The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-04 00:00:00

ME FRAUDS IN THE AUSTRIAN COM-
MISSARIAT.

A latter from Trieste,.aated March 29, says :
The engrossing topic of the day is the gigantic
frauds discovered in the Commissariat Department,
Which, no doubt, were in no small degree influen-
tial in, bringing to so sudden a termination the
recent hostilities between the Austrian and Franco-
Italian armies, and which drag to light, despite
most powerful influence, a series of disgraceful facts,
involving.a multitude of names, some or them hold-
ing positions so high as to render even allusions
hazardous, in charges of the most flagrant political
and moral turpitude. The accounts in the _Vienna
and other Austrian newspapers are meagre in the
extreme; and, but for the suicide of General
Eynatten on the 7th-Sth inst., which admitted of
no concealment, these frauds would probably never
have been alluded to. The deficit amounts to the
astounding sum of no less than 17,000,000 florins,
or £1,700,000 sterling, of which 3,000,000 florins,
or £300,000, is laid to the charge of sonic of the :st
leading capitalists of this city. One 'WC 8 impri-,
Boned, two have fled, and others are undergoing .1
forced examinations of books, papers, documents,2,
&e. The strangest part of the tale is, however,,,a
that which is certainly the least known. It is said,,a
and from the sources from whence I hear it ra
believe it is true, that at the celebrated meeting of
the rival Emperors which led to the armistice, and 'lr
subsequently to the preliminaries of the treaty of
peace at Villafranea, when Napoleon and Francis
Joseph were left quasi alone for nearly three-
quarters of an hour, the former, addressing the latter,
said, " Your Majesty would do well to listen to
friendly and well-meant counsels. You are sur-
rounded by traitors. Your Majesty believes that
your fortress of Mantua is provisioned for six
months ; I tell you," emphatically raising his finger,
"it has not food for as many days. Test my infor-
mation, and act accordingly" And so it proved,
and afforded another lesson also of the infinite supe-
riority of the French over the Austrian system of
espionnage.
To give some idea of the bare-faced effrontery of
the 'fraud, and the number of accomplices necessary,
one instance will suffice, though, if needful, I could
adduce many others. Mantua is a walled city, and
the bullocks which were driven in at one gate
passed through the town out at the opposite, and
then, making the half circuit of the walls, re-entered
at the first gate, and every bullock made this
parade five times ! The richest part of the tale in
connection with Mantua is 'yet to come. A firm
in Trieste made a contract with the Austrian Go-
vernment for the hides of the bullocks supplied for
the use of the troops. Now, although each bullock
did duty living for five, still he could only be killed
once, and supply one hide. The contractors, there-
fore, called upon and actually received from the
Government the forfeit, as stipulated by contract,
of one florin upon every hide short delivered ; thus
profitting to the extent of 30,000 florins for the non-
delivery of the skins of animals which had never
been killed ! Solferino and Magenta might each
have told another tale had not the hunger caused
by Austrian fraud weakened, if not paralysed, Aus-
trian valour. Enough of this fur the present.
A good on dit is getting an extensive under-cur-
rency, and is believed by some ; I do not aver that
I am of the number, nevertheless thotale tells well,
and it may, therefore, be prudent not too closely to'
test its accuracy. It is said that the Emperor
Francis Joseph, being disquieted by the triple re-
currence of a dream, had recourse to the counsels of
his mother, the Archduchess Sofia, who at once
summoned to her aid a " weird sister" in whose
mystic talent she had herself confidence. Intro-
duced to the august presence, the crone demanded
what visions of the night had startled the Imperial
slumbers. The Emperor informed her he had
dreamed of three mice ; the first perfectly blind, the
second so immensely bloated and fat it could scarcely
walk, and the third weak, poor, and almost dying'
from starvation. The beldame appeared alarmed,
and at first professed her inability to afford any
solution • but, on being reassured and informed
that under any circumstances she might rely not
only on protection but reward, she took heart, and,.
much to the astonishment of her Imperial interro-
gators, replied," The blind mouse is your Majesty;
the fat mouse, your Ministers ; and the worn-out,
starving, and exhausted mouse, your people." Bo
the tale well or ill-founded, it is sufficiently
analogous to the present state of the empire; but
the worst part of it is that the blind mouse does not
at present appear to have opened his eyes, and, if
he continues to persevere in his present course,
bids fair to realize the warning prophecy
of the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, when
nine months ago he gave deep umbrage to his Im-
perial brother by saying, " If your Majesty goes
oa thus, you will not stop till you have lost your-
self and your empire." Apropos of the Archduke
Ferdinand Maximilian—a young man of education,
genius, and talent far beyond the common order,
and universally esteemed and beloved, except by
one or two exalted personages—there is no doubt
that his voyage to Madeira and the Brazils, from
whence he is now on his return, was in reality an
honorary exile. The advice which was once re-
jected is now sought, and his return is anxiously
expected, as he possesses more brain than all the
rest of the Haesburgs concentrated. He is gene-
rally expected here about the middle of April, but
I believe the commencement of the month is more
probable. His steam yacht, the Fantasia, left at
midnight very recently to meet him, on the ex-
pected arrival of the EEsabetta.frigate at an island
which he bought a few months ago on the Dalma-
tion coast for the purpose of erecting another
marine residence; and I know positively that on
the same day a telegram arrived from Vienna for
the purpose of hastening his departure for the
capital to attend a Council.

