The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-08 00:00:00

LONDON AND COUNTY BANK.

The annual general meeting of the proprietors of
this company was held yesterday, at the London
Tavern—Mr. Hugh C. E. Childers, 1\1.P., in the

chair.

The report for the half-year ending December
31st last stated that, after paying all charges and
interest to customers, and making ample provision
for bad and doubtful debts, the net profits amount
to £101,998 15s. This, added to £17,468 16s. 6d.,
brought forward from the last account, produces a
total of £119,467 lls. 6d. The directors recom-
mended the payment of the usual dividend of 6 per
cent., together with a bonus of 8 per cent. for the
half-year, both free of income tax, which absorbed
£105,000, and leaves £14,407 1 ls. 61. to be carried
forward to profit and loss new account. The divi-
dend for the whole year 1866 will thus be 25 per
cent. .11 t the meeting in February, 1866, it was
intimated to the proprietors that the diractors pro-
posed to increase the capital of the bank, and at
the meeting in August, 1866, the proprietors, by a
resolution, adopted the recommendation of the
directors. It will be proposed to act upon this re-
solution (which will require formal confirmation)
by the :issue of 12,500 new shares, to be offered
pro rata amongst the proprietors as they appeared
on the register on the 4th inst., the date when the
trawler books of the company were closed, such
shares to be issued at the price of £4O each, being a
premium of £2O per share. The total number of
shares will then be 50,000.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the re-
port, said that there were two matters upon which
he would have to address the proprietors, the first
of which was with respect to the business of the
year, and more especially to that of the past six
months; and the second, the augmentation of the
capital. In August last his colleague, who was then
in the chair, congratulated the meeting upon the
state of the bank and upon the manner in which it
had gone through the crisis, and he thought now, at
the completion of the year, they had equal reason
for congratulation, for the bank never stood in a
better position than it did at the present time.
(Hear, hear.) Their success was mainly owing to
the good management of those who administered
their affairs under the board, and the steadiness with
which the shareholders had uniformly supported the
bank and maintained its position. (Hear, hear.)
Hardly any of the shares were sold dining the crisis
by those who had been shareholders for a consider-
able time, which was an evidence of the high opinion
they had of the concern. lie thought those who
attempted to injure the bank in the first half of the
last year might well regret the attack they had made
upon an institution so ably and well supported.
(Hear, hear.) With regard to the accounts, he
would first refer to the debtor side. The amount
due by the bank for customers' balances, &c., was
£12,057,000 12s. Bd., against £11,843,000 in the
previous year; therefore, in spite of the financial
crisis, the balances stood higher last year than they
bad ever stood since the establishment of the bank.
With respect to the liability on acceptances he had
not much to say, for that item varied from time to
time according to circumstances. It now stood at a
million and a half, and he believed that they had
never lost a shilling by their acceptances. On going
to the other side of the accounts they would see that
the cash andsecurities amounted to about £3,200,000
against £3,900,000 in the previous year. If that
£3,900,000 enabled the bank to meet the crisis in
May last, the £3,200,000 would be ample when the
bank rate of discount was at 3i or 3 per cent. With
respect to the Government stock, that item did not
stand quite so high as it did last year. The amount
had been on the increase 'since the date of the ac-
counts, and that was a policy which the directors in-
tended to follow up. With respect to their premises,
they would see they were set down asbeing of the value
of £176,313, which was an increase of between
£30,000 and £40,000 since last year. He had no
hesitation in saying that in the event of a sale they
would find the premises very much undervalued,
and that account, therefore, stood in a very satis-
factory condition. He came now to the item of pro-
fit and loss. They would see that the gross profits
for the half-year, after making provision for bad
and doubtful debts, amounted to £319,957, which
was not quite so much as had been shown in other
similar periods. He thought that on one occasion it
had amounted to as much as £340,000, but when
they considered that under theadverse circumstances
of the past year they had been enabled to pay a
dividend of 25 per cent., they must be satisfied with
the amount of profit the bank had 'made. It was
always the duty of directors to carefully scrutinise
every account, and see that ample provision was
made for possible contingencies, and in such a year
as the last that duty exited in a marked degree.
The directors had taken care that the amount set
aside for bad and doubtful debts should be ample ;
therefore the £319,957 might be looked upon as the
amount of profit ascertained after a careful scrutiny
of that kind. They would observe that the salaries
and all other expenses at the head office and branches,
including income tax, were set down at £99,813,
, which amount was somewhat in excess of that of
last year, but that excess was occasioned by a care-
ful and practical revision of the salaries of their offi-
cers, which he was sure the proprietors would not
regret. There was one item to which he thought the
attention of the proprietors and of banks generally

