The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-21 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 21, 1858.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.-
EXCURSION to Cirencester, Stroud, Gloucester, Chelten-
ham, ROAS, and Hereford, from Paddington, on Saturday, June26th,
at 6 p.m., returning from Hereford on Monday, June 28th. at 5.30
p.m , anl intermediate stations as per hand-bills. Fares there and
back—Stroud and Cirencester, Its and 6s; Gloucester ar d Chelten-
ham, 143 nd is ; Ross and Hereford, His and Bs.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
EXCURSION to Abingdon, Oxford, Worcester, and Malvern,
on Sunday, the 27th June, frost Paddington at 7.45 a.m , returning
on Monday, the 28th, from Malvern at 5.45 p.m., Worcester. 7.15
p.m., Oxford, and Abingdon, 9.15 p.m. Fares there and b ack—
A bingdon and Oxford, 6s Gd and 4s ; Worcester, 12s 6d and 8s ; and
M.tivern, 15s and 9s Ed.

LONDON and NORTH-WESTERN
RAILWAY.

Intimation having been given by advertisement of the intention
of the Great Northern, and Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire
Companies, to make certain advances in the RATES and FARES
between London and Liverpool. Manchester, and oar places, tram
and after the 21st of June, the public is requested to take notice,
that the same rates and fares wit be charged by the London and
North-Western Railway Company from ant after the same day.
By Order of the Directors.
MARK lIITISII.
Euston Station, London, June 16, 1858.

nied to the British engineers what it granted to
many others in a similar position in all respects.
Your excellency observes that the first presump-
tion of the guilt of the British engineers arises from
their peculiar connection with, and deper.dence
upon Sitzia, the master of the C igliari. This pre-
sumptionhas, however, nofoundation in fact. These
men, as engineers, were no more connected with
or dependent upon the master, Sitz'a, than any of
the seamen. They were not engaged or recom-
mended by him, and were not connected with him
in any manner ;• they were in the regular employ-
ment of the company who owned the vessel ; they
were ignorant of the Italian language, and could
not be suspected of any sympa' by with Italian prc-
jects or plots, especially against Naples, with wh'ch
it does not appear that ether of them had any sort
of correspondence or connexion.
"The second element," your excellency says,
" consists in the discovery of the writing found
upon Park, namely, the letter from Miss White."
' But the very fact of his having carefully preserved
that letter, and having copi€d it word for word in
his logbook, affords a strong presumption of his
innocence. He had no cognisance of the
prepara-
tion of that letter, and it was evidently addressed to
persons suppcseri to be ignorant of, and disposed to
join in, the criminal enterprise ; it was not ad-
dressed to him, and was only delivered to him after
he was placed under restraint and deprived of all
power of resisting. Neither Park -'nor Watt ac-
cepted any invitation, or consented to the perpetra-
tion of any crime. - -
.1 ha've further to obscene, as regards this letter,
that the declaration. of Nicotera as to its having
bt en, in fact, written at Genoa, is wholly immate-
rial to the question of the complicity of Park and
Watt. Nicotera does not allege that Park or Watt
had any knowledge of the evistence of that letter
until the vessel was seized by, and they were in
the custody and p )wer of, the revolters ; and the
declara'ion of Nicotera, moreover, like that of
Pisacane, emphatically acquits the master and crew
of any participation in the design or acts of the re-
volters.

