Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-23 00:00:00

that a very small number of those cases, one or two only
out of a very large number, were included in the charge
made against the bankrupt at the late assizes, The pro-
secution were unable to make out the chweses, from the
accidental absence of a gen leman, a material
witness. lie did not then intend to discus how
that absence came about, but it was an unfortu-
nate accident, and therefore the charges were not
made out. Theoe, however, had reference to
only a fraction of the frauds and deceits which would be
proved to have been practised in that way. The fourth
ground of opposit'on he had to urge against the bankrupt
was strictly the charge which was the main subject of the
prosecution against the bankrupt at the late Assizea—that
he did, shortly before his bankruptcy, by means of a
deliberate fraud, one of the most atrocious frauds ever
perpetrated in a commercial country, in ;ucet Messrs
Bingham and Co., gentlemen carrying on business a 9 corn
brokers in that town, to give them acceptances for a very
large sum of money. The circumstances on which this
charge was founded, and which were very recently
before the public, Mr. Aspinall briefly recapitulated.
The ban!:rupt was then examined by Mr, Aspinall. He
stated : The total amount of my debts is from £90,000 to
£lOO,OOO unsecured ; n 3 000 secured. I began business
in 1851 I had £2.000 capital. I settled half of that
on Mrs. Doherty in 1848. I was under a covenant at the
time I began business, to the trustees of that settlement
for £l,OOO My losses since 1851 have been £100,941,
and my expenses £21,396. At the time of the bankruptcy
there was £3,236 9s. 4d. available for the unsecured
creditors. The total gross amount of my debt to the
Borough Bank is £52,702 16e. 21. They have some
security for other debts under the assignment before my
bankruptcy. The debt was contracted in the usual way
by those guarantees of my acceptances. The guarantees
were given on the understanding, that the stuff should be
placed in the hands of the parties to whom it was
stated that the goods were sold. The Borough
Bank were to have the security of those parties
acceptances. Towards the end of my transactions
with the bank, there were a considerable number
of cases in which the bank never got acceptances. [The
bankrupt, under the advice of his counsel, declined to state
the reason -why the bank did nog receive the acceptances,
on the ground that what he stated might tend to furnish
evidence for a criminal prosecution against him. He also
declined, on the same ground, to state whether letters
marked A and B produced were signed by him, or were in
his handwriting, or 11,;(1 reference to the subject of the late
prosecution against him.] A. lengthened discussion took
place between counsel as to the right of the bankrupt to
decline answering those questions. His Honour said he
felt inclined to allow the bankrupt's objection. Examina-
tion continued : The bankrupt also declined to answer
whether he sold to John Bingham and Co. 10,405 bushels
of Indian corn, per Webster, or whether he knew of any
such corn having been sold to them ; or that he sold to
Messrs. John Bingham and Co. 7,007 bushels of Indian
corn per Southampton, or that he knew of any such corn
having been sold to them. He at first declined to answer,
bu', on consideration, admitted that he had, in April, 1857,
5,328 bushels of Indian corn per Australia ; 7,244 bushels
par. J, hn Bright ; 1,500 bushels per Underwriter ; 5,291
bushels per Southampton; 9,121 bushels per Andrew
Foster ; 7,007 bushels per Southampton ; 1,219
bhshels par Andrew Foster ; 6,220 bushels per
Ellen Austin ; 31 barrels of clover seed, per Kangaroo ;
4 720 bushels of Indian corn, per John Bright ; and 8 210
bushels, per Underwriter. He declined to say whether he
sold any of those parcels of Indian corn to Fletcher and
Co., Richardson, Brothers, and Co, or Robert Makin and
Sons ; or whether the signatures to the two letters, E and
F, were his ; or whether the two letters, G and H, were
in his handwriting. He received i n April, 1857, 8,560
bushels cf wheat, per Constellation, and 11,544 bushels
per Stephen Crowell, but has no recollection whether he
sold them to Henry Jump and Sons. Mr. John Peter
George Smith was here examined to prove the &gesture
of the bankrupt to the le•ters G and II He said that he
was late manager of the Borough Bank, and that he was
well acquainted with the bankrupt's handwriting. The
signatures to the letters G and H were in Me. Doherty's
handwriting. Examination of bankrupt continued : Re-
freshing his memory with those letters, he could not say
whether he sold any of that stuff to Henry Jump and Sons.
It was either sold to them, or was intended
to be given to them for him for sale Re-
ferring to the books, it would seem that Jump and
Sons did get the wheat by those vessels, but ha could not
say whether it was sold to them. He had no contract
book, or any other book from which he could find out
whether those two parcels of wheat were sold to them, or
they had it to sell for him. He had no recollection when
it was first placed in their hands, or whether he
had any communication with them, in "reference to it, on
or before the 23rd April, the date of the letters G and H.
Even though in the letter G it was said that ""the wheat
is sold to Messrs. Henry Jump and Sons, whose acceptance
you will receive," and in letter H, " It is sold to Henry
Jump and Sons," he could riot say whether it was sold to
Jump and Sons. It was usual for him to' state in his
letters that the goods were field to parties. when they were
not sold, if they were intended to bs sold by them for him.
He had no recollection of having—whet obtaining a billof
lading from Mr. Smith, upon a statement that the goods
had been sold to a particular party—explained to, him that
they had not really been cold, but were only intended to
be sold by that party, for him ; bat the Bank in many
instances knew that goods, though represented to have
been sold, were really not sold, but intended to be sold,
for him. He would mention, as an instance, the stuff
given to Peter marrow and Co,, in which he told the bank
that the goods had been sold to them. He had no recol-
lection whether the bank ever got the acceptance of
Messrs. Jump and Sons, nor had ,he any means of ascer._
mining. He declined to answer whether he obtained,
from the bank, bills of lading for 8,556 bushels of wheat,
per Constellation, and 11,544 bushels, per Stephen Crowell,
He had no recollection of having pledged those two bills
of lading to Henry Jump and Sons, for cash, nor
had he any recollection where those bills of
lading went to. It would seem, from the
books that the goods were sold for him, but he had no
recollection that before the sale he received a cash
advance from Messrs Jump and Sons upon them. He had
no recollection that Jump and Sans gave any acceptance
to the bank in respect of them. He did not know that
it was this very transaction which brought about the stop-
page of the relations between the bank and himself, nor
had he any recollection at all as to whether the bank got
any acceptances in respect of those transactions, lie
could not ascertain it from his books, because as there was
a regular account current, it would be impossible for him
to tell what passed as to this transaction. About the 23rd:
of April, 1857, the bank got a 'draft from Messrs Jump
and Sons for £5 600, but he coul i not say whether the
draft was accepted ; he had no recollection of having
learned from Messrs. Jump and Sons that it was not
accepted. He had an interview at his own house in May,
with Mr. Smith and Mr. Rigg of the bank, before he went
to America, but he had no recollection of £5,600 having
been admitted as due to the bank.. He believed that the
bank got some of the acceptances for Indian corn referred
to in letters E. and F., but he had no recollection as to the
whole of the acceptances. The signatures to the letters I.
and S. were in his handwriting. The 7,099 bushels of wheat
per Constellation, and 5,760 bushels per Victoria, men-
tioned in those letters, were either sold to Messrs.
Jump and Sons, or were put into their hands for
sale for him. As to whether his debt to the Borough
Bank consisted as to many thousand pounds
of it of the result of transactions of this description, in
respeCt of which the bank never got the acceptances, he
could only say that there were some bills where the parties
had not sufficient to corer the amounts which were not
accepted. He declined to say whether the letters K and L
were in his handwriting, and also whether in May he had
5,511 bushels, and 1,368 bushels Indian corn, per Andrew
Foster; 1,546 bushels. per Underwriter; 7 992 bushels,
per New World ; 3,762 bushels, per Ellen Austin ; and
190 tierces of lard, per John Bright. Messrs. Bingham
and Co had the corn, per New World, but he could not
say whether it was placed with them for sale or sold to
them He had no recollection whether the corn, per Ellen
Austin, was either placed with Messrs. Bingham and Co.,
for sale, or sold to them. His books did not show what
was done with the corn. He had no contract book, but he
had a memorandum book, which, however, did not contain
all the transactions. His books would tell what was done