ought to be directed, and that was the expense to
the bank occasioned by the light coin which passed
through their hands. He found that during the past
three half-years there had been' a great increase in
that item. In the second half of the year 1865 the
loss from light coin passing through the bank was
only £l,lOO. In the first half of 1866 it amounted
to 1.2,300, and in the second half of 1866 it was no
less than £4,300. These figures might appear very
large, but he was bound to state the business which
they represented was also very large, for no
less than £81,630,000 in coin passed through
the head office in Lombard-street during the half-
year. He believed that that was a business almost
unprecedented, and might account to some extent
for the large loss by light coin. But the amount of
loss was steadily increasing, and it was a matter de-
serving of their attention, and one which ought to
be brought before the Government of the country.
There was a large increase in the number of their
accounts. This time last year the total number was
47,585 ; in June they stood at 48,634, and at Christ-
mas last they amounted to 50,389, showing an in-
crease in the number of accounts in the year of
2,804, which was a good evidence of the progress the
bank was making, both at headquarters and at the
branches. With regard to the proposed increase of
capital, that matter had already been under their
notice, and the proprietors at the meeting 6 months
ago had approved of the scheme. The necessity for
that additional capital had been occasioned by the
increasing business, and when raised it would no
doubt tend still further to increase it, as well as the
number of shareholders, which would be greatly to
the interest of the bank. There were at the present
time 37,500 shares in the company, upon which £2O
had been paid, and it was now proposed to add to
that 12,500, making in all 50,000 shares, or a paid-
up capital of £1,000,000, by issuing the shares in
the proportion of one new share for every three ex-
isting shares. The new shares would be issued at
£4O, half of which would be carried to share capital
and the other half to revenue, which would raise the
capital to £1,000,000 and the reserve to £560,000.
When the new shares were issued on the last occa-
casion they were issued at £4O, which amount was
called up in four payments of £lO each at intervals
of four months. On this occasion it was proposed
that there should be five payments of £8 each, at
intervals of six months instead of four months, so
that the amount would be distributed over two
years.. The first payment would fall due on the
30th March next; the second on the 30th August;
the third in February, 1868 ; the fourth in August,
1868 ; and the fifth in February, 1869. This
would enable the shareholders to have five half-
years' dividend, out of which they could pay up
the capital, the dates having been arranged so that

the instalments would fall due just after the payment
of the dividends. Of each £B, £4 would carry
dividend and bonus from the date of payment, and
every shareholder would have the privilege of paying
up the full amount, which would also be entitled to
dividend from the date of payment.

➢lr. W. C. JONES seconded the motion.
In reply to Colonel Spong,
The CHAIRMAN said that the amount in govern

went securities was £695,953.

The report was adopted, and a dividend in ac-
cordance with the recommendations contained
therein was dec'ared.
The retiring auditors, Messrs. W. Norman and R.
Swaine, were re-elected ; and Mr. Frederick
Francis was elected an auditor, to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the disqualification of Mr. Robert
Escombe. •

The proceedings were then brought to a close
with a vote of thanks to the chairman, directors,
auditors, and officers.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

