The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-23 00:00:00

Serious Charge of Fraud.

At the Mansion Houle, yesterday, Edward Russel Daunt,
described as of 2, Hercules-passage, was brought up in
the custody of Detective-sergeant Haydon, before the Lord
Mayor, having been apprehended upon a warrant signed
by Mr Alderman Waterlow, charging him with having
unlawfully and by false pretences obtained fr )m Lieut.-
Colonel Alexander Strange a cheque for £229 12s Bd,
witb intent Lo defraud,

Mr Humphreys appeared for the prosecution ; and Mr
Sleigh, barrister, instructed by Mr Holmes, appeared for
the prisoner.
Mr Humphreys, in opening the case for the prosecu-
tion, said the prosecutor in this case was Lieut,-Colonel
Strange, a retired officer of the Indian arnahys
d tllane nin 1862
his he
was desirous of investing some money he
possession, and in consequence of the prisoner's adver-
tisement, he' employed him as his stockbroker, and since
that time there had been several transactions between
them. He told the prisoner that he was no speculator,
and did not want to dabble with his money. Lieutenant
Strange, however, did not know much of commercial pur-
suits, but gave himself up to the advice of the prisoner,
and the result was that he was a loser to a very consi-
derable amount. The charge arose upon a cheque which
the prisoner obtained by fraud. On the 15th of June
last year, the prosecutor instructed the prisoner to pur-
chase for him Greek stock to the amount of
£25,000, and he received from the prisoner the
purchase note, which with
.the commission amounted to
about £:0,000, The prisoner it appeared had purchased
£25,000 in Greek stock, but not at the price mentioned in
the purchase note, namely 39k. Lieut.-Colonel Strange was
not able at the time to take up the purchase, and left some
Ottoman Bank shares in the defendant's hands. The prices
fell, and he instructed the prisoner to sell and purchase
every fortnight until the 24th November, 1863, when he
instructed the prisoner to sell the whole, and received from
him a sale note which purported to show that £25,000 in
Greek stock had been sold at a loss of about £2,200. The
accounts were delivered to the prosecutor every fortnight
for his inspection, and as far as he could see they were all
right. On the 24'h of May, 1864, the Ottoman Bank
shares lute :ng rii en, Lieutanant-Colonel Strange determined
to close his account entirely with respect to the Greek
stock, for which he had been paying interest to the prisoner
for the deficiency, and instructed him to sell his shares in
the Ottoman Bank. This, according to the calculation of
the prosecutor, would leave him a margin, and he directed
the prisoner to purchase some shares in the Egyptian Com-
mercial and Trading Society, and received front him what
appeared to be the purchase note of those shares. The
Egyptian Trading Company's transfers were net in the pro•
secutor's hands, he thinking they were safe in the hands of
the prisoner, left them with him. From something that
was communicated to him respecting the prisoner, he ap-
plied to him for the transfers, and got from him 200 out of
350, and subsequently received the remainder. They all
seemed to have been purchased at different periods, some of
them on the 24th May, the date of the purchase note, and
some as late as the 15th September in the present year, so
that in point of fact the purchase note was fictitious. In
addition to that, it had been ascertained that instead of the
Greek stock being sold and bought every fortnight, as he
had been instructed, they were all sold at one date inJune,
1863, so that the purchase notes, on each of which the de-
fendant had charged his commission,were entirely fictitious,
andsu the
amountingprisoner
altogetherh a ddefraudedtnno
less h
Lieut .t-Ca 0n5,50
l ele 10.
Strange of a
m
The information upon which the warrant was granted
was then read over, and was as follows:—
Alexander Strange, of 41, Brompton-crescent, said—l am
a lieutenant-colonel in the Indian army. In the early part
of 1862 I employed one Ed. R. Daunt, now of 2, Hercules-
passage, as my stock broker, and he has bought and sold
stocks and shares for me from that time to nearly the pre-
sent. On the 31st May last a settlement of our transac-
tions took place between us, on which I paid him a cheque
for £229 12s. Bd., the balance apparently due to him, which
cheque has been returned to me as paid by my bankers.
The settlement comprised a purchase of 320 shares in the
Egyptian Commercial and Trading Company (Limited),
which by the statement rendered by the defendant he pur-
ported to have purchased on the 24th May last at £3 2s. 6d.
per share, and £2 paid, the total to my debit being £1,688
12s. 6d. I have since obtained from Daunt several transfers
for 320 shares, and find that the transfers do not relate to
any purchases of the like shares on the 24th May, but on
various dates in July, August, and September. I find also
that the price at which the shares were purchased by the
defendant is less by about £4OO than the amount he debited
to me for them in his account. I should not have parted
with my cheque for £229 12s. 83. if I had not believed that
the 320 shares had been purchased as represented on the
24th May, and at the time debited to me by him in his
account.
Upon this the case was remanded at the request of Mr
Sleigh, the Lord Mayor declining to admit the prisoner to
bail.

