The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-04 00:00:00

EVENING SUN.

ante seems to have come out on the subject of the "
Exchequer bill fraud until the examination at the Man-
sion-house yesterday, and every inquiry since made
only tends to confirm the correctness of the statement
in the Times of that day, as to the origin and progress )
of the scheme.
The names of the parties implicated are ply well -
known in the city, and the fact that the immediate
agents were compelled to close all their open accounts
by the Committee of the Stock Exchange, would seem
to argue that that body arc fully alive to the extent
which the members so affected by the resolution of the
Committee are mixed up in the transaction.
It is quite clear that the chief intermediate agent, if
not the chief concoctor, of the scheme, is an out-door
speculator of no great eminence, and it is also well known
that he has been concerned in two or three rather ques-
tionable affairs, or what are termed in the Court
"rigs," within the last three or four years; and it is
equally clear that the brokers, through whose interme-
diation these frauds have been committed, knew that
this gentleman was only the agent for some other person.
The quution has therefore been frequently asked,
whether it was possible that shrewd clever men, as
these brokers confessedly are, should have undertaken
speculations to such an enormous extent as to have led
to differences amounting to such a sum as 200,000/. cr
300,0001., «ithout being well acquainted with the names
of the parties for whom they were in reality acting ?
It might reasonably have been supposed that the fact
ofthese transactions having been entirely settled by
means of money raised by these brokers upon the de-
posit of Exchequer paper, which Exchequer paper was
never allowed to be sold, and was always redeemed by
means of money raised upon other Exchequer bills in
the same manner, would have opened the eyes of the
parties so acting, more especially as an extreme anxiety
was always evinced to have the same identical hills re-
turned to them.

We confess we think this should be cleared up, the
more especially since we have learnt that in the month
of February last considerable suspicion existed in the
minds of more than one member of the Stock Exchange
that all was not regular.
The circumstances which gave rise to thee suspicions,
as stated to us, are these ;
The two principal brokers whose names are men-
tioned as concerned in these affairs, bad at different
times borrowed sums of money from an individual be-
longing to the Stock Exchange, upon the security of
Exchequer bills, to an extent, as we are informed, of
upwards of 70,0001. In the course of February last,
some of the bills deposited with these parties by acci-
dent found their way into the market. Upon the bor-
rowers calling to redeem eleven of tl em, they found
that the bills returned to them were not the ipsissiwa
documenia left as security. A very angry discussion
ensued upon the subject, and the return of the identical
bills themselves so deposited was insisted upon. The
parties so called upon made every exertion to trace
these bills, and eventually, after much correspondence,
ten of them were found in the possession of the London
and Westminster Bank, and the eleventh in the hands
of an individual residing somewhere in the neighbour-
hood of Aligate or ‘Vh:t:chapel, and Icing procured
from those quarters, were returned to the borrowers.
This circumstance, at that time, excited suspicion in
the minds of the lenders, which was added to by ob-
serving that the bank-notes and all the papers relating
to the tr,:nsaction were marked in a peculiar way, with
initials evidently not those of the ostensible borrower ;
and eventually the lenders, in consequent:; of these
doubts, gradually took steps to obtain a return of their
other advances ; the bills deposited were from time to
time retired, and no future transaction of a similar na-

ture was entered on between the tame parties.
Presuming these facts to be correct, and we have
every reason to defend on the accuracy of our inform-
ant, it is impossible to imagine that the brokers acting
in this matter could have failed to suspect, even if they
did not absolutely know, that something was wrong.
Many other similar circumstances have been men-
tioned to us corroborative of this supposition, but for
the present we forbear to go into them, but shall con-
tent ourselves with remarking that we can hardly con-
ceive the r.:ssibiLty of env set of men of business,
acting for a series of years for an individual whom they
knew to be of doubtful means and character, receiving.
from that clial.nel sums of money to the amount of
250/. to 300,000/. for differeuces, engaging in such des-
perz.te speculations as to have caused that deficiency,
and seeing, also, that their differences were paid by
money raised, not by the sip, but by the deposit, of
one particular description of security. We repeat, it
seems to us impossible that this should have taken place
without the brokers knowing the party for whom they
were really acting ; and once cognizant that that party
was only a clerk in that particular office at a lim:ted sa-
lary, it seems to be equally impossible to believe that
the brokers should have fai!el to see that such docu-
ments could not hate been honestly come by, acrd that
they were lending themselves to a fraud.
In any view of the matter, the facts before 1101 -law

either that these brokers exercised little caution in re-
spect of their principal (the contrary of which is pro-
verbial as regards the gentlemen whose names are men-
tioned), or else that Stock Exchange morality is ob-
tained by a principal to pay a difference on a time spe-
culation, so long as it is obtAined, and the broker pro-
tected.
Of the amount of fictitious bills in the hands of._
various parties in the City we, have no means of obtain-
ing any very accurate list, but are inclined to believe
that it is upwards of 300,000/.
Little need be said of the notices which have ema-

