The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-02 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL FAILURES.

(From tlee Bankers' Magazine.)
Liverpool has been frightened from its propriety by
a series of failures comparable only with those which oc-
curred in the panic period seven years since. The alarm
occasioned has consequently produced a deep influence
upon credit, and the public have watched with some
anxiety the progress of the investigation into the several
estates. Although the whole of the statements have
not been submitted to general scrutiny, sufficient of their
contents has transpired to furnish an insight into the
causes which have led to these ruinous results, and to
show that the system upon which operations have been
based is one that could scarcely have terminated in any
other way. Painful as this reflection is, it is clear that
shocks such as those recently witnessed will periodically
recur, until merchants and traders of all grades shall
have been brought to a conviction of the necessity of
keeping their transactions without prudent limits, and
of avoiding one of the greatest temptations in com-
mercial enterprise the circulation of accommodation

paper.
It is at all times an ungracious task to allude to diffi-
culties in commercial circles, particularly when created
by a disruption of political affairs, or circumstances in-
volving a depression in an especial branch of business ;
but the suspensions which have latterly taken place, and
to which reference is directly intended, cannot be said
to have followed from antecedents of this description,
but, on the contrary, from excessive individual specu-
lation, without adequate capital to support its re-
sponsibilities. Now, this is a bold assertion, and it
will be probably met by the rejoinder, that it is all
very well to jump to this conclusion on ascertaining
the disastrous consequences of the adventures these
several parties have engaged in ; but, unquali-
fied as it may appear, it is nevertheless true ; and the
system on which business is known to have been con-
ducted should have been accepted as a warning, and pre-
vented that free facility for assistance which is stated to
have been rendered to these houses far beyond the date
they were entitled to receive it. If any evidence were
required of the instability of the foundation upon which
this kind of credit has been supported, it is to be found
in the very fact that the first pinch, not to say pres-
sure —for that is a term many sensitive people will ob-
ject to—has terminated its vitality.
Unreasonable it would be, indeed, to suppose that
tradieg relations, however lucrative, could be carried
out unaccompanied by the intervention of bills or other
auxiliaries of accommodation which a legitimate sphere
of commerce presents. But the fatal acquiescence in,
and extension of, the measure to which these facilities
have been granted form the ground of condemnation in
the estimation of those whose prudence would have in-
duced them to stop far short of the limit allowed accord-
ing to the use of Liverpool activity. A free exercise of
credit, with undoubted resources to meet the liabilities
currently entailed in a mercantile career, whether
through the agency of banks or the recognised channels
of discount brokers, is not a question which any one
would for an instant dare dispute ; and the more encou-
raging the success of the merchant or the trader, the
greater is his title to respect and consideration in the
financial operations which he may be desirous of com-
pleting. Confidence begotten in this manner cannot be
too well repaid by the assistance essential to maintain
a large and increasing business ; yet, when it is perceived
that the operations which were once confined to what
may be properly designated wholesome and legitimate
mercantile contracts suddenly enlarge and assume a wild
and uncertain range, it is not only a duty which the
banker or broker owes to himself, but also to his custo-
mers, to step iu and protect their mutual interests, even
at a risk of diverting temporary profits.
Every one who has had the least experience in com-
mercial affairs will readily appreciate the desirableness
of establishing checks upon speculation in its early
stages, since subsequently it is more difficult to arrest,
especially when the ramified channels of trade give in-
creased life and power to its progress. The system
adopted in the cases now under notice presents, in an
unmistakeable manner, the success which, through this
medium, has for a time attended the inflation of a paper
circuiation ; but it has been followed by the melancholy
spectacle of all the firms known to have been intimately
associated with it relying upon each other for support,
and of the whole of them endeavouring to shift the
odium to more capacious shoulders, by declaring them-
selves to having been " more sinned against than
sinning."

