The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-30 00:00:00

ALLEGED CONSPIRACY AND FRAUD

BY ATANCHEST.ER lIIERCHANTS.

GRUNDY AND OTHERS V. BEHRENS AND OTHERS.
LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY.
On the conclusion of Mr. Sergeant Shee's speech
the following witnesses were examined :

Mr. Louis Behrens was then examined by Mr.
Pope. He said—l am a member of the firm of
Jacob Behrens and Co , and a brother of the three
defendants. We have been in business about 29
years, in Bradford and in Manchester, as commis-
sion agents and merchants to different parts of the
world. We have transactions to the amount of
£400,000 a year ; and in grey goods about half
that sum. I have been concerned for 22 years in
the Manchester department. I know the firm of
Messrs. Dalton. Before December, 1860, I had
done business with them in printed goods. I first
purchased grey goods from them on the 6th Decem-
ber, 1860. The quantity was 1000 pieces, 34-in.
14 by 16, at 8s ; 500 pieces of the same width, 14
by 14, at 7s. 6d. ; and 800 pieces, 26. in. 14 by 13,
at 7s. 3d. My second contract was entered into
on the 13th December, 1860, for 300 pieces 34-in.
14 by 14, at 7s. 6d. ; 2000 pieces 34-in. 14 by 16,
at Bs. ; 3000 pieces 34-in. 17 by 12, at 78. ; and 700
pieces 36-in. 16 by 16, at 10s. A third contract in
January was entered into by my brother Rudolph.
The next contract was made by me, Feb. 5, for
2000 pieces 26-in. 58 yards, 14 by 13, at 7s. ; 2000
pieces 36-in. 16 by 16, 50 yards, at 9s. 6d.; and
1000 pieces 26-in. 14 by 14, 58 yards, at 7s. 3d.
The last contract I made with Messrs. Dalton was
entered into on the sth March, 1861, for 1 000
pieces 36-in. 14 by 15, 50 yds., at 7s. 3d.; and 1,000
30-in. 16 by 16, 50 yds., at Bs. 9d. These four con-
tracts comprise the whole of the transactions which
I had myself with the Daltons in grey cloth. That
is exclusive of the one with Rudolph. On 6th Dec.
Mr. Heap came to our warehouse, and told me that
he had some goods to dispose of. I went to his
place, and he showed me some printed goods,
which were not in my department, and I passed
them over. My brother Edward managed the
print department. Mr. Heap asked me to buy some
grey goods. I asked him his reason for selling the
grey goods. He told me that he had such a large
lot of printed goods in stock which he could not
dispose of that he was desirous of selling his grey
goods. I know that the print trade was nnusually
depressed at that time, and I went down in the cellar
with him to look at the grey goods. I know that
printers of respectability and credit sell their grey
goods occasionally. Messrs. Dalton are persons who
buy cloth and engage printers to print for them at
so much per piece, furnishing them with patterns
and sometimes the rollers. I requested him to send
me samples of the cloth which he showed me at the
time. He did so; and I then purchased the goods
comprised in the first contract. Part of them I saw
on the premises when I purchased them. He told
me that he had goods on contract. He did not
particularly mention what the goods were. He
did not produce a memorandum book in which con-
tracts were entered. He never gave me the names
of the persons, and the prices for which he had con-
tracted for these goods. I dare say he may have
asked me 3d. a piece more than I gave. The con-
tract on the 13th of December was made exactly
on the same as prices I paid on the 6th of Decem-
ber. I produced a memorandum book the entry in
which was made at the time I made the contract.
It is the same book which was scrutinised in
London by Mr. Bovill. Refreshing my memory by
this book, I recollect that he asked for the 14 by
12, the price of 7s. 6d., and afterwards reduced the
price to 7s. 3d. He asked 10s. for 16 by 16, which
I agreed to give him. The figures of 7s. 6d, and
10s in the book were written by Mr. Heap. That
is tile only memorandum book I ever had before me
in which any penciling was going on. I was never
told by Mr. Heap that any of the goods belonged
to Messrs Wharmby and Co., nor the price he paid
for them. I never mentioned to him the name from
whom he might get 34-in., 14 by 14. I never men-
tioned the name of Grundy, Kay, and Co., of the
particular sort of goods he might get from them.
He never showed me Grundy, Key, and Co.'s invoice.

