The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-21 00:00:00

LONDON DISCOUNT COMPANY.

A meeting of the London Discount Company
was held yesterday, in pursuance of a requisition
recommending a dissolution of the concern, Mr. W.
Bevan presiding Tho chairman stated that, in con-
sequence of an implied understanding that the di-
rectors would consider the propriety of winding up
—a strict examination had been made, and the
conclusion arrived at by the majority was that the
business had not been sufficiently satisfactory to
warrant going on. The results of the four years'
working since the commencement, in Dec., 1856,
showed that the net profits, irrespective of losses,
were £60,000, or about 9 per cent. per annum. The
bad debts however in the same period were £47,000.
The actual dividends paid have amounted to
£18,200, and as no division of profits can be ex-
pected next year, the result of five years' working
at the:end of Dec., 1861, would show a distribu-
tion at the rate of only 11 per cent. per annum. It
might be said that experience had been gained,
which should lead to an improvement for the future
but the present Board mere unanimously against
any further trial. The bad debts had increased cor. .
currently vs ith the profits. Mr. Scholefield, M.P.,
the late chairman, differed from these conclusions,
but would offer no opposition to a liquidation, that,
in fact, being inevitable now that the directors had
condemned their own business. With regard to his
having sent in his resignation together with that of
three other directors, he explained that, as he
could not concur in winding up, he was not prepared
to put such a resolution, and had, therefore, quitted
the Board. He al so • pointed out that in addition to
the profits mentioned must be reckoned the rather
large sum appropriated to preliminary expenses. In
the discussion that ensued it was urged on the one
side that the company is at present in a position as
good, if not better, than that in which it stood at
the date of the last meeting, when entire confidence
was expressed in the management, and that the
bad debts in the past four years—only £4'1,000, of
which £22,000 was from failures in the leather
trade—were small considering the peculiar events
of the period, and compared with the bills dis-
counted, amounting to 33 millions. The general
feeling, however, was that the realisations wet
quite inadequate to the risk, and it was pointedalso
out that the new rule of the Bank not to rediscountind of
has added considerably to the perils thisofh
a
business, since in periods of panic,.suc
to recur at intervals, each establishment
resources. A
thrown exclusively on its own
wreass s arew sure
u br ee
eventually reso-
lution to wind up voluntarily
of three-fourths.
car-
ried by the required majorityn of the company for
allllmr.oSstchtohleefilevlhdo,leaspecrhiaoi
period of its duration, and some
of the general manager
the efficiency and
other shareholders, acknowledged in high terms
they may be entitled to
salary to each of the officers,
and staff, and the zeal,meeting voted unanimously a
addition to a
and Mr.
their respective
yenayr ssum
agreements. Messrs. Blen-
ignratuity. of a
under
kin and Mark Hunter, two directors,
Woodhouse, the secretary, were appointed liqui-
dators.

THE CUSTOMS' REVENUE.-It is interesting to
trace the various sources from which the Customs revenue
is made up. In the last financial year, of which particu-
lars have been made public,
(omitting fractions of pounds)
e diust,i9e:So'.n almonds yielded
apples £3,238 -
baskets, £2,359 ; spruce beer, £3,220'; books,' £5879 ,
boots, shoes, and boot fronts, £7,996; butter, £107,985 '
caoutchouc manufactures, £7,177 ; cheese, £47,461; chins.:
porcelain, and earthenware, £3,439 ; clocks, £8,498 ; clove°,
11;k88s,ii c0c0a8,695; and chocolate, £16,386; coffee, £441,436 ticorks,
co
corn, meal, and dour,
£499,268 ; curran 'a,
£368,336 ; dates, £5,865 ; eggs, £22,080 ; embroidery and
needlework, £6,999 ; figs, £29,412; artificial flowers,
£14,995 ; dry and preserved ginger, £5,577 ; glass,
£5,148 ; leather gloves, £59,573 ; hops, £3,942 ; lace,
£2,684 ; liquorice, £7,676; lucifers, £1,789 ; mace, £1,628 ;
musical instruments, £11,321; nutmegs, £10,836 ; nuts
(small nuts and walnuts), £13,048 ; chemical, essential,
and perfumed oils, £9,758 ; opera, marine, and race
glasses, £2,470; opium, £2,611; oranges and lemons,
£34,421; printed and stained paper, £11,971; pepper,
£108,799 ; platting of all kinds, £11,618 ; prunes and dri:iced,
and preserved plums, £7,637 ; raisins, £151,773;
ruim
£23,285; silk manufactures, £225,573; spills-
_4
£1,535,920 ; brandy, £926,302 ; gin, £61,431;
_.B_, EY 8731
molasses, £6,007,081; tallow, £70,674; teat9l3,l; 4''''
watches,
tobacco and snuff, £5,596,513; toys, £4,bt.,
w£1040,191e5n0
manufactures,; wine, X 1,634 ,1238,78;967owdooainieda. ti w
Isle of Man, £29,164 ; rent of legal qua'
xii,o29 ; fees under
cads of goods sold for the tut 53 £2,661; miscellaneous, £100,551 ; dutietcoxlce7rc,stsd2sla;i°pastrrnihoe;:
ffonlsproceeds h el nt s foofr sale
eeloafl
ores,oi'llderschan 5212,1019i7n;g atedt,rnpoanretY2l; waki n g a total (including
attendance of officers, £10,127; 0 In the previous year
7893,.and the principal items
corn, meal, and flour,
fractionsthe
total
receipts
n pounds)
roe fx.£2249, 39981,
3,
iwseBr2e,aBl363fo;lloowasrmn:-CteeNt 6252i8;275;i1k, £295,073 ; rum,
11,384,2.17 ;£855,096 ; sugar and molasses,
brandy' ; tobacco and snuff, L 5,465,225;
snd timber, £574,239.
l of tbewlo:adri'''''. letters state that one dim-
in the r
consistswin St9e7e; :01: fe3ltr29. ' ha7obiß; 7a3n tea,
Sek fsoofs, 1 France r
oa
fn
thece under
Emperorth e presentto
allallow
drainw tllthorn
ft goldo u s
e
ealise any material portion of the silver of which their
sotrocrk of specie mainly consists. Silver being a commodity
which can always be replaced on fair market terms, it is
not easy to understand the grounds of this objection.
Possibly the idea may be that silver is too essential for the
payment of armies to allow of the slightest risk being in-
curred of a failure in the supply.