Allowable as the excuse may be in connection with
some of the smaller firms which have thus paid the
penalty of their imprudence, it cannot be advanced in
favour of those originating the movement. Sanguine as
the expectations of returns may have been—enormous
as, it is alleged, the result of previous speculations had
proved—it was not compatible with the dignity of their
position, or with the safety of the branch of business
they represented, to launch recklessly into a system
of bill accommodation which it was scarcely to be
hoped could ever prosper. It was to have been anti-
cipated that the wide-spread distress succeeding the
collapse of IS47—S, and the evils then resulting from an
extensive abuse of confidence, would, wile stimulating
the exercise of greater caution on the part of the mer-
chant, have likewise induced his financial supporter to
watch with extraordinary vigilance any deviation from a
regular couree. But this does not appear to have be, n
the case. In fact and circumstances the objectionable
phases of the old story are revived—reputed wealth, un-
' paralleled resources, and inordinate credit, With these
in full command, so long as the current of business is
' smooth and the rate of money is easy, the paper floats
unharmed by suspicion. It is only when a reverse takes
place, and accommodation, which was before freely
available, becomes restricted, that these pretensions are
discovered to have been largely exaggerated, and the
bubble of course bursts, much to the dismay and discom-
fiture of those implicated. Unfortunate as their position
undoubtedly is, the majority interested have themselves
principally to blame, since, although mercantile suspen-
sions are always to be lamented, tne perpetuation of
such a system of trading is greatly to be reprobated.
This mode of transacting business, indicative as it is
of recklessness and an entire absence of forethought, is
apparently borrowed from America, where a failure
seems to be a secondary consideration, provided there is
a chance of again entering into the grand arena of spe-
culation. Springing from this vicious principle, an un-
limited employment of paper credit has always, more
or less, distinguished the trading operations of our
transatlantic neighbours ; and, strenuous as the efforts
have been to correct the evil, it continues to be
largely exhibited whenever a partial pressure ensues.
It is to be hoped that any section of the mercan-
tile classes of England are not emulous of imitating,
in its worst features, this special description of
financiering ability, though, from what has recently
occurred, not only in Liverpool, but also in London, au
impression might be formed that advantage has been
taken of the experience already acquired. The severe
losses which these failures have entailed will, in all pro-
bability, operate for the present as a check to an exten-
sion of the system ; but this is not sufficient, and a de-
termined endeavour should be made wholly to eradicate
it. Whatever may be the nature of the competition for
banking facilities, either in the provinces or the metro-
polis, self-interest and protection should induce co-ope-
ration among those primarily concerned to root out and
destroy any organised arrangement which savours of
accommodation or an undue expansion of liabilities. ,
Besides saving a vast amount of obloquy, it will, in the
long run, produce the largest proportion of legitimate
profit.

A useful lesson is furnished in considering this ques-
tion, with regard to the operation of the Bank Charter
Act. Although that law is not without its defects,
some of which it may reasonably be anticipated will, at
no distant date, be remedied, how vociferous would have
been the outcry against its working if these failures had
taken place in the midst of a general panic ! Instead
of being attributed, as they are properly now, to their
true causes—viz., excessive speculation and over-trading
—they would, according to the theories of the currency
doctors, have been produced by the stringency of the act
and its concurrent consequences. As it is, however,
they come before the public in an almost isolated posi-
tion, and must therefore stand the brunt of inquiry on
their separate merits.

THE LATE GENERAL TTLDEN.—The following is a
notice of the services of the late Brigadier-General Tyl-
den, of the Royal Engineers, whose death was announced
in recent accounts from the army in the Crimea. His
commissions are dated—Second lieutenant of the Royal
Engineers, 6th November, 1806 ; first lieutenant 1807,
second captain 1812, brevet major 1814, first captain
1824, lieutenant-colonel 1837, colonel 1850, brigadier-
general 1854. He was serving at Gibraltar from 1808
to 1811, end in the Mediterranean from 1811 to 1814.
During this time he was commanding royal engineer at
the siege and capture of Fort Santa Maria, in the Gulf
of Spezzia, the 29th of March, 1814 ; and commanding
royal engineer and military secretary to the commander-
in-chief on that station, Lord William Bentick, at
the capture of Genoa, 19th April, 1814, for iwhich,
on the recommendation of Lord William Bentinck,
he was made brevet-major. From 1814 to 1818 he
was in the Netherlands, and with the army of occu-
pation in France. In the Netherlands he organised
and commanded a force of 80 pontoons attached to the
army, and was with them at the capture of Paris, 1815.
From 1822 to 1823 he was second in command of the
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army employed t
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unceasingly employed, and was chiefly instrumental in
saving Varna from destruction during the fire by pro-
tecting two large powder magazines with wet blankets,
when the fire had reached within thirty yards of
them. He was with Lord Raglan through the
whole of the battle of the Alma, and was most
honourably mentioned by him in his despatches. The
day after he was attacked by cholera, and fell a mar-
tyr to that terrrible disease on the night of the 22d of
September. During the intervals bf foreign service he
was also employed as second in command of the Royal
Engineers at Portsmouth, and Commanding Royal En•
giater at Harwich and Dom

TIIE METROPOLITAN BRIDGES.

