The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-25 00:00:00

Consolidated Bank.

sion.

The half-yearly meeting of shareholders in the
Consolidated Bank was held yesterday at the Lon-
don Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, under the presidency
of Mr. J. A. Turner.

recith
The notice calling the meeting having been read,
at the duty
The report, which we have already published, was
takTehneacs
HreAaidß.3lAlNnsmaidovihnegriegts adoption,et
t
devolved upon him of presiding over the meeting
that day, in the absence of Mr. J. p. Heywood. It
was the shareholders' loss, and for himself he would
detain the meeting as short a period as possible.
Ile was very glad to say that he met the shareholders
under much happier circumstances than he had had
occasion to meet them a short time since, both in
London and Manchester. (Cheers.) When last he
met the proprietary in that room he had to ask their
assent to a proposition which the directors hoped at
the time would, if carried out, be the means of re-
suscitating the Consolidated Bank. To that pro-
posal the proprietors were pleased to give a unani-
mous consent, and he believed they had now some
reason to congratulate themselves upon having done
so. They were at the time in considerable difficulty,
and their feelings were none of the pleasantest.
(Hear, hear.) They now met again, and the pro-
posals the board then made had been practically
tested in the meantime, and the result was a com-
plete success; (Cheers.) The depositors and holders
of credit balances behaved very liberally to them,
for which he had to tender his thanks. At this
period of time it might not be amiss to revert
to the particulars of the proposal he sub-
mitted to the shareholders. It was that 50,000
new shares should be created of £lO each,
adding £200,000 to the capital of the bank. The
directors offered to take one half of those shares
amongst themselves, to show their confidence in the
bank. But the shareholders generally applied so
freely for them that it was not necessary for the
directors to do so. The shares were allotted, and
calls to the extent of £2 had been made on them,
which had been paid regularly. The next proposal
was that they should pay their depositors in full, in
four equal instalments of ss. each, with 5 per cent.
interest for waiting. Some objection was made at
the meeting in Manchester by the depositors that so
small a sum as 5 per cent. should be added to their
balances. But he ventured to point out to them
that, though the Bank rate was 10 per cent., yet he
believed that if they were paid 5 per cent. for the
whole time up to June, 1867, they would have no
reason to complain. (Cheers.) Well, they opened
the bank and paid the first ss. in the pound, and
long before the October instalment fell due they
announced their willingness to pay the instalment
at the Bank rate of the day. Some considerable
number of depositors availed themselves of the an-
nouncement, and had their money.; and they had
lately announced that they were ready to pay the
instalment which would fall due in June at the
Bank rate of the day; so that he considered they
had paid their debts—for it was every man's
own fault if he did not come and demand his
money the next day when he was told it was
ready for him. (Cheers.) He had occasion to
address the last half-yearly meeting in Manches-
ter, when he told them that the capital was intact,
and that though they had suffered some draw-
back in re-establishing the bank, it was still
so. The reserve fund was intact, and they pro-
posed to lay aside any margin of profits of the past
six months to meet any of the extraneons expenses
attendant upon resuscitating the bank. He also
told them that the directors would take no salary
until the debts were paid, and he induced the meet-
ing to pass a resolution that the shareholders should
receive no dividend until they had paid all their
creditors the principal and 5 per cent. interest.
Another six months had gone over ; they had a net
profit of £32,116 for the half-year, The directors

would not take any remuneration for their services,
and though they did not recommend a dividend, yet
they thought the shareholders entitled to interest for
their money. The bank was now fairly resuscitated ;
they were only getting back many accounts which
necessarily left them during their suspension, but
they were getting new accounts from the public.
They were now fairly afloat ; they proposed to pay
the shareholders interest at the rate of 5 per cent.,
and he thought the board were entitled to some
credit for the manner in which they had pulled into
smooth waters.