41

MALTA, Feb. 2.—The English screw steamer
Montezuma, belonging to Messrs. Smith, Sundius,
and Co., charter.d by the Government for the con-
veyance of time-expired men and invalids to Eng-
land, arrived on the 31st ult. from Constantinople,
and having embarked here four officers, 44 men, 18
women, and 17 children, leaves port to-day home-
ward bound:. Capt. Clarke, R.E., director of. Adm-
iralty works, also leaves to-day on return to Eng-
land, via Marseilles. News has been received here
by the Malta and Alexandria 'Telegraph of the ar-
rival of the Psyche and Caradoc from Alexandria.
Col. Chandler, KA., did not leave Malta in the
latter vessel as reported, although his name was on
the list for passage by her. Some particulars have
been received of the loss of the Maltese yacht Me-
lita, on the coast of Albania. She was wrecked at a
place called Fanara, between Parga and Prevesa,
and soon afterwards went to pieces, nothing being
saved but the lives of the four naval officers on
board, and the grew of three persons. They sub-
sequently arrived at Prevesa on horseback, in a
deplorable state from exposure to cold and rain, with
insufficient clothing. As there is a Vice-Consul at
Prevesa, we 'maybe sure our shipwrecked country-
men will meet with all the assistance they may re-
quire. Lentstebtais o'taerrdthe
one
ee
sfosrreol
twoma t thhecera
Piraeus, arao
ufsMajesty'ssmallpoxan d shiptha t
Fhtiavtoed
wasin
il ae
aoflret dmaliyltds
shetf y
iNnVga was
tboi
yna
tcdhoden st
Ghe qar
etu
eetknh
:Be
diseaseo a
rplacedd o f
lltesis occurredta n c
on
is t qua-
rantineyg rp ae
And that the gdneral health of the crew was good.
Cholera still lingers in some parts of Sicily. At
Empedoele (Mole di Girgenti) several attacks have
recently taken place. It •Li reported that her
Majesty's ship Terrible, 21, Captain
Commerell,
V.C., may be expected shortly in the Mediter-
ranean, and that she will b •out
ring guns for her
Majesty's ship Ocean, and supernumeraries for
the squadron. Information has reached this island
that it is the intention of the W
.Department
to increase very materially the armament of th
Fortress of 'Malta, and that for this c
purpose
it has been resolved to spend half a million sterling.
The Maltese papers speak veryhighly of the exem-
plary conduct of the 84th Regiment, which
is under
orders to be in readiness for embarkation. f or Ja-
maica, and [have much pleasure to laable
e to add my
testimony to the truth and justice of th •
observa-
tions. I may, however, go further and say, that
since the departure of one or two regiments,
some
of the members of which were constantly
getting
into hot water with the natives and the
police, the
conduct of the troops in garrison generally has been
most praiseworthy. A fancy fair is to be held at the
Aubence de Provence on the 12th and instant,
under 9 h
under the patronage of Lady Clarence Paget, Lady
Houlton,
Houlton, and Mrs. Trower, in aid of the funds
for building and endowing the English church
at Sliema. Notwithstanding the liberality of Dr.
Trower, Bishop of Gibraltar, and his family, the
sum falls very far short of the necessary amount.
The sum contributed i5£2,162 145..6d.; that required
£4,000. We still are without rain,. and greatappre-
hensions are entertained lest there should be no water
for our summer's supply. For some time past prayers
have been offered up in the churches of all denomi-
nations. The Right Hon. Seymour Fitzgerald, the
newly-appointed Gevernor of Bombay, attended by
his secretary, Capt. Felgate, and Capt. Fitzgerald,
passed through Malta on Wednesday last, on his
way to assume the government of the Presidency.
The English steam yacht Ceres, the property of Col.
M'lver, returned last night from a tour in Greece
and the Holy Land.
The Curacoa, 23, unarmoured screw frigate,l,s7l
tons, 350 horse power, Comr. Sir W. S. Wisencon,
C. 8., arrived at Shithead at 4 p.m. yesterday from
the Australian station,and on anchoring at Spithead
exchanged the customary salutes with the flagship
of the Port Admiral and Naval Commander-in-
Chief of the port and south-west naval station.
The Terrible, 19, paddle frigate, Capt. John E.
Commerell, V.C., C. 8., sailed from Spithead at
daylight yesterday morning for the Mediterranean,
the weather having somewhat. moderated, but a
fresh wind prevailing from the north-west.
The unarmoured screw corvette Charybdis, 17
guns, 1,506 tons, 400-horse power, Capt. Algernon
M. L. Lyons, sailed from St. Helen's roadstead,
south of Spithead, at daylight yesterday morning,
on a term of service on the coasts of Australia and
New Zealand.

The Pandora, 5, screw gun-vessel, whose arrival
at Spithead was announced in The Sun of yesterday,

from the West Coast of Africa, steamed into Ports-
mouth harbour yesterday afternoon to dismantle and
pay out of commission.

- The Cossack, 20, screw, unarmoured corvette,
1,296 tons, 250-horse power, Capt. White, arrived
at Spithead on Wednesday from the Mediterranean
station, sailed from Spithead yesterday afternoon for
Sheerness, to dismantle and pay out of commission.
The Fox, 2, storesl►ip, 1,131 tons, 200-horsepower,
Staff-Commander H. A. Moriarty, arrived in Sheer-
ness harbour yesterday from Woolwich. She will
take in stores, and proceed to Portsmouth and Ply-
mouth.