The report of the committee appointed last session to
inquire into the state of the metropolitan bridges has re-
cently been printed, together with the evidence taken
before them. The committee confine themselves to re-
commending that the experinieht should be made of en-
deavouring to meet the increased traffic of the metropolis
by throwing open the present toll bridges, if they can
be obtained on reasonable terms ; but they also intimate
an opinion that it will ultimately be necessary to build
at least two new bridges--at St. Paul's and Charing-
cross. Many gentlemen of considerable eminence in
various departments, but principally engineers and
architects, were examined before the committee, and
though frequently differing in minor points of detail,
all concurred in the opinion that the present bridge ac-
coinmodation is wretchedly insufficient, and that vigor-
ous measures ought at once to be taken to remedy their
inadequacy. Ot course, almost every witness Lad his
own peculiar plan for effecting this object, but,
speaking generally, the plans laid before the com-
mittee may be said to divide themselves into pro-
portions for laying open the present toll bridges, or
for building new bridges at various points. London
and Westminster seem to be the two thoroughfares which
most require relief, and it is on these two points that
the various plans proposed are brought to bear. All the
witnesses concur in the necessity of t browner, open South-
wark-bridge, and, according to the evidence of Mr.
Brand, controller of the Bridge-house estates, negotia-
tions have long ago been entered into by the corporation
with the Southwark-bridge Company for that purpose.
The price asked by the company was 300,0001. ; but,
considering that for the 14 years previous the average
annual amount of the net dividends of the bridge com-
pany was about 2,2701., which at 30 years' purchase
would have made the price of the bridge 68,0001., and
at 40 years purchase 01,00)1., this estimate was consi-
dered too high, and the negotiation dropped. Last year
it was renewed, but the same price-300,0001.—was still
persisted in, and an intimation was held out that unless
that suns was immediately given, in all probability a
larger price would be asked. The only basis given by
the company for this valuation of their property was,
that that was the sum which had been offered for the
bridge by the North Kent Railway, at the time when it
was contemplated to bring that railway over the river
into the city. It must be borne in mind that, in addition
to the purchase-money, a large sum—estimated by one
witness at 150,0001.—would have to be expended in
widening the approaches to the bridge. The proposition
of Mr. Benuoch is to build a new bridge across
the river from St. Paul's. He would build it 60 feet
wide, of stone, with wrought iron girders, at a cost,
including construction, approaches, and the whole
cost of the land from St. Paul's to the level of
Union-street, of not more than 500,0001. London-
bridge, it may be remembered, cost 2,566,2681., including
the expense of removing old London-bridge. Mr. Ben-
noch has also thrown out a suggestion that there should
be a system of steam ferry-boats organised, to ply from
about the lower end of the Tower, which, he calculates,
would relieve London-bridge of about one-eighth of the
present traffic. A proposition for widening London-
bridge, by projecting an iron footvay over the sides of
the bride, so as to throw open the entire solid part of
the bridge to carriage traffic, was then laid before the
committee by Mr. Bunning, the architect to the cor-
poration. This would increase the roadway by 20 feet,
and would cost about 36,0001. Tie project had been
laid before the Bridge Committee, and had been re
ferred by them to Sir John Renn:e, the architect of
the bridge, for his consideration. Mr. Bunning ad-
mitted that, whatever might be the utility of his plan,
it certainly would not improve the appearance of
the bridge, and hence his very proper anxiety that Sir
J. Rennie should be consulted. M.. Page would build
a new iron suspension-bridge below the Tower, crossing
the river at Irongato stairs, where the river is 840 feet
broad, of such a height as not to interfere with the navi-
gation of the Pool, The width of ,he bridge would be
about 50 feet, its span 800 feet, and the cost, including
approaches, something less than 451,000/. The great
merit of a bridge in this position woild be, that it would
relieve London-bridge of that isnmeise amount of traffic
which flows from the east, and for which at present it
is the only outlet. It was with this object in view that
Mr. Brunel was examined as to tdo possibility of com-
pleting the Thames Tunnel so as to bring it into use fur
heavy traffic. In his opinion all thas is necessary for this
purpose is to complete the approaches, which would in-
volve an expenditure of about 156,000/. The tunnel
would then be available for all kinds of traffic, except
quick traffic, and would probably relieve London-bridge
to a great extent. If Waterloo-bridge were thrown open
it would be necessary, in order to relieve London-bridge,
to open an improved communication from the Waterloo-
road to Union-street ; indeed, all ;he witnesses concur
in the expediency of making a broad, straight line
of road ail the way from the Surrey side of West-
minster-bridge to London-bridge, which, 'snore particu-
larly if a new bridge were built at Charing-cross, would
