The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

In virtue of an arrangement, to the complete and
immediate execution of which every impediment is re-
moved, the Bank of England tak,2s upon itself from
this clay all the existing engagements of the Northern
and Central Joint-stock Bank with the public, upon
the condition that no new engagements shall be en-
tered into by the latter until ail its outstanding lia-
bilities are liquidated, and until whatever advances
the Bank of England may alroady have made, or
may hereafter make, for that purpose, he fully re-
paid. With a view to the due and regular fulfil-
ment of this important contract the entire business
of the Northern and Central Bank passes immediately
into the hands of the Bank of England, two of whose
Directors, with some of the principal officers of the
Corporation, will he in possossion of the offices of
the Joint-stock Bank at Manchester, and engaged
in winding up its affairs, on Monday morning next.
The successful issue of this negociation, which had
for its object to extricate the Northern and Central
Bank from the embarrassing and dangerous position in
which it had been placed 13y, its conductors, and thus
to prevent a sudden and alarming shock to credit and
diminution of circulation, in a very important commer-
cial and manufacturing district of the kingdom, is an-
nounced in our City article of this day as a thing,
generally and publicly known, in terms substantially
the same as those in which we announced the same fact
on Thursday. last, and announced it as some of our
Contemporaries have been pleased to say incautiously
and prematurely. There was nothing incautious or
premature in our statement, for, however possible it
might be at that tune that some temporary obstruction
might be interposed to the completion of the arrange-
ment, we were too well aware of the position of all
the parties, directly or indirectly concerned, to entertain
the least doubt that the matter must be , concluded,
and that within a very short period, upon the prin-
ciples and in the manner stated by us. It may be use-
ful and interesting at this moment, for purposes much
more important than that of vindicating the accuracy
of our information, though this can never be a matter
of indifference to us, to give a succinct narrative of
the whole of this extraordinary transaction, from the
first opening of the negotiation between the Bank of
England and the Northern and Central Bank to its
final conclusion, as above-mentioned. We do not
think that the statement of facts which we are about
to submit can operate to the injury of any party, and
they do unquestionably convey a useful lesson to the
public, who have manifested of late a disposition to
believe that the trade of banking is one which admits
of an extension at once unlimited and secure. So
dangerous •an error cannot be too soon, or too
effectually, counteracted. At the period—(it was
three weeks Ago on Tuesday last)—when the par-
cel belonging to the Northern and Central Bank—
of which the public have already heard—was
lost, one of the Directors of that Establish-
ment, together with its principal manager, was in
London, endeavouring to obtain a supply of money.
The temporary loss of the parcel—which by great good
fortune was found again almost immediately—was al-
leged as an additional, or rather we believe as the chief,
cause of pressure upon the Northern and Central
Bank ; and the Directors of the Bank of England were
requested with much earnestness to obviate the incon-
venience which this accidental cause of delay had oc-
casioned by instantly discounting the bills contained in
the recovered parcel, to the amount of 100,0001. The
Directors of the Bank of England knew enough
however, of what had been going on to convince
them that aid to this limited extent would be useless
and improvident. Their reply accordingly was that
if they interfered at all they would interfere effec-
tually ; and that, in the actual circumstances of the
country, they might probably think it their duty so
to interfere on receiving from the gentlemen who
represented the Northern and Central Bank a full and
accurate explanation as to the state of its affairs. An
explanation was given, how accurate and complete we
shall presently see. It was as nearly as possible to
the following effect :

LIARILITIES.
Actual circulation of the Northern and Central Bauk £300,000
Deposits

Total liabilities £540,000
ASSETS. _ _ _

Debts due to the Bank by its customers 900,000
Bank notes and coin in its possession

Total assets £1,090,000
This was the statement verbally—but seriously, deli-
berately, and advisedly—given by the director and
the manager of the bank requiring aid. That
there could have been nothing of haste or inadver-
tence in this statement is evident from the fact that
the attention of the gentlemen giving it was spe-
cially called to several important variations which it
showed the affairs of the Northern and Central Bank
to have undergone, since the period when one of its
highest officers gave evidence before the Select Com-
mittee of the House of Commons with reference to the
same items of account. The variation under the head
of deposits was the most remarkable; and it was dis-
tinctly recalled to the recollection of all the parties pre-
sent that the deposits were stated to the Committee to
amount to 750,0001. instead of 240,000/. ; so that, in
the interval, the Northern and Central Bank appeared
to have lost deposits to the amount of half a million.
The business, however, proceeded ; and the Bank of
England, acting fully up to the spirit of its original
determination to do enough, if it did any thing,
agreed to advance 500,0001., with the understanding
that all the branches of the Northern and Central
Bank were to be abolished, and the business of that
institution confined to the central establishment until
the advance were repaid. It was further insisted
on the part of the Bank of England that the re-
payment of its advances should precede any dimi-
nution of the balance due by the Northern and
Central Bank to the London and Westminster Bank,
its agents in London. With the latter, however,
the Bank of England, neither then nor since, had any
dealing or negotiation on this subject. The Northern
and Central Bank stipulated for them that they should
postpone their claim to that about to be acquired by
the Bank of England, and the London and Westmin-
ster Bank ratified that stipulation by letter. The claim
of the London and 'Westminster Bank at that time
amounted to 150,0001., which had accrued in pur-
suance of an agreement entered into when they took
the agency, that they should be ready whenever called
upon to do so, to afford accommodation to the Northern
and Central Bank to the extent of 50,0001. in
cash, and 100,0001. in acceptances uncovered. In
addition to this advance the London and Westm:n-
ster Bank had given its acceptances to a further
large amount, covered by bills of exchange. The
verbal explanations given to the Bank of Eng-
land were to be followed by a transcript of the
next regular weekly statement of liabilities and as-
sets, made up at Manchester, to be laid before the
Directors of the joint-stock establishment. And as
the gentlemen who represented the Northern and
Central Bank in London had been persuaded in the
first instance that the sum of 100,0001., for which
they applied, would relieve them from all diffi-
culdes, and had expressed their entire conviction
that the advance of 500,000/., afterwards placed at
their disposal, was a great deal more than they could
possibly require, it might have been, and it was, very
naturally expected that time enough, at least, would
elapse for the arrival of the complete official statement
of affairs from Manchester before the whole or
any very large proportion of the stipulated advances
would drawn from the Bank of England. The
fact, however, turned out otherwise. The account
did not arrive until nearly the whole sum of
500,0001. had been drawn from the Bank of England.
These details are "painful, but they are necessary.
We are now come to a point in the narrative at which
we feel bound to say that, in this statement of the
facts of the transaction, we do not intend to impeach
the integrity of the gentlemen who represented the
Northern and Central Bank. It is due to those Gen-

tlemen to say that among the persons who had the op-
pyrtppivir q most closely observing their conduct
out lie transaction, a very general and decided
11,1,""ei-qiiiotiiiieVails\,that whatever errors they have coni-
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whole whole of their conduct, as well as that of the establish-
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ment to which they belong, ought not, however, on

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