Your excellency can hardly expect her Majesty's
Government seriously to listen for a moment to the
charge now, for the first time, brought against Park,
that he hal in his possession a red shirt like those
worn as a uniform by the reb.ils. Your excellency,
indeed, dues not pretend that Park put that shirt
on as the uniform of the rebels ; and it is well
known that red flannel shirts are commonly
used by seamen, and if taken as an evidence of
guilt it would during the present fashion as regards
that peculiar artic'e of dress involve many of her
Majesty's subjects, not seafaring parsons, but of a
wealthier c'ass, in the crime of conspiracy against
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. I am glad to
perceive that your excellency no longer insists upon
the absurd charge which was so prominently
brought forward against the British engineers in
the Atto do A ecusa, of not having navigated the
vessel to Tunis; and it appears from your excel-
lency's note that the overt acts relied upon by the
Neapolitan Government as establishing beyond
doubt the gu It of the parties are reduced to two—
namely, the possession of the note of Miss White,
and the possession of a red shirt. Neither of these
overt actA applies to Watt, and as regards Park
their mere examination is sufficient to expose their
futility.
Your excellency remarks that the proceedings
are to be cons;dered as still pending, that they have
been conducted in accordance with the forms of a
Neapolitan municipal law, and that the sentence
(not yet pronounced) is the act of the magistracy,
and not that of. the Gavernment, which is to be
consid- red equally irresponsible. Admitting that
these observations have any televancy to the ques•
tion at issue, they could only be pertinent in the
case of the criminality of the accused, and if the
only question were one arising out of the technical
rules of Neapolitan:proced e, evidence, or crimi-
nal law. Sill less can her Majesty's Goverorni nt
admit that an international question of jurisdic-
tion of the highest importance can be determined
by reference to the articles of the Neapolitan penal
cods,or that any adle retie() to the forms of Neapo-
litan
criminal procedure can countervail or supply
the en' ire absence of proof of any one act of crime
or violence, which, though not wanting as to cer-
tain o her persons on the:Cigliari, is now so fully
apparent, and in effect admitted by your excellency,
iu regari to the British engineers.
It remains for me to advert to your excellency's
allusion to the manner in which these unfortunate
British subjects were treated while in confinement.
I need not Foint cut how widely the manner in
which they were treated at the time that Mr.
Lyons arrived in "NaTies, when -Watt was already
in the British Hospital in a state of mental
alienation, and Park's health had given way,
differed from the previous treatment to which they
hal been exposed, and which entailed upon them
such grievous mental and bodily affliction. Her
Majesty's Government cannot admit the excuse, on
which your excellency. seems disposed' to insist,
that these unfortunate British subjects might, and
if they had been Neapolitan sit ojects would, have
been worse used. The acts of the Neapolitan Go-
vernment towards the two British subjects speak for
themselves in their result upon those unfortunate
and innocent men, unlawfully seized in the first in-
stance by the Neapolitan Government, which had
ne jurisdiction over thorn, needlessly sul•ject-d to
a long and cruel confinement after, and notwith-
standing the Neapolitan Government, by the pos-
session of the whole of the evidence, and even by
the re'eas t of others of the passengers and crew,
had admitted that it was able, when it chose to do
so, to di-criminate between guilt and innocence ;
and at length, after sustaining irreparable injuries,
ele tseil sub-modo, unconvicted of any crime, and
yet retused all compensation, but irremediably in-
jured in mind and body. For such wrongs as these
neither the good intentions of the Neapolitan Go
vernovn,, nor its somewhat tardy and partial con-
cessions, nor the fact that its regulations would
have authorised greater severity than was exhibited,
nor even the courteous tone, which I am glad to
acknowledge, of your excellency's observations,
aft' rd any adequate excuse or reparation. Her Ma-
jesty's present Government have throughout this
painful case shown moderation and patience.
Called -upon to act long after the events which
caused it, they have not prematurely intervened
in the serious controversy existing between the
Governments of Sardinia and Naples, though they
have watched it with the liveliest interest, and
they are, therefore, only the more entitled to insist
at last upon their demand for compensation.
As, ho xever, the Government of Naples has de-
clined to take the initiative of offering such an
amount of compensation as is justly due to these
British subjects for the fatal consequences of their
imprisonment, it is my duty
now to inform your
excellency that 11:r Majesty's Government fix the
amount of compensation which they demand at the
sum of 3,0001., and in requesting your excellency
to call the immediate attention of the Government
of which you are a member to this demand, and to
the u6gency of its being complied with, I have
only to aid that her Majesty's GoVernment must
earnestly hope that the tneesenger who couveys this
letter to Naples, and who is inetruc'ed to remain
there ten days, will be the bearer to England of a
favourable reply.
I have the honour to be, with,the highest consi-
derations, sir, your excellency s most obedient
humble sera ant, MALMESBURY.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON TRE SOUTH-

WESTERN RAILWAY.

SOUTHAMPTON, SUNDAY NIGHT.

A serious accident occurred this evenin,,c, at the
Bishopstoke station of the South-Wettern Railway,
by which one man has been killed and several
others severely wounded.
It appears that the excursion train left Ports-
mouth for London at 7 o'clock, and consisted of
about 16 carriages, with between 600 and 700 per-
sons. On arriving at Bishopstoke, the three last
carriage,,, consisting of one first-class, one third-
clsss and the guard's van, ran off the line, and the
coupling chain breaking, they became disconnected
from the other part of the train. The third-class
carriage fell over on its side, the two others re-'
mAinecl stationary, and were uninjured.
It is impossible to describe thescelle that ensued.
In examiuiug the natu e of the accident, it was
discovered that on© man was killed, and fuur se-
riously injured ; one man had his arm broken, a
child 12 years ef age is not expected to survive,
and others are more or less injured.
Two medical men who were in the train ren-
dered every assistance to the sufferers, and other
medical assistance was immediately telegraphed for
from Sou hampton and other places ; the wounded
were conveyed to Winchester as soon as they could
be removed.
The catastrophe caused so much excitement that
it was with difficulty the Excursionists could be pre-
vailed upon to continue their progress to London.
Dr. Hearno and another medical man left
Southampton, for the scene of the chiast•?r, accorn.
panicA by Mr, Dwell, the devuty auperiatadept.