The Jaseur, 5, screw gun-vessel, Commander W.
H. Grubbs, has been brought into the large basin
of Sheerness dockyard to be dismantled and paid
out of commission, after a cruise of nearly four years
on the West Coast of Africa.

The Cameleon, 17, screw sloop, 952 tons, 200-
horse power, is being rapidly brought forward for
commission in the large basin of Sheerness dockyard.
A large number of shipwrights and riggers arc en-
gaged in making her ready for the pennant.

The screw steam frigate Bristol, 31, Capt. Love-
son E. 11. Somerset., having been repaired and re-
fitted, left Plymouth, on Thursday, to resume hor
duty on the West Coast of Mika.

The iron screw steam troopship Tamar, 2, Capt.
F. W. Sullivan, C. 8., from Ireland, arrived at Ply-
mouth yesterday.

The paddlewheel steam-vessel Medusa, Staff-
Commander T. Potter, left Devonport yesterday for
the westward, in search of a vessel in distress, said
to be the steamship Bremen, with 300 passengers,
which has had her rudder damaged.

Yesterday Major-Gen. F. Murray, in command
of the forces in the Chatham district, paid an offi-
cial visit to the Royal Engineer Establishment, and
inspected the officers and men attached to the head-
quarters of that corps at Brompton Barracks. The
whole of the officers and sappers, forminz
companies, including the four depot companies of
the corps, together with the mounted A troop of
the Royal Engineer Train, were drawn up in the
barrack square, under the command of Col. Sim-
mons, Director of the Royal Engineer establish-
ment. After the customary salute on the arrival
of Gen. Murray, the companies were formed in open
columns, when the inspection commenced. At the
termination a few mancouvres were gone through,
and the officers and men dismissed to their quarters.
Gen. Murray then visited the barrack buildings and
the departments of the Royal Engineer Establish-
ment.

The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Lieut. Edward S. Richards, to the
Indus, for service in the sailing reserve ; R. J. C.
Grant, master, to the Terror ; H. G. Archer, mid-
shipman, to the Rodney ; E. Robinson, assistant-
paymaster, to the Black Prince, additional, for Ad-
miral's office ; E. P. Rimell, assistant paymaster, to
the Racoon ; IV. Dark, engineer, to the Rodney ;
and 11. Thornton, acting engineer, to the Cumber-
land, for the Fearless. .

Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Yesterday a meeting of this institution was held
at its house, John-street, Adelphi ;Thos. Chapman,
Esq., F.R.S, V.P., in the chair. There were also
present—The Right Hon. S. Cave, MT-, Sir E.
Perrott, Bait, Commodore Tarleton,
R.N., C.B
Controller General of the Coast-guard ; Admiral
Hall, C. 8., Sir F. Outram, Bart., Admiral Gordon,
~
A. Boekfeur, Esq., Captain Egerton, R.N., W. H.
Harton, Esq., Admiral M‘Hardy, John Griffith,
Esq., Colonel F. Clayton, G. Lyall, Capt. Ward,
R.N., inspestor of the boats to the institution ; and
R. Lewis, Esq., the secretary.
The minutes of the previous meeting having been
read,
'fhe committee expressed their deep sympathy
with the families of the five poor fellows who
perished on Wednesday morning inithe Paddow life-
boat whilst nobly attempting to save a shipwrecked
crew ou the Doom Bar Sands, and decided on voting
200 guineas in aid of the subscription now being
raised by the Rev. Richard Tyacke and other gen-
tlemen for the relief of the poor men's families.
Taking into account the few fat character of there
lifeboat services, that about 6,000 persons go afloat
on all occasions in the boats every year, and that
during the last 14 years the institution has only lost
18 lives, it must be a source of congratulation to
every one that so small a percentage has been sa-
crified compared with the noble service done in
that period, and the large number of brave men en-
gaged at so much hazard in the work.
Rewards amounting to £337 were voted to the
crews of various lifeboats of the institution for
putting off during the past month, and saving the
crews of the following wrecked vessels :—Brig Chase,
of Shields, 5 ; sloop Emma, of Portsmouth, vessel
and 3 ; schooner Mary Tatham, of Chester, 4 ;
sloop Shamrock, of Liverpool, 3 ; schooner Mizpah,
of Dartmouth, 8 ; Danish barque Aurora Borealis,
of Rebe, 10 ; smack Oliver Loyd, of Cardigan, 3 ;
smack Turtle of 6; Asbeheroyosntewi. itli,3; schooner
Salome, Selina
Ann,' of
Looe, 5 ; schooner Heiress, of Teignmouth, 6 ;
ship, John Gray-, of Glasgow, 13 ; French schooner
ack
Anemone, 5 ; brig Emanuel Boucher, of Whitby,
6 ; brigantine Seraphim, of Dunkirk, 8 ; lugger
Espoir, of Nantes, 6 ; Prussian brig Antares, of
Greisscvald, 1 ; smack Coronation, of Bideford, 4;
schooner Teazer, of Ipswich, 1 ; Schooner Gem, of
Hull, 2 ; schooner Jeanne d'Are, of Nantes, vessel
and 5 ; smack Noah, of Cardigan, 2 ; smack
Catharina, of Barmouth, vessel and 4 ; schooner
Clyde, of Yarmouth, 5 ; brig Mary, of Newcastle,
vessel and 10 ; barque Chowden, of Sunderland,
vessel and 12 ; schooner Jane Ellen, of Aberyst-
with, vessel and 5 ; brig Benton, of South Shields,
6 ; barque Marie Anaelie, of Quimper, vessel and
13 ; sloop Perseverance, of Liverpool, 2 ; brig
Annie, of Milford, vessel and 10 ; and brigantine
Estelle, of Preston, vessel and 6. Total, 182 lives
and 9 vessels saved by the lifeboats. Rewards
amounting to £257 were also granted to the crews
of other lifeboats of the institution, for going out
during the past month with the view of rendering
assistance to distressed vessels and their crews. The
silver medal of the institution and a copy of its
vote on parchment were ordered to be presented to
Lieut. William 11. Elton, R.N., chief officer of the
Coastguard at Lyme Regis, Dorset, and £5 to his
boat's crew of five men, for putting off during a
heavy gale from the _ south-west, and saving, at
much risk of life, three men from two wrecks, on
the Bth ult. The silver medal of the institution,
and a copy of its vote on parchment, were also voted
to Mr. T. M. Rees, for saving, by being lowered
down high cliffs, at great risk of life, during a very
dark and stormy night, four men from the schooner
Two Brothers, of Holyhead, which was wrecked on
the Pembrokeshire Coast on the sth ult. The
silver medal and £2 were also voted to Mr. James
Harrington, for wading into the surf and saving, at
considerable risk of life, four men belonging to the
brig Charlotte, of Sunderland, which was
wrecked on the East Sear North Landing,
Flamborough, on the Ist of January. Various
other rewards were also granted for raving
life from various shipsrecks on our coasts. A
gratuity of £2O was also voted by the institution
in aid of the subscription now raising for the fami-
lies of the six brave men who perished on the occa-
sion of the accident to the Calais lifeboat on the
17th ult. It was stated that the Prince of Wales
had fixed the 28th inst., at two o'clock, on which to
preside over the annual meeting of the institution,
to be held in the Egyptian Hall, Mansion-house.
New lifeboats had been sent by the institution
dur-
ing the past mouth to Bouhuer, Barmouth, Port-
rnadock, Winchelsea, and Courtunicsherry. In every
case the railway and steam-packet companies had,
as usual, conveyed the boats free of charge. Public
' demonstrations had taken place with the Boulmer
and Courtmaesherry lifeboats, at Nottingham and
Dublin, on the way to their stations. Payments
amounting to £2,300 were ordered to be made to
various lifeboat establishments. A communication
, was read from Capt. Mayne, the agent of the New
South Wales Government, requesting the co-opera-
tion of the institution in superintending the con-
, struction of a large lifeboat, on its plan, for that
Government. A letter was also read from the Han-
. seatic Minister, asking the assistance of the society
in having seine large lifeboats built for the German

Lifeboat Institution recently formed at Bremen. A
contribution 0f.£265 had been received from the

Western Cominereial Travellers' Lifeboat Fund,
towards defraying the cost of a lifeboat. Admiral
the Earl of Carysfort had also sent a donation of
£lOO ; and Sir W. Erle, late Lord Chief Justice,
had likewise forwarded a second donation of £lO ;
£5OO had also been received by the society—a legacy
bequeathed by the late T. T. Taylor, al., of South-
port. The institution decided to form a station at
Mullion, Cornwall, and to place there the lifeboat
Draper, the cost of which is now being raised by the
Wesleyan Methodists, in memory of the Rev. D.
J. Draper, who perished in the steamship London.
A report was read from Capt. Ward, R.N., inspec-
tor•of lifeboats to the institution, on his recent visit
to various stations. The proceedings then closed.