His Lordship—When you mentioned particular
kinds of goods, did you say Grundy, Kay, and Co.
had get them P

Witness—Decidedly not. I left England on Jan.
12, 1861, and returned on Feb. 22, and I had not
made any bargain about the goods afterwards en-
tered in the contract o❑ Jan. 17. I was not present
at any interview between Heap end my brother
Edward. My brother Edward never said in Heap's
presence that he had been asking as to his solvency.
I never said it was no business of his, and that I
should buy in the best and cheapest market. j
said nothing at all to that effect. At such an inter-
view as this Heap gave me no paper as to any con-
tracts he had made. I do not remember anything
particular that took place about the contract of Feb.
5. On March 5 I did not know whose goods I was
purchasing. I did not recognise them as James
Kay and Co.'s goods. He did not tell me the price
he had given. I did not say he had paid too much.
I was a good customer to James Kay and Co. at the
time. I was continually making purchases from
them, and ii.quiring the prices of goods. I was
there on Feb. 28 ; I saw Mr. M'Cartney. I was in
the habit of looking at the various samples which
were laid on the counter. I did not single out any
particular sample; but I might have picked out one
or two. My attention was particularly attracted
by 26-in. 14 by 13, which he offered me at 6s. 9d.,
and which I only bought a few weeks before, at
7s. from Messrs. Dalton. This attracted my atten-
tion, and I asked M'Cartney to send me a sample
piece, which ho afterwards did. So depressed was
the market that the goods went down from week to
week. When I saw the 36 in. at Messrs. Dalton's
I decidedly did not know them to be the same as
I had seen at James Kay and Co.'s. I was conti-
nually buying the same cloth, with a pick less, with
34 in. from James Kay and Co. The 36-in. cloth
was not all adapted to lay purposes. The 36-in.
was fit for printing, and I wanted cloth for bleach-
ing. I never at any time knew where Mr. Heap
got his cloth, or what prices he paid, nor were
they paid for by my instructions. Since 1847,
from my experience, the Manchester market was
never so depressed as from December, 1860, to
March, 1861. Discounts were very high, and there
were failures in the trade, About the 11th of De-
cember a great many Greek houses failed; the
China, India, and American markets were par-
ticularly depressed. Goods and Yarns, and printing
cloths more particularly were depressed. That
continued through the month of December. Dis-

counts increased in January; afterwards they went
to 7, and then to 8 per cent.

Cross-examined—l never asked him whether he
was insolvent. In Messrs. Dalton's warehouse I
mean to say I never saw any memorandum book,
but that which I have produced to-day. Mr.
Heap's order book was never produced to me. Our
dealings commenced on the 6th of December. Be-
fore this transaction I do not remember buying grey
goods from a calico printer. It is not uncommon
for printers to sell grey goods. Heap said he wanted
to get rid of some of the stock of grey goods, and
asked me if he could have cash, I said that all our
transactions were for cash. I mean to swear that
no invoice of the goods which he had bought was
ever shown me by Heap.
Mr. Rudolph Behrens, one of the defendants—l
attend to the counting-house and cash department
of the firm. I remember my brother Louis
leaving England for Hamburgh on the 12th
January, 1861. He remained away 21 days.
During his absence I saw Mr. Heap at Messrs.
Dalton's warehouse. I remembered his coming to
our warehouse when my brother Edward was
there. I heard Edward ask him whether he was
solvent. They remained in the same room with me,
and I think I heard the whole of the conversation.
My brother asked, "Is it yours or your creditors'
capital you risk ?'' He said, "I am as solvent as
Jacob Behrens." After that I went to his count-
ing-house. I took my brother Louis's place in his
absence. I went to Heap because I thought there
was a little advantage in the purchase.
Mr. Edward Behrens—l am one of the defendants,
and Mr. Louis Behrens's brother. I remember the
conversation with Mr. Heap as to his solvency. It
took place on the 17th Jan. Louis was on the Con-
tinent. I said, " Mr. Heap, you must forgive me ;
you must not take it amiss ; but is it your own
money you are losing, or the money of your credi-
tors ?" He said, " Mr. Behrens, Messrs. Dalton
Brothers are as safe as Jacob Behrens."

