The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-15 00:00:00

THE DAY'S NEWS.

The House of Lords sat for a short time last
night, but the business before the House was not
of the slightest importance to the public
generally.
In the House of Commons List night the rela
tions with the Brazils was alluded. to, and Mr.
Roebuck gave notice that on that day fortnight he
should move for a select committee to consider•
the subject. Sir •Charles Napier also gave notice
of his intention of moving for a select committee
to inquire into the Board of Admiralty, &c. Mr.
Labouchere at some length adverted to the
present Coolie system in general, and
the case of the John Calvin," in par..
ticular. He deplored the manner in which
the trade was carried on, and said that instructions
had been forwarded to the law officers of the
crown to take what steps was necessary in the
ease; but he greatly feared that the case of the
John Calvin was not legally punishable. That
vessel had left Hong Kong for Cuba, with a cargo
of Chinese coolies, and, "although the number was
much greater than, after:• inspection, she was
permitted to carry, it was much less than she was
authorised to carry in reference to her size."
Mr. Labouchere said that he would take
measures to enforce the act, but if there
Was a defect in the law it would be his
duty to see it rectified. The subject had been of
late attracting much anxious and painful attention
from the Government. The Government do not
intend to send out any vessels to the coast of
Africa to search for guano. The reports of the
commander's of H. M.'s vessels on that station
some years ago-were not deemed satisfactory, and
the Government, therefore, did not feel justified in
advising such a course. Sir John Pakington stated
that it was not his intention to bring in his Educa-
tion Bill this session. He hinted his opinion
that it was the duty of Government to introduce
a bill, and to rely upon the individual exertion of
any member of that house. Mr. Vegan intro
duced a bill for the Abolition of Ministers' Money
in Ireland, and Lord Palmerston gave his assent
to the principles of the bill, Mr. Disraeli thought
a measure of this magnitude and importance
should be undertaken by Government, and then
he would give it his determined opposition.
A London paper of last night remarkS that not
a single minister voted on Lord Robert Grosvenor's
motion for a bill to relieve candidates from the
expense of conveying electors to the poll. They
pave made up their minds, we suppose, not to

