Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

becalm manager on Saturday, August Ist, 1857., 3t
which time Mr. Kershaw was senior clerk and nothing
more. On the afternoon of that day he asked Mr. Ker-
shaw for a list of the clerks in the establishnient and
their respective duties. The next morning he found
upon his breakfast table, a letter from Mr. Kersha.vf
stating,. in effect, that he was entering upon the duties
of .the bank at a very critical moment, and he was going
to give him (:%ir. Sellar) a lesson upon how he
was to . manage the bank.. He asked them- what
theTwould do if a clerk of their own attempted, to
tell them how they. were to manage their affairs-
He pitched the whole thing into the fire and told
Mr. Kershaw • to mind his own business, and fronl
that time he and Mr. Kershaw went on comfortably.
Mr. Kershaw• bad stated that there • was a wholesale
system of manufacturing bilk. If such was the casfi
he was entirely ignorant of it. He would not enter into
the detail; of charges made by. Mr. Bramley-Moore or
others, but he would simply. say that he did not ac-
knowledge the accuracy of those statements, and, 64 far
as he knew, the directors had possession of no informa-
tion inconsistent with,the report which they had issued-
, - Mr. IiIiSiTAW said that Mr... Sonar had alluded to
the letter which he had written, and he • admitted that
he stepped a little out of his way, but. he thought the
irgency of the case rendered it necessary. As Ur.
Sellar had alluded to the letter, he thought it right
that it should be read.

