paid £8,462
for advertisements, £7,000 to local and London directors,
£3 840 for gratuities. £3,717 law charges, £3075 for
postages and parcels, £7.294 for printing and stationery,
£3,609 for travelling, £21,122 for salaries, and
, £9,343 for commissions and allowances on fire premiums. lii
fact there bad bt'en no regard to economy whatever, nothing
but a course' of recklessness had been pursued. The. report
went on to state that the total receipts for fire insurances from
the commencement of the association to the 31st of July last
had been £69,075, while the cost of establishing the assoeiation
had been £90,000, thus requiring £21,000 out of the capital
to make up the deficiency, besides the amount that had been
paid for fire losses. The total receipts from branches had been
£50,400, at an expense of £26,103, and the losses had been
£45,265, thus making the association losers to the amount of
£21,000 by the branches. Since last meeting Mr. Baylis, the
founder, had resigned. During the four years Mr. Baylis had
been connected with the association he had received the sum
of £4,578. (Oh, oh.) The board of directors, in the opinion
of the committee. were highly deserving of blame, for they
must have seen what was going on, and should have put a
check on it. (Hear, hear) They went on to recommend
that the number of the board of directors should
be reduced, and a less amount be paid to them. The report
also suggested that the office of managing director should
be abolished, that all local branches be abolished, and
agencies established instead, by which suggestions a savieg
of about £lO,OOO per annum would be effected. In
conclusion, the committee said that they were perfectly
justified in stating that the books had been kept with the
greatest acceracy and neatness, and that there was not the
least tendency to such a thing as unfair traffieing in
shares, or dishonest or irregular appropriation of any money.
Mr. Gray, the manager, then read the report and state-
ment of accounts, which, having referred to the retirement
of Mr. Baylis, who, they believed, was now on his way to
Australia, and also to the appointment of Mr. T Gray, late
sub-manager of the Royal Insurance Company, and for-
merly for many years connected with the Liverpool and
London Insurance Company, proceeded to lay the financial
condition of the association up to December last before the
shareholders :
" PROPRIETORS' FIIND.—By this'aceount it will be seen
that 1,104,259 shares were issued up to thollast general
meeting in December, 1855. and 6,445 shares have been
issued since, upon which the original call has been paid
up, exhibiting a capital of no less than £138,838.
"Feast INSURANCE FUND —The proprietors will thus
see that the association has received, for fire premiums
alone, no less a sum than £86,924 9s 4d. The losses by
fire, however, have been more, than proportionately
large; and debiting this account with those exrenses
which are chargeable purely to the accu -nulation of so
large an amount, the account shows a loss upon the
operations of the fire business of the company of
£2,043 6s 4d
" PROFIT AND Loss ACCOUNT.—The directors draw atten-
tion to the balance of this account, because it exhibits a true
and faithful exposition of the entiro results of the operations of
the association since its commencement.
" The balance of the Fire Insurance Fund, together with
the large expenditure incurred by the late manager, for the
establishment of local boards, erection, and leases of offices,
establishment of fire engines and brigades, the cost of the
purchase of the Bradford, Halifax, and Heighley Insurance
Company's business, the commission to local managers,
secretaries, and others, for distribution of shares, and the cost
of advertisements, &c.; have all been placed to the debit of this
account; and the balance now produced shows that the sum of
£95,840 Gs Id has been expended.
" The Directors are also now convinced that the future
success of the association will greatly depend upon the
maintenance of an ample paid un oanital ; and as the funds
now in hand amount only to £42 997 13s 11d, they strongly
recommend to the shareholders that the capital should be
made up to at least £lbo,ooo. To accomplish this a call
upon the shareholders will have to be made of is 3d per
share, which the directors now recommend. Teey are fully
persuaded that this will have a most beneficial influence
upon the interests of the institution, for they have the best
reason to know that should it be accomplished the association
will receive the assistance and coeoperation, in a most
substantial manner, of two of the m eft powerful fire insur-
ance companies in existence—namely, the Royal and the
Liverpoel and London."

The report, in conelesion, -called on the shareholders to
support them in their peculiar position; stated that the two
retiring directors, Mr G. Barrott and Mr W. E. Tayloe,
offered themselves for re-election ; and that it was proposed
as a matter of economy, to appoint two auditors, resident
in London, which would be in accordance with their deed.
The Chairman then addressed the meeting at great length,
defending the conduct of the board of directors, and assur-
ing the shareholders that although they bad perhaps not
acted rightly, and to the satisfaction of ail, that the members
of the board had acted honestly, and is their consciences they
believed that they, had done their best for the interests of.
the shareholders. _Having explained several items in the
accounts, he said he hoped they would support the board
in adversity as well as in prosperity. (A Voice "We
never had any yet," and " How about the .E 95,000 yoa
have lost?") Well, that £95,000 was said to be lost, but
it was unfair; for they had started with the intention of
making rapid results, and they had ddne so; for their
institution was one of the largest, and would, he hoped,
soon be most wealthy in the kingdom, and it was impos-
sible to make such rapid progress without some
expenses. (Cheers ) Still, at the same time, he thought
the £12,000 available assets was sufficient to make
the association look healthy. He then came to
the most important question, and that was, wise her the
capital should be increased to XlOO,OOO, which would be at
the rate of Is 31 per share calls. If they did that he could
promise them that they would have the co-operation of
the highest and wealthiest companies in the kingdom--
viz., the " Royal," and the " London and Liverpool,"
whose assistance would most materially benefit this asso-
ciatit n As. they all had the interests of the association in
mind, it was for that reason that he caliel on them to
support him in his proposition and adopt the report.
(Cheers.) In conclusion, he moved the adoption of the
report.