pronounce on any detail of Parliamentary Ilefom
this session. Some curious apparent anona:aliee
will be -observed the list. For instauce,
Berkeley, the parliamentary champion of the ballot,
voted against the introduction of the bill ; and
the names of other, undoubted Liberals will also
be found in the "' hile among the " ayes"
there is rather a large proportion of as undoubted
Tories.
Rumours are abroad the' ~ _tor-Ganeial
is on the eve. of resigning °nice on account of the
state of his health, and all the lawyers are specu-
lating about, his successor-
The Grand Duke Constantine will, we under-
stand, visit the Queen at Osborne on the last day
of this.month. We do not hear whether he is to
be invited by those in authority to come to
London. :
At the SoCiety of Arts on Wednesday night, Mr. J.
B. Smith, M P-k delivered a lecture on the supply of
cotton from India, and an interesting discussion fol-
lowed. The state of the case at present is this :
Not only are our manufacturers suffering from
deficient supplies of cotton and other raw materials,
all of which we might get from India, but the evil
and danger are likely to increase. The consump-
tion has overtaken the production; and India,
with her cheap labour and inexhaustible natural
resources, is the only quarter to which we can
look for timely relief. The stocks of cotton in par-
ticular are not
.only less in this country than they
were last year, but the expected arrivals from the
United States are also less. The pressure already
felt for many months, and the increasing danger,
will in ail likelihood stimulate the manufacturing
districts to action in that ditection which Mr.
Smith has pointed out.
Yesterday the trial of the Bacons for the murder
of their two children at Walworth concluded;
Bacon was acquitted, and his wife found guilty on
the ground of insanity. Directly after the verdict
being returned, the woman confessed that she, and
She alone, poisoned .;the two eltildren--' Bacon,
before leaving the court, was re-arrested on the
charge of murdering his mother.
At the London Court of Bankruptcy, yesterday,
the judgment of the Commissioner on the conduct
of the directors of the Royal British 'Bank was
delivered. Mr. Commissioner Hoiroyd said he
thought it his duty to direct that a copy of the
examinations should be transmitted to the Attorney
General. It was no ease for, delay. In no case
had gi-eatinieeltiesstiess, deception; and fraud been
exhibited ; . and the examinations et the directors
taken in that court would be admissihle asevidence
againet them; After glancing at..the -provisions
or the acts under which- charters of joint-stock
companies were granted, and quoting from -H
the articles in the. company's-deed of settleMent,
nothing could be more clear and
.explicit-than the
provisions as to The duties of tlaodirectors • and in
a body like- thi,s each individual. 'was responsible
for the performance of those duties. It had: been
held that where a false certificateiliad been signed
without knowledge on the part of the directors
that it *as false, they were eshill answerable-.
It was not now the duty of the court to -single Out
the delinqUents ; but the directors and general-man-
aeers were open to the followingcharges: commenc-
ing business before the requisite amount of capital
was paid up—publishing false balance sheets and
reports—declaring dividends when no profits had'
been made, but, on the contrary, large losses had
been incurred—conspiring- to raise the 'price 'of
the company's shares by means, and wirlt
a criminal view (this had been held to be a fraud
against the public)—conspiring, when in a state of
insolvency, to obtain a snpplemental charter by
false representations, and false reports and ba-
lance sheets, with intent to cheat the public, and
in contempt of the prerogative of the Crown—
making large loans to directors and others
on -terms of the utmost -risk—expending large
sums on a businesis quite foreign to that of bank
ing—the Welch mines, thereby
.incurring a heavy
loss, and refusing to call a special meeting under
the 71st clause, when a quarter of the capital- had
been lost: The original petition for a charter had
been founded on false representations. The
auditors, who were in a situation to know the
falsehood of the accounts they. signed, neglecte
to avail themselves of those means. As to the
criminal responsibility of the directors no doubts
could be entertained. The directors were amen-
able to punishment for not discharging their
duties. Though penaltieS were not attached to
the infringement of the provisions of the charter
yet, as this was a nuisance to the public at large ,
it was indictable at common law.. Tho court thought
it necessary to direct that proceedings should be
taken against the officers of this company in such
way as the Government might direct.
The weekly meetings of the Health and Dock
Committees was hell yesterday. At the former
Mr Stitt took occasion to correct a statement that
had erroneously found its way into the papers, to
the effect that he was one of the trustees of the
Necropolis. Neither he, or his father is, or
ever was, connected. with this burial ground.
A conversation took place as to what steps
were to be tiken respecting the late
practices in the Low Hill Cemetery, but no
decision was arrived at. The deaths last week
were 241, being 36 more than the previous week,
aul 20 more than the corrected averages. of the
same week of former years. To what cause is this
extra mortality to be attributed ? The medical
officer of health is of opinion that it is probably_
owing, in some measure, to the cold weather and
Easterly winds. But we have repeatedly had much
colder weather, and a longer continuance of.
Easterly winds within the past nine months, yet
in all that time the deaths have not been so great
as in the week just ended. Some explanation is
wanted here. In the Dock Committee there was
no business of importance transacted.
The news from the Continent this morning does
not call for much comment. A Paris correspondent
again disparages the visit of the Grand- Duke,
which he terms a failure. The sympathy or enthu-
siasm affected by the Court was exhibited too soon
after the close of the war. The French Minister of
Marine has, it is said, decided on bui:ding iu future
none but small frigates, capable of navigating in
shallow waters. The French Minister of Foreign
Affairs has received despatches from the French
legation at Teheran,- to April 3, which leaves no
doubt of the intention of the Shah of Persia to ter-
minate the war with England as speedily as pos-
sible.

The Papal Government is at present occupied
with a new organisation of the Catholic iiocess in
China. The intelligence from Naples is very
gloomy and unsatisfactory. Mr. Blandford, the
young Englishman who was attacked in the
streets, has just died. A French gentleman and
his wife have been assaulted in one of the
principal streets. The police are busily circulating
absolute libels on France and England. How
long will the Allied Governments of England
and France halt between two •opinions ? They
have made a great boast of what they could do if
Bomba and his subjects did not behave more
civilised But their threats have been of • no
avail, Surely Naples, as a kingdom, ought to be
blotted from the map of Europe.
The reply of the King of Prussia about the
Neufchatel dispute is said to be quite satisfactory.
The Prussian Chambers were dissolved on Tues-
day, the last act of the Upper House being the
rejection of the proposed tax; the Government
says, however, that it must have tha money.
From Vienna we hear that the Turkish Govern-
ment has at length instructed the Kaimakans of
the Danubian Principalities not to throw any
obstacles in the way of the meeting of the
Unionist party.
The Ministry of the Interior in Russia has
recently published a statistical table, which is in-
teresting on more than one account. The wear and
tear of the Imperial armies in the late war may
be imagined by the number of men withdrawn
from agriculture in the year 1855, which
attained the enormous figure of 738,955. Qf
these 366,902 were drafted into the skele
ton regiments, or embodied in the militia, while
372,053 were created into a reserve, In the
same year the voluntary (?) gifts presented to the
State, in support of the expenses of the war,
amounted to £720.000 sterling. The Russian
Empire contains, according to the above statistics,
623 towns; it is inhabited by 70,000 nobles, who

Possess 109.000 fatat{.fl c f emi-
:,ence, 300,000 mercba.:; e„ 115,000 ilnerated
peasants resi.ling on their own land, 11,800,000
townsmen, 1(30,355 Jewish families. In the above
year 4,321 foreigners arrived in Russia from Europe
and 910 from Asia. Only 779 Russian subjects left
the Empire during that period. The estates owned
by 70,000 nobles are divided into 1,100. oi,F•sesing
above I,o'oo peasants ; 2.000 pousiJssing bt:tween
500_ .and 1,000 ; 18,500 between 100 and- 500
30 100 between 21 and 100; anti 37,000 possessing
under 21 peasants.