be the direct line to the London-b-idge railways for the
west-end traffic, which now helps to block up Fleet-
street, Cheapside, and London-bridge. Now that it has
been determined to rebuild Westrninster-bridge, the
question of the west-end bridge does not seem of such
pressing importance, but most of the witnesses who gave
evidence on this point expressed a strong opinion that a
single new bridge will not be sufficient for the traffic
which now flows over the river at this point. Instead
of one, Mr. M'Lean would have built two new bridges
—one at Charing-cross and another at the south of the
Houses of Parliatnent, near the end of Great College-
street. A bridge at Charing-cross, this gentleman thinks,
would be of greater utility than opening Waterloo-bridge,
Mr. Page would build two new bridges, besides West.
enioster-bridge—one at Charing-cross and another at
the Ilorsefe rry—nor does he think that the three would
he more than are required by the traffic. Mr. M`Lean's
estimate for the two bridges is 1,500,000/., including
approaches. Mr. Page mentions 250,0001. as his esti-
mate of the actual cost of the bridges, exclusive of ap-
proaches. Every one who has business at Westminster-
hall must have experienced the difficulty of crossing
Bridge-street at the point where the Pimlico, Great
Georgs-street, and Parliament-street traffics unite, and
there can be no doubt that any plan which would sepa-
rate these lines would be a great metropolitan improve-
ment. Waterloo-bridge, if thrown open, would no doubt
be of great service in this way by absorbing the traffic
from the west-end to the Elephant and Castle, but, as was
pointed out by several witnesses, the traffic subtracted
from Westminster-bridge would greatly overcrowd the
west Strand. The plan for widening Hungerford-bridge,
se as to admit of carriage traffic, is also to a slight extent
open to this objection, and it would seem as though the
difficulty could only be got over by a new bridge at Char-
ing-cross. It has often been spoken of as a radical mis-
take on the part of the promoters of Hungerford-bridge
to have confined is to a foot bridge in the first instance ;
but Mr. Few, the chairman of the company, laid before
the committee a plan for converting the bridge into a
carriage way at the cost of 156,0001., including new ap-
proaches
on each side. By this improvement the com-
pany calculate they would greatly relieve Westminster-
bridge, and, in addition to the South-Western Railway
traffic, would, in the event of a direct line of road being
opened along the Surrey side of the river from Westmins-
ter-bridge-road to Biackman-street, attract much of the
light traffic from the west-end to the London-bridge
railways. Mr. Baly, the engineer to the company, spoke
in the most confident manner of the capabilities of the
bridge for carrying the increased traffic, With regard
to the bridge proposed to be built for the accommodation
nt sveerr e
of thrown
t he t
oli open
bridges,
theredes,
ilr. epa
of Pimlico, below the Houses of Parliament, it was
allowed thatys
better if Vauxhall-bridge
than
any h
would not be so much need of this ; but, as
PageVauxhall-
brdg
thought it would cost as much to buy it as
i
to build a new bridge.
Among other designs for
relieving the bridges and thoroughfares of London
submitted to the committee, we must not omit to
mention that of Mr. Pym, who proposes to build
about eight and a half miles of tabular superway, some-
what similar to the Britannia tubular bridge, running
first from the South-Eastern Railway station to the
Blackwall and Eastern Counties stations ; from the
Black wall station to Charing-cross, by way of St.
Paul's ; and from the Eastern Counties to Tottenham-
court-road, by way of Holborn, The South. Eastern
and the South-Western railways would be joined by a
line which would run on to Westminster, and there
would be junctions connecting the east and west lines,
as well as ,branch lines to the Elephant and Castle, to
the Angel, Islington, to Euston-square, King's-cross,
Whitechapel, Lambeth, and to such other points in the
principal thoroughfares as might be found desirable.
The tubes would be wide enough for a double line of
railway, and to be carried en columns of masonry in the
rear of the principal streets, sufficiently high to pass
over the tops of the buildings in the streets below.
Trains to be lamming along the lines without intermis-
sion, and to consist of first and second-class carriages,
with fares 3d. and ld. for all distances. There would
be stations at all the junctions and all the principal
cross-streets, and passengers would be raised and
lowered in chambers by the aid of machinery. The cost
of such a superway Mr. Fyne states at 500,0001. per
mile, and ho calculates that when in work it would
gield 1,4581. per day, or 10,206/. per week. Opinions
were very much divided as to the relative economy of
purchasing the old bridges and building new ones, as
well as to the easiest mode of raising money for either
purpose. The general idea seemed to be that the
Government and the local rates should each contribute a
share, but there was some difference as to the area over
which the rates should extend. One witness expressed
a very confident opinion that if Government depart-
ments would refrain from interfering, private capital
would very soon build all the new bridges that are re-
quired, and that if proper economy were exercised the
speculations would be paying ones.