Mr. Samuel Laing on the Trade and Finance

of Britain.

Mr Laing, ex Finance Minister of India, delivered a
lecture in the Free Church of Wick on Friday evening,
upon the " Trade and Finance of the British Empire."
Provost Louttit, who occupied the chair, briefly introduced
the lecturer to the meeting.
Mr LAING commenced his lecture by stating that he did
not wish to touch upon party politics, as he was never him-
self a keen party man ; but there were two cardinal prin-
ciples which he had held since he entered upon political life
—viz , Free-trade and Non-intervention. Upon the im-
portance of free trade he did not think it necessary for him
to enter, as all parties were now agreed that it was the great
means of promoting the material wealth and prosperity of
;he mass of the nation. Non-intervention, however, re-
quired explanation and support. National sympathy
almost invariably went with the weak against the strong;
and th ; masses of the people reasoned by the heart
instead at by the head. They were like the schoolboy
who was ale aye ready to fight with his fists for the
weak side, or for his own district or parish. The policy
of a great nation, however, should be manlike—not
boyish. They should be guided by sense, and not by
sympathy, and should never go to war unless a clear sense
of duty obliged them to resort to the sword. He did not
mean to lay down any absolute theory on the subject, for
absolute theories were not always the safest things ; and if
mathematicians could not calculate the movements of three
bodies unless by an approximation, it was not to be expected
that any absolute theory could be formed for the regulation
of arrangements so complicated as the policy:of nation. To
do the right thing at the right time, and put the right man
in the right place, were worth to a statesman all the theories
in the world. Non-intervention, he was glad to say, is
now the policy of this great nation. Europe has on two
occasions recently been brought to the brink of war by fol-
lowing the antiquated policy of " meddle and muddle"
which has so long characterised the Foreign Offices ; but
war has been prevented by the peoples of England and
France, who in this matter, he could safely say, had shown
themselves tc be wiser than their respective Governments.
When diplomatists were penning notes and bringing
the country to the brink of war, we were all convinced
of the absurdity of going to war with sixty millions of
Russians for a commercial King of Poland, or with forty-
five millions of Germans to settle the question whether
the Danish or the German language shall be taught in
the schools of Schleswig or Holstein. He rid not believe
the Gevernment were altogether to blame, as they were
perhaps forced by circumstances into the line of action
which they pursued—but he gave them credit for having
decided rightly upon three most important questions—not
to go to war for Poland or Denmark, nor to interfere in the
civil war iZ America. If those great questions could occur
again, he believed that the Government would not only
come to the same decision, but would do so without hesita-
tion, whether that Government were Liberal or Conserva-
tive; and the consequences of their hesitation manifested
upon two of these occasions should prove a lesson and a
warning to all politicians to make non-intervention a car
dinal rule of British policy. Mr Laing, after paying a
warm tribute to the memory of Sir li.. Peel, to whose policy
in public affairs, he said, Britain was mainly indebted tor
the high position which she occupies among the nations of
the earth, proceeded to the consi leration of the trade of the
country. The imports and exports, he said, amounted in
1863 to £144,000,000; while 10 years lecture that period it
was only £368,000,000; and 10 years before that again,
£150,000,000; showing an average yearly increase for the
20 years of £15,000,000. He then quoted a long array of
figures showing how this immense sum was made up
of £240,000,000 of imports and £195,000,000 of exports,
enumerating the different articles and their value. He then
proceeded to analyse this trade, and stated—first, that cur
own possessions were our best customers, giving us one-
third of our imports, and taking one-half of our exports,
India, which was first on the list, gave us 50 millions, and
took 20, and he believed the current year would far exceed
these amounts. Austral:a sent us 7 millions, and took 13.
Otir North American colonies sent us eight millions, and
we gave them five in return. This was sufficient, he thought,
to refute the shallow theory that we should abandon our
colonial possessions as useless encumbrances. Notwith-
