The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-06 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.!

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OR THIS DAY.
TIMES.—The examinations of Messrs. Rapallo and
E. B. Smith have by oo means tended to alleviate the
uneasiness of the holders of spurious Exchequer bills, as
to their final indemnification. The confession of Mr.
Smith to Mr. Maule, the Solicitor to the. Treasury, that..
many bills were given to Mr. Rapallo with the numbers
only, and without the signature, is very alarming, since,
as far as those bills arc concerned, it is doubtful whether.
they would afford a chance of action against the Go-
vernment, never having been regularly issued across the
counter, but only acquiring the power of circulation in
the hands of the party out of doors who might have
added the signature. On the other hand, those parties
who took the bills some months ago to the Treasury, and
were then distinctly informed that they were good, con-
ceive that they are in a position superior to the holders
in general, and that by such official information (not-
withstanding the informant might, have been Mr.
Smith himself) the Government is compromised, And it
certainly doee seen: hard that parties, against whom no
neglect can be charged, but who, on the contrary, exhi-
bited more I..nan ordinary diligence, should be sufferers
after having taken the only steps thatwere in their power.
It is not impossible that this proceeding on the part of a
few holders may divide the holders generally into two
classes--one of which would stand in a different position
to the other with regard to a claim against Government.
A fact has transpired lately which is calculated to in-
crease the alarm in the Money Market, and to deprive
many holders of Exchequer bills of the consolation of a
belief that their bills wore genuine. The general impres-
sion has been for some time that none of the spurious
bills were ever se,id, but merely lodged as a deposit for
loans, so that,ilotwithstarling the general panic, the bona
Jide pure'smSers felt that they at least couldnot be losers.
To-day, however, it has transpired that some of the bad
hills have actually been sold, and therefore every holder
is ir a state of uncertainty.
There is a very general impression to-day in the City,
that the only way out of this affair by which the monied
interest can be satisfied, and the credit of the Govern-
ment maintained,- is by the appointment of a Commis-
sion to inquire into the situation of the respective holders
ot spurious bills, and to protect those who appear
clearly to have become possessed of them without
the least cognizance or suspicion of the original fraud.
For this purpose there should undoubtedly be selected
men well acquainted with commercial practice, for
there appears to most people a very strong analogy be
tween what occurs in this case, and the practice in the
administration of the bankrupt laws, in which innocent
holders, whatever may be the origin of the docu-
ments they hold, are uniformly protected. What would
be the only satisfaction therefore in this matter,
would be the appeintment, say of two eminent bankers
- for the City, and two for the west-end of the town, who
should have power to decide on all claims of the Govern-
ment, arising out of these spurious transactions. No
mixture of official persons, or others connected with the
Government, would answer the purpose. If this is to be
the course determined upon, it is obvious that the action
ought to be a prompt one—we mean, as well for the sake
of the Government as the suffering parties, for it is ob-
vious that the Exchequer bill market is in a most
critical state, supported entirely by the demand
connected with the funding, and though parties who
want them for that purpose. are compelled to pay a
premium of 7s. or Bs., the jobbers who deal in them for
the sake of selling them again to the public will not
purchase them at par. This may be termed, perhaps,
a mercantile feeling which will subside in a few days by
the operation of self-interest ; but the Government will
evince great ignorance of the nature of credit generally
if they place their reliance on such a thing. A float-
ing debt of 20,000,0001. and upwards is not to be kept
afloat but by the diffusion of universal confidence, not
among great capitalists only, but also amongst small
ones, and undoubtedly all trustees and executors will
rather keep their money in bank-notes in the Bank of
England than bring themselves within the peril which
has lately-been witnessed, and yet such parties, it is well
known, are the real supporters of the Exchequer bill
market. We speak the opinion of the best informed
persons in the City when we say that this isinot Only the
best course for the Government to pursue, but that no
time is to be lost in appointing such a commission.
HERALD.—Two or three banking-houses in the City
and at the West-end are spoken of as having ascertained
on examination probably at the Exchequer bill-office,
that certain batches of bills in their possession are among
the class of fraudulent issues, or forged, as the case may
be, for as yet it is not considered that the point has been
absolutely decided either way. Two of these firms are
said to he holders to the extent of 20,0001. each, and
one firm of 40,000/., hut whether taken in against ad-
vances of money upon them direct, or held merely in
deposit for customers, did not transpire. The amounts
themselves are of small consequence in the way of loss to
the respectable and wealthy parties concerned, if held in
their own right, and the facts are only noted by way of
showing that no certainty has yet been arrived at respect-
ing the whole quantity which has been issued, and simi-
larly held amongst bankers and money-lenders. Some
curious stories are in circulation respecting one of the
parties in custody, but as they rest on no positive foun •
dation, so far as can be ascertained, and, what is more
conclusive, might ttend, if adverted to, to prejudice the
case of a man about to be placed on his trial, it would
neither be right, nor is it necessary, to repeat them here.
CHRONICLE.—The report of the evidence yesterday
at Bow-street and the Mansion-house on the examina-
tion of Smith and Rapallo, corroborates the -views we
have formerly expressed regarding the claims of the in-
nocent holders of the spurious bills on her Majesty's Go-
vernment. It is now established beyond all question
that the spurious bills and the genuine are in all respects
the same, with the sole exception of the signature
" Monteagle," which the Deputy-Comptroller states he
can at once detect to be forged, as they are neither in
his own handwriting nor in that of the Comptroller-Ge-
neral. The origin of the fraud is now distinctly brought
out. It was accomplished by Smith giving instructions
to throw off a larger number of bills than would be re-
quirc-d for the legitimate issues. We also learn that the
fraud began in 1836. Smith said that he gave the bills
to Rapallo without the signatures, but previously ad-
mitted that he had seen the name of Monteaglo sub-
scribed to them; but that another hand, which he would
not or could not disclose, had put the name. Rapallo
said that he received the bills in a complete state from
Smith, and had no suspicion of their being spurious.
Be that as it may, we now see clearly that the whole
of the bills alleged 'to be forgeries are, in all re-
spects, identical with those admitted to be ge-
nuine, with the single exception of the signature.
The only case for the Crown against the bona fide hold-
ers, therefore, is restricted to the supposed forgery of
the name " Monteagle." The evidence of Mr. Perceval,
as regards the test of the counterfoil, does not tend to in-
crease our opinion of its accuracy. The duty of num-
bering the bills fell to the charge of Mr. Smith. Mr.
Perceval distinctly stated so, therefore the numbers on
the disputed bills are genuine, and written by the proper
Government officer. The paper, printing, and stamp
also are all confessedly the same on genuine and spu-
rious bills. There is no attempt to dispute that lact.
There is nothing in question but the signatures and the
technical point of agreeing with the counterfoil. That.
of itself is now almost abandoned as a sufficient ground
of rejection, and merely held out as showing " pretty
clearly that the bills which do not fit the book are genu-
ine." It could not be maintained that if the signatures
were genuine, the mere want of suiting the counterfoil
would Warrant the Government in refusing to pay the
innocent holders.
SUN.—The increasing scarcity of money has at last
occasioned, in combination with the China news, a tem-
porary re-action in the prices of Stock, for although the
Canton news is called satisfactory- in some respects, it is
certainly not yet decis've, except so far as Consols for
immediate transfer were e •1
• g • t 883
to 88k. For Account tilq•nius'ea?soBk9wteore°BB4ctoossin?. India
-
Bonds were 1 to 2 premiucmp
at 165 to 1651, and India Stock 9 firm
Stock, remained _
and-a-Half per Cents. were 99 at _47. Tile New Three-
to 98t, and the Three per
Cents. 87i to 87i.
The Foreign Market
llgalievrerdanina,,nliMate.
Active Stock clog. not Spanish
kto ; Portu-
guese Three p Cents. were at 18; Peruvian 4
F. at 13k to
14; Colombian at 19:1- ; Beeeeino
at ail and Dutch
Two-and-a-Half per Cents. at 5l- to k, being all a shade
lower.
In Shares a good deal of business was transacted, and
generally they fully supported the improvement of the
last day or two. Great Western Railway Shares closed
at 14, the New at ; London and Birmingham at 6s,
the New at 22i-; South Western at 131, and York and
North Midland New 12-i- premium Brighton ; 2 were 13 ;
Blaeltwall 16, and Croydon 2 discount. Australasia
• I ondon and
Bank Shares were 11 ,Westminster 11, and
Provincial of Ireland 151 premium. -
The Market for the Foreign Exchanges was steady,
but not at an improvement upon Tuesday's rates. Out
Paris three months' bills were negociated at 2Sf. 65c. to
oc., on snstcrdam at, 12 41; on Antwerp at 12 e.'s to 1;
on Frankfurt at 119 ; on Ibunbureh at 13 101, and Ull
1
Trieste. 9 54 to 55.

