The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-27 00:00:00

THE i ATE M=l. S IDLEIR,

The question as to the eXient'of the delinluencies of
the late Mr. John Sadleir continues a subject of absotb,
ing interest in the city, since it is impossible to ascer-
tain at present in what quarters the heaviest losses
will fall. It is certain, however, that no ground exists
for the supposition on which the inquest was ad-
journed yesterday—namely, that Mr. Sadleir may pos-
sibly be shown to have laboured under a delusion with
regard to the magnitude of the offences he iiisputed. to
himself in the letters written on the evening preceding
his death. At the same time there is reason to believe
that on some points there this been unnecessary alarm.
The undertakings with which Mr. Sadleir was chiefly
connected were the Royal Swedish Railway, the East
Kent Railway, and the London and County Bank. He
was likewise gr7atly interested in the Tipperary Joist-
stack Bank, of which his brother, the member for Tip-
perary, was chairman, and he also acted as receiver or
agent for some Irish landowners. Urgent inquiries are
consequently being made as to the spscial nature of his
transactions in relation to each of these bodies. As
regards the Royal Swedish Railway, of which he was
the chairman, it appears to have been ascertained with.
out doubt that he has issued an immense amount of the
shares and obligations of the company without authority,
although with genuine signatures. Whether he has put
forth any which are forgeries seems not yet to have been
clearly established. The capital of the company is
416,0701., in 51. shares, on which it enjoys a guarantee.
from the Swedish Governreent of 4 per cent. interest
and 1 per cent, sinking fund, and the shares are payable
to name or to bearer, at the option of the share-
holder. A considerable number were forfeits d
for non-payment of calls, and some time back,
in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, the com-
pany obtained power to raise 100,0001. en de-
bentures or obligations. They rqu'resi the signature
of two directors and the secretary and Mr. Sadleir, hav-
ing obtained possession of the unissued quantities for
the purpose of completing them with his signature,
seems to have got rid of them in the Stock Exchange,
or in any quarter where he could raise money. Theno-
minal amount thus made, away with is reported to range
between 200,0001. and 300,0001., although probably the
advances he received upon them were not more than a
fourth or a third of.that tkal. The case is nearly ana-
lovous to the fraudulent i-sue made a year ago at New
York by Mr. Schuyler of a large number of shares of the
New York and Newhaven Railroad, of which he was
president, and which, owing to the company haying con-
tested their liability, has ever since been before the law
courts of the State. The actual extent of overissue will,
it is expected, be speedily made public, the directors
having instituted an inquiry, which has
,been carried
oa by Messrs. Broom and Co., the accountants, and
the results of which will be communicated to a
general mectiug of . the shareholder:2, which has
just been summoned for Friday next, at the London
Tavern. With regard to the East Kent Railway,
it is stated that, with the exception of some ar-
rears of calls, Mr. Sadleir is not cl.rectly indebted
to that undertaking. In his capacity of deputy-
chairman, however, he induced the board to depo-
sit 8,0001. of their unemployed capital with the
Tipperary Bank on deposit notes, which fell due at the
beginning of la>t week and were dishonoured. In the
case of the London and C .unty Bank it is affirmed that
no loss whatever has been sustained. Mr. Sadleir was
chairman of that company, but obtained no advances
from it except upon sufficient securities. Many rep r!s
having been in circulation to a contrary effect, it is under-
stood that, in order to remove all doubt on the subject,
the three new directors, Messrs. Nicol, Hoghton, and
Laming, who were last week added to the board, have
required that the securities in question should be ex-
amined and reported on by some independent solicitor,
assisted by the solicitors of the .hank, and that a resolu-
tion to that effect was passed this afternoon. The va-
lidity of the deeds held by the company from Mr. Sadleir
is stated to have been fully tested by registration. In
relation to the Tipperary Joint-Stock Bank, it appears
that this establishment was promoted by Mr. Sadleir in
1833, its bead office being at Clonmel, with eight branches
in the district. Although it paid dividends at the rate
of 6 per cent. it seems to have made no return of the
nurnher of its.partners, the amount of its shares, or its
paid-up capital, and, with the exception of one or
two families, the shareholders are said to be . per-
sons of limited means. Tile families in question are
alleged to be fully able to meet the claims that will
fall upon them, hut it is erobable that the ruin or
distress which will nevertheless be inflicted in this
quarter was among the chief causes of the pain a, d
self-reproach described in Mr, Sadleir's letters. The
most serious features of fraud remain still to be ad-
verted to—namely, those committed by means of
his opportunities as- agent for the landed estates of
noblemen and others, and also by direct forgeries of
title deeds. The trust property made away with is
supposed
,to - be extremely large, and many &pl.'s-
able circumstances are likely to arise in this part of
the history, the full scope of which will probably
never come before the public. At present many of
the sufferers are themselves ignorant of the positi,n
in which they stand, and most likely several mouths
must elapse before all the actual facts ran be on-
' ravelled. As respects the forgeries of title deeds from
the Encumbered Estates Court, it is satisfaction to be
able to state that only two cases have thus far been die-
coverad, although very general inquiries have been made
by some leading solicitors in Dublin. In one of these,

so far from the fouery haeirg been perfectly executed,
the altempt is desc,ined to have been such as could not
for a moment deceive the eye of any Irish solicit n• con-
versant with the practice of the Court, since it was de-
ficient in no I- s, than four requisites, one of them being a
certificate of the commissioners for payment of the pur-
chase money. The other was a conveyance of part of
the Porardneon estate, which was probably in better
form. Beyond these cases it is questiored it any wall
be found. Many of the deeds assigned by Mr. Sadleir
passed through the hands of Me:si,.eves and
Hamilton, of Dub i i, and the Lonflon clients c f that ge, -
gentlemen have to-day been informed that in n ne of
these instances does any irregularity exist.—Timei City
Article.