Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-22 00:00:00

GLASGOW CORN MARKET. Ocr. 21.

There was a fair attendance at to-day's market, and the
trade ruled quiet. Wheat receded about 6d per 240 lbs
for good qqalities, and inferior qualities were unsaleable.
Barley was a slow sale, and the turn in the buyer's favour.
Flour unchanged in value. New beans sold in retail at
23s to 23s 61, but old was difficult, to quit, at a decline of
3d to 6d. Oats and oatmeal were a slow sale at former
rates.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

By British and Irish Magnetic Teieg7 aph.

WARWICK RACES.— YESTFRDAY.
£5O HANDICAP PLAIT.
Madame Ciiqvt...l I Broadtail(' ...2 I Trol!. ...3
Nine ran.
scultßY HANDICAP.
Agra 1 I Mang )lia .....2 LlttOngton ... 3
Six ran.

GRAND OPEN STEEPLECHASE..
Knight of the Shiro .....1 I Forest Q ,een 2
Eight ran.
HUNT CUP STEIPLECHASE.
Walley .l I Bigadier . 2
HANLICAP STEEPLECHASE
Comet 1 I Althorp.... ..... 2 I Oink Spirrow..3
Five ran.
LATEST BETIING.

CIMBIUDGESIITRE ST ticw.3.
7 to 1 agst Ma 3 istiata
10 ... 1 .. Ei Ehkim

SOUTHERN HOSPITAL.

Weekly Report.

Oct. 20, 1857.

OUT PATIENTS.

IN PATIENTS.
Cued ........15 Cured 2O
Discharged Relie,ed 4. Entered
At own reque.t 2" Under treatment 34
Irregular...... 2

Dead._
Entered .
Under treatment ...... 82

TREASURER—Jas. Houghton, Esq.
VISITORS—Messrs. Rawlins anl Mountfleld.
HONORAILW CHAPLAIN—Rev. T. Le% esoi, B.A.

PHYSICIANS AND SCS.GEONS FOR THE WEEK —Dr. Cameron, and
Mr. Hamilton.

EorsE Susoeows—Mr. Jo,. J. Pope, and 31e. John 31. 134teson.

TILE FINANCIAL CRISIS
IN AMERICA.