Mr. Joseph Pope, manufacturer and commission
agent, in partnership with his brother, said—Ac-
cording to my experience there is nothing extraor-
dinary in calico and muslin printers selling grey
goods. The market for printers and grey goods was
bad in December and January ; stocks were heavy.
The Chinese war at the end of 1860, and the Ame-
rican difficulty later, the failure of large Greek
houses, and the high rate of discount, had a great
effect on the market. So far as I know, there was
no foreign market would take anything like an
average quantity of goods.
Mr. Fredk. Cooper, of the firm of Sheldon and
Cooper, merchants and commission agents, said—
Ori the 18th Jan,, 1861, I sold 35in. 63 yards mada-
pollams, 14 by 16, at 12s. 3d. I sold the same de-
scription on the 22d March at 1 ls. 6d. I sold 1500,
14 by 14, on Dec. 4 for 12s. 6d. ; and 13 pick at
lls. 71d. equal to 7s. 6d. for 50 yards 14 by 12.
Mr. Williamson,-one of the ushers of the Man-
chester Bankruptcy Court, produced the file of the
bankruptcy proceedings in the case of Messrs. Dal-
ton and Heap, and Mr. Sergeant Shee read there-
from the names of the witnesses who had been
examined before that court.

The learned Sergeant then summed up the case
for the defendants. He urged the jury to contrast
the statements of Mr. Heap with those of Mr. Louis
Behrens. Without Heap's evidence, he said, the
case for the plaintiffs fell to the ground. Heap
himself declared indignantly that he did not know
the firm was insolvent until after these-transactions,
and yet the jury were asked to believe that Mr. L.
Behrens knew it.
The Court adjourned at six o'clock.

FRIDAY.

This morning, on the trial being resumed, Mr.
Temple, Q.C., addressed the jury in reply upon the
whole case.

His lordship then summed up. It was, he said a
most important case, because while, on the one hand
it was very important that the character of the
British merchant should stand high, it was also im-
portant that the jury should not encourage a reck-
less system of credit without due inquiry, in the ex-
pectation that it it should turn out that the persons
credited were insolvent the sellers might recover
from a solvent person the value of the goods.
The jury retired, and after about an hour and a
half's absence returned, and asked his lordship
whether the purchase, by the desire or at the sug-
gestion of Louis Behrens, would be fraud, provided
that the gcods were delivered to him on the same
day at a less price.
His lordship said that unless the jury thought
that at the time Louis Behrens and Heap did not
know that there was no probaoility of these goods
being paid for it would not be fraud, but an ordi-
nary bargain. But if Behrens suggested to Heap to
go and buy the goods, Heap never intending that
goods should be paid for, and Behrens being fully
aware that the goods would not be paid for by rea-
son of the insolvency of the firm, then that would
be evidence of fraud.

After an absence of three hours, the jury sent an
intimation to his lordship that they had not agreed,
and that there was no probability of their doing so.
The learned counsel on the respective sides then
consulted, and at length agreed to the discharge of
the jury without giving a verdict. lt was arranged
that the other case, Kay v. Behrens, be made a
remanet.

ACTION FOP. SEDUCTION.—In the Second Court,
an action for seduction was brought against an en-
gineer and millwright, named Mitchell, by an inn-
keeper of the Fame of Roebuck, for the seduction of
his daughter. The plea was substantially admitted
in the defence, and the jury awarded a compensa-
tion of £lOO. •