CROSSED CHEQUES.

This important question being immediately to
be brought Lef .re the House of Commons, the fol-
lowing very lucid exposition of the points in dis-
pute will be read with great attention. The prac-
tical knowledge exhibited with the facts of the
recent cases decided renders the statement worthy
of the full consideration not only of the members
of the Legislature, but also of those who are con-
nected with the banking interest of the United
Kingdom : _ _ _

"The practice of crossing cheques originated
with the clerks at the London clearing-house, who
*rote the name of their bank across the cheques
they collected or cleared, in order to their identifi-
cation in ca-e they should not be paid. The cus-
tomers 'of the several bankers who were members
of the clearing-house soon learned that any cheques
drawn by them and paid-into a cleat-ilia bankee's
hands need not be provided for until the close of
the day ; it thus became the piactice of the drawers
themselves to cross their cheques to ensure their
passing through a banker. This was further found
to be a great protection against the improper ap-
propria ien of cheques so crossed, as the holder
could only obtain payment through the medium of
a banker through whom the payment could be
traced. In process of time this practice became-a
custom recognised in the court, and thus obtained
the force of law.
"In a well-known cage, that of Bellamy v. Mars
jorihaeks,' in which it was sought to recover from
Coutts and Co. the amount of a cheque drawn upon
them and paid to G )sling and Co., although specially
crossed to the Bank of England, Baron Parke, in
giving judgment for the defendant, said, We see
no legal objection to this custom, that of requiring
a crossed cheque to be paid only to or through some
banker, if thus limited and understood, is, in
our op;nion, a reasonable and lawful practice and
usage, in order to secure as far as possible paymeet.
of cheques to honest and bona fide holders. We
feel strongly th It to carry it further, and make the
banker answerable to his customers for the appro
ptiatioe by the payee of the proceeds of a crossed
cheque received through a banker, would render
the conduct of banking busine3s very difficult, if
not impracticable, and would cast a serious and
probably mischievous impediment in the way of
carrying on the money ti ansactions of this country.'
Although the custom well known and invariably
acted upon by bankers is thus clearly recognised by
the courts, the public do not appear to have been
satisfied to bear their share of reponsibility or the
1 as arising from dishon sty of servants in appro-
priating crossed cheques entrusted to their care, for
in the case of Carlon v. Ireland,' where the plain-
tiff, a solicitor, had given a cheque ` specially'
crossed to his clerk, to pay into his banker's, and
this clerk obtained the money from a tradesman to
whom he was known, and who paid the cheque into
the hands of his own bankers, by whom the amount
was collected, the plaintiff sought to recover from
the tradesman, or in other words to make another
bear the loss arising from the default of the plain-
tiff's servant. This attempt was unsuccrs4ul.
Matteis remained in this state until the passing of
an act introduced by Mr. Apsley Pellatt, 19th and
20:1 Vic., cap. 25, June 23, 1856, which enacted
that—
" 'ln every case when a draft on any banker
made payable to bearer or to order on demand,
bears across its face an addition in wri'len or
stamped letters.or the name of any banker, or of
the words "and Company," in full or abbreva•ed,
either of such additions shall have the force of a
di, ection to the bankers upon whom such draft is
made, that the same is to be paid to or through
some bankers, and the same shall be payable only
to or through sumo banker.'
" This ac!.; is clear and explicit ; but a case has
recently arisen, known as Simmons v. Taylor,' the
facts of which are briefly as follow : Simmons drew
a cheque on the London Joint-stock Bank, and
crossed it wilt two transverse lines, and the words
'and Co. ;' the cheque tell into di,honest hands,
the lines and words (4.: Co.' were carefully re

