Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-11 00:00:00

'ENTB.

liudE hata:UffiViitvEmENT.

Tirdiaiffic* morrien 4ent for the eigaNisiment of de-
fensive volursteer corpf3i7.wbieh originat4in loiverpool,
and which has hem carried out so successfully, and
taken such deep root on both sides of the Mersey; makes,
we are glad to. obs erve, most satisfactory progress all
Over the •kiiigdom: This will be obvious from a glance
at the subjoined details connected with the volunteer
system.:—

HAN'sifiT AND Esaswounr.-7A
.company. ?has been
forniedior these towns, and its
,services accepted by ,her
Majesty. •
WORCESTER:—The organisation committee held their
weekly meeting on Friday, the mayor; W. Haigh, Esq.,
in the chair.—Mr. Reynolds, the hon. secretary,
_re-
ported that at the meeting of. the enrolment committee.
on Wednesday, Mr. A. C. Sherriff handed in the names
of 20 men for service in the Worcester or No.
1. Company, upon the terms agreed on at the last
meeting of the organisation committee. ',There were
already 34 volunteers for: the .same company, -so that
these 20, with ten others from Messrs. M'Naught and
Smith's company, would constitute a total of 64 men.
Mr. Parker mentionekthe names of two other volun-
teers, thus swelling the total to 66. A letter was' read
from Mr. A. H, Royds, of Crowneast, accepting the'office
of captain of No. 1 Company.—Sir E. A. H. Lectimere
moved, and. Mr. J: Parker seconded, that the kind offer of
Mr. Roydsbe accepted; and that the Mavorbe requested to
=communicate forthwith with the Lord:lieutenant for his
sanction thereto, as also to the formation of the corps.
On Wednesday evening the corps, formed at Messrs.
M'Naught and Smith'S establishment assembled in the
Guildhall, when they were drilled by Mr. M‘Leod' and
Serjeant Davis, of the militia. This corps his been
considerably strengthened by men from Messrs. Wood
and Son's building works. Messrs. Kerr and ,Co.'s
volunteers assembled soon afterwards at the same place,
but finding that.the accommodation was insufficient, had
to retire, and thus the advantage of a drill was lost.
Messrs. M'Naught and Smith's drill nights are Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Messrs. Keir's Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Saturday afternoons. A ftirther corps is
to be formed amongst the enip/o:yis.of the Oxferd,
cester, and Wolverhampton Railway, of which J. S.
Pakington, Esq.; will be the captain.,
WEDNESEURY.—A public • meeting, convened by the
rev. 'vicar, as chairman of the two preliminary meetings
already held, assembled in' the Town-hall on Tuesday
evening, to consider the best means of furthering the
cause. There -was a numerous attendance, among those
present being the Rev. J.' Lyons (vicar),•.the Rev. J.
Winter, Dr. Lymes, Messrs. Thomas Davies, J. Thars-
-field (hon. secretary to the committee), Banks, Blake-
more, J. T. Bayley, H. Naylor' R. Blayney, Wood,
- Saddler, Brown, Duce,' Dawes, Rigby, Palmer, .Brittain,
and Whitehouse. Ensign Mole,;- and Mr. J. Price, Of
'the ISt Stafford Corps, attended at the invitation of the
honorary secretary. • Mr. Thos. Davies was called to the
chair. Mr. J: Thursfield, who acted as honourary secre-
tary; stated that he had received two letters from Lord
Dartmouth—one apologising for non-attendance,. and
another offering a donation of £lO.- (Cheers.) Mr.
Henry Williams had also apologised for non-attendance,
offering £2O. Mr. George Round promised £5, apolo-
gising for the smallness of the sum in consequence' of his.
having already subscribed to other corps. Mr. Lloyd
Foster had promised £2O, and Mr. -Elwell, of Wood-
green, £lO. Sir T.' Scott, Lord Calthorpe, Mr. J:
Bagnall, and other gentlemen, had also communicated
with the honorary secretary, expressing -their hearty
sympathy with the cause. Mr. Blakeniore;- Mr. Duce,
Mr. Horton, and Mr. Naylor, had also given £lO each.
—The chairman, in the course of an excellent speech,
announced his. intention to
.give a donation of ten
guineas.--Resolutions recognising the desirability of
establishing a rifle corps in the town, organising a sub-
scription, and appointing a committee, were carried
unanimously, and an- enthusiastic meeting terminated
with a vote of thanks to the chairman.
EDINEtiIkGH UNIVERSITY.—FORMATION OF A SECOND
CosirAsri.—On SatUrday; a meeting of the members of
the IlnivetSity'Conapany Of Rifle Volunteers was held in,-
the University, Professor Christison in the chair; at
which it was formally resolve 'to a Second
:Company in connection, with the :Unitersity. Mei total
number of the University Volunteers was reported to
be 112; and it was agreed that the University Company
No.- 1 should consilt-pf_seventy-one members, and that
the remainium.forty-one: volunteers should be united in
the SeCend Company,b which, it is expected, will soon
_come up to the required strength. Professor Christison
was choien captain of the Second Company, and Mr.
Dunbar was nominated as lieutenant; -but the nomina-
tion of the other, Officers Was deferred until the orga-
nisation of the company is further advanced.

