The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-04 00:00:00

THE SADLEIR FRAUDS.

The extraordinary diclosures partially made in
the evidence given by Messrs. Kennedy and Mor-
rogh before the Master in Chancery have, if it were
possible, added to the surprise created by the con-
clusion of the career of the giant swindler, the
extent of whose frauds, great as they were, is even
yet imperfectly known. A few days more may,
probably, further enlighten the public with respect
to John Sadlair's transactions in the Encumbered
Estates Court, as the documents promised to be
produced by the solicitors, above• named cannot
fail to afford full information upon this chapter of
the suicide's history. The Freeman's Journal,
commenting upon the revelations of Tuesday last,
observes :

" It appears from the examination of Messrs. Morrogh
and Kennedy, before Master Murphy, that the hope in
which the depositors indulged was delusive, and that not
one single perch of the land purchased by Mr. Sadleir
with their money has been in any way charged with the
sums so Advanced, The London and County Bank has
got no less than 20 assignments of Irish property pur-
chased by Mr. John Sadleir, no doubt, mostly by the
moneys advanced by his brother, Mr. James Sadleir,
out of the coffers of the Tipperary Bank ; but. so far
as we can gather from the facts elicited at the Master's-
office, on Tuesday, the shareholders of the Tipperary
Bank have received no security of any kind against
the lands' purchased in the Irish court, and are shut
nut from all claim on them by the London and County
Bank. Those who frequented the Encumbered Estates
Court on'auction days, or who perused the lists of pur-
chasers will remember that at a very great sale the
came of Sadleir appeared as the purchaser of the prime
lots. The vast sums so invested in his came excited sur-
prise at the time. Those only, however, who were in the
secret knew that it was a vast scheme, in Which specula-
tion and fraud were so commingled that even now it is
difficult, with the aid of all the light thrown on these
events by the subsequent diseosuree, to say where one
began and where the other ended. In every case it would
a;ipeai that the Tipperary Beak supplied the funds. Mr.
Norris's name was to be used in a transaction of over
10,0001., the mysterious character of which has yet to be
unravelled, and the Tipperary Bank supplied the cash.
The mortgage affords no clue to this fact—the deed dis-
closes :no trust on the face of it ; it is yet uncertais
whether the moitgage was bona fide to Mr. Norris indi-
vidually or to Mr. Norris in trust for the bank, but Mr.
Morrogh gives the creditors of the bank the benefit of
his memory and impressions, and both concur in show-
ing that the money came from the coffers of the bank.
We must admit that the purchases made by Mr. James
Sadleir seem to require as much explanation as those
made by his late brother, and that gentleman will have,
in defence of his own reputatian, to disclose with great
minuteness the circumstances which caused him to
have the property legally vested in that other party,
at a time when no pecuniary transactions with the ficti-
tious buyer and no family arrangements seem to have
required that concealment. The cause of the conceal-
ment is involved in mystery. The facts already known
to the public suggest but one explanation—that the
money wtih which the property was purchased was the
money of the bank, not Mr. Sadleir's, and that for some
as yet unexplained motive he was desirous not to ap-
pear to have had such command of capital. Mr. John
Sadleir's plunder of the Tipperary Bank amounted to
tOO,OOO/. There are other two hundred thousands unac-
counted for. The Glengall mortgage, if Mr. Morrogh'e
impressions be correct, accounts for 10,0001. The Kin-
connell estate seems at present to account for 12 or 16
other thousands'; but it is hardly pessible to believe, if
this Kinconnell property was really purchased with the
money of the bank, that the manager who attempted to
conceal the fact of his having purchased that property
and who, when the °bank was more than insolvent,
fabricated and circulated a report, representing the profits'
on the year as 9 per cent., has not effected some other
concealments, the disclosing of which will lessen the
calamity which his management of the bank has brought
on b 0 many innocent victims. We may be wrong in
ouresareoises' but no person can have read she proceed-
ings on Tuesday List without feeling that we are at least
justified in believing that, so far as the ruin of the Tip-
perary -its
.
perary Ban concerued, Mr. Jas. Sadleir was more
guilty than even John Sadleir, and he is the party to
whom the shareholders and the depositors principally
owe the calamitous condition to which they have been
reduced. The London and County Bank have obtained
from Mr. John Sadleir 20 assignments. Mr. Jas
Sadleir, who acted on behalf of the Tipperary Bank,
and who advanced to his brother over 200, 0001. of the
moneys of that bank, does not appear to have obtained
even the semblance of a security for these advances, and
unless the 'Kinconnell estate affair be satisfactorily ex-
plained the shareholders and depositors will be disposed
to conchide.that their money was concealed behind the
name of the law, and that arrangements were deaberately
made for gliding quietly into the enjoyment of that
estate by a process which it will be the duty of the offi-
cial manager to ascertain and to expose, but which at
present we do not desire to characterize."