TILE NEW BANKRUPTCY BILL.

At the meeting of the Society for Promoting the
Amendment of the Law, on Monday, Mr. Edgar
read the first instalment of the report of the com-
mittee appointed to consider the provisions of the
new Bankruptcy Bill. The following are the re-
commendations of the committee :

" That the Court of Bankruptcy in London should
consist of a chief judge and three assistant judges,
one of whom should sit in Portugal-street, and that
the assistant judges should determine all questions,
administrative and judicial, and that the chief
judge, with one or more of the assistant judges,
should form a court of appeal on all questions both
from the London and district courts. That it is in-
expedient to entrust the administrative business of
the Court of Bankruptcy to the registrars. That
the registrars in London should be reduced to two,
at the present salary of £l,OOO per annum each,
and that the other three should be released from
their duties, or one or more of them be transferred
to the London district court, or to the provincial or
county courts. That it is expedient that the Court
of Bankruptcy in London should continue to be
held in the City. That two messengers should be
retained, but that the scale, as well as the amount
of remuneration, should b. lessened. That all estates
in which the liabilities exceed £5OO should be ad-
ministered in the chief court in London and in the
district courts ; and that the transfer to the county
court of estates not likely to exceed £lOOO is ob-
jectionable. That it is not expedient that the offi-
cial assignee should be divested of the estate on the
election of the creditors' assignee. That solicitors
should not appear and plead in the Court of Ap-
peal, hut should be allowed to appear and plead, as
at pre§ent, before any judge or commissioner
exercising original jurisdiction."
On the motion of Mr. E. LAWRANCE, the report,
after a brief discussion was agreed to.

(From the Times' City Article.)
Certain points on which it was thought the new
Bankruptcy Bill would require alteration were
mentioned in the Times of Monday last. The
Mercantile Law Amendment Society have since
been in communication with the Attorney-General,
and it appears that the modifications in question
will be effected. The provisions making the seizure
and sale of a debtor's goods under an execution an
act of bankruptcy from the date of seizure are to
proviso that a petition for adjudi-
cationpresented within a month of the
befolloewbeedll bybea
sale. The clauses making the non-payment of a
bill of exchange by the acceptor after a 12 days'
notice an act of bankruptcy are to be struck out, as
both useless and inconvenient. Power is to be
given to the judge and commissioners to issue a
summons calling upon a debtor to show cause why
he should not be adjudged bankrupt in cases where
the creditor makes an affidavit that a debt suffi-
cient to sustain an adjudication is due, and that he
verily believes that his debtor is in insolvent cir-
cumstances, and disclosing his reasons for that
belief. After the summons has issued, however,
the creditor is not to receive payment of his debt
until the debtor has been examined and has satis-
fied the Court of his ability to meet his engage-
ments with his creditors. The majority competent
to bind a minority in cases of trust deeds or private
arrangements is to be a simple majority in number,
representing three-fourths in value, instead of
three-fourths both in number and value. The
debtor in cases of trust deeds is to have 14 days
instead of seven to get the required majority of his
creditors to assent. Provision is also to be made
for the punishment of debtors vexatiously defending
actions brought against them.

A pheasant, pursued by a hawk, dashed latet
at a plate-glass window in Edinburgh, and such was the .
velocity the bird had then attained—probably fifty miles an.„
hour—that it passed clean through the glass; falling dead.'
instantly.