_...... .......... ~._ ........... ...... _______ ..__
nated from the Government offices on the subject. The
extreme carelessness of the Exchequer bill department
for these last few years has been proverbial. We have
seen that the power of signing Exchequer bills has been
commonly delegated to others by the proper officer
whose duty it was to execute that department of the
public service, and if we arc to judge from the course
now taken to ascertain the validity of the document—,
the public may be well led to imagine that the counterfoil
is the only criterion by which the goodness of tin x•
chequer bill can bt tested, a criterion which wear and
tear would render useless, and which involves the ab-
surdity that the application of a pair of scissors to trim
the ragged edges which accident or time may have
given to an old document would impair its valdity, and
which loses sight of the fact, obvious to every merchant
who has ever cut out five checks from his check-book
at a single stroke of his knife, that the cut edges of all
of them will correspond with the counterfoil of the
upper one.
The fact is quite clear that the business of the Ex-
chequer-bill office has been conducted loosely, care
lessly, on false principles, and in an improper manner,
by men unacquainted with the forms and requirements
of business, and that in future the system must be
altered. Business documents meant to be transferable,
require business men to manage them ; those should be
on the spot to answer questions and to resolve doubts.
Had such men been in the Exchequer-bill office, and
uch office in the city, this fraud could scarcely 'have
been committed—most certainly could not have been
carried on for such a length of time.
SUN.—There was an active market to-day for English
Securities, and prices rallied in consequence. The state
of affairs in Spain inspires more conf4ence. Console for.
immediate transfer rose to 882. and SBi, and for Account
to SS:I and 89. Bank Stock was at an advance to IG4
and 164:.:, and India Stock to 245 k. India Bonds were
at Is. premium; the New Three-and-a-Half per Cents. at
usi- toe ; and the Three per Cent. Annuities at 871 ;-1.
There was nut so much doing in Foreign Stocks, but
were
enisslul
lAipcotritse'eaßaotnd2ssitg;oteuolpointobi2aln aantd
124
prices generally were rather above yesterday's range.
Peruvian at l‘Vi to -7-. Dutch Two-and-a-nal-I*par Cents.
were dull at 511.
A molerate business was done in Railway Shares, and
at full prices. Birmingham were 67 the New 2J'
;tolle;xiscifildi
South Western, 131 iii to 13k;, and York and North Midland
caused the transport of passengers for two
30 premium. A fall of earth on the Croydon Railway has
half to the Brighton trains, to be again dependen
horse vehicles. Brighton Shares were 14: to lib di-
. count, and Great Western 13i premium.
Cons-
' Tea market was higher this afternoumm.
___ lb.
;
, pang's Congou touched Is. 100. to 15. 104 P e.-r
ascertain what
' cash. A good deal of curiosity is felt to
news the Overland Mail will bring. miles and
na

----
FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE RIVER CAM.—
Tuesday night an inquest way heldat tbe Black -lion
jumped in
public-house, Silver-street, before C.
Cooper, -CtirOner
for this borough, and a highly-respeoigile jury (of
obliged
graduate of Queen's College, in this University, who was
t.whichhebody-Mro.f INathanAbneriel
i clit'a)r.odn'vas Harrison,freinitEasiti., onus
under-
graduate
unfortunately drowned on Alonday morning in thaliver
abZ,mhtienjujnuimpedr
near Jesus Green Sluice. The deceased A-as rowing in
a " funny," and owing to the strong current caused by
theaild
w,flood,as carried hi boaotv beer
etarieleNtviaatienralla?.
himself to call out for help, anti was saved with after him and endeavoured to save him, bat Was
diffi-
culty. The Jury returned a verdist of Accidental Death,
deodand on the boat 40s.
THE MATCH-MAKER.--Fashionable marriage
have long formed a tltvourite. subject fur animadversion—€12
with those who have paid attention to the peculiars
's-
tem by which husband-hunting has, in the higher 3
been raised to the dignity of a science ; andthey,er circles,
indeed the whole world of fashion, cannot but and
greatest interest in a novel entitled " The
feel the
Match-
maker, from the pen of the clever author he
of
Geoffrey," about to be published, wl •" Cousin
twit
spoken of in certain coteries as affording is already
amusing exposition of the principles, an exceedingly
daring enough to assert, the want or, 115 some people
of which clever mammas procuref of them, 1,), means
exceptionable matches. or their daughters un-
The Brandling Junction Railway
have agreed to unite with the York Company
the North Midland, the Manch and North Midland,
e
land Counties, the Great Nortshter and Leeds, the Mid-
of England, the New-
castle and Carlisle, and the DI
Companies, in taking a
lease
of trham Junction Railway
pro-
posed to be made from a railway which is
Darlington to join We Durham
Junction, a distance of 22
continuous line of railway :piles, and thus complete a
Newcastle-
upon-Tyne. The several lom London to Newcastle-
o guarantee to the Railway Companies alluded to
are t
. shareholders of the proposed
Company six per cent.
per annum upOn the estimated
capital for ten years after the line is finished.