EMIT BURGH VOLUNTEER PARADE.—The weekly parade
of the Edinburgh Volanteer Rifles took place on Satur-
day in.the Queen's Park, in presence of a large number
of spectators. There were six companies on the ground,
each company beinc, drilled by its respective officers.
The men went through their movements in a highly-
creditable manner; and, after:about an hour's exercise,
marched in order from the ground.

ALLOA AND TILLICOULTRv. =The officers of the Alloa
and those of the Tillicoultry 'Volunteer Rifle Corps had
an interview this week, at Stirling, with the Earl of
Afairsfield,-the lord-lieutenant of the county: Some con-
versation took place 'as to the uniform, accoutrethents-,
&c. ; but the' meeting was rather. of a private' nature.
The attendance at drill by the 'members of both com-
panies is very satisfactory, the :seasOn of the year and
other circumstances considered. On Saturday the mem-
bers of the Alloa corps meet for drill at Beilarsbrae. '
GarEllocK.--Upwards 'of a ihundred of-the three
companies turned out .on parade the new, Town-hall.
on Saturday afternoon, at three-o'clock. The corripanies,
being formed by Captain Latham and Dempster, and
Lieu-tenant Neill acting in the absence of Captain Reid
of the second company, they marched cut, preceded by
their band and piper, proceeding beyond Ashton, below
Gourock, where, tlaey halted for five minutes only, and
then marched back to:the point of starting, which they
reached at 6.30. This was a nine miles' march under
arms, with
.only five Minutes' halt; and as the roads
Were: heavy from a recent ShoWer, part of which fell
during the march; and as the half of the distance
was accomplished 'under cloud of night, it may be re-
garded as fairish work for a corps, many of whom had
never marched out before. Before dismissal, captain
Latham intimated that the corps had been compelled
to abandon one of their three drill nights in the
week in the. new Town-hall, to give way for the
drill of an artillery corps. Thus the rifle corps would
only meet fiir drill
.on the nights of Monday and
Wednesday ; but an effort was being made to 'get
another place, so as tb enable theta to fill up the Fri-
day evenings; as it was proper they should apply them-,
selVes with all diligence to the acquiring a full know-
ledge 'of their; dtittes as riflemen. Later in the night a
large squad of the -3rd Company mustered for. drill
under Lieutenants Neill and Ross, and Serjeant J.
Scott. Ini fact, there seems to be an unflagging anxiety
on the part of recent members to make the hest possible
use of their time in making up upon the older members
who have already so far mastered. the Crlll.
AYR.—A meeting of the rifle corps *as held on Fri-
, day- night in the Corn Exchange, for- the election of
officers and the framing of rules. Robert Paton, En.,
of Macnairston, was called to the chair. Mr. Macrorie,
the secretary, read- the rules, which were: approved
of, and ordered to be printed, so soon as they
received the sanction —of the Ital.— Office officials.
The following gentlemen were..thereafter appointed
as _ officers, viz.:—Captain, Major James Hay Boyd,
of Town.end ; lieutenant, Robert Paton, shipowner; •
ensign, James Martin,_ inspector of taxes;, surgeon,
Robert Dobbie, M.D.; colour serjeant, William Cowan,
wine merchant ; serjeants, David Hunter, Robert Gray, ,
Alexander Paton, and R. H. Smith ; corporals, Mat- •"
thew Adam, S. M. Feriusson, P. B. Hill, and Walter
Stewart ; lance corporals, T. Nisbet and William
Kehl:frith ; bugler, Hugh Reid. The chairman inti-
mated that there would be drill in the Assembly-rooms.
daily, Saturday excepted. After a vote of thanks to
the chairman, the meeting separated. .