lost money one single person connected, in buSiness or
relationship, with any one director •of the board.
(Applanse.)
• Mr. Bitaneray-MORE wished to. correct one point to
which Mr. Dixon had alluded—the resolution - of 1837
to make that a private bank, and he wished to remind
them that after Mr. Hope's death, two gentlemen were
appointed to be united to the . others to look after the
management of the bank, on behalf of Mr. Hope's
estate.- That act, he contended, 'wiped away. and
reecinded the Yresolution of 1837, and at a subsequent.
'period four gentlemen were appointed .to Serve with the
.directors,' and- information was laid before theni on'
occasions making the resolution altogether inoperative. •
Mr. KERSHAW next rose to address the meeting, 'and
at the opening, of his 'remarks alluded to a charge which
had been made against him, that he was, a discharged'
clerk. He was here interrupted by—
The CHAIRMAN, who said he must rise to a point of
order. He was not aware that the liquidators were
there to be judged, or that any personal attacks must
made upon them for baying done anything 'which they
thought proper,; but if it was the pleasure of the meet-
ing to allow that gentlethan to go on be could do so, but
•he will have no answer from me. (Cries of- t' Go on.")
KEILSHAW said—l beg your attention, and the
indulgence of the proprietors, while I ask'for soine-ex-
• planatien of thesoerse which the liquidatOra have pur-
sued towards me.. A short time ago, the proprietors'
committee applied- to tale to take, part, alone., with Mr.
Dickson, of Glasgow;' in the investigation forr which an
order of the Court of Chancery had been obtained. I
having commenced business as an accountant, accepted
the offer, with the understanding, of course, that • I
should be paid for this professional duty. I need
scarcely tell you that if allowed by the, liquidators, I-
should have performed this shity faithfully and zealously.'
When,. however, Mr. Dickson, their accountant arrived;
the liquidators refused .to admit me to the books along
with him, urging some informality in the Order, of the'
,ceur+ The evert was then. appealed .to .by the cone=
mittee to have. my name specifically stated ; this was
met in London by objections which now require explae
nation. I was injuriously designated by them." a disa
charged clerk." Gentlemen, I. entered this bank a. boy
of
.fifteen, I left it de f,:zao sub-manager. airing
thirty years I filled every post with such success, that
when I left,..six mouths after the stoppage, I received
from every manager, without, any exception, from the
commencement. of that . establishment, a written
teeimenial fox . integriti, ability,h and ducluatry.,
(Applause.) I was the
_oldest servant of ~the bank.
This was-the only situation of my life; and lam here,
therefore, to defend my conduct, and to vindicate, my
character from any personal imputation. -My friends
.have urged, and my own mind is impressed with the
- convietion, that the term " discharged clerk" implies the
insinuatiOn,.and conveys the inuendo that. i was a dis-
graced servant ; if so, /indignantly require a disclaimers.
, Gentlemen, -if it be a disgraee to have revealed to the
• bank committee, the .Chairman, and
.the managers, in a
letter addressed to them with the manager's sanction,
I and written by me on she 7tle July, 1857, stating the
fact that, more than one-fourth of the capital was then
lost, I plead ,guilty :to .the charge. This letter was
;. aenompauial hy a detailed statement of. losses, amount- . • - • .
t_coanal.ent;niirei
irne\c‘e'.9.
potlt.ooneyo2irr
lAeuttgeursotf,
to X 600,000, verified by results, ;with -es trifling
i h •
exception, viz.,—Beattie's. If it be a disgrace to have
laid. bare the same fact, polatine• out- the slO6ll clause in, I.l' fire *itlif,Tis re,din.s • clo.ai k.rre throwna,u
I, have to 'eq-ats-t the you u-ill in futurz confine your CO
-tue deed to. Mr. Stellar, in smother. 'letter of the Ist of manieiitioas to matter which immediately concern you.
fir to reque-4,
.tpot yo.o will tomorrow m0r03.41.
eAngust, 1861, the day. 9n w,hich he commenced his duties .
tsee fete:a-se -moment, come to Me- and r:olo',:tiO to fl Cis
N-Ait.,rin.rt, to „ire ma advice unasked: • A
as :manager, then I am,not, innocent.. Ti time permitted,
I could refer_ to the, wholesale..menufacture bills it sei I.oe my p :':;_1111) tory duty to Mug- your condust 13001'.
having .n 0 value—mere accommodation paper—drasvn the pi,:.•et:or:3, sitould your apjlogy not be ample or Aieur4);
by desire cf the bank when short of funds, £50,060 or i firrl rc a in futttre• indu!ging in the expression of any sal
Joaria:aitiihtfoxiicnions as to the affairs of-the Bank.--I anui'
£lOO,OOO at once, such Ecelf . arid. others, paper
tsasened) . T. SELLA •
made expressly, for discount in the London market. na ks.-
The'se letters- famish. sonic clue to the 'mystery. You Tlie next morning. he was brought before the direathr''.
must look to them as the true .cause Of my being thus and Mr. Rathbone pledged him to secrecy as to all the
trampled upon: I knew too much; that was my only crime. a 23 airs of the bank.
Bat the gentlemen holding the position of liqUidators, , Mr. SEnslan said, thatobea in common with zlr
who were (ally aware .of these letters,-•Prged• before the NershaWilamlealrether clerks, took a similar declaratihils
.'court another objection to .my name being inserted in .. Mr. W3I..I7OiTER. said, that with regard to the affairs
•the order. I was " a partisan "—this I cannot admit. of the CastOrperi of the bank. being confinesd io fel
• I never. attended a proprietors' committee, nor made. persons; it was a rule that three of the directors,
myself a party to the proprietors' movements; I merely unire by rotation.'
accepted service -in my professional capacity as a public Mr. Dix.oN explained that that.referred to the out. isle
accountant, . and that conditionally !upon briefs duly dirQet9re, ilud not to the managing directors. There
appointed.: In consequence of the leraidators sue- nlle down which was confirmed at two consecutive
ecessfid opposition,. Ie of course, telt bound to meetings of the shareholders, that the general.
abstain from, all assistance to Mr. ...Disen, and' have alieuld'itn ow eelthing of the state of the private account"
tiro ‘misfortune .of offending .perhaps the .preprietoas
,Then what..poe4bility .was there of. an outside direeP.i
on the one hand, and the liquidators. on the other. knowing- what was thaposition of the.bank ? Let them,