Mr. FREDERICK HANKEY briefly seconded the
motion, which was put and carried without discus-

The retiring directors, Messrs. John Peirse

Kennard, James Alexander Bannerman, Frederick
Alers Hankey, and William Smith, were unani-
mously re-elected, as were also the auditors, and
the proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to the
chairman and board, which was carried amid much

cheering.

The Metropolitan Sewage Quest,on.

Sir Stafford Northcote, President of the Board of Trade,
received a deputation yesterday on the subject of the dis-
posal of the sewage of the metropolis. The deputation,
which was introduced by Mr. Culling Hanbury, M.P., was
composed of the following gentlemen :—Mr. East, Mayor
of Kingston-on-Thames ; Mr. Councillor Priest and Mr.
Wilkinson, town clerk, also of Kingston-on-Thames ; Mr.
Walpole, chairman, and Mr. Bidgood, a member of the Sur-
biton Commissioners ; Mr. Bassell, clerk to the Hampton
Wick local board ; Mr. Bedwell, chairman, and Mr. Straw-
bridge, a member of the East Moulsey local board; Mr.
Sidney Smith, chairman, and Mr. Alfred Giles, a member of
the Wimbledon local board; Messrs. Merryweather and
Phillipps, members of the New Maldon local board ; Mr. R.
.T. Bates, of Long Ditton ; and Mr. Clayton, Hook Parish.
Mr. WALPOLE explained the object of the deputation,
which was the formation of a suburban board to dispose of
the sewage between Staines and the drainage system of
the Metropolitan Board, their representations being the re-
sult of a conference recently held. The deputation be-
lieved the Metropolitan Board had dono their work well,
and they viewed with apprehension that the bill of the
Conservancy Board was creating powers antagonistic to
those of the district, who, if they took up the subject and
did their best to dispose of the sewage, thought they might
reasonably ask to be relieved from the danger of the Con-
servancy Board being able to attack them.
Sia STAFFORD NORTHCOTE said the object brought before
him was well deserving of serious consideration. He would
point out that the bill which had been referred to was not
introduced by the Government, but by the Thames Con-
servancy, in pursuance of the directions contained in the
act of Parliament of last session. He had looked at the
bill, and clearly it appeared to be limited to giving effect
to the intentions of Parliament as expressed last session.
The act of last session was evidently a Government mea-
sure. It ,a as taken charge of by the late Government, and
the present Government came into office just as the bill
reached its last stage. They did not then know the whole
of the merits of the case. The Government had since
asked whether they would this year bring in a bill to com-
plete the arrangement, but they stated it was not a matter
which properly belonged to the Government, and the board
had better proceed itself. At the same time the Govern-
ment would feel it their duty to watch the proceedings of
the bill, and take notice of any suggestions offered for their
notice. The deputation would see it was essential to the
whole scheme that some arrangement should be made for
purifying this portion of the river, otherwise the whole
that bad been done was worth nothing, and there would
be a breach of faith with the water companies, who under-
took a considerable portion of the expense of preserving
the navigation on the understanding that they were to
have water fit for drinking. It was essential, some way or
other, that this portion of the river should be purified.
As to the steps for purifying it, that was another ques-
tion. Upon so large a question he should not like to
pronounce an opinion offhand, and it would be necessary
for him to communicate with the Home Secretary and
with the Duke of Buckingham, the Privy Council having
taken up the question of the health of towns.
. _ _

A MEMBER Of the DEPUTATION remarked it was essential
to bear in mind that the representations then made were
all from persons interested below the point at which the
water companies draw their water from Hampton and up-
wards. The deputation wanted the water to be as pure as
a river can be below as well as above that point. In his
individual opinion, he believed the only method by which
effectual drainage could be made was the eventual construc-
tion of a sewer parallel with the Thames, beginning at the
river Mole, and coming all the way down until it meets the
Metropolitan system.
Tho PRESIDENT inquired whether he understood the feel-
ing of the deputation to be that the Government should in
some way assist in the formation of a suburban board of
the character described by them ?
The deputation replied in the affirmative.