The report having been seconded by Mr. 'Buchan, was,
after an animated discussion, carried with only three dis-
sentient voices.

THE INDIA AND CHINA MAILS.

The Indus arrived at Southampton on Tuesday night,
with the heavy portion of the India and China mails
Amongst her cargo is specie valued at £7.000.

THE OUTWARD AUSTRALIAN MAIL.

The Etna arrived at, Southampton on Tuesday night.
She should have brought the first Australian mail, due for
some time past, at Suez, by the Oneida, but has returned
without it in order to be in readiness for taking out the
next mail of the 12th inst.

LORD PALMERSTON'S. EPISCOPAL APPOINT-
MENT.

The Times says that Lord Palmerston must not be
surprised if the nomination of Mr. Pelham to the Bishop_
pric of Norwich is rather sharply criticised, coming too,
as it does, immediately after the elevation of Baring, M.
Villiers, and Bickersteth, ascribed with theirs to the
influence of Lord Shaftesbury, who has apparently selected
them because they are all strong adherents of a particular
party, besides being connected with the peerage. The
Times suggests that a little more variety in our bishops
might be useful.

Tag LAMBING Saesorr:—The lambing season in Norfolk
has been, on the whole, a good one. The yield of lambs is
estimated to exceed that of last year by one third.
THE RICHEST _MAN IN CANADA.—Among the passengers
killed in the late shocking catastrophe on the (Treat
Western Railroad from Toronto to Hamilton, C.W., is
Samuel Z•mmerman, Esq., the richest man in the
Canadas: He came to this country while a boy, lived
for a time in Pensylvania, and subsequently went to
Canada.; where, by industry, sagacity, and luck he
became in the coarse of a few years, immensely wealthy.
A no inconsiderable part of his fortune was made as a
railroad contractor, but the greater part was by the rise
of land, He was owner of the famous Clifton House, in
the vicinity of which is his own private residence—a
princely mansion.—Boston Traveller.—.[Zimmerman built
the bridge which gave way and caused the death of so
many persons, himself among them.]

FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN WESTERN AFRICA

•
The Queen of Great Britain and the Emperor of t;'
French, being .desirous to prevent all future cause of rl
understanding with regard is the right of trading at 3„t
near Portendic, on the west coast of Africa, and
Albreda, in- the River Gambia, asserted or assumed
respectively by the governments or subjects of Great
Britain and France resolved to conclude a convention ! _
that purpose. The English representatives
E of Clarendon and Mr. Labouchere ; and tb
representative of France was the Count Persigl
After communicating with each oth,r, they agreed all°,
and concluded a convention. By the first article, betl
Queen relinquishes the right, hitherto enjoyed by s
subjects, of trading from the mouth of the River
Bl
John to the Bay and*Fort of Portendic, inclusively. tba
the second article the Emperor of the French cedes to
Qieen of England the French factory at Albreda, on the
north bank of the River Gambia, on the western Oro
of Africa, together with all possessory or other rig:o
whatever appertaining to the said factory. By the t,E!
article her Majesty consents that. French subjects sus(
have free access to the .River Gambia for the purPles of
their commerce. They shall ba allowed to realued.
the town of Bathurst and at such other nip,
ing station or stations a may hereafter be 01
pointed by the Queen in council, but
elsewhere ; except so far as regards Albrocif
where such French subjects as are now' resident, and icie
wish to remain, are authorised so to do by the fourth sti.tor,
were, ID:
of the present convention ; conforming themselves,st
ever. to the laws and local regulations which are, or ;1;
he, in force in the British settlements in the Gem tbi
French vessels in the river Gambia shall be subject to sea
same du'iea, tolls, and regulations, as British vessel;
every article impnrted or exported in French veasOst sot
pay the same duty as is or may he imposed upon the
article when imported or exported in British vessels. of
French government shall be allowed to maintain a cote
agent at Bathurst. Art. IV. provides that French Obi,/
already settled at Albreda. and who may wish to red
there after the cession to the Queen of the French facile!
shall preserve their property, and the rights attge
thereto, and shall be protected and treated in all 'Tepee/
the same manner as all other French subjects ill
English possessions.