standing the fact that there was no forced monopols , and
that they were left to sell their goods in the dearest market
and buy in the cheapest, the tendency of the trade was al-
ways towards the mother country. On turning to the foreign
trade of the country, Mr Laing said that it. was gratifying
for him to state that France stood at the head of our foreign
customers. It was gratifying to him personally, because he
had taken a humble part under Mr Gladstone in negotiating
the French treaty, and it was further gratifying to him as
a friend of peace to find so firm an alliance existing between
the two most powerful nations in Europe. The average
imports and exports from and to France previous to the
existence of the treaty was only 24 millions, while for the
last three years it reached 42 millions. Our trade with the
United States, which previous to the present insane and
suicidal war reached GO millions, has now decreased to 40
millions. Our trade with Egypt ten years ego amounted
to only 4i millions, whil it is now 20 millions. Mr Laing
then proceeded to the financial part of his address. The
national debt of France, he said, had in ten years decreased
£150,000,000, while Austria and Italy had increased
£68,000,000. Spain was its wits' end to make both ends
meet, while Turkey was knocking at the door of every
bankr in Europe ready to accept anything from anybody
who was able to lend them on any terms. The United States
have made the discovery that they are the biggest people
in creation, and they seem therefore to have come to the
conclusion that they should have the biggest national debt.
In this they have been pretty successful, for in three years
they have managed to accumulate something like
£300,000,000. Now it may be asked, how has this rate of
expenditure been arrived at f The answer is—Belles leorridce
belle. Curing the last ten years there had been an extra
expenditure of £300,000,000 sterling incurred by two great
European wars, and £300,000,000 more by minor wars and
an armed peace; and if this is added the American butchers'
bill, we have an expenditure on war in ten years of little
short of £1,000,000 000. How far this was necessary he
would not attempt to say; but owing to wars and rumours
of wars, there had been puffed away in these ten years
something like £1,000,000,000 in gunpowder, Enfield rifle-,
and plated ships; and Governments had got into that track
that they must choose between disarming and national
bankruptcy. Great Britain has not altogether escaped
in this matter. Her expenditure has increased consider-
ably, which has been caused by the increase in her army
and navy establishments ; but when contrasted with other
States, her finances were in a highly favourable condition,
We were able annually for the past few years to reduce the
taxes, and yet make both ends meet. These results,
which were so gratifying in themselves, were brought
about partly by the general prosperity of the country,
partly by the stimulus given to trade by the gold dis-
coveries, and last though. not least, by the Free-trade
measures heralded by Mr Cobden, inaugurated by Sir R.
Peel, and carried out by Mr Gladstone. The lecturer
then proceeded to point out the sources from which the
income of the country was derived, which he characterised
as a simple and equitable mode of raising the revenue. The
upper and middle classes, he said, took upon themselves 20
years ago the burden of tho income tax in order to equalise
the taxation, and in thus raising the condition of the masses
they had the.r reward a thousand times over in the feeling
of mutual goodwill and attachment to the institutions of the
country which it tended to generate. Let any one contrast
the present condition of the country, with its 153,000 volun
teers, with what it was 20 years ago, and ho will at once
see the change and the enormous progress which the nation
has made in sound sense and right feeling during the reign
of our present gracious sovereign. Ho then went on to
speak of Indian finance, and the influence s for good which
British commerce was exercising over the uncivilised tribes
of the world, and concluded by drawing a glowing picture
of the increasing prosperity of the British Empire. It rests,
said he, with the rising generation whether this prosperity
shall be maintained and still greater heights attained. He
had no fear himself so long as the national spirit remained
intact, but that the star of England would still remain in
the ascendant, and if it ever decayed it would be from in-
ward and not from outward attack. The lecturer was fre-
quently applauded in the course of remarks by a large and
attentive audience.