Sir S. NonTuccaz having elicited a few other points as
to the views and wishes of the deputation, they then
thanked the right hon. president for the courtesy with
which he had received them, and withdrew.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The more we benmo acquainted with
the circumstances which have led to the proposal to
impeach President Johnson, the more grave does the
fact itself appear. It was just possible to believe,
when the news first came to us through our corre-
spondent's telegram, that the proposal was a mere
ebullition of passionate resentment on the part of the
House of Representatives, which would die away and
be forgotten when the occasion of it had become a
few days older. It is true that in order to arrive at
this conclusion it was necessary to attribute to the
house a feeble and almost feminine fretfulness ; it
was necessary to believe that the members of a re-
sponsible chamber were ready to sacrifice their own
dignity and to forget the respect due to the nation
they represented for the sake of indulging in a threat
never meant to be carried into effect ; and, strange to
say, there were not wanting professed admirers of
the dominant party in Congress who endeavoured in
this way to explain what appeared to be a revolu-
tionary act. This defence is now no longer tenable.
The course commenced by Mr. Stevens and his im-
mediate followers may be violent, but it is not an
evanescent freak. They are determined to carry
through what they have begun. They have resolved
upon removing from office a President who dissents
from their policy of reconstruction, and to reduce
the Executive Department to be the humble servant
of the Legislature. The more daring spirits among
them strike atyet higher game. The Supreme Court,
the ark of the Constitution, has interfered with the
supremacy of the fluctuating majority of Congress,
and its destruction is threatened as a sequel to the
deposition of the President. Immediately before its
short Christmas vacation Congress passed the Dis-
trict of Columbia Suffrage Bill. On the 26th ult.
this bill was presented to the President. On the
7th inst. it was returned by him to the Senate,
where it first originated. His reasons for rejecting
the bill are expressed in a State paper, the abi-
lity of which few will deny. The District of Co-
lumbia consists of a small territory around Wash-
ington, originally lying in the States of Mary-
land and Virginia, but, for the purpose of avoiding
clashing jurisdictions, long since ceded to the Fe-
deral Government. It has municipal institutions of
its own, but uo State Legislature is interposed be-
tween it and Congress. "The population of the dis-
trict is about 130,000, a quarter of whom are negroes.
The bill provided that in all municipal elections the
franchise should be exercised without distinction of
colour. Upon the policy or impolicy of such a bill
we do not say a word ; we are only concerned with
the reasons advanced by Mr. Johnson for putting his
veto on it, and with the subsequent action of Con-
gress. Mr. Johnson's argument was simple. The
district of Columbia was, he admitted, subject to the
supreme and exclusive control of the Federal Govern-
ment, but it was never intended that the municipal
institutions of the district should be set at naught by
Congress. If it were, the inhabitants of Columbia
would be deprived of all security for freedom. They
would be at the mercy of a Legislature in which they
had no representative to defend their liberties. Con-
gress is bound, he declared, to look upon itself as
the State Legislature of Columbia, and, though not
elected by it, to defer to the wishes of its inhabitants
in matters of local concern. Congress had always
acted in this spirit, and Mr. Johnson quoted the lan-
guage of successive Presidents to prove this position.
What, then, were the views of the municipalities of
Columbia on the proposed change on their electoral
law? A vote was taken upon the subject twelve
months since, and iu Washington, out of 6,556
voters—the largest number with but two exceptions
ever polled in the city--only 35 supported the altera-
tion ; in Georgetown, out of 813—an unusually large
number--there was only one in favour of it. It is
evident that if ever legislation conflicted with the
spirit of the Constitution the Suffrage Bill did. It
was a stretch of arbitrary and irresponsible power—
the act of wise despots possibly—but on a similar
plea Congress might have endeavoured to force a
similar bill on the States of Kentucky and Missouri.
We say nothing of the so-called Southern States,
which placed themselves outside the Constitution
by their acts of secession, and having thus forfeited
their political rights are now mere subject terri-
tory awaiting reorganization ; Columbia has suf-
fered no such penalty, its municipal autonomy can-
not be abrogated without violence, and the veto
of the President was but a vindication of the princi-
ples of the Constitution against a palpable infringe-
ment. The Veto was delivered, and the Suffrage
bill was immediately re-enacted by a sufficient ma-
jority, and, subject to the judgment of the Supreme

