The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-09 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL BOROUGH BANE.

A full account has just been published of the
recent meeting of the unfortunate shareholders of
the Liverpool Borough Bank. No report was
allowed at the time to appear in the local news •
papers, the exclusion of reporters having been
resolved upon ; but Mr. Healsy, one of the pro-
prietors, had the sense to point out the discreditable
impressions that would result from an enforced
secrecy, and he succeeded in carrying by a large
majority. a motion for the publication of a short-
hand writer's minutes of the discussion. It appears
that when the bank stopped in October last its
liabilities were 3,500,000/. Of these the portion upon
bad bills is about 450,000'. The whole of the capital
of 1,000,000/. is estimated to have been lost, and
to meet the outstanding claims during the realisa-
tion of the assets a call of 51. per share has been
made, and which should produce 500,0001. This
call seems to have been tolerably well met, and a
hope exists that another may not be necessary. A
shareholder wished the names of the parties by
whom the bank had sustained losses or from whom
compromises had been accepted to be read, but the
step was resisted on the ground that it would re-
move the inducement for other debtors to endea-
vour to make terms if it should be known that their
insolvency would then be published. Mr. Dixon,
one of the directors, made some instructive revela-
tions. He said he had been the youngest member at
the Board, and found it was a custom for all
the " outside" directors, that is, all except the
managing committee, to be kept in the dark with
regard to the most important proceedings of the
establishment. "I am on delicate ground here,"
he added, " but the practice of the directors of
this bank in respect to not having an insight into
its affairs is not by any means unusual or excep-
tional. It is not the only bank in the kingdom
where the outside directors know little or nothing
at all." There is reason to fear Mr. Dixon's state-
ment may be perfectly accurate, and it would be a
public service if he or any one cognizant of such
matters would proclaim the names of the institutions
in question. In another part of his remarks Mr.
Dixon described circumstances which precisely re-
call some of the events in the history of the Royal
British Bank. " Towards the end of June last," he
observed, "the statement laid before me led me to
the conclusion that no dividend ought to be de-
clared. This view was assented to at a meeting of
the directors, but at a meeting afterwards suddenly
convened the decision was reversed. The motive
was that it would be very dangerous in the then
position of the bank to run the risk of the excite-
ment that might be produced by the non-declara-
tion of a dividend ; it might have resulted in a run
and the stoppage of the bank." At that period it
is now supposed nearly the whole of the capital
was gone.

ABANDONMENT OF THE CONSPIRACY
. BILL.

We understand that Lord Derby has determined to
abandon the further prosecution of the Conspiracy Bill,
and a despatch, detailing the reasons for this change
intention, is understood to have been transmitted
, to Paris.

Mr.
The Lord. Chancellor of Ireland has appointed
\-Vllll'4l' a Napier his private secretary, assisted by
Mr. Richard W. Gamble, barrister-at-law ; Mr. Wm.
B. Drury, Secretary of Lunatics; and Mr. William
Lees, pursebearer.