Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-21 00:00:00

the Directors. On those transactions large profits had been
made, which the parties divided among themselves, allowir g
the bank only simple interest and the current rates of exchange.
There had also been heavy losses on these transactions. Those
losses were nominalty assumed by ,he officers named, but they
settled them not in cash which they bad received when the
money was taken from the bank, but in stocks at par, which
were woe h far less than the amou it for which they were re-
ceived, in lands wild and unimproved, and in claims upon
debtors which might or might not be collected. The thorough
elucidation of the mysteries of these transactions was not in the
power of the Committee of Investigation, some of the papers
concerning them not being among the records of the bank.
The first cotton transaction was in July, 1837, when
2,182,998 dols. 28c were advanced to A. G. Jaudon, who
perchased cotton for shipment to Baring Brothers & Co., of
Liverpool, who were then agents for the bank. The results as
to profit and loss did not appear upon the books, nor the names
of the parties interested. Meanwhile Mr. Samuel Jaudon had
been sent to England as the agent of the bank. About the
same time a partnership was formed between May Humphrey's
a director of the bank, and a son of Nicholas Biddle, the Pir-
sident of the institution. This firm of Biddle & Humphrey's,
established themselves in Liverpool and acted as agents in the
sale of the produce shipped to that port. During 1837, 1838
and 1839, :tree cotton transactions continued, amounting to
8,969,450 dots. 95e. The shipments were made principally
to Piddle & Humphr p, of Liverpool, were paid for by drafts
on Bevan & Cumphrey s, of Philadelphia, the funds to meet
which were advanced by the bank, and the proceeds remitted
to Samuel Jaudon, the agent of the bank in London. During
March, April and May, 1839, the sum of 800,000 dols. was
paid to Bevan & Humphreys, and the account balanced.
This sum was supposed by the Committee to be ,he profits on
the second cotton transaction ; but to whom these gains went,
and in shat proportions, was a matter of conjecture. The
bank made nothing but the ordinary and legal advantage from
the loan of money. The third and last account was charged
on the books as " Bills on Lo .don ; advances S. V. S. W."
The initials weso those of S. V. S. Wilder, of New York.
3,241,042 dols. 83c were invested in this cp ration, and at rea
close there was found to be a loss of 962,524 dole. 13
Liberal allowonces were made the parties in crested for dis-
c nets in Southern funds used for purchasing the cotton and
commissions, amounting to 331 133 dots. 16c, leaving a loss
still to be accounted for of 631,390 (lois. 97c. Whoever
might have he en interested in the transactions, here was no
difficulty, in consequence of subs( Tient arrangements, in as-
certaining the party to this. Nichoias Biddle, President of the
bank, who hail certainly been interested in former speculations,
admitted his natality for one-half of this loosing adv,nture.
JospliCowperthwaite was charged with one-fourth of the respon-
sibility, and S. V. S. Wider was chargel with the other half,
although it was represented of erward that he had no interest
in the transaction, and that the real party interested wss
Thomas Dunlap, then President of the bank.
MR. BIDDLR SETTLES" WITH MIAS BOlbDB.—Mr.
Biddle made some demur to payment, alleging that the opera-
tion was undertaken after he resigned the office of President of
the bank and that the loss had been occasioned by forced sales
of the cotton to meet the necessities of the instittvion in
Europe. He settled however. for his half of the responsibilities
by giving Texas Bonds at par, a/ hough they were greatly
depreciatei in the stock market. Mr. Cowper thwaite "settled"
by trausfirriug lands in Pennsylvania, New York and
Wisconsin, by the transfer of land and railroad companies'
stock and loans at par, and by the payment of some cash.
Mr. Dunlap ( Wilder) settled by transfers of real estate, debts
due to him, and some cash. Up. to this time these opera-ions
had been going on without the knowledge of the Directors of
the bark, but the finale brought the sutj 'ct before them. On
the 21st of December, 1840, the following preamble and reso-
lutons were adopted by the Board :

As it appea a by the report of the Committee on Advances that
large transactions have bean going on for several years without the
sanction or knowledge of th' Board of Directors, and as it farther
appears these transactions were mostly, if not wholly, to the acemnt
and to the profit and loss of the (xscative offi,scrs of this bank at
those times, it is due from tbis Board that their just condemnation of
such things should be fully exposed and recorded ; it is therfore
Resolved, That the bug, ess of loaning money excin ively sod of
right belongs to the Daard of Directors, and that all loans and dis-
counts male by a comm Use of the Board, in concurrence with the
officers, shoo d be duly reported to a regular mt eting of the Board.
Resolved, That the loaning or discounting on the depos t of
cell teral security of p omissory rotes of the officers of the Bank is
unauthorised,. aLd contrary to the proper administration of the antra
of the bank, _ _ _

Resolved. Th't the large advances made by the olicers of the bank
in the periods 18374 and 1833-4, were tatally unauthorised and
unknown to the b•.nk.