with an entire shipment of goods, but he had no book
which would tell what became of particular parcels. He
had no means of knowing whether Messrs. Bingham and
Co. got any of the goods per Ellen Austin. Looking at
letters K and L, he could not say whether Messrs. Bing-
ham and Co. ever got either as purchasers or for sale
for him, the 3,762 bushels of Indian corn, per Ellen
Austip, mentioned in those letters, but he intended to

give it to them. He had no recollection whether they
ever got it. He could not say whether the bank ever got
the acceptance of Messrs. Cunliffa, Paton and Co. for
£1,350, but he supposed they did, as he believed it was
paid into the bank unaccepted. The draft for £1,700 of
Messrs- John Bingham and Co. for the goods per Ellen
Austin and New World were paid into the bank unaccepted,
but he was not aware whether they formed part of the
account with which the bank debited him. He did not
know whether Messrs. Bingham and Co. ever accepted or
not on account of (hose goods, and he had no means of
ascertaining He did not think that he himself got from
the bank the draft for £1,700 which was paid in unaccepted,
and took it to Messrs. Bingham's. He believed there was
a draft for the same amount of a much earlier date, which
he got, but he thought it had no reference to the stuff
referred to. He could not say to what transaction it had
reference, but the one per ship Wibster. mentioned in
letters A and B might be it. He did not know whether