The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-09 00:00:00

an L.L.D.—a doctor of laws—as being
entitled to a distinguished literary title—
and yet who could not recollect, after the
question had been several times put to him, when that
degree had been conferred upon him—suppose they
elected a man who had represented himself as an
officer of the Royal Artillery, and they could not find
that such an officer, non-commissioned officer, or pri-
vate ever appeared on the books.--(Cries of " Shame.")
He was assuming that they might elect such a man.
If they elected a man who had palmed himself off as
having been an officer in the service of the East India
Company, and that he had, on one occasion, com-
manded a battery of four guns, and yet they could
not find that an officer of the name had ever been
in the service, and that the exploit had
never come off.—(Laughter.) Suppose they elected a
drunkard—a person slovenly in his habits and unfit
to transact their business—suppose they elected such
a man, who was to discharge him ?—(Several voices,
" The members.") Suppose they elected a man who '
systematically abused the directors, and in addition
was possessed
.of all these amiable characteristics,
he would not unlikely continue in the service to the
injury of the institution, for who would attend to
complaints, whether from the directors or the mem-
bers, when, if the ru'es were altered as suggested,
ot
fh e
ruin,
uinproposition,
and
he
begged
ge sds oocfi aa ti
themon wouldnot
t o
such matters would, in the words of the adage, be
«every body and nobody's business ?"—(Hear.)
slofonthb a a seye carried
peril the solid and well-founded structure which they
had erected for any castles that the imaginations of
some of them might suggest, however beautiful.—
(Cheers.) He hoped, therefore, they would join him
in negativing the proposition, and convince discarded
officers that they would
their revenge with impunitynot b
ate a
generalpermitted
int
meeting
gratifyting
of
the members.—(Hear, hear.) He believed, whoever
blacken liaohmenighthtebeo,htahreayeteul
characters of
ntehveer beb
zealous,
ale to injure o
honourable,r
and indefatigable body of men whom they had
selected to manage their affairs.—(Cheers.)
Mr. REYNOLDS could not but think that the gentle-
men who called them together that evening had illus-
trated the old adage which said, " Never do that of
which you have not well considered the end." He
trusted the results, whatever they might be, would
not eventually prove the destruction of the society.
—(Hear, hear.) If the members determined
to make the secretary a master instead of a
servant, whose duty it was to carry out the commands
of the board of directors, they would either have to
submit to his dictation, or bring every matter of
detail before a general meeting. Such a proceeding
might make the society, perhaps, the best customer
the proprietors of the tavern could have, but could
not fail to bring ruin upon the institution. If the
present directors resigned, he would not deny that
an equally efficient body might be elected in their
place ; but what man of standing in the city of
London would consent to take office if this resolution
was passed ?—(Hear, hear.) There were.three parties
to be considered in settling the question before them—
the members—the board of management—and lastly,
but not least, the numerous body of persons upon
whose good opinion the success of the society mainly
depended—he meant the clerks of the United King-
dom.—(Cheers.) That class, taken as a body,
possessed a tolerable share of common sense, and
could they doubt that, in exercising that common
sense, they' would hesitate to invest their hard-
earned savings in an association that was a
prey to continual dissensions ? (Hear, hear.)
What would be the consequence ? He denied the
possibility of their getting a new board together
under such circumstances, and the end would be that
there would be nothing but dismemberment, confu-
sion, and ruin.—(Hear, hear.) After having toiled
for a length of time, and he was aware of the difficul-
ties which they had been obliged to encounter, their
labours had been crowned with success. There was
every prospect of that success being continued, and
were they now madly to dash the vessel in which they
all had embarked against a rock, and peril the vitality
of the institution.—(Hear, hear.) This was but
another illustration of great events and little causes,
the circumstance which gave rise to the present pro-
ceedings being only the dismissal of one of the ser-
vants of the association by a resolution of the board
of management, who, he had no hesitation in saying,
had exercised a very sound discretion.—(Hear, hear.)
He held in his hand a letter, which, no doubt,
was in the possession of most of the members,
dated from the King's Head, Poultry, Feb. 3, 1849,
and requesting the attendance of members at a meet-
ing to be held there. It was signed "E. I. Burt,
Hon. Sec.," and was it to be taken that he signed
himself as Hon. Sec. to the Provident Clerks' Asso-
ciation ?—(Cries of " No.") Then they might
perhaps conceive him to be Hon. Sec. to the King's
Head.—(Laughter.) At any rate any unbiassed
person and a stranger would judge from that signa-
ture that he was secretary to the association, and he
would ask when, where, and by whom was he ap-
pointed ? He could not but characterise that as a de-
signation which Mr. Burt had no right to assume.