NOW OR NEVER !

The 9th of April is not far off ; and, albeit ne-
cessarily for the last time, awl at the eleventh
hour, we venture upon giving the Proprietors of
East India Stock one final reminder as to the duty,
which is owing alike to themselves and the inte-
rests they represent, at this important crisis. We
were the first openly to avow and make public;the
doctrine, that in proclaiming a house-list, and in
combining to assure the re-election of the out-
going five directors as one man, the parties so com-
bining did in fact conspire to nullify the law of the
land. This view of the case (a view that must na-
turally have occurred to many of the electors at
the very outact) now stands confirmed by an overt
act on the part of Government—namely, the non-
reappointment of a ministerial nominee, who va-
cates the Direction at the expiration of his allotted
term.

In an advertisement which appeared in the Times
of Saturday last, "A Proprietor" (one evidently a
man of mark amongst his fellows) expresses his sen-
timents in the following terms :—" 1 have carefully
canvassed the respective merits of the candidates,
and have come to the conclusion (at which I trust
the proprietors generally will also arrive) that we
ought to elect one of the new candidates, Mr.
Morris, upon this ground alone--that there is not
a single Madras Civil Servant in the direction."
The ground assigned (in addition of course to Mr.
M.'s admitted qualifications for office) is quite un-
exceptionable ; yet, strong as it may appear, it is
haldly so conclusive as the reason urged by us in
the Indian News of the 3d ult. Vote for Morris,
because, with your aid, he has the best chance of
success ! This is the one practical reason, that
should outweigh all others. Fur were reasons plenty
as blackberries, it is very certain that there is, or
should be; one only all-important object in con-
stant view of every independent proprietor at this
moment ; and that object is—to win, if possible,
the battle that must come off on the 9th inst.
Mr.. Morris is perfectly awake to the nature of
his chan'ces, whether of successor defeat. He tells
his friends plainly that it is in their power to re-
turn him, if they are his friends in earnest. If
they do but support him ill the spirit of friendship,
he is safe to succeed._ But those who pretend to
desTie Mr. Morris's success, and then proceed to
ensure his defeat by_frittering away votes upon
memberficrof the Coalition, could hardly insult their
ostensibly favoured candidate more grossly, even
by spitting in his face ! We do not mean to state
that Mr. Morris has expressed himself quite so
strongly in his last published address. But we
most advisedly express our own opinion in the
strongest terms available ; hoping that some who
yet vacillate, may be thereby induced to pause
and refloot ere they commit an act of self-stultifica-
tion.

Promises made to the Coalition (as many no
doubt have been made) under studiously fostered
misconceptions, are in all honour null and void.
It is a sacred duty to break up the House-clique ;
and " Now. or Never !" is the word. We should
be only too glad to believe that there was room for
the success of two outsiders ; but this is scarcely
to be hoped. And, such being the case, we do most
sincerely hope that all the popular candidates who
have no absolute expectation of being returned,
will withdraw from the contest ere the day of bal-
lot arrive:
By adopting this generous course they
would reap golden opinions amongst the unfettered
portion of the proprietary ; they might still be
partakers in an honourable victory, even on the
present occasion_; and they would retain the chance
of being able to fight for their own hands success-
fully, at some future opportunity.—lndian Netml