The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-17 00:00:00

THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

Mr. COLLIER said he understood that the Chancellor
of the Exchequer proposed to move resolutions on Vie
subject of the Government of India on Monday week.
It was most important that members should have an op-
portunity of considering these resolutions before the time
for discussing them arrived. He wished therefore to a. k
the right hon. gentleman on what day th• resolutions
would be laid on the table of the house
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—The
resolutions will certainly be laid on the table on Monday
next. I hope that they will be in the hands of members
on that day.

THE ABEONA,
In answer to Mr. LINDSAY,
General PEEL said that the Abeona sailed from
Gravesend a short while since, with 750 men on board.
After a few days small-pox broke out on board. Upon
this occurring the ship put back, and the men who
were attacked by the disease were landed, and the vessel
then proceeded on her way, orders, however, being given
for her to call at Kingstown, that she might there be
inspected. After she again started on her voyage two
more men were attacked by the small-pox. Beyond
these two, however, the disease had not spread, and he
had received a telegram from Ireland from the inspector-
general certifying that the troops on board this vessel
were now in good health, and quite fit to eroceed to sea.
THE ARMY ESTIMATES.
In answer to Mr. P. O'BRIEN,
General PEEL said he did not propose to make any
general statement as to the army estimates that evening,
but merely to take one vote for pay, kc., for the men
already voted.
Ttie motion for adjournment to Monday was then
agreed to.
THE WESTERN BANK OF SCOTLAND.
On the motion for going into committee of supply,
Mr. BRADY rose to call attention to the case of the
Western Bank of Scotland—a case which, to his wonder,
had not yet been brought before the house. This back
was established twenty-five years ago with a capital of
1.500,0001. It soor, however, had at its command
5 000,000/ sterling, and, in addition, circulated its notes
to the extent of 327,0001. From the commencement the
bank went upon wrung principles, and its subsequent
career was so managed that, sooner or later, its fall was
certain to occur. He had received from a trustworthy
source a document which enabled Ihim to state some of
the chief charges against the directors of this bank. In
the first place, they omitted to Gall together the proprie-
tors, as they should have done, when a certain propor-
tion of their capital was lost. Not only did they fail in
doing this, but they declared a dividend of 94 per cent.,
whereby many were induced to take shares in the bank.
when it was entirely insolvent. Besides this they car-
ried on bad debts in their books as available assets, and
they did this even in cases where they had theme ,veti
been obliged to insure the lives of debtors in order to
have a chance of saving anything. They had also sent
600,000/. to America—against the terms of their char
ter—to be applied in discounting bills. Every penny of
this sum was now lost. In the same way they advanced
money recklessly at home. A firm of Macdonald and
Co.; who were known to be men possessed of little or
nothing, had, in a few month., contrived to fail for
383,0001., of which sum 200,0001. was due to the
Western Bank. These were the two cases with whick
he should trouble the house. There were many more,
but he thought these two sufficient for the illustration of
the subject. It might be said that the manager had been
placed ilea position of such unlimited control against the
will of the directors, but that was in his (Kr. Brady',)
opinion, no excuse. He had entire control over the funds
of the bank, and next to him the directors were respon-
sible for his actions. He trusted that these parties would
be brought before the bar of public opinion to account
f ere the de: traction they had brought on hundreds of fa-
milies. He had some tins before asked whether it was
the intention of Government to take any steps in the
matter, when the learned lord opposite informed them he
had not before him any evidence upon which he could
proceed. Since then he (Mr. Brady) bad been informed
that at the time the learned lord was giving his answer
he was actually the legal adviser of the directors of the
Western Bank. (Hear, hear.) He did not mean to in-
sinuate that the learned lord could in the slightest de-
gree have been influenced by Buell a circumstance ; in-
deed, he did not know of his own knowledge if it were
true ; but, if the learned lord was the legal advi•er of
the directors, he certainly was not in a position to give
the answer he (Mr. Brady) had quoted. (Hear, hear.)
He trusted they should hear from the learned lord that,
if any foundation for criminal proceediugs could be ob
tained, they would without delay be taken by the Go-
vernment. In conclusion, he begged to state that in
bringing this subject forward he had been actuated
solely by public motives, and that he left it with the
Idlest confidence in the hands of the Government.
'fee LORD-ADVOCATE said he could assure 6e
house that although rising immediat ly after the hon.
member for Leitrim, he had no intention of answering
the speech of that hon. member. He (the Lord-Advo-
cate) was not there for the purpose of defending the
principle upon which the Western Bask of Scotland
bad been established, or the conduct of the directors of
that institution. Neither was he there to offer any
opinion as to the personal culpability of the directors.
Oa that subject he had given no opinion : but he was
glad of the opportunity of removing an erroneous im-
pression that prevailed in certain quarters out of doors,
and which seemed to influence some hon. members with-
in. With regard to himself personally, the charge
alluded to by the hon. member for Leitrim seemed hardly
to require even a passing observation ; but he might
mention that at the time the bank stopped payment and
was winding up, he was in his professional capacity fre-
quently consulted by the directors, the shareholders, the
liquidators, the depositors, and the creditors of that in-
stitution. (Hear, hear.) All parties, in short, had con-
sulted him in turn, but the matter to which he wished
then to refer cencernel his office as public pros enter in
Scotland. The hon. member fer Leitrim had ou a previous
occa.ion asked him (the Lord-Advocate) whether criminal
proceedingswonld beinst tuted.—hisanswer in substance
was, that he had not before him any information that
would justify a prosecution. He begged now t 3 repeat
that statement, and to add that such was his position
down to the present moment. It did appear strange to
him that the parties who had given the hon. member the
information which justified him in using such .strong
language as that he bad indulged in, should nut have
thought fit to lay their information before the public
authorities. It seemed that a great misapprehension
existed as to the nature of the office which he had the
honour to hold. A public prosecutor was not a minister
of police. It was not any part of the business of a public
prosecutor to bunt out crime. On the contrary, he had
always understood that the true theory of the Lord Ad-
vocate's function was that that officer should never pro-
secute except on the complaint of an injured party, with
certain very important exceptions it was true, but as a
general rule a prosecution shoul I not be set on foot ex-
cept by the complaint of the injured party. And the
rule was applicable in the case of commercial frauds. The
whole of the disclosures in the case of the Royal British
Bank were made in the Bankruptcy Court, and came
u ,der the notice of the Attorney-General in that way,
and he bad no alternative but to proceed against the
directors. But in the case s.f the Western Bank of
nlylonnhethparotceedeinifiratytih:jat
wSoiostals, r.cased thereo f
cas
di-posed' to talc%
he
was
the direetufs
sequestration. been
front all res
thete I': on laeg manager,
blamewa s upon examined,
himself, and
relieving
shareholders, and at all of them the
many meetings of
Besides this, there had been
tons had been to charge the directors with very culpable
negligence of duty in not controlling the manager ; but
there vas nothing suegested at any of them as the pro-.
duct en of a criminal prosecution. As early as December
last there was a committee meeting of the bank at Glas-
gow for the purpose of appointing a committee of inves-
tigation. That committee reported to a subsequent
meeting. It va , a very angry and excited meeting, but
o criminal charge weraewsphmoroatld,eosotatagtameidnrst. thTatathyetihodreiTrse ctor s. To to
°nranitutihtateteduinrinthgetihr
during the career of Mr. Smith, his of
neglectingdirectors ofth
ethe
dutiesbank
of
theirwer were
trustverymuchd h
toat blame in
peered, without sufficient inquiry or examinatioen,atpo-