The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-13 00:00:00

PAILIVAIr IN

GREAT NORTITERN.—The hall' yearly meeting was. held
yesterday, at the London Tavern; Mr. Denison; M.P., in
the chair. In opening the proceedings, he stated it had
been customary at previous meetingS to affix the seal to
the register of shareholder;, and tie pro Posed te, go
th'cofigh the same form on the present occasion. He pro=
posed to add these words—" The foregoing is ae abstract
of the several registers of the consolidated stock of the
Great Northern railway, as they appear on the bookS,
being closed on the Ist of lan. 1857, and showing the total
amount of stock registered, £6,412,880, and the number of
shareholders 6,163. The amount of stock included in the
above mentioned 48,412,880 is about £217,000 in excess
of what it ought to be, and the number is the same as
before within six." So, therefore, with the permission of
the meeting, he would affix the seal to the register.
This proposition called forth a storm of indignation
from all parts of the room, but. the chairman
ultimately set the question at rest by affixing the seal,
without asking the consent of the proprietors. The
chairman then proceeded, and said he was sorry to state
they had met under more unpleasant circumstances than
had occurred since the formation of the Great Northern
Railway. Within the last six months frauds and forgeries
had gradually come to light, and which, as they came to
light, were enough to alarm the proprietors of stock as to
the extent to which those frauds might be discovered.
They were more than enough to alarm and mortify the
directors, and more than enough to exhaust the ability,
patience, and perseverance of the officers of the company,
who had willingly worked until eleven or twelve
o'clock. The result of the investigation was,
as far as the directors had gone, that Leopold
Redpath had robbed the company to the extent
of .e 220,000. (Loud cries of " Shame.") Although the
judges before whom Redpath was tried foe the offence
had passed upon him the most severe sentence of the
law, it would be no satisfaction or gratification to the
proprietors to reflect that Leopold Redpath was trans-
ported for life. (Hear, hear.) Deeply did he grieve that
any officer of that company had committed such enormous
frauds as that man had done, and that his example should
be added to those arising from speculation with which the
City of London unfortunately abounded. He must say
that, irrespective of the pecuniary loss the proprietors
must sustain, it was a melancholy reflection that specula-
tion should lead men to such enormities of crime, leading
to eventual danger and ultimate punishment. There would
no doubt be a very animated discussion upon the subject of
the frauds of Leopold Redpath, but he trusted that the
proprietors would allow the business of the day to be
transacted before they launched themselves on the subject
of the frauds, which were perfectly distinct from the
ordinary business. He therefore should ask the proprie
tors to go through the accounts without any reference
whatever to Redpath. Apart from that question, he
thought he might say that the Great Northern Railway
was in a very satisfactory state, and had it not been for
Redpath's fc ands, the directors would have been able to
declare a dividend which, in connection with that of the
last half year, would have amounted to five per cent.
With regard to Mr. Gladstone's award, all he had to say
was, that it had not been received. He moved that the
report which had been circulated should be taken as read
and received. The motion having been seconded, Dr.
Reilly (of Ware) denounced the pomp, mockery, and
deception of the directors. At the last meeting the chair-
man had boasted that there was not a dishonourable
man in the company's service. How, under such circum-
stances, could the proprietors believe what the chairman
said. (Cheers and hisses ?) Mr. Hughes maintained that
the directors were personally liable for Redpath's frauds,
and moved an amendment to that effect. Mr. Malins
urged that Redpath committed his first frauds nine years
ago, and that the directors were to blame for not looking
into the accounts. A discussion, which it, would be
impossible to report or describe, followed, and at length
the chairman said he would put the amendment proposed
by Mr. Hughes, and which ho said he looked urea as a
vote of censure upon the directors, an indictment to which
he pleaded "not guilty." He added that he and his col-
leagues had done their best for the protection of the
property of the shareholders. Mr. Hughes (to the
Chairman): You afforded Redpath every facility for his
frauds, and you overpaid the dividends. (Hear, hear.)
The Chairman said that the directors could not have
detected the frauds, and threw the blame on Mr. Clarke,
the former registrar. To whom did the directors give
facilities for frauds ? Mr. Hughes : To Redpath.
(Cheers.) The Chairman said his answer to that was,
that Redpath was clerk to Mr. Clarke, who had admitted
that he was the dupe of Redpath, as well as the directors.
"It was the neglect of his (Clarke's) duty (said the
chairman) that has brought, this confounded calamity on
your heads." Dr. Reilly : You deceived us about Redpath.
You said he was an honourable man, and we have found
quite the reverse. (Cheers.) Mr. Gaskell asked the
chairman whether he was aware, at the last half yearly
meeting, that there were discrepancies in the accounts?
The chairman said he was, and he stated that he had been
informed that there were discrepancies in the early part of
1856, and that a searching investigation was then and
there going on. The chairman then put the amendment.
of Mr. Hughes,lin the midst of the most discordant noises
and the greatest excitement. The amendment was lost.
Six or eight gentelmen immediately announced their inten-
tion of moving ether amendments. After a strong rivalry,
the motion for the reception of the report was then
unanimously carried, it being understood that the pro_
prietors did not pledge themselves to its adoption. The
Chairman said that the report showed that there was a
balance of £243,000; that was yet to be disposed of. The
directors had been advised by the Attorney General and
other lawyers that they could not, under the circum-
stances, make a dividend without an Act of Parliament.
He had thought it his duty, in that state of things, to
make the best progress he could, and he had applied to
Parliament for a bill which he intended to bring under the
notice of the proprietors at that meeting. The approach_
ing dissolution had knocked that upon the head, and
there was no bill to be submitted. He had to move—
" That no dividend be declared, but that the directors be
and hereby are requested and authorised to take all neces-
sary steps to solicit and obtain, as early as possible, an Act
of Parliament to enable them to provide for the losses
resulting to the company from the frauds and forgeries of
Leopold Redpath." The motion was seconded, and
several amendments were instantly threatened. The Chair-
man said that if an amendment were carried, declaring a
dividend, he would not obey it. Mr. Huggins enquired
what the directors intended to do with the money ? The
Chairman replied that prudence would not allow him to
state the intentions of the directors. If he stated to the
public what course would be adopted, the property of the
company would be very seriously darnag.'d. The Chairman
stated that he had been informed by Lord Redesdale,
chairman of the House of Lords' committees, that he would
not allow these frauds to be capitalised, but they must be
paid out of revenue. "If you dare trust me (said the chair-
man) your stock will rise, but if you won't, I snow it will
fall." Various amendments which had by this time been
proposed were negatived, and the original resolution sub-
mitted by the chairman was withdrawn, and another was
substituted, providing that no dividend should be declared,
and expressing the opinion of the meeting that the balance
of 243,0001 should be applied to meet the losses occasioned
by Redpath's frauds arid fbrgeries. A. resolution was then
moved, to the effect that a committee of shareholders be
appointed to examine the accounts of the company, and
to report thereon to a meeting to be specially called for
that purpose. After some discussion it was negatived.
Some other business having been transacted, the meeting
separated. •