A CONVERSATION has been held in Parliament
on the new securities required for Savings'
Banks. It had long been supposed by many
confiding depositors, that their money -was
as safe as the Funds. A painful experience,
resulting from many frauds on the part of the
managers of these institutions, has long- since
undeceived the public ; and the consequence is
that Savings' Banks are distrusted by the poor.
Other societies have been started to answer the
purpose, such as Building Societies, Friendly,
and Oddfellows Societies, &c. This is not sur-
prising. We remember the shock given to the
public faith on the failure of the Rochdale
Savings' Bank. It is possible for fraudulent
managers to deceive the public, and even to
delude trustees, by having a double set of books,
in one of which things may be pleasantly repre-
sented. The illusion is not dissipated till the
crash comes, and then the depositors find, to
their blank dismay, that no one is responsible.
It is a very improper state of things that poor
people should lay aside a part of their small
earnings in a receptacle which they deem safe,
and then suddenly find themselves without
guarantee and without remedy. Obviously, the
tendency is to discourage prudence, forethought,
and self-reliance. All persons, not omitting
even her most sacred Majesty, should make pro-
vision for the future, should lay by something
against the period of age and declining strength.
The working classes have the strongest possible
reasons for this economy and forethought.
Many might save sums Which they n©w spend
in drinking or smoking, though we own that the
small wages and large families of others leave
them only a narrow margin to cut from. Our
wonder is that they can save anything at all, that
they can even live, that they can in some cases
be even contributors to the rates that support the
poor.
.asiLLA
There must be, even in this 'favoured land,
many a hard struggle with honest poverty
many a painful effort to keep the head just above
water. A secure investment for small savings
was one of the best devices ever sugo-ested for
acting on the national character, and raising it
toward self-respect, providence, economy, and
self-reliance. For many years this has worked
well, and produced all the beneficial results that
were expected from it. There is too much
ground for deploring this want of forethought
on the part of our people—but while we set
down the items 4n the debtor side, let us not
forget to set down also those on the creditor's
side. It is a great fact of a most creditable
character, that a sum of not less than thirty-six
millions is now lodged in the Savings' Banks
alone, of this country. This is exclusive of
many other societies, which have for their object
to encourage saving. But, in consequence of
the distrust with which these societies are
regarded by the working people—the frequent
failures or frauds —the absence of guarantee. and
the loss hence resulting—the Government is
now roused to the importance of this subject.
and something is proposed to be done. It
is not easy to say what that something should
be. We have for years entertained the idea that,
if it were possible, it would be very desirable
to make the poor man's savings as secure as the
rich man's lendings to the Government, as reli-
able to the public funds, and therefore, in some
way or other based on the national security.
We are pleased to see that something of this sort
is now proposed to be done. Banks' for savings
are to be invested with the security of Govern-
ment. But, if Government is to guarantee
them, this implies some control on the part of
our governors. It would be unreasonable- for
the Chancellor of the Exchequer to extend any
promise of assurance, unless he had the power
to protect the nation, and the exchequer wirer
which he presides, against the fraudulence or
embezzlement of

Government superintendence, if needful to
the end of security, is, however, unacceptable to
the working classes, and renders those institu-
tions suspected by them. To reconcile those two
things is the present difficulty ; we trust the
collective wisdom of Parliament will find means
to overcome the difficulty. It has been
proposed to give the Government the power of
examining all the books, to call for the
depositors' check-books, and to dismiss
managers and officials at their discretion. This
does not seem unreasonable, only we should be
glad to believe that any production of books
and written d,cumeuts can be an effectual
preventive of fraud and dishonesty on the part
of managers and secretaries, If there were more
honesty amongst men, we might have less law.
We are of opinion that the amount allowed in
deposit might be increased. Instead of 301.
a-year till the amount rise to 1501., what
objection could there be to allow 5001. to be
deposited ? But in any case something must
now be done, and additional securities must
be given to institutions so vitally connected with
the virtue, the intelligence, the good order, and
the sound habits of the community. Virtue,
education, moral and religious influences,
spread through the community, are the most
effective police force, And though a Govern-
ment cannot do much directly to increase the
virtue of the people, they can do a good deal
indirectly by removing stumbling bloAs and
discouragements out of the way. This is what
they are now asked to do. Remove the
distrust now attaching to Institutions for
Savings, and the energy of the people will do
the rest.

IT is from no want of benevolence, if all sorts
of philanthropic schemes for the reformation of
the world are not successfully carried out in
England. There is a large fund of kindred feel-
ing for all mankind, ready to show itself in any