The Sun.
London, England, 1824-06-24 00:00:00

FRAUD ON MR. ROTHSCHILD.

Considerable sensation has been excited in the
city by the appearance of an advertisement in the morning
papers, from which it appears that a M. GaIRIEL Dp Lon E T,
a native of France, has fraudulently obtained from Mr. N. M.
RoTHscitun bills to the amount of 9,6701. drawn in his fa-
vour, upon Messrs. J. de Rothschild Brothers, in Paris. Mr.
Doloret was a few years since Receiver-General at Amiens, in
France, a situation from which he is said to have derived an
income of 100,000 francs (about 4,00010 a year; but in conse-
quence of extensive speculations Mr. Doloret became a defaul-
ter to the Government and to the Department, and was
compelled to abscond to the Netherlands, where he re-
mained under an assumed name until his affairs were ar-
ranged, and he returned to Paris. Since that period he
has been engaged in Stock Exchange affairs, alternately in
Paris and London. When '()Teat speculation was carried on in
the Neapolitan Loan, Mr. Doloret had extensive transactions in
that stock, which ended in a dispute with. Mr. Rothschild, and
an action in the Court of Chancery, in which Mr. Doloret was
beaten. From that period until about ten days ago, when he re-
turned to London and engaged an office in Angel-court, he has
been residing in Paris with his family. Two or three days after
his. arrival here, he obtained an introduction to the respectable
ring of Wiss and Ripley, Exchange-brokers, and through them
procured the bills above alluded to from Mr. Rothschild on
Friday last, in the usual way, to be paid for on the following
post-day (Tuesday.) Mr. Rothschild, when he gave the bills,
took but little notice of the name of the person for whom they
were intended, having received assurances of his respectability
from his brokers, as it can hardly be imagined that he would
have supplied hills to so large an amount to a person with whom
he had been in litigation. It happened, also, that Mr. Roths-
child's attention was particularly taken up by the approaching
departure of a part of his family for the Continent. On Mon-
day evening Mr. Doloret left his office, having previously inform=
ed his clerk that he was going out of town, and might possibly
remain there until Friday. On Tuesday afternoon, at two
o'clock ,a letter' from Mr. Doloret was delivered to Mr.
Rothschild by 111 r. Doloret's clerk, who had instructions to
that effect in the event of Mr. Doloret's not returning to his
office on Tuesday at one o'clock. In this letter Mr. Doloret
stated, that being satisfied In the justice of his claims on Mr.
Rothschild in the affitir of the Neapolitan stock, notwithstand-
ing the decision of the Vice-Chancellor, he had taken this
method of indemnifying himelf, and procuring him that re-
dress which the law would not &Rad him. Mr. Rothschild,
on ascertaining the fraud which had been practised on him,
immediately proceeded, with his, characteristic activity, to
take measures for counteracting its object. The bills ob-
tained by Mr. Doloret on Friday would arive in Paris on
Monday, if transmitted thither, and by the regular custom
of trade would lie two • days for acceptance. On Wed-
nesday morning, therefore, they might be obtained with
the indorsements upon them requisite to give them com-
plete validity. There remained, consequently only the in-
terval between two o'clock on Tuesday, and the hour of
commencing business on Wednesday in Paris, for transmitting
such a communication to Paris as would stop the acceptance of
the bills. Short as the time may appear, it is not impossible that
the communication may be made, anti the perpetrator of the
fraud detected in Paris, permission having been obtained to
employ the telegraph to Dover, and as that from Calais to Paris
would also be put in requisition, a notice to stop the bills might
reach Paris by J o'clock on Wednesday. But supposing the ac-
ceptance of Messrs. James Rothschild Brothers obtained in
Paris, there would still remain the chance that the vigilance of
the French Police may detect and bring to punishment the
party through whom the bills were offered. The chief danger
appears to be, that M. Doloret may haye sent the bills in
the first instance to Amsterdam or some other city of the con-
tinent .than Paris, where the well-known respectibility .of the
house on which they were drawn would render it easy to nego-
tiate them, though not accepted in a regular manner. Mr.
Rothschild, through his Solicitor, applied on Tuesday evening
to Sir R. Bailie, at Bow-street, for assistance in apprehending
Mr. Doloret, but as the fraud had been committed in the city,
he was referred to the city Magistrates. At present, however,
it seems clear that the perpetrator has eluded all pursuitin this
country. Mr. Doloret drew his balance of account out of the
hands Of his bankers (Sir W. Curtis and Co.) on Monday.—
The conduct of Messrs. Wiss and Ripley, the Exchange brokers,
has .been highly honourable. They have offered to refer the
&Lir to arbitration, or at once to pay a proportion of Mr. Roths-
child's loss.

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—On Tuesday even-
ing about four o'clock Mr. EDWARD MARSH, who
kept a respectable timber-yard in Old-street,
road, left his house with his own horse and cart,
for the purpose of conveying home a Joad of oak
slabs froth the yard of MessrS.Morrison and Lar-
kin, in the City Canal. On his return, about half
• past six o'clock, immediately after passing over
the West India Dock .Bridge, it is thought,
that by
,his striking the horse, for the pur-
pose of turning thevorner a little sharp the ani-
mal must have unexpectedly turned so quick as
to come in contact with his person, and as he had
about five years before met with an accident, by
which his thigh was broken, and left him a little
lame, he was of course not able to get out of tine
way in time, but was thrown under the cart,
when, dreadful to relate, the wheel passed over
his body, by which his back was broken. He
was first conveyed to a cook's shop, opposite the
spOt where the accident occurred, and afterwards
to Poplar \Vorkhouse, where in a few minutes he
expired in
great agony. An inquest sit on
he body this day at three o'clock. The de-
ceased was about 39 years of age., and has left. a
tti ife anti two children to lament his toss.

