The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-06 00:00:00

EVENING SUN

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

FRODI THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DIY.
TIMES.—The public are generally much dis-
appointed at the abrupt termination of Mr. E.
B. Smith's trial. They had long anticipated
this 'day as one on which important facts would
transpire which might serve to guide their ope-
rations, but now they find the chance of that
information they felt they had a right to obtain
suddenly taken from them, and the whole affair
as much enveloped in mystery as on the day
when Mr. E. B. Smith was first taken into cus-
tody. As to the position of the holders of Ex-
chequer bills, various opinions are entertained.
Some think that the evidence which would
have been brought forward, had the prisoner
pleaded " Not Guilty," would have been of
great service to them in establishing • their
claim, and that the absence of this is there-
fore a positive loss. Others attach great import-
ance to the address of the Judge, in which he
speaks of the ruin of individuals, as if expres-
sions of that sort were conclusive proofs against
the holders. This reference to the address is,
however, particularly weak, and nothing but the
natural timidity accompanying an uncertain po-
sition can account for the assumption that a
speech on the bench was in any way tantamount
to an official declaration of the Government. It
is even too much to assume the phrases in ques-
tion as expressive of the Judge's opinion, as it
was only the magnitude of the crime that he was
pointing out, and he was not called on to give an
opinion as to the position of the holders.
It should be observed, that by Mr. E. B.
Smith's pleading guilty to all the matters con-
tained in the indictment, the whole proceeding is
made to emanate from an officer of the Govern-
ment ; that forgeries out of doors, and by parties
unconnected with the Treasury, can no longer be
cited as a defence, but that the bills originate
with the office itself. Again it may be repeated,
that no negligence or culpability can be laid to
the charge of the majority of the present holders
• that they exercised every caution that the nature
of the instrument permitted—and that no doubt
is-thrown on any of the authenticating marks
of the bills except the signature. Whatever
difference of opinion there may be as to the si-
tuation of the holders, it is generally agreed
that the credit of the Exchequer market will be
compromised materially if they are not indem.
reified. The loss of thousands of pounds, fol-
lowed by a trial at which noinformation was con-
veyed, and no furthet compensation afforded to
the sufferers but the punishment of an officer of
Goverment, could not be forgotten, and the
readiness of transfer and the general conveniences
of an Exchequer bill would be gone, perhaps for
ever. Hence, from the present aspect of affairs,
there is every reason to hope that the innocent
holders will not sustain a loss.
It is yet possible that the investigation may
not have come to an end. It is understood that
the Bank clerks who were subpoenaed have been
ordered to be in readiness on Monday, though
for what purpose has not yet transpired.
This being the 4th of the month, and the sth
&Ling on Sunday, it was a most important day
fee the holders of commercial paper. The amour t
of bilis, due was so great, and they have with
-very few exceptions been so well met, that the
good state of credit is not only a cause of satis-
faction, but also of surprise.
CHRONICLE.—The important "disclosures"
alluded to openly in Court by the lawyers pre-
vious to the committal of Rapallo for trial are,
it seems, to be " hushed up," and the ends of
justice defeated. The very last time that the
matter was publicly discussed, the legal advisers
employed on both sides specially aliuded to im-
portant disclosures that had entirely changed the
aspect of affairs, and the Counsel for Rapallo,
formerly grumbled at the mere motion for
rt. mewling his client, confessed that " important
circumstances which had transpired elsewhere"
,-1111,.e it necessary to clear his character before a
juey. The public mind was thus impressed
wita We belief that the confederates of Smith
had becnne known to the Crown lawyers,
and ti,,at the whole ramifications of the con-
:spiracv would be laid bare to the very root.
Such being the fact, strong suspicious are now
;necessarily- entertained that there has been a
bargain 1 etween Smith and the law officers of
ithe Crowit 3 that the whole affair of the trial was
ac mere sham fight, a regular " cross," as such
things are technically termed in the phraseology
of the ring ; and that the sentence of transporta-
tion for life will be commuted or never enforced.
it is, certainly, most unlikely that Smith would
lave -pleaded guilty to the main charge of forgery
vaialeSs lie had. sewn his way to some advantage
by so doing. His legal advisers, indeed, would
not _have allowed such a course, unless they
;saw tiLat their client would be a gainer by it.
Accordii,a; to the paper read by him at the
bar, it w. .add appear that there are others
equally, if not more, guilty; that he was
the victim, in fact, of More cunning and
,powerful associates, who withheld from him all
:share in the plunder obtained from their ,Crimes.