Court, is now law. It might be supposed that Con-
gress would havebeen content with this, but the oc-
casion was seized to push forward what had been be-
fore resolved upon. The managers of the Republican
party had become weary of Vetoes, even though
they amounted to nothing more than empty protests,
and forthwith commenced the process of impeach-
ment. " What is the use of passing acts in the pre-
sent state of the Government ?" said Mr. Thaddeus
Stevens to our correspondent, and while the reasons
for the Veto of the Columbia Suffrage Bill were
being read in the Senate, the instruction for the
impeachment of Mr. Johnson was introduced into
the House of Representatives, and " the previous
question" moved for the purpose of suppressing de-
bate. The lengths to which a dominant party can
go when unchecked by an opposition were never
better exemplified. The instruction to the Judiciary
Committee was the most important step that could
be taken, yet the House of Representatives deter-
mined that it should be voted without hearing rea-
sons for or argument against it. It is true that not
all those who were ready to support the resolution
were prepared to stifle discussion. " The previous
question" was carried by 75 to 4i;, some "IA voting
and others siding on this issue with the mino-
rity, but immediately after this vote was taken,
the main resolution itself was adopted by 107
to 39. The Judiciary Committee—which is said
by one of the most active of the President's op-
ponents to have been purposely constituted for
precisely such work," so decided is its animus
against the President—has entered upon its labours
and there is no doubt that it will report a series
of charges to the house which will be preferred
against Mr. Johnson at the bar of the Senate.
The impeachment of Mr. Johnson is an assertion
of the principle that the will of the majority of Con-
gress must be henceforth unchecked, and that the
limitations imposed upon it by the Constitution are
a dead letter. There are, no doubt, charges advanced
to substantiate the Impeachment, but it is confessed
that they would never have been heard of had not
the President opposed the action of the dominant
party, and the Conservative Republicans acknow-
ledge that they would be dismissed at once in any.
Court. We cannot, of course, pretend at this dis-
tance to give an opinion on this point, but
the presumption of the flimsiness of the charges
made against Mr. Johnson is confirmed by the
language of the more thoughtful members of the
extreme Radical party itself. Timidly they hint their
fears of the wisdom of the process instituted by
their unflinching associates. ." Alay we not," they
ask, "put a precedent upon our statute-books which
will give any Democratic majority of the Senate
and house in future years the right to revolutionise
the Government in the interest of slavery ?"
This is undoubtedly the danger. If Mr. John-
son is to be set aside because he interferes with
the will of the majority of the present Congress, no
future President will be able to defend the on-
stitution from the majority of the hour. Whatever
party be uppermost will wield a power without
limit. We should be glad to believe that the sense
of this danger will prove sufficient to arrest the
course of the majority in Congress. Unhappily,
they can point to the majorities at the elections of
last autumn—majorities not large in themselves
but giving their party overwhelming strength
in House and Senate; and they are fortified by
the assurance that the popular sentiment approves
their action. Relying upon this support, they
will persevere in the course they have deter-
mined upon. On the 4th of March the present
Congress will expire, and, in accordance with an
Act passed last month, the new Congress will im-
mediately commence its sittings. The interval will
be consumed in preparing Articles of Impeachment.
Then, when the new Congress is inaugurated, and the
Radical party, strong now, becomes even stronger,
when, above all, the two-thirds majority in the Se-
nate will be secured beyond the possibility of doubt,
the impeachment will be presented, a condemnation
will be secured, and a precedent will be set by which
the main defence against the despotism of a tempor-
ary majority will be swept away.