moved, and in that the cheque was presented and
paid. It was s,iught to tnake tie banker liable for
having so pa.d the cheque which hail been crossed,
although no vestige of sue% crossing appeared upon
it. This aitempt was unsw!cessful, and has resulted
in the introduc ion of the present bill against.
which I submit the following objections
:
"1. That the banker has at present cast upon
him bylaw a vet y heavyrespoinFiblity, tinder which
no ordinary vigilance or care will guard him from
frequent losses. There are-Ist. Forgery of en-
dorsements on bills of exchange.—ln these cases
the signatures of the a ndorsers canno% po,sibly, in
oee instance out of a thousand, be knoTti to the
banker. A few years since a L nidon-banker was
compelled to lose several theusand pounds in con-
sequence of having paid a bill accepted by an insu-
rance comp iny, the forged endorsements actually
existing on the bill at the t'in I it was accepted by
the company, whose agent was the defrauder. 2d.
Forged cheques aed acceptances.—The recent con-
viction of a gang of forgers who had successfully for
many years carried on their practices, revealed that
dice,' men had organised a scheme of a most per-
fect character, and were able to reproduce signa-
tures so perfect in their imitation of the originals
that it b:came impossible to detect the fraud until
after it had been successfully perpe.raeed.
" In a case in which this bank was defraude I by
a series of forged cheques uttere 1 by the clerk a f a
custom r, the execution of the forgeries was so
good that the customer himself did not, on the first
examination of his paid cheques, detect them all.
"2. The proposed bill is uriju,t, as it will not
only relieve, Ist, the customer of the bank from
his fair share of responsibility and tick of loss arising
from the dish aneery .of his own, or the pu".lic ser-
vants of the Post-oftics servic 2d, will also
relieve from the like responsibility ant tiles persons
with whom the banker, as drawee of a cheque, has
no connection ; it is far from b Aeg an improbable
occurrence that a chcqu3 should be issued un-
crosed, be crossed with t and Co.' by a subsequent
holdee, and after passing through several hands be
the subject of a collusive fraud on the banker.
" 3. It will tend to generate oa the part of the
holders of crossed cheques a want of care and cau-
tion in guarding these document.. The following
circumstance occurring recently with one of our
customers, confirms this conviction :—This house
is iu the habit of sending through the post eh( ques
payable to order,' and. in the mistaken belief that
the bank was liable for the forgery of endor: e-
ments on these documents, admitted tbat they had
ne trouble, by requiring an acknowledgment or
otherwise of ascertaining that their remittances
had reached the persons for whom they were et igin-
ally intented ; a draft was lost, and on calling at
the bank to stop the payment of it, they were in-
cidentally informed that the bank was not liable
on the p syment of a draft to order,' purporting to
be by.the payee, should such indorsement
prove to be forged, upon which, in alarm, they imme-
diately sopped the payment of several drafts they
had issued payable to order, but of which they
had received no acknowledgment.
"4. The examination of the crossing on cheques
at the clearing-house will be very difficult and fre-
quently quite impracticable. The greatest delivery
of cheques for payment through the clearing-houte
takes place between half-past three and four
o'clock, and after the latter hour no more are re-
ceived ; three quarters of an hour on ordinary days
and one hour on stock settling days are allowed for
the banker to examine signatures and accounts,
and make his entries before payment or return of
such cheques as are unpaid, and it is not an unfre-
quent occurrence for one banker to have to pay
from 2000 to 3000 cheques on a settling day, and a
proportionate number on ordinary occasions—an
examination of the crossings, which must be made
within the clearing-house, and before any entry
or other examination is made, becomes impossible
within the allotted term.
"We do not complain of those risks incident to a
business in which large sums of money are con-
stantly entrusted to the control of numerous clerks,
in whose integr:ty and carefulness great cenfidenee
must necessarily be reposed, but we do complain
that an attempt should be made to relieve mer-
chants and traders from the necessity of exercising
even ordinary vigilance in guarding their cheques,
and to throw upon the bankers any loss that may
result from frauds against which they cannot pro-
tect themselves, and which may in many cases be
prevented by the holder of a draft:using that care
which on every ground of equity and fairness he is
bound to do.
" On these grounds I venture to express the
hope that this bill will not be allowed to pass into
law, and respectfully.submit that the law as it at
present stands affords every legitimate protection
to the holders of drafts.
" WM. MCKEWAY, General Manager.
" London and County Bauk, 21, Lombard-
street, June.lB, 1898.7'

CEYSTAL PALACE. Half-a-Crown Day.—SatirdaY:
Juno IJ.---Admissions on payment, 2,437.; ditto kl ettk
&Oa tickttv, 1,747 total visitorFt 4,181•