FALKIRK. - The enthusiasm attendant upon the
rifle corps
and Ir.uis become
ps in Falkirk has now stood the
test consolidated.
of formation
timoef ao
and
The members of the company, almost without exception,
continue to meet punctually at the hours of drill, and
the order "attention" finds every man ready and anxious
to do his duty.

GRANGEMOTITIT.—A meeting of those favourable to
the formation of a corps in connection with Grange-
mouth and neighbourhood was held on Friday night, at
which it was agreed to proceed immediately with the
orgasisation of the corps. Fifty-two names have alreaiy
been enrolled.' , •

THE HIGHLA-NDS.—Meetings have been held at
Morven and Glencoe, at which it Was unanimously
agreed to form corps in connection With those districts,

THE SCOTCH WESTERN, AND THE
-LFVERPOOL----BOROUGH RANK S.-A
7 PARALLEL • - - -

Our attention has been drawn to thelubjoined
article, which appeared in the North British Mail;
of last Friday. We give the article Without note
or comment. It speaks its own " tale'' with.
sufficient plainness, and will in-all probability be
read with interest-by many. From its. statements
and comments we draw no inference ; and on
them we offer no opinion.
We have been waiting with what patienCe we
could muster to see whether any of our London
contemporaries, and more especially the Times,
which has so frequently come down with unspar-
ing stroke upon the conduct of the Western Bank
of Scotland, would be equally inflictive, or even
candid, in commenting on the affairs of the Liver-
pool:Borough Bank. We have not been disap-
pOinted in our expectations, that a. spirit of par-
tiality would 'be found potent enough to cause the
important meeting held in Liverpool last week, of
the Borough Bank shareholders, to be passed
over without comment,. or with remarks of the
shortest and most commonplace kind. Very dif-
ferent would have been the conduct of our great
London contemporary, we imagine, if the wither-
ing exposures' made by Mr. Bramlev-Moore had
been the management of the Scotch, instead' of
the English, Bank.
Far be it from us to attempt to palliate impro-,
Perly the conduct. of the Western Bank Directors
and Managers. There is but too much of blame
attachable to them, for things done or omitted to
.be done. Blit.what we most emphatically con-
tend for is, that looking to the conduct of other
banks, when casualty has opened it to . view, the
Western Bank Directors. appear to have done
precisely as other bank 'directors had been doing,
and may be doing yet, 'for aught we know or can
Judge, from any outward sign of alteration that
has been made in their duties, or the mode of dis-
charging them.
The sweeping condemnation passed upon the
'Western Bank Directors, as if they,. like those
smothered in the Tower of Siloam, had been cul-
pable beyond their fellows, is, therefore, unjust,
inasmuch as it visits the sins of a system intrinsi-
cally vicious" upon the few heads whom accident
has laid bare.

There are so many poinfs of resemblance be-
tween the Western and the Borough Banks, and
the one ha§ been so defamed, while the other has
been passed over with the most significant silence,
that we feel it a duty to call attention to the great
similarity of default in these banks, as well as to
the extreme difference of treatment on the part
of the public Press. . _ _