Surely, then, the investigation cannot stop where
it now is. Further investigation must take
place, arid fresh parties be brought to trial,
otherwise the public will look upon the whole
affair as a solemn farce, and bad consequenCes
cannot fail to follow. As the matter now stands
there is an evident concealment. The tribunals
of justice have the appearance of acting as the
screeners of guilt.
The Government seem to have been absolutely
deterred from going to trial, knowing well that
ahe evidence to be adduced would establish gross
want of superintendence in the Exchequer Bill-
office, and bring home irresistibleproof of inches
against them.
The trial (such as it was) being at an end, the
:next step to be looked for is the decision of the
Lords of the Treasury with the impounded bills
detained by Lord Monteagle, to wait the direc-
tions of their Lordships. They cannot have
much difficulty in making up their minds. The
guilt is now restricted to the act of a Go-
vernment officer holding a situation of
high trust and confidence, and the asser-
tion that the signatures were attached by
another party after the bills went out of his
hands is no longer tenable. The chain
of connection sought to be formed between the
holders of the spurious bills and an individual
not in Government employ is broken up, and the
Crown remains fixed by their own act and deed
isolated with the confession of Smith, their own
officer, as the sole criminal. But, on the other
hand, the innocent holders
are deprived of the
benefit of the evidence of inches which.
_must
Crown if
have come out against the evidence
had been led to convict any party. The Crown
have thus taken a double_ advantage. First
of all they impounded the bills, and thus de-
prived them of the means of making good their
claims in a Court of Law, and
then an arrange-
ment is made by which they
are precluded
derived
from
the benefit which they must
a rigid investigation of the truth. There is still,
however, one fortunate circumstancele inl bt
favour
of the innocent holders which g
cannot easily circumvent. A considerabalesaumoluent3;
was paid in spurious paper by subscribers to the
funding who have sold their scrip. These parties
were called upon to replace the spurious bills with
genuine paper, or to return their scril
either They
have refused, we believe, to comply with
demand, and it thus becomes incumbent on the
officers of the Crown to compel these parties to
do as they have been required, or they must have
already made up their mind to pay the innocent
holders,
POST.—This was what may be technically
termed the monthly account-day among the
commercial houses. The difficulties which have
existed for the last few weeks in the Exchequer
bill market, combined with the rather numerous
and important failures that have taken place,
both at home and abroad, had excited fears in
the minds of many, lest the heavy payments of
the preSent month might not be so punctually
provided for as usual ; but such fears do not ap-
pear to have been well-founded. No breach of
engagement occurred to-day of sufficient magni-
tude to become a subject of general observation,
although it is not unlikely that some minor cases
of embarrassment may have been heard of. The
trial of Beaumont Smith, in the Central Criminal
Court, and the curious circumstances attending
it matters of deep interest, the prevailine-
ex
pectation being that other and less unimpor-
tant names than those of Smith himself and the
a •
PPlover Rapallo would he brought before the
public in connection with the proceeding but.
apart from s;,
these, the day was more than ordina-
rily- tranquil.
HERALD ,
far as tltile D.--The trial of Beaumont Smith, so
cuilroumstances attending it, has taken
people e City greatly by surprise; and
more still then discharge, or presumed discharge,
of Rapallo; because that person may not
be, and must bottehaccepted as being, innocent of
implication io the vial-practices of Smith, but
because it cannot understood on what ground,
consistently wiatinid the
i result, he should have been
apprehended itcarcerated. Again, Smith,
after pleadingguilty,arsttates that he has made a
full disclosure of all particulars and persons (sub-
stantially) these nefarious Exche-
quer frauds and for •
ries. •
fhis confession, after
being laid before the Judo.
ssessioi xfwas given up and
remains in the po
r Mule, Solici-
tor to the Treasury. People naturally ask,
what next? Are there no
parties taken into
euStody, no prosecutions •
instituted in conse-
quence ? If Smith's confession may be •
believed,

he had accomplices—accomplices more guilty
than himself—accomplices who received and. mo-
nopolised
all the gains flagitiously made by these
tainted Exchequer issues, by which the convict
avers he never benefited to the extent of one
farthing received or participated in, or was cog-
nisant of, any of the stock or other gambling
speculations to which the proceeds were At..
voted. Where then, and who, every body asks,
are these accomplices, and why are they still at
large ? It seems clear that other proceedings
are in progress, or meditated, at the Treasury,
and that some explanation on the subject must
shortly be made public. In the meantime it is
difficult to say how far the claims of innocent
holders may be affected by the extraordinary
turn which the trial has taken.