About the time in questiOn I hal not been able to they cliese, state that the managing directors were :o;
pay. the call. • When a general meeting. Was held. at, capable men, and not merely- incapable of taking charge
the bank, convened by the chairman, 'ZIr. Bristow; at of the-interests of others, but of looking after their owo
which I attended ; for this offence •I was Finished (as- interests, for they were larse shareholders. Mr. Crhin
.I intimated to an influential, proprietor, now present, owned £lO,OOO, and the other managing director ow.°
_would be the case) by: the liquidators' ScreW the next .over
day• in the shape of a threatening letter f,ir the elite . aelsedl if any business of importance
followed. up-by other applications, although they- held . been-transacted siace.ther met there last.
sseeurity :and. nadevenently arranged for tietee (Elear,o . The CrtairsataN. replied.that, since the sharehold
4
hear.) I ask,- was this coincidence cr persecution ? If met there a-sale had been made of a very considerate
the latter, who 7 are the partisans ? I beg,. .y amount of property which was not expected to be realm
therefore, to return the complimSnt, • asid with if realiae dat all, wit nin a very considerable period, and, 'i'd
.more justice than it was • applied' to me.. haPs, not for such -an amount as that obtained; and, nnt
The pressure of the lieenidators compelled nie to realise . that the. repayment on account of the loan had bebca
their security for the call by thrhsting my debtor into made. Since then, .they had sold some property e
goal. nearly causing. his death, and made me glad to payment for which they- had that (lay received, 52..a'
`realise by:Compromise, incurring thereby a loss of £6OO with that amount and with other amounts, which 11';'h.8
to obtain £760 for their call. Whilst I • recognise, falling: due about the end of this month and in, as
howeverothe legarclaim of the liquidators, I urge the course of January they hoped to be able to pay au°,
equally strong, moral obligation Of thendirectora to L 50,000 off. . • •
repay every shilling of the £3,000 lost in their' cause by. Mr. BLYTHE wished.to know if any atteaipt had lir°
devotion and fidelity to them as my employers.. After made to sell the bank building?
Doherty's failure, which, with others, I predicted long The QHAIRMAN replied that they had not dnlie.'f,;
before it' occurred—the case of Eccles, for instance, three . lately, but that if they could obtain an eligible ogcrsne;
years before,- when- discovered he was the only client it, they would not take long to consider about aheer.
of a sharebroker whose commissions reached some £6OO it.
in a year—the cases of, perhaps: it will be better to omit Mr. Baameny-MOORS, then moved a vote of 601'19;
names, some five or six others, by all of whom immense' -the chairman, expressing the pleasure he felt in (10•
of
losses are made, and a summary of whose balances; so after the impartial manner in which the basins'
bills, and"'acceptances :was' regularly laid before: the the ,meetingebad been conducted. • sae
committee of directors every week or so for a . The motion having been .carried by acclamation, ,
period of two years before the; stoppage. Thid chairman responded, and the meeting dissolved.
mary wee.- commenced by air. Seller, as private t -
director about- the end of 1855- The seven accounts
enumerated were more than doubtful-s-they were despe-
rate-being exhausted estates, which paid an average of
little more than a shilling in the pound, realising a nett
loss of more than half-a-million, and without a farthing-
' being written off to profit sr loss, and exclusive of Do--
herty's debt., (Sensation.) I"feit like the officer of a':
leaky vessel ahout to foander, and desirous to save his
• effects. I• privately sold :out 150 shares; but, finding
that I could not avoid the publicity of passing my name
openly, anticipating such remarks as "the rats are leav-
ing the skip," and that I might afterwards be reproached
with any disastrous consequences which should follow, I-
cancelled the sale, feeling hound by secrecv, pledges, and
moral obligation, to do nothing by word or deed detri-
inettal to My -employers. (Applause.) I went -cloavn
with the bank—situation, and savings, and all,
—quitting the wreck with seriously shattered
health some six months afterwards. Can any man now.
estimate the mighty difference of a wind up in the com-
parative calmness of June and that occasioned by the
terrific panic in the hurricane of October. But what,
return has been made for all those sacrifices ? I will
tell you, gentlemen; I appealed to my employers, the
directors, by letters in vain. No reply was received
from any save one, whose name
.I cannot, therefore,
tnention without respect—Mr.- Joshua Dixon. (Ap-
plause.) The chairman, Mr. William Rathbone, re-
fused even to peruse, and returned the respectful appeal
unread twice over, although he had doubly pledged me
to secrecy the morning after I wrote to Mr. Seller, who
reprimanded 'and threatened me for having addressed
him on the critical position of affairs in July, 18.57.
Now, although expressly denied. all control and re-
sponsibility in . the management, I did no more
than ray duty, and as long as I live shall be proud
of 'the part "I' have played in those transactions—much •
as I regret the loss which is now most deeply felt.
(Applause.) The loss required by the deed to render
liquidationimperative is £250,000, against £1,250,000.
The figures now attained are a difference of one million
sterling. As a • Man of business, these explanations are.
necessary, to account' for my being a shareholder now.
It is to be hoped the liquidators will feel it necessary,
'in justice to me; to make some amends, particularly as
their interference .in this matter of .difference between
proprietors and directors was uncalled for, and involves
a pecuniary doss to me of £l5O at least. Can anything
be more natural or proper than that proprietorS should
all
o'
investigate
deficienciestheironsiv,e t aaffnayi rs,
commercialwhen called
aupon
havingt to aya
single particle of common sense answer the question
Then why object, in London, that I iwaiaathpefer oir havingpdnuetts to
proprietor?
assistlf
fi nliquidatorsancia interfere
ot
,a t(aAalllidlp,
otherwise,ltsl ursee.lmy t s
and not oppose the
e
)
:is
that actuates to their unfortunate proprietors.
hitherto done so or n
them, I leave all this for them to explain and this meet-
ing to determine. (Applause.)
SELL AR Said lie felt called upon to make •an ex-
plarntion, and he would make a Clean breaet of it. Ile