He should sincerely grieve if the resolution were
passed, because he could only look upon such a result
as the death warrant of the association.—(Hear, hear.)
They would soon cease to exist, an inquest would be
held upon their remains by the public, and the ver-
dict
would assuredly be felo de se.--(Laughter.)
Dr. MULLINDER (the late secretary) next addressed
the meeting, and entered into a lengthened defence of
his own conduct, in reply to the different statements
which had been made with respect to his dismissal ;
but as a great portion of it involved matters of a
personal nature, we confine our report to such remarks
as appeared to bear upon the main question. He
said when he first joined the association, in March,
1845, it was not in a fit state to be worked, the in-
come at that period being only 1,6001., and the
amount invested 1,1001.—(11ear, hear.) The yearly
income was now between 9,0001. and 10,0001., the
amount invested 15,0001., and about 8,0001. bad been
paid on claims since he held the office of secretary.—
(Cheers, and some interruption.) In the first year
of his connexion with it the policies for the previous
quarter amounted only to eleven ; and the secretary
who preceded him only held the situation six weeks,
because he found it impossible to make headway
under such a state of things. In July, 1845, a
society was set on foot fur the benefit of bankers'
clerks, but, through great exertions on his part, he
stopped its progress, and threw a great number of
additional members into this association.—(Hear,
hear.) From that period he had never ceased in
his exertions to carry out the truly great and
grand principles of the Provident Clerks, and he
now openly avowed his belief that it had not its equal
in the three kingdoms, if properly carried out.—
(Cheers.) And as a token of regard for the services
he rendered, he had the pleasure and gratifica-
tion of receiving a handsome snuff box from
the hands of the former Chairman, Mr. Thomas.—
(Hear, hear.) After challenging the board to prove
that they had for the last four years, individually or
collectively, and through their direct influence, intro-
duced as many as 40 policies, he alluded to the
success which had attended the deputations to pro-
vincial towns, and said that they had been undertaken
at his suggestion. At the general meeting in 1847,
a member, he said, got up and proposed that he
should receive a gratuity of one hundred guineas,
and that there should be a rise in his salary of 100/.,
but the Board had only met that suggestion halfway,
and given him a gratuity of 50 guineas, and an addi-
tion to his salary of 501.—(0h, oh,
When he was treated in that way they and shame.)
might easily
imagine that it did not tend to sweeten a disposition
which was naturally bilious and irritable.—(Laughter
and hear, hear.) But they should recollect that "to
err is human, to forgive divine."—(Laughter and
cheers.) Having alluded to a previous dismissal and
reinstatement, he adverted to certain illegal acts
which he said the directors had been guilty of in
lending from the assurance to the benevolent fund
7,00/., when the latter fell short of the demands
upon it. Instead of doing that, which was contrary
to the Act of Parliament, they should have applied to
the trustees to sell out a portion of the society's stock.
The directors had an interview with Mr. Tidd Pratt on
the subject, and he entirely concurred in the view
taken by him (Dr. Mullinder), telling them that they
had got into a terrible mess—that they had set Acts
suchof
a
ht e
rdee fiwaansc
ne,otaheg
and that
prevent dabbling
in railway shares with the property of the associa-
tion.—(Hear, if they pursued
tion.—(Hear, hear.) The Chairman then made use
of the expression," I hope you won't lodge an infor-
mation against us."—(learl hear.) That circum-
stance did not tend to smooth his course with the
directors, and after the annual meeting in January
last an occurrence took place which still further
widened the breach between them, and ultimately led
to his final dismissal. After giving the particulars of it
in detail, he asked, had any one of the members
found him at any time uncivil, uncourteous, or unfit
for his duty, or unable to perform it.—(No, no.)
Having presented them with a few candid and truth-
ful statements, he appealed not to their passions, but to
their judgment, and requested of them to say whether
or not he had discharged his duties honestly and fairly,
and with a sincere and heartfelt desire to promote the
interests of the members at large ?—(Cheers.) If he
had failed in anything, they should bear in mind
that all men were at times liable to err, and he would
beg of them to couple with that fact his most candid
assurance that his intentions had always been good.—
(Cheers.) If he had been guilty of any indiscretion,
had he not met with a greater amount of punishment
than the crime deserved?—(Hear, hear.) It was no
ordinary position to hold the office of secretary to the
Provident Clerks,—(Hear.) He had been called upon
quite unexpectedly to give this explanation, but
!lying glee ii as fair and candid an account as possible,
he hit the mstter in their kinds, confidently resting
upon their good sense and judgment,—(Hear.)
A MEMBER said, the personal narrative they had
just heard had no reference to the motion before the
meeting. Jhe question was, Whethez they should