During, the last few days there has been very
Hale business transacted in the market for Foreign
and Colonial Produce. Tea has declined about ld
per lb., while sugar and coffee have barely sustained
former quotations. In rice there have been a few
transactions reported at steady prices, while the
tallow market has continued inactive without any
material change to report in values for either
present or former delivery.
No MORE MADEIRA.—The vine disease has not
only entailed ruin on many respectable English
merchants, but has also exerted a widely extended it fluence
over the social relations of the island. When the first crop
failed, twelve years ago, it was accompanied by the out-
break of the potato disease, and the two together produced
starvation among the poorer classes. Several persons died
of hunger, and more would have shared the same fate, had
not the foreign merchants established in Funchal formed a
committee, and obtained from England and the United
States money and provisions to the value of eight thousand
five hundred pounds. It is estimated that prior to the
disease the average produce amounted to about thirty
thousand pipes, of which two thirds were drunk on the
island, or converted into spirits. In 1825, fourte3n thou-
sand four bundled and thirty-two pipes left the island ; in
1855 only two thousand and eighty-five; in 1835 probably
not a single pipe will be shipped. The greater portion of
the exported wine naturally went to England ; though lat-
terly the consumption there has slightly decreased, while it
has risen to the same extent in Russia and North America.
The enormous vintage of earlier years is now all but re-
ducel to a cypher. Old real Madeira will soon be a rarity
even on the island, and when vine-growing, for which the
volcanic soil is admirably sui ed, will only possess historic
interest. Of course the whole world will continue to drink
- pretended Madeira, which will hardly be affected by
iodium, thanks to our enterprising wine •manufacturing
merchants,—Diekeni s "all the rear Rort)24.?

The Great Fire in Gresham-street, City.

RECOVERY OF SALVAGE.-LATEST PARTI-

CULAR,S.

Some thirty men have_been employed for the last twenty-
four hours in exploring the ruins in order to find goods.
Mr Redman, who is superintending the clearance of the
building, has, in conjunction with Head-Engineer Purdue,
employed two experienced firemen, late of the brigade, and
about fifty tons weight of carpets have been taken out of
the premises belonging to Messrs. Tapling and Co. The
bulk of this salvage has been removed to Taylor's depository,
but the most burnt portions are piled up in the basement of
Messrs. Tapling's premises. It is the opinion of the sur-
veyors that these packages can be cut up in pieces, and w ill
realise a considerable sum by auction, to carpet-bag manu-
facturers. An immense quantity of blankets has been got
out, some burned at the edges and some through the folds,
but they may be cut up and sewn into good pieces. The
Turkey carpets already rescued will, it is expected, fetch
a large sum. As yet none of the silks and haberdashery
goods have been got at, bat they must be greatly deterio-
rated in yell's. These, as fast as they can be recovered,
will be removed to be dried and packed in lots.
A very exciting scene took place at the back of Messrs.
Tapling'a premises, in which two firemen nearly perished.
Engineers Purdue and hard, who had just emerged from
Haberdashers' Hall, were attacking tue flames issuing from
one window, when they suddenly rushed through another,
and the men becoming fairly surrounded with flames, and
no other chance of escape presenting itself than by jumping
through them, the men alighted upon the floor below, a
distance of at least 181 t. How they escaped without serious
personal injury appears a perfect miracle, for just as their
feet reached the next floor the roof fell.

The premises of Mcssrs. Tapling, were erected about five
or six years ago, at an expense of nearly £30,000. At first
it was expected that no portion of the walls would have to
be pulled down, but owing to the heavy rain of Wednesday
night it is now found necessary that one portion should be
shored up and the cornice removed from the top.