The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-11 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

SIR MORTON PETO AND HIS STOCKBROKER.—The Lord
Chancellor delivered judgment in an appeal from the de-
cision of Vice-Chancellor Malins, made under the follow-
ing circumstances :—Sir Morton Peto was the contractor
for the construction of the London, Chatham, and Vover
Railway, and employed as his stockbroker, Mr. Coleman,
of the City of London, who was one of the directors of
the Imperial Mercantile Credit Association. Having, as
agent of Sir Morton Peto, purchased several thousand
pounds' worth of debentures in the undertaking in ques-
tion at 95 per cent., Mr. Coleman sold them to the
association at 981. per cent., thus deriving a
considerable profit. The association subsequently filed a
bill against him for the recovery of the excess
of 3i per cent. with interest at 5 per cent.
alleging that he could not be a partaker of benefit from
any'contract with a company of which he was a director.
His lordship said the principle of law propounded by the
plaintiffs was correct, though he doubted whether it was
judicious to exclude from the directorate of an associa-
tion like the present men who were in the habit of having
pecuniary interests in public undertakings. The court
below had condemned Mr. Coleman on the ground that
he did not disclose the interest he had in the debentures.
But his lordship was of opinion that it was directly
opposed to the evidence ; and believing that Mr. Cole-
man had sufficiently disclosed his interest, the decision of
the Vice-Chancellor would be reversed.
CARRYING SPECIE ON BOARD SHIP.—A remarkable case
is at present before the Court of Common Pleas, Dublin,
being an action by the City of Dublin Steam Packet
Company to recover £1,590 for the carriage of specie
amounting to £159,000 from Dublin to Holyhead. This
specie had been sent by one of the Inman steamers, and,
owing to the vessel becoming disabled at Queenstown, had
to be landed there, and sent by rail and steamer to Eng-
land. The defendant, Mr. Inman, lodged incourt £79105.,
being ls. per cent., which he declares is all that the plain-
tiffs are entitled to, and it was stated in the course of the
trial that his total charge for conveying the specie from
America to England was 2s. 6d. per cent. The case is not
yet concluded.

A great meeting in opposition to Mr. T. Chambers'
bill for legalising marriage with a deceased wife's sister
is to be held on Thursday next. The Duke of Marl-
borough will preside, and amongst the speakers will be
the Earl Percy, the Earl Beauchamp, the Bishop of Win-
chester, Mr. Barnett, M.P., the Bishop of Chichester,
Mr. A. J. Beresford-Hope,and Mr. W. H.

Smith, M.P.
COAL IN NEW ZEALAND.—New Zealand seems
to be rich in coal ; almost every mail brings tidings of
black diamonds having been discovered upon her soil.
The last advices received from the province of Auckland
reported that an extensive deposit had been found in the
bed of a small creek on the west side of the Surrey Re-
doubt, in a direct north-west line with Porter's Creek,
immediately facing Grahamstown. Captain Higgins, a
gentleman of experience, has minutely examined the
seam, and pronounces it to be of great value and admir-
ably adapted for steam purposes. The coal is found on
the property of his Honour the Superintendent, and is
about eight miles from the coast ; the country is very
level and well adapted for the laying of a tramway. The
Superintendent of the province offers favourable terms to
all who are prepared to work the deposit. The discovery
has created considerable interest in the province, in which
the consumption of coal is largely increasing.
VALUE OF A CLERICAL BEARD.—Under the
above heading a most absurd story has been going the
round of the papers. We should not have alluded to it
had it not found a place in the columns of a clerical con-
temporary. It is to the effect that the Rev. S. Flood
Jones, Precentor of Westminster Abbey, having been
" mentioned in the proper quarter" as eligible for the
position of Priest in Ordinary to the Queen, it was inti-
mated that he could not be appointed " unless upon the
condition of removing the obnoxious appendage," and that
his wife had " given a very decided veto" against its re-
moval. A very little trouble would have elicited the fact
that Mr. Flood Jones dbes hold the appointment alluded
to, and has done so sine 1869. The story of the beard was
concocted, we believe, by a correspondent of an Irish
newspaper. The rev. gentleman wears the appendage in
question as a throat protector (and very useful it must be
in that respect to one who wishes to preserve a musical
voice amidst the draughts of cathedral cloisters), and does
so with the Queen's knowledge and sanction.—The Rock.
TESTIMONIAL TO MR. C: V. Boys.--On Thursday
the committee formed some months ago to raise a fund
with a view of presenting Mr. Charles V. Boys, who has
been for upwards of twenty-two years connected with the
telegraph companies of Great Britain, with a substantial
token of their appreciation of his past services, completed
their labours in Willis's Rooms. The Duke of Beaufort
occupied the chair, and among those present were Colonel
Napier Sturt, M.P., Messrs. Biddulph, Alfred Brown,
G. S. Nottage, Julius Reuter, Edward Satterthwaite, A.
Blimenthal, Richard James Wood, J. W. Anson, Ste.
The Duke of Beaufort presented the testimonial, in the
absence of the Duke of Sutherland, the president of the
fund, who is abroad. The following is the inscription on
the timepiece :—" To Charles Vincent Boys, Esq. This
testimonial, together with a bookcase and library, in con-
sideration of his public services, and as a token of esteem
from his friends. Presented February 9,1871, by his Grace
the Duke of Beaufort."

THE PURCHASE SYSTEM.—Major Anson, in a
long letter on the abolition of the purchase system, con-
siders the question of the cost has never been fairly met.
The cost of abolishing purchase and the subsequent ex-
penditure required he divides into six heads. 1. The
regulation money paid by regimental officers on full a*-'
half pay. 2. The over regulation money pa
by such officers. 3. The liabilities incurred for
sums to which officers are entitled under warrant besides
tha sums actually paid. 4. The over regulation prices
which officers would eventually receive if the present sys-
tem were not abolished. 5. The annually-increasing sum
that will be required to take the place of the purchase
system in providing a flow of promotion.
6. The. increased pay that will be re-
quired under a different regimental system.
Purchase and non-purchase officers have been generally
placed on the same footing in all schemes for the abolition
of purchase, which Major Anson esteems to be highly
unfair. He estimates the actual sum total which the
officers of the army would be out of pocket at £8,400,000,
and this sum, or the interest of it, should be at once re-
turned to the officers who paid it. But when this money
is paid the purchase system with all its evils will be eradi-
cated. He believes it would be wisest and cheapest to buy
up all these claims at once, and he thinks this could be
done for their present value in ready money in the
lower ranks, and considerably less in the higher. Up to
the present moment the officers of the army have under-
taken the heavy expense of keeping up a proper flow of
promotion, and that is the history of the purchase system,
but if the expense had fallen on the country it would
have cost the taxpayers twice as much. The Govern-
ment will do well to close an old account without leaving
a wound behind, retaining full power over the officers who
remain,