FOR THE SUN.

MECHANISM AND CHEilt/STRY, versus MODERN
POLITICAL. ECONOMY AND LEGISLATION.

In reference to a Letter written by my Son,
and published in several of the Morning and
Evening Papers of this day, relative to the effects
which necessarily arise in society, as it is at pre-
sent constituted, out of the gradual increase of
scientific power, it becomes useful that I should
state to the Public some facts, which are hut
little known, and whose influence in modifying
every system of Political Economy which shall
apply to the present advanced stage of scientific
knowledge, no cue seems to have duly appre-
ciated.

It is very difficult to calculate the whole amount
of scientific power at present applied to produce
wealth in this country. The following facts, will
give some idea of its extent

It was estimated, about six or seven years ago,
by three of the most experienced Cotton-spinners
in Great Britain, that the quantity of .cotton
thread produced on an average by each worker,
compared with that which one person could have
spun on the single wheel, as was the practice
before the late inventions of A RAW RIGHT and
others, was then as 120 .to 1* : that is, one
person produced as much as I'2o could have
produced previously to these inventions. There
are now about 280,000 persons engaged- in the
spinning of cotton thread in. this country-
-280,000, multiplied by IW, gives 33,600,000 as
the number of operatives who would have been
required to produce as much cotton Ahread, on
the old, plan, as. is spun in Great Britain at pre-
sent. Political Economists generally reckon one
in five a producer, but say one in three ; then it
follows, that it would require the working part
of a population of more that) one hundred millions
of human beings to produce on the old single
wheel as much cotton thread as 280,000 workers
are enabled to manufacture, in consequence of
the mechanism by which they are assisted.
Nciw the spinning of cotton thread is only one
particular branch of one particular manufacture.
The same improvements have been made in wool
and flax spinning. Wonderful and continually
increasing and improving machines are employed
in hundreds of other operations, in weaving,
bleaching, dying, printing, dressing, &c. &c.
every species of cloth for the garments of
the world,--in the various hard ware manu-
factures,--in letter-press printing and engrav-
ing, and an endless catalogue of other opera-
tions, which were formerly pot formed at
an immense expenditure of time and labour, by
unassisted manual power alone. Add to this the
thousand steam engines which are now working
for us, all over the kingdom, some of them of
considerable powers : there is one steam engine
at present in Cornwall, working day and night,
and of 260 horse-power ; now each horse-power
is estimated as equal to that of six men ; awd it
would require three sets of men, each working
incessantly eight hours out of the 24, to produce
'the same effect as this single steam engine, which
thus performs the labour of 4,680 persons.
If we reflect for a moment on these facts, we
shall ,be convinced that the mechanical power
'which is now at work for Great 13rit01n and Ire.
land alone, exceeds the effect which would be
produced by the manual labour of several hun-
dred millions of active adults—certainly of more
than the working population of the world.
Is it possible, then, to press the following
question too earnestly on the attention of the
British Cabinet and Legislature, on the attention
of the modern political economists and of the
public ?—" Seeing that labour is admitted to be
the source whence all wealth proceeds, how does
it happen, that with this enormous increase of
labour at our controul; (by which wealth may
be created more than. sufficient to maintain in
full comfort much more than six times our pre-
sent population)--thousands of our fell•w4sub-
jects should yet exist in poverty and misery,
and that the. Irish peasant starves for want of
food ?"

And niay we not conclude, that every system
of political economy, which overlooks the influ-
ence of this overwhelming and iucreasing power,
whatever merit may attach to it on account of
ingenuity and talent in other respects, is totally
inapplicable to the present state of things in this
country.
When the public shall have time to reflect
upon these facts, and to trace the inevitable con-
' sequenceS to which they lead, then .shall the
means of applying this new power in practice for
the relief of Ireland, and of the poor and work-
ing classes in Great Britain, be made obviouS to
all. The. modern political economists will be
enabled not only to comprehend its applicability
to the altered state of society, but also constrain-
ed to admit the absolute necessity which exists
for the change, to stay the increasing wretchOd-
ness of the Irish peasantry, and the present gra-
dual descent of the British labourer to the same
point of degradatioiL
t all-Mall, June 23, 1821.

ROBT. OWEN.

• In consequence of subsequent improvements applied to
spinning, the proportion is considerably increased since that
time, and is now, probably, as 140 or 150 to one.

NATIONAL SoctETY.—Yesterday the General
r
Committee of the National Society, for the Edit-
tbiltils,seydestry Room, the Church, held thei
J "Meeting
~ord Bishop of
cation of the Poor in the Principles of the Esta-
h at St. Mar-
Boil( in the Chair.. Seven fresh schools were
united to.the S and eleven grants of money,
SA LI S-.
it) sums from 20/. to 3001. each, were made to-
wards the
erecting, enlarging;-and fitting up of
school-roans.