SINGLUAR PHENOMHNON.—Oar city was visited yesterday
morning at 5 30 a.m. with a dense fog of a peculiar nature,
the atmosphere being strongly impregnated %rill a smell of
sulphur, which by many was found to be most oppressive.
lts appearance was sudden, and its clearing off as much so;
wind W.S.W., atm. 29 deg. ; moon very bright, stars clear.
Residing in James's street I thought it was the very ob-
noxious vapour that frequently proceeds at that early hour
from the vitriol works of Arnold Jones, Esq., but on sending
out two messengers I found the fog to be through the city
—Dublin Corrrspcnlent
CHARGE OF PE J'l7:tY AGAINST A ROAD CONTRACTOR.—
At the eit:ii g of the grand jury, Mr. D. W. J. Norreys
called their att ration to a case in the barony of Fermoy,
Ireland, in which a road contractor named Daniel Foley,
made an application for some money, and it was necessary
that he should receive a certificate from the county surveyor
in order to get it. To the document produced as the
certificate, however, the signature of one of the assistant
surveyors, Mr. John B. Lynch, was appended, but Mr.
Lynch declared that he had never signed it, but on the
contrary had refused to do so, so that the signature must
have been forged in order to obtain the m iney. It appeared
that a similar forgery had also been committed by the same
party in another barony. It was directed to refer both
cases to Mr. O'Connell, the crown prosecutor, for the pur-
pose of having him institute a prosecution.