The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-17 00:00:00

ANOTHER FRAUD DISCOVEREB OF SEVERAL

THOUSANDS OF FOUNDS.

During the past week an extensive fraud has been
discovered in the establishment of Messrs. Bennett and
Corpe, the eminent engineers of New Cross-road, Dept-
Ord, committed by John William Stuart, their foreman
and managing man.
It appears that for the last 13 years Stuart has enjoyed
the fu tel confidence of his employers, but owing to some
suspicion having been excited in the mind of Mr. Stout,
the head clerk to the firm, a rigid scrutiny of account,
took place, when some inefficient rendering appearing in
the " time" account, Stuart was sent for, who said there
was a mistake, which be would immediately rectify with
the men. He had no communication with either of the
men, but shortly afterwards returned, sa)ing he had
made it all right, and altered the book. This led to a
further search, which resulted in the discovery of fraud
to the amount of several thousands of pounds, and the
absconding of Stuart. With respectto the method by which
Stuart had carried on his fraud for so long a period, it
appears that be had made false and fictitious time
entries, paying the men from a private list, with stop-
pages for lost time, but himself charging the full amount.
He had also been receiving from Gs, to 10s. a week for
each engineer's wages more than he had paid over to
them, and 2s. a week each in like manner for the la-
bourers. As far as has at present been ascertained this
system has been carried on between twelve and thirteen
years, during which period his weekly salary of 31. 103.
must have amounted to 101., there being employed upon
the premises between two and three hundred men.
Stuart had also been in the habit of employing the men
and material of the firm in the construction of lathes,
&c., and disposing of them for his own individual benefit.
The most heartless portion of the fraud, however, is the
receipt by Stuart of a sovereign from Mr. Bunnett for
an injured carman, which was never paid over. A search
warrant having been obtained, the police proceeded to
Stuart's residence, 4, Arnersham-road, New-cross, and
brought away half a cart load of property (recognised by
Mr, Bunnett as belonging to him), consisting of house
chandeliers, gas lamps, corrugated iron ornamental ar-
ticles (including two aquaria, well stocked with fish),
manufactured iron the material of his employers, with
which the house was decorated.
Messrs. Bennett and Corpe cannot tell the precise
amount of the defalcations, but they at present reach
several thousand pounds.

It is estimated that the shipments of specie by the
Peninsular and Oriental steamer Colombo, on the `2oth
inst., will reach from 450,000,. to 500,0001. The whole,
principally silver, will be despatched to India, there being
no China wail on thin occaLion.