POST.-Early in the session a bill to amend the
law of bankruptcy will be introduced by the Attor-
ney-General, and we believe the preparation of the
measure has been entrusted to the competent hands
of the gentleman who was secretary to the Bank-
ruptcy Commission in 1856, and who drew the
Bankruptcy Bill introduced by Lord Derby's Go-
vernment in 1859. It may be assumed that impri-
sonment for debt on final process will be entirely
abolished. The Act of 1861 paved the way for this
great and salutary change, by providing a system of
monthly gaol deliveries, under which no trader need
suffer a longer imprisonment than 14 days, and no
non-trader a longer period than two calendar
months. The effect of this provision has been to
flood the bankruptcy and county courts with a mass
of pauper cases, which are submitted to the same
dignified processes which are useful and necessary in
the realisation of estates showing some or consider-
able assets. We regard the abolition of imprison-
ment for debt as the sine qua non of bankruptcy re-
form, but we cannot at the same time shut our eyes
to the fact that a very large portion of the trading
community consider the retention of this power
absolutely necessary as some kind of security for
the credit which they are compelled to give. If a
man can pay his debts and will not pay them, he
should be compelled to do so if he have the means.
The system of judgment summonses might be ex-
tended to all debts, and upon proof of the debtor's
ability to pay he should be committed to prison
for a specified period. The imprisonment would
not purge the debt, and during its continuance he
should not be allowed to petition against himself,
though creditors should be permitted to obtain
a hostile adjudication, and thus secure a rateable
division of the property amongst themselves.
The substitution of this system for arrest on final
process would, we think, satisfy the trading com-
munity, and especially the small shopkeepers, whose
business depends so materially on credit. As the
punishment should only be inflicted by a judge of
one of the superior courts, or of the Court of Bank-
ruptcy where the debt exceeded £5O, the debtor
would not be at the mercy of his creditors, and the
latter would not possess this power of enforcing
credit except upon satisfactory proof that the
debtor could, but would not, pay. But if all the
pauper cases which now are the result of imprison-
ment were removed, as suggested, there would still
remain a large mass of insolvent business to be ad-
ministered either in the Court of Bankruptcy or by
means of trust deeds. It is therefore important to
consider what improvement can be made in the
machinery of that court. Here it may be observed
that Mr. Moffatt's committee of 1865 proposed the
entire abolition of the Court of Bankruptcy, and
that Sir Roundell Palmer's Bill of last year pro-
ceeded upon the principle of giving all control to the
creditors, according to the Scottish system, and
leaving in effect nothing for the commissioners and
registrars to do but to adjudicate and to settle dis-
putes between trustees and creditors. We do not
believe that the measure about to be introduced will
adopt the sweeping change proposed by Mr. Moffatt
or proceed upon the plan of deofficialising the ad-
ministration of insolvent estates conceded by Sir
Roundell Palmer to the clamours of a few noisy
commercial agitators. Under the act of 1861
creditors can prescribe any mode of administration
that they prefer. They may keep the case in bank-
ruptcy, or by resolution may take it out of court;
and when they please, an arrangement by deed can
be made, which only requires the intervention of the
court for purposes of registration. The practical
result of the Act of 1861 has been to show that
creditors are the most helpless people in the world,
that they will not attend to their own business
(probably from a desire not to throw good money
after bad), and that as a necessary consequence the
conduct of their business has fallen to the lot of the
attorneys and accountants who, out of this negligence
on the part of creditors, reap no small advantage.
In illustration the following facts and figures may
be stated:-In one estate the gross assets were
£1,660 6s. 11d. ; the solicitor's bill, £246 15s. 9d. ;
the accountant's bill, £77 17s. 10d.•' and after other
charges, including official assignee, £39 Os. 7d. ; and
messenger, £2B 125., the sum divisible among the
creditors was £1,135 ss. 3d. In another estate the
gross assets were £777 19s. 6d. ; the solicitor's bill,
£36615. 9d. ; accountant's bill, £6O 14s. 9d. ; offi-
cial assignee, £33 Bs. 9d.; messenger, £37 11s. ld. ;
which, with other charges, left a sum of £254 17s.
2d. divisible amongst the creditors. In a third estate
the gross assets were £425 2s. 101 ; solicitor's bill,
£156 ls. 11d. ; accountant's bill, £25 ; messenger,
£2 12s. 11d. ; and the sum divisible was £93 10s.
6d. In a fourth estate the gross assets were £336
12s. 9d. ; solicitor's bill, £46 18s. 7d. ; manager's
bill, £6l9s. 9d. ; messenger, £l6 18s. 6d., and other
expenses, leaving a balance of £lB7 Bs. 3d. In a
fifth estate the gross assets were £250 14s. 3d. ;
solicitor's bill, £143 3s. ; manager's bill, £45 19s.
101. ; official assignee, £l2- 17s. 2d; messenger,
£8 9s. Bd.. leaving, with other expenses, a balance
divisible of £34 9s. 7d., which on the debts proved
gave the unfortunate creditors a dividend of exactly
31d. In a sixth estate the gross assets were £l3O
Os. 6d.; solicitor's bill, £4l 4s. Id.; official assignee,
£ll 17s. sd. •, messenger,
.£9 17s. 6d. ; bankrupt's
allowance, £25 ; payments in full, £39 lls. 6d. ;
and the amount ultimately divided was £2 10s.,
yielding a dividend of 14d. In a seventh estate the
gross assets were £77 18s. sd. ; solicitor's bill, £39
Os. 7d. ; official assignee, £l3 9s. Id. ; messenger,
£6 Is. ; the amount divided being £l9 7s. 9d. In
the last estate to which we refer the gross assets were
£72 14s. 11d. ; solicitor's bill, £37 2s. 5d., being more
than one-half of the entire assets; official assignee,
£ll Os. 4d. ; messenger, £l5 16s. 11d. ; which, after
deducting £3 lls. 6d. for auctioneer's bill, left a
balance of £5 4s. 7d,, giving a dividend of exactly