(Continued from yesterday.)
Al a. BIDDLE'S DEFENCF..—The policy of Mr. Diddle was,
loy the reports ms do to the stockholders, at once arraigned for
examination, and upon his character was visited much of the
odium which the revelations of the Committee of Investi-
gation na uraily produced. In order to vindicate himself,
'ir. Biddle came before the community in a series of letters,
which were address d to the Hon. John M. Clayton, of
Delaware. Ho compliainel that the et:ter:news against him
were ex parte, and that he bad been afforded no opportur Lies
of explaining the apparent faults which the Committee of
Investigation had imputed to him. Commencirg with the
cotton transactions be declared that the bank never owned a
bale, nor would it lose a dollar by any operation in cotton,
unless by after mismanagement. In relation to this matter
he declared :—" In the year 1837 the bank went to the relief
of the tity of New York, by issuing its hills payable in
London. The question was how to provide the means of
paying those bonds. liitheete the only mode of doing it was
by the purchase of hills drawn at the South on shipments of
produce; but the difficulty now was, that in the general p.os-
tration of credit at the Sou'h, there was great danger in
taking priva e hills drawn there—while many of the Liver-
pool houses, on whom 'these bills were usushy drawn, w re
themselves embarrassed. It occurred to me, therefore, :het
the only mode of avoid ng these dangers was to purchase no
bills at all, except founded on direct shipments of pro luce,
under the control of the hank. I accordingly urged the mer-
cantile part of the E irectors to cngase in that operation—bu•
finding nine of them disposed to large operations, I deter-
mined that, as it must be done, I would do it myself. I accord
ingly requested Messrs. Bevan & Humphreys to carry out the
plan, which was simply to let their agen's at the south draw
on them domestic bills, for which they would receive the
nets of the bank, purchase the produce, and send it to
France and England ; then, as their domestic bills came to
maturity in Philadelphia, to pay the bank by sterling bills on
the houses in England and France, to whom the produce was
sent, and by whom it was sold. This was the whole operation,
which lasted from the spring of 1837 to the fall of 1838. It
was under aken without the least idea of any pecuniary ad-
vantage, and the only understanding on that subject was a
mere verbal asseurence font me, that if, after repaying those
advances to the bank, there should be any excess. as the bank
could not by its charter buy this produce, or of course take
any of the profits arising from it, such excess should be given
to !hose who encountered the trouble and responsibility. hJr
Biddle averred that these transactions had been of the highest
importance to the bank and the countrv, and that their p o-
gress was generally known, although it appears by the resolu-
tions of the directors in December, 1840, that, up to that
time they had hen ignorant of them. He admitted that he
had received his share of the profits, and was w.lling to bear
any fa r loss. But he protestsd that he was not accountrble
for the loss which took place after he lett the ins itution,
became the co ton had been sacrificed in Europe to save the
credit of the bank, and he declared that he only settled that
claim [with Texas Bonds] for the sake of peace." He finally
declared, in relation to the cotton op: ration :—" It consisted
merely‘in this—that the bank, accustomed to buy bills of ex-
change on private credit, resolved, for greater precaution, wjaen
private credit was very unsafe, to buy only from a
knoAn party on real shipments of produce. This
lasted about twelve months, and when it was over, it
being found that the bank had advanced fir those cottons
more than they re alized, 'in consequence of the conduct of
the bank itself, the parties interested refunded the money ;
yet this transaction, simple, straight-forward and public, is
perveted into a mysterious and ruinous speculation?' This
per ion of Mr. B:ddle's letter was noticed in a subsequent
report of the Invi s igating Committee, in which they declare
that he, as an officer of the bank, had no right to engage in
commercial teausactions, much less to use millions of dollars
belonging to the bank without the knowledge of the directors.
Mr. rsiddle,from a defence of himself, proceeded to attack some
of he members of the Investigating Cowani tee, attributing
their report to the fact that two of them were also stockholders
in the Schuylkill Navigation Compiny, and asserting that they
were influenced by their interests in that corporation because
the bank hart aided the Reading Railroad Coat any, a rival
public cork. In regard to the Exchange Committee, he
defended the creation of that body as being beneficial to the
bank, although they had been authorised to go beyond the
business of exchange and to make dhcounts, being expressly
exempted from the necessity of reporting their proceedings to
the bank. This committee had been originated under the old
bank, and no change or restrictions in their duties had been
made after the re-charter. lle averted that at the stated
meetings of the directors, the aggregate investments by the
Exchange Committee, of investments, and in all other ways,
were laid be fore the directors in the general account of the sate
of the bank, and that, as those investments went on, the
dine ens di.] or could know of the increase in each line of the
accounts. This was true to a certain degree. It is wonderful
that the heavy transactions and the extravagances and pecu •
lations which had been takit g place iu the management of the
institution could have been permitted to go oa so long without
disecivery. The only explanation could be that the D.rectois
were disposed to take the balance sheets as they found them—
that they cared not to make curious inquiries as to the manner
in which the funds were invested, and, above all, that they had
a firm, abiding, idolatrous, foolish confidence in the honesty
and integrity of the officers of the institu ion. In regard to
the item of 618,640 dole. 15c, charged to "Permanent
Expenses," Mr. Biddle declared that the entire sum had beers
spent by committees acting under resolations of the Directors,
and that he only drew the money for them, in accordance with
the authority given by the Directors. In regard to the sum of
400,000 dole., supposed to be used for purposes of bribery, no
explanation was given—and it is remarkable that in reference
to bo'h of these large sums, amounting together to 1,018,640
dole. 18c, all parties sedulously avo ded a reference to the
purposes for which the money had been expended.
ARREST OP THE BANK OFFICERS —IIAREAS CORPUS
Tn January, 1842, Nicholas Biddle, Joseph Cowperthwaite,
John Andrews, Samuel Jaudon and Thomas Dunlap, were
bound over by Recorder Vaux to answer iudictmen's for
conspiracy to cheat and defraud the stockholders of the Bank
of the United States. Jaudon and Dunlap shortly afterwards
made application to the Court of Common Peas for writs of
habeas corpus. Mr. Jaudon was charged with having conspired
with other officers of the bank fraudulently to take large sums
of money from the insti utiou for their individual benefit
wiihout the knowledge of the Directors, and with a conspiracy
to apropriate to their own use large sums of money belonging
to the bank, as profi s on shipments of cotton male to Europe
in 1837. The principal accusation against Mr. Dunlap was
in relation to the cotton operations. A slight effort was made
to implicate him iu a charge of improper applica ion of monies
paid out upon his order, but which it was shown went to the
use of the bank.

