The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-23 00:00:00

THE " .RODERICS DRIP' CASE.

(From the St. 7homas's Times.)
In publishing in our columns this day the judgment rendered
in the English Admiralty Court ageing the holders of the
bottomry bond on the English ship Roderick Dhu, which we
copy from the London Shipping and Mercantile Gazette of
24th December, we are, at the same time, enabled to accom-
pany it with a copy of the very justifiable address, which, as a
consequence, has grown out of the ease, and which our mer-
cantile community have very properly thought fit to draw up
and present Messrs. G. Nunes and Gommez, the holders of
the bond, and who, but for their well known respectability'
which no imputation can reach, have not only to lose their
money, but also be made subject to a " doubt" that only for
the aforesaid exception, could easily affect their commercial
reputation. It is, therefore, with unfeigned regret we deplore
the words of the learned judge, who, in all his gravity,
was only "willing to assume" that the money was
paid, and that it was a" bona fide transaction," and, to add as
it were to the injury, we fail to discover any evidence assigned
for the doubt, for the simple reason we should say that there
was none to assign. Whereas to our certain knowledge the
whole of the business was conducted according to immemorial
custom, done in opan day, and in conformity with the expressed
language contained in the placards (printed at the office ofthis
paper) signed by the master of the ship (Wm. McTaggart),
who in that capacity is the acknowledged representative of the
owners the wide world over, posted on the city walls, dis-
tributed in the stores, and inviting merchants, bankers, and
others to send in sealed tenders to supply money on a bottomry
on the ship. These tenders were opened in the " British Con-
sulate" by the " British Consul," who was also " Lloyd's
Agent ;" may we, therefore, not ask, with every assurance,
whether there was ever a transaction more calculated to inspire
confidence in the money lenders P
It has been stated by the " Registrar and Merchants" that
the Bottomry Bond was issued to obtain the amount required
to pay the commissions of the agent, and not for the" neces-
sities of the ship ;" in answer to this we can solemnly affirm
that the sum first asked for in the pl:icards was 25,000 dollars,
as at the time there wag a doubt whether ti; .POOO would
be negotiated in the place, the owners of the Roderick Mu
not being sufficiently known to our bankers and merchants ;
but as the draft was afterwards sold, the figures in the placard
were changed to 12,000 dollars ; we can therefore say that the
naoney raised by Bottomry was not solely to pay commissions,
as it could easily have been for a much larger sum. We could
- go on reciting many instances to prove that in as much as the
bond was issued by the captain, who thereby i❑ right of his
power pledged his owners' property, the bond should have been
paid, this not having been done, we have reason to fear it will
for all future time, act as a very bad precedent, and that few
or none will be the English vessels that will ever obtain
money on bottomry in this island, allowing their " necessities"
to be ever so clear, or their wants the most urgent.