4d. in the pound to the unhappy creditors. It ap-
pears from a list of twelve estates, including the
eight just mentioned, these general results may be
drawn :—Solicitor's charges, 24 per cent. ; official
assignee's charges, 3i per cent. ; and messenger's
charges, 3 per cent. The last two charges, it may
be observed, do not go into the pockets of the official
assignee and messenger, but are paid into the Chief
Registrar's fund, and are applied to wards the sus-
tentation of the court. As solicitors' bills are sel-
dom or ever taxed under trust deeds, possibly the
per tentage in those cases may appioach nearer 50
than 24 per cent. This point is dwelt upon with
greater earnestness because it is believed that by the
forthcoming bill the office of official assignee will be
abolished altogether. Sir Roundell Palmer's mea-
sure of last session practisally left all property in
the hands of the bankrupt, from the adjudication to
the choice of a trustee or assignee. It may be
hoped that if official assignees are to be abolished
care will be taken to provide some means of secur-
ing possession of the bankrupt's property up to the
choice, and for this purpose it might be advisable
to create an officer, to be called provisional assignee
or high bailiff, in whom the bankrupt's estate Would
vest immediately upon adjudication, and who would
retain possession, and give direction for its manage-
ment until the creditors had had an opportunity of
electing an assignee. The most efficient and trust-
worthy of the present messengers of the court
should be appointed to this office. There are many
other points upon which, in previous articles, we
have observed, such as the creation of a chief judge
and the transfer to that officer of jurisdiction in
winding-up cases ; but we forbear to enter upon
them now, simply expressing our hope that an en-
larged and enlightened view of the whole law of
debtor and creditor will be taken by the framers of
the measure, and that they will not permit any com-
mercial clamour or agitation to extort from them
concessions which will only render the administra-
tion of estates in bankruptcy more mischievors,
dilatory, and expensive than at present.

COUNTEY MARKETS.