The CHAIRMAN—Ts it the pleasure of the meeting
that he iihogl4,read the letter.. (Cries of "Yea,
,yes.')
Mr.. litnsnAw then read the -following letter all
statement

Liverpool, 38th June, 1857.
Thos. Sella:, Esq. • -
Dear Sir,---1n ass„inini the office of manager I beg.rc'sPe="
fu'ly to hand Tot this document, in the hope you will deed is
worthy perusal.- - •

nano al position of : .• bank, 30th January, 1857 :
'( ~s doubtful debts,
L 500,000 0
;a; • , , . p
109,000 0 0
In.. ,
45,000 0 0

- • - £1,209,000 0 0
All r)i.' -v.:111:1 is Ic3iied up in dead bahuice, as
per ledger " B.". . . .
Or, in other w2n4, after wrillig off:
Profit and loss,' ac
Suspen,:.c, rx.
li eberiE

• _____-,
£276,336 4 7
505,521. 2 1
233,000 0 0

estimatsu ioss Z 3 per icheduleNo.

'lrtiere v..2l:enizti/ a lo.;s of
the capital, see clause 106)
Capital puiti up

034,500 10 0

, . .
Leaving only
1,215 Ii ledger ; The whole of which, and CM
O' •
Capital' 500 -- ,: more, z.ce No. 3 and 4, is 'Licked 00
•• 715 • . .) in dead balances, or so placed Ll 5
{
to be unavailable, and to a great extent unprofitable.
3fr. iiiißea:...w added that, in respect to the manufac-
ture of paper, he ought to say-that that took place bcf.oo
Mr. Seller took the management of the bank. lie 105'
desirous, of clearing himself from the char,re of extra-
"ordinary.otficions:;ess, and he would now.real the le;ter
he receivod from. Mr. Seller. - .. . .

LIN,DtrooL, POLICE coußT.—YEstrs '''.''
(Before Mr. J. S. MANSFIELD.) • ire
SHOFLIFTING.—Thomas Ash and Caroline Jones,:4
brought up on the charge of stealing three shim
the the shop of Mr.,. James Williams, Scotland-rO4
pawnbroker appeared and deposed that one of the
_5_,.,--,o'
had been pledged there in the afternoon. Both v.--
nen were. remanded till Saturday. fel'
A SUSPICHOIiti GHARACTER.—James MUITOI - „ot
low well-known to the polile of Liverpool, was. hr°ler
up on the charge of lingering in a suspicious iig
about the delivery and money-order offices, and ina
0,34
an attempt to pick an old gentleman's pocket. 11c pot
apprehended by Inspector "Smith, who,however didp-
find any article of value -:on him. An old purse,taip-
tainingsid. was .all the coin, and a card-ease 01' one
AN UNNATURAL DAUGHTER.
ing three pawn-tickets. lle was committed fin.
month. -- ,±.
was brought up upon the charge of • assaultin,";ll„l
mother. It appeared that she perpetrated the un,i,351,311
crime about fourteen days ago. The old womaal..ose,
was fractured, and she was conveyed to the lirorl.liiasea
The daught( r was brought up, but her mother rt,',leuie,
to prosecute her. She has since died in thelVo,rit,PAtei:
and in consequence-of her dying deposition-the 0.17;00'
has again been taken into custody. She nag re
till Saturday. • (TO.)
(Before SlessrS. R. GLADSTONE and lloro, our
Fnir.NDLY SOCIETY CASE.---Nathan Belles, ntiae
• ~,.. o .
mooed Daniel Deveri'secretary of St. Patrick .
_ocietl-
Society, for mi.sappliing £l, the property of tlie Dwelt
Mr. Cobb appeared for the complainant, and 31-,riaa fen
'
—Caroline Brocklcbti-er
for the defendant.—lt appeared that DevoY '
"f the °lilt;
the pound to 'a person, with the consent 0 a_iiosol, _
niittee of
.the society, of which Bellew Was '_',led kr
member. Ile had since, however,' been exlw,',,, Ow
society, and had laid this information under,wrojefs.
and 19th of Victoria, cap. 63, sec. 64, whi,cslittiole tm_e
the person lending the money of such a socilthis 0;4
the fine of 20s.—The magistrates said that 'IL', ,soul
there were. extenuating' circumstances, and to'z
am:4 tyo was
where found
t h
only impose a tine of os. and costs.
•
sir'ruin lO
BURYING AN EMPTY COFFIN. A e"rl ors C' be
stance occurred atSandgate last week. It uPfed bYtej
coroner. The coffin was supplied, and put l'Ac. disci vg'
sexton, ; o•l_;',e
and careful man, took the hearse for the 013' saift7;o
inairy, was referred to the :died, where_ hearse'tlx:
coffin, and, with assistance, put it in the
.... reaa , ip
e corpse lay.
loan inTtehrement orde.... the shet
conveyed it to the cemetery; the clergYrurished• _ to,
service over it, and all was thought to h° IP! 50t0P_,,,il
sexton at once saw his mistake—he 11' up, gillootie
knowt he
waswe N- er,
coming.ki r . f Gravesor th e sentcorp st oe.
It
au t:v.:11
trill)
ee
corpse properly interred on the
EGs:c,-,.; Gazt::e.
coffin only.. The coffin was quick
jilyexdt"gtoy. -- ,
~.,

11 -.•'''