The shareholders of the Borough Bank and the
public are deeply indebted to Mr. Bramley-Moore
for the manly'and vigorous measures taken to bring
to light so many and so glaring- cases of deformity
in the management of that concern. But for
his energetic aid, • there would have been ap-
parently no carrying back of the inquiry to the
origin and initiative steps of its. Vicious courses,
and tracing the progress of bad accounts,
through that bolstering process which almost. in-
variably leads on to worse, and is yet•found to be
as constantly repeated in the practice of banks
and big commercial. concerns. The fear to . force
a loss at once seems to shut their eyes to the risk
of having to forc6 a larger one' at a•later period,
and the difficulty having been for the time tided
over, the manager waits, in Micawber-like mood,
-for something to turn up " for his advantage.
Thd absolute squ4ndering of money upon worth-
les-i customers, about which so much complaint was
made of the Western; is an equally prominent
feature in the management of the Borough Bank.
The only difference- seems to be; that the latter
•was more diffuse in its favours. Nineteen accounts,
named by Mr. Bramley-Moore, absorbed the enor-
mous sum of £1,194,00.0, arid' no fewer than six-
teen of these accounts, varying from £28,000 to
£73,000 each, are described as almost entirely
worthless, and in some cases the money given to
parties that ordinary prudence would not have
.entrusted with as many pence. What are these
but a minor grade of Macdonalds and Monteiths,
about whom such an outcry was raised in the case
of the Western-Bank.
The wretched system of reckless re-discounting
of bills was also resorted to by the Borough Bank
to an enormous extent annually. This corresponds-.
with the Western's mode of working only, too
faithfully ; but a deeper, and, perhaps, we may
call it a baser feature, - comes out •in the inqury
into the conduct 'of the BorOugh Bank. A whole-
sale system of manufacturing bills for the Borough
Bank's necessities was openly declared at the
meeting to have been resorted to, and we can but
express surprise that such a statement was re-
ceived by the meeting with but' slight manifesta-
tions of feeling.
The reckless course of re-discounting began, ac-
cording to Mr. Bramley-Moore, in 1853, when
the bank had got into :extreme difficulty. The
nineteen accounts already referred to, or others
like them, which absorbed more than the bank's
whole capital and deposited money too, explain
the bank's state of " extreme difficulty ;" and the
resort to re-discounting appears simply to have
been an expedient to supply fresh capital for the
bank's business, the original and real capital
being placed hopelessly out of reach or irretrieva-
bly lost, and from this time the bank must have
gone on doing business with more than its whole
capital, tied up'in the shape really, though not
nominally, of bad and doubtful debts. •
What a mine of wealth must have appeared
opening up to the bank by this new device, or
perhaps "dodge" may be the more appropriate
term ; and what a legacy for one manager to
leave to another if.a change happened to be made
at such a time, and dexterous hands-getting hold
of the whip'. As for reins----the team had got the
bits in their teeth.

the same negligence on the part of the
directors of both banks is apparent in the exami-
-ning and certifying of balance-sheets, it appears
• that in the case of the Borough, after continuing
for years to issue properly completed balance-
sheets, the practice was, according to Mr. Moore's
statement, deliberately given up. If it be the case
that no regular balance-sheets have been made
and signed for many years, those documents, in
the shape they are, will not be binding now, ,we
presume, on the. directors, though evidence of
their .neglect, and thus a ground of claim for
deeds of commission, will be' prevented. Like
Sancho's blessing on the man who first invented
sleep, because it covered him over like a cloak,
that of the directors must surely rest on the in-'
ventor of those irregular balance-sheets.
In the Borough as in the Western Bank an
officer in high trust appears to have made efforts
tb check the headlong career of the concern by
offering information to those in superior authority,
but which information was rather disdainfully re-
jected. It is exceedingly hard for a man who, had
spent all his business life in the bank, and, by in-
dustry and ability, advanced himself to a confi-
dential position, to be turned adrift on the world by
the bank's disaster. But it is harder still if the very
confidence with Which that man was treated, and
through which he acquired the information, en=
abling him to make exertions to avert the bank's
disaster, is made an accusation against him. The
winding-up of the Western Bank has been saved
from the obloquy of such a proceeding as this ;
and it was with pain we read that part of the
report of the meeting in Liverpool which referred
to Mr. Kershaw. We would wish to deal
leniently with such matters • for passion, more or
less, comes to be unavoidably mixed up with best
of motives, Of the remarks of an ex-official,