If we may belie(vierotnthet4inef=l)on eomm
to us by the agent of the Associated New 'to*,
Press, Mr. Buchanan was elected President on the
4th instant, and will shortly be the chief nsagin-
trate of the United States. So ends the' ong
struggle which has convulsed the Union during
many months. The questions as to the prepon.
derance of the slaveholding power and the exten-
sion of slavery into new territories are resolved in
a manner unfavourable to the hopes of the
North and of that great portion of the English
community which sympathised with Northern
policy and traditions. But not only is the
fate of Kansas decided by this event, but the fo-
reign policy of the Union must be held to be
deeply influenced in a sense contrary to the wishes
of moderate men, both at home and in Europe. It
caunot be forgotten that Mr. Buchanan, when Mi-
nisterar arisen
e u between
this
n country,Am er;c ag
aa
nved but Eng l
a nd
little .
It assistancehas be
been
the peaceful settlement of the questions that had
thought, and not without reason, that Lord Cla-
i endon's endeavours to terminate more than one
dispute were baffled by the American representa-
tive, not with any wish to,involve the two c 3untries
in war—an event which he probably thought no
amount of acrimonycould bring about, but because
he saw in the continuance of this angry spirit an
electioneering advantage to himself in his °midi-
dsteship for the Presidency. Nor can it be for-
gotten that at the Ostend Conference, where doe.
trines entirely subversive of the commonest rights
of nations were promulgated, Mr. Buchanan took
a principal part. The acquisition of Cuba by al-
most any means was adopted by the Conference as
the keystone of a true American statesman's :ore ign
policy, and it may be inferred by analogy that ag-
gression on other American States with valuable
ports or territory would follow in due comae. With
respect, therefore, to -the event which has just
taketiptace, wo can only- repeat the observations
which we made when the Pennsylvanian election
showed that it was imminent. We cannot pretend
to judge the public men of the Union except by the
light which their own actions and the opinions of
their countrymen furnish ; neither would it be-
come us to express immoderate joy or regret at the
result of a domestic political contest in a foreign
country; yet, as the American statesman, by his
own confession and by the common report of his
countrymen, holds views inconsistent with the inde-
pendence ofcertain neighbouring States, we cannot
but think that so far the endorsement of his claims
by the majority of his countrymen is a fact to be
viewed with regret.
It may reassure the world, however, to find that
the Northern States, which have been so moved
by this long contest, are disposed, now that it is
over, to pay willing obedience to the new magis-
trate and the Government which he may inaugu-
rate. Submission to the will of the majority is
part of the American nature. It is therefore pro-
bable that in a few weeks much of the anger and
exaggeration of the last six months will have
passed away. We cannot agree with those who
hap been lately speaking of a disruption of the
American Union. In past times the probability of
such an event was often discussed in European
circles, but the very notion was ridiculed by every
American. He would say that the inviolability
of the Union was an idea cherished by an American
from youth to the grave, and that an eminent poli-
tician had been unable during his whole life to
attain to the Presidency because he had on one
occasion set up the authority of an individual State
against the Federal Government. But lately we
have had native Americans debating not only
whether such a disruption might not be possible,
but also whether it would not be advisable to effect
it at once. The result of this election will set the
matter at rest. It will be seen that the whole
American people will acquiesce in the solemn ver-
dict which has just been taken. Perhaps there is
not so much sincerity in the dislike to slavery as
might be thought from the bitterness of the
struggle ; perhaps vested rights and the instinct of
property prevail ; at any rate, at present the
North will acquiesce in all that the South has
demanded ; Kansas will be a Slave State, the
Fugitive Slave Law will be strictly enforced, and
everything will go on in the old way for four years
more.

But, leaving the domestic institution, we have
a right to criticise more freely the election in its
bearing on international politics. We are the
people most nearly concerned with the American
Union ; the citizens of the two countries are
brought into constant contact ; we have large
dealings with the States which are most exposed
to American aggression ; we have therefore a
claim to speak in the matter. If the antecedents
of a long life may be used as a basis for
judging a statesman's career, it may be thought
that Mr. Buchanan is less the enthusiastic pro-
moter of a policy in which he believes than the
embodiment of the notions which are for a time
dominant in the American democracy. The new
President is rather a man who seeks for popularity
aid office than one resolute to carry out schemes
on which he is fixedly set. He was not a candidate
for the Presidency because he wished to make ag-
gression on Spain, but he accepted strong language
regarding Spanish rights because it would toll
on the election for the Presidency. It may be
hoped, therefore, that now he is at the summit of
his ambition he will disengage himself from those
dangerous schemes to which he has seemingly com-
mitted himself. From this point of view Mr.
Buchanan may, in spite of the Ostend manifesto,
endorsed though it was on the Cincinnati plat-
form, be a President sufficiently scrupulous as to
the law of nations. We trust, for the sake of
America, and the world, that this will be the case.
But still it is impossible not to recollect that there
are men who aspire to the same exalted position
which Mr. Buchanan has already attained, and
who may consider the persistence in the same doc-
trines as an advantageous policy. More than one
of these is connected with the present Government,
and may prolong the irritation and bickering which
have marked the existing Presidency. Such men
as Jefferson Davis and Douglas have been the evil
geniuses of President Pierce, and may perhaps
bring equal discredit on the Government of his
successor. We trust that Mr. Buchanan, now that
he is placed in the highest office which an Ame-
rican citizen can fill, will rise to his position, and
administer the affairs of his country with firmness
and independence of judgment. The power of an
American President is perhaps beyond-that of any
analogous Minister in a free State ; he is a Sove-
reign irremovable during his term of office, and
may, if he chooses, be practically his own Minis-
ter. We sincerely hope that he will understand
the true interests of the land he governs, and that
as tar as regards
.England he will endeavour to
preserve those feelings of mutual esteem and good-
will which within the last few years have grown
up so largely between the two countries.