Not on'y in these rotten transactions, but in other respects,
the officers of thee hank seemed to have acted wi'hout reference
to a consultation with the directors, who were the representa-
tives of the stockholders. Existing banks in other States wire
bought out and established as agencies. Pe rional c mtracts made
by various officers in regard to stock operations and loans, to
the amount of millions of dollars, were guaranteed by the bank
without any authority firm the Beard. of Directors or any
notice being taken thereof in the minutes, and various other
operations developing a loose state of transacting business, and
of gross favouritism and diversion of the funs s from their
proper puiposes, were made known.
400,00 t) DOLE. TO BRIBE THE LEGISLATURE Cr PENN-
SYLVANIA.—Among other things which now became evident
was the fact that at least 400,000 dole. had been spent in
procuring the passage of t'm act of incorporation from the
Legislature of Pennsylvania. This amount had been covered
up by an entry under the head, " Parent Bank Notes." It
appeared subsequently that about the time when the application
for the charter was before the General Assembly, the first
teller paid large sums of money to John Andrews, the
assistant cashier, upon memorandum tickets, signed with the
initials of Mr. Andrews, name. These sums amounted in all
to 400,000 dots, and were charged to "sundries" in the
teller's account of March 1, 1836. On that day Mr. Andrews
brought ten post notes of the bank for 40,000 dols. each, and
took away the tickets. These notes were then charged in the
account of "Parent Ilenk Notes," as having been redeemed,
and were afterwards, wi h may other cancelled notes, counted
and burned by a committee. The transaction thus seemed to
have ended. A large sum of money had been pad to Mr.
Andrews, and an equal amount returned shortly afterward.
The matter rested so for more than three years, when, in
posting the account of "Parent Bank Notes" cancelled, it
w s found that more were entered as destroyed than had ever
been issued. Examination showed that the ten notes for
40,000 dols. each had never been put in circulation, and that
the entry was in fact a fraud. By a singular coincidence, it
appeared that previous to the time when the money was taken,
a committee had snggested that the prObable gain by the
des'ruction and loss of notes of the old bank which had been
in circulation, and which probably would never be presented,
would be about 400,000 dols. It was thought best to permit
that expected gain to remain as "an equivalent for contingen-
cies not sufficiently provided for by the reduced rates of
p uaran tee." When the erroneous entry in the Parent Bark
Note account was discovered, the sum of 400,000 dols, was
charged to " Lo.ses chargeable to the Contingent Fund, In
addition to this sum, 618,640 dole. 15c. had been drawn by the
officers of the bank without authority, di-bursed, nobody knew
how, making, wi h the item of 400,000 dols. above mentioned,
over a million of dollars, which was charged to the " Perman-
ent Expense Fund," and for the application of which there
were no vouchers to show what bed become of it.
MR. BIDDLE'S SERVICE OF PLATT•,.—When the full
developments of the condition of the bank were spread before
the community, and the entice eetails of the record of
dishonesty, fraud and mismanagement became known, astonish-
ment, horror and indignation, were loudly expressed. Nicholas
Biddle had been President of the hank under the National and
Sta'e charter, from 1823, until March, 1839. He had been
fully identified with its institution during all its political
troubles, and had borne the greater sh ire of the obloquy lay:shed
against the monster. Whilst he was by some parties looked
upon as a most dangerous and wicked person, others regarded
him as the model of a gentleman, a scholar, and a shrewd and
successful financier. Upon his retirement fi urn the institution--
a measure previously unlooked for—the Directors, on accepting
his resignation, adopted resolutions declaring, among other
things that Mr. Biddle was " ono who, having performed so
much and so faithfully, leaves the institution with which he
was identified prosperous in all its relitions, strong in its
abilities to promote, the interests of the communities by which
it is surrounded, cordial in its associations with sister establish-
ments, and secure in the respect and esteem of' al who arc
connected with it in foreign and domestic intercourse. As a
further tes'imonial of their appreciation of his services, they had
voted to him a splendid service of silver plate; and this mag-
nificent gift, which was valued at thirty tFousand dollars, had,
after being publicly displayed to admiring citizens, been
presented to Mr, Biddle with the usual compliments ou such
occasions.

(To be continued)

THE PANIC OF 1857.