At the late Dorset Sessions a true bill was
found against Mr. Drax, M.P. for Wareham, a man
he was at the re-
named Hutchings having sworn that
cent election bribed
with five pounds for his vote. The
recognisance to
_
Hon. Gentleman entered into his own
meet a charge which is believed to have been trumped
up to suit mere party purposes. It is worthy of re-
mark that Mr. Caicraft and a Committee of gentlemen
had decided that there could be no case to go before a
Committee of the House of Commons to unseat
Drax ; therefore it would seem that the Carlton Club
Mr.
had grown weary of supplying the means of promoting;
frivolous petitions and useless contests ; but there was a
probability that a case of bribery, well and skilfully- got
up, would induce them to be more liberal, and that Mr.
Caleraft's friends might be thus induced to alter their
opinion.—Salisbury Journal,
Some weeks since, while a merchant vessel, the
St. Jean Baptiste of Marseilles was in the Archipelago,
her supercargo, Gavi, was taken with an illness from
which he suffered extreme pain. His son, a lad,
who was on boad, was one day on deck with a Ge-
noese sailor, and, lamenting the cruel state of his
father, said " I would rather die than see him con-
tinue in this condition." Ansaldi, the sailor, laughed
at the youth, and told him if he saw death at hand
he would shrink from it. Young Gavi instantly ran
down to the captain's cabin, brought up a pistol, and,
giving it to Ansaldi, sAid—" Now fire, and see if I
shrink." The sailor tcy,k the weapon, presented it at
the youth's breast, pullA the trigger, and killed him
instantaneously. Ansaldi was put under arrest, sent to
France in a corvette, which arrived three days ago at
Marseilles, when) ho is imprisoned to take his trial for
the murder.

TYPHUS FEVER --We are sorry to announce
that the typ7tas fever is at present very prevalent in
Bradford. Toe extreme distress of the operatives is a
sorry accompanisnent at such a perical,—York. Courant.