The anxiety regarding the James Baines ban been
increased by the announcement, via Panama, of her
having sailed from Melbourne on the 6th of Augu4t,
whence she is now 101 days out. There have not, how-
ever, been any further insurances effected upon her at
Lloyd's at advanced rates, and the feeling with regard to
her will scarcely amount to positive alarm until some
vessel shall have arrived direct from Melbourne of later
date. The Messrs. Baines, the owners, in a letter to
the Times this morning, say the ship never took 100
days for the performance of the voyage • and, therefore.
"The Passenger" who came home in her when she did
so must have mistaken the name of the ship in which
he travelled.

SIISPECTID MURDER OF A WIFE, AND SUICIDE OF VIE
HUSBAND.—About halt-past 10 o'clock on Saturday
night last, a constable on duty in the Hackney-road was
hastily summoned to the house No. 17, Great Cain.
bridge-street, where he was informed that a man had
committed suicide. On entering the parlour, a young
oiau, apparently about 27 years of age, was found lying
on the carpet in a pool of blood, his throat cut from ear
to ear, and by his side lay a black-handled razor, with
wet blood on the blade ; and there is not the
mo
for, whoted
quite
slightest
, i t
doubt that by means of that instrument hebsaedect f
o
suicide. A surgeon named Wallace was
of
life.
The
found the body warm, but
devoid
and about
police were left in charge of the
apartment,e
iannfohromuar , afterwardsion
of
the theto t e sameg eie officer
g
act,
was
apprisedfthe canal near
woman had been taken from the water o
who
had r e
thatce ie d a
and conveyed to the
'This, on inquiry by the
Acorn public-house adjaceu•
Haggerston-bridge, quite dead,
constable, likewise
tigation resulted in ptrhoevdecil,:vrreeryct,efatnhde ad
efeueratsbeedr
parties
of age.
:Ching
tends to show, almost beyond the shadow
investigation
being husband and wife—the latter only 22 years
eusseba nadc wasa a
subsequent
()fa doubt, that the
his
wife,
and thee took hie i owncaliufg.
In connection with t:
ing the death of
a girl 16 years of age, whilepassin-eg.
• • ath of the canal, between 3 and 10
man standing
o'clock, observed a
time - near the water's
edge, and at the same. heard a gurgling sound
proceeding from
,11e1aarrytAhentneBwirnogwnp,
the middle of the stream. She re-
marked to the man,
following "il You
thrownouhapveerceivehim enter
the house something
into the water ;" on hearing which be ran off with-
outl
os reply,e and sh
17, Great Cambridge-street. A man named
Finch shortly afterwards saw something on the surface
of the water, near the bridge, and baying procured the
assistance of the police, obtained drags, and drew the
body of the female to the side. The same medical man
who had attended upon her husband was called in, and,
as in the former case, pronounced life to have been but a
short time extinct. Their names are Henry and (we
believe) Ann
Fenn. By trade he was a carver and gilder,;
There is no family, but the lodgers state that they lived
unhappily, he keeping her
without
domestic necessaries.
On the same evening the bodies were found as described,
eed.l
house, followed bubt he'nvery spl
she was heard to say " Good bye, Henry," and left the
quickly by him,
returned, and persons above stairs observing an unusual_
weltering in his blood as described.
silence, entered his apartment, when they found him