JUDOR RANDALL'S DECISPN.—Tho decision of the case
was delivered by Judge Randall, and it was favourable to both
defendants. Upon the first charge, the Court held that the
large loans made to the officers of the bank by the Exchange
Committee were in accordance with authority given that body
by the Directors; arid the', although the Direc ors did no
know of those transactions, they were entered under the usual
ht ads in the accounts; an I, furthermore, that the debt thus
Incurred had been settled for and paid by the delivery of stocks
&c., which were specialle accepted by the Directors, who thus
validated whatever irregularity there might have been originally
about the affair. In relation to the coven steprnents, Jaucion
was only implicated in those made in 1837, on which a profit
was made. The Court held that, although the Directors did
not know of them, they had nevertheless delegated full power
to act in the matter to the Exchange Committee. That body
had left it entirely to the Cashier, without inquiring in what
manner recnit'ances were made to meet the foreign debt.
It appeared that it was generally known that some means had
been taken to meet the foreign debt, but the directors of the
bank were willing to suppose that everything was correct, anti
that the officers of the bank would act discreetly. In all ttrese
matters the Court held that there was no proof of conspiracy.
The bank had accepted stock and other means of payment for
the money employed its the cotton operations ; and, as the
institution could not deal in merchandise, there was nothing
inconsistent with the duty of the defen !ants as officers of the
ins i.ution, to re event the latter from doing so. The relators
were therefore discharged.
HaBEAS CORPUS BEFORE THE GENERAL SESSION,—
aIiCHARGE OF THE DEFENDANTS.—ShortIy afterwards
Biddle, Co' perthwaite and Andrews, applied to the same
court for writs of habeas corpus. This tribunal did not hear
the cases, but remanded the defendants to the Court of
General Sessions, in consequence of the writs of habeas
corpus having been issued within fifteen days of rho com-
mencement of the term. Application was then made by the
latter fora hearing before the Court of Criminal Sessions on
h,abeas.corpu.s. Biddle and Cowperthwaite were charged with
conspiracy, in consequence of the cotton transactions.
Cowperthwai:e and Andrews were complained of in regard to
the large loans made to them without the knowledge of the
directors. Andrews was also charged with having fraudul, nt'y
reoeivcd moneys wi.hout authority, for the expenditure of
which no voueh.ers were shown. The Court of General
Sessions, Judges Batton, Conrad and Doran, took the same
view of the cotton transactions as the Common Pleas. It was
held that same such mi thud of providing means for the
payment of foreign bonds was absolutely necessary. The
presiding Judge said The duty then of meeting these
bonds devolved upon the officers. The directors, as a body,
considered it the business of the Exchange Cominittee. '1 he
Exchange Cemmittee, in turn, referred both the labor and
the reponsibility to the officers of the bank, and these persons,
in the decline of private credit, adopted the obvious, if not the
*only, resource of shipping produce, instead of purchasing bills
of exchange." The Court leaned to the opinion that the bank
' had n,u right to deal in merchandise. There were, therefore,
gone to whom the profits could be paid but those officers who
hat: ,engaged in lie transaction. In regard to the payments
in stocks, whirl} re gineelated and depreciating, (Nt which
~ro