The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-13 00:00:00

Overcnd, Gurney, and Co. (Limited).

The committee of supervison of the above com-
pany yesterday issued the following to the share-
holders and depositors :
" Gentlemen,—lt has been our wish for some tim•
past to communicate with you on the subject of thr
duties committed to our charge, feeling that you maY
have naturally looked for some intelligence and
guidance at our hands. We have hitherto abstained
from addressing you, owing to the many questions
which have been raised and which are familiar to all,
and to the many and serious obstacles which have been
interposed to the progress of the liquidation. For
ourselves we have considered our duty clear. Jl.
liquidation of the company having been directed by
the shareholders and ordered by the court, which
liquidation we were appointed to supervise,
we have deemed it our duty to assist it,
as far as has been in our power. It should, how-
ever, be clearly understood by both the shareholders
and creditors, that while this d..ty was imposed no
real power was at the same time conferred upon us.
This, no doubt, could not be otherwise ; but
the consequence has been that our ability to
promote the interests of the shareholders and credi-
tors has been limited within narrow bounds. So far,
however, as it has been permitted us to do we have,
to the best of our ability, watched over the interests
committed to us ; and we have devoted much of oar
time and attention to the many important and
anxious considerations which those duties have in-
volved. That the liquidation has in the meantime
been progressing will, we think, be apparent from
the fact that the liabilities of the company, which at
the time of the stoppage exceeded 19 millions, have
been reduced to about five millions, and that assets
to the extent of nearly 1i millions, unfortunately
bearing no interest, are now only awaiting distri-
bution. It should also be satisfactory to the share-
holders to know, and it is perhaps only justice to
the partners in the late firm of Overend, Gurney,
and Co. to state, that so far as the realisation of t'-`e
landed estates has proceeded, more than the amount
at which they were originally estimated has been
realised. Events, however, have occurred which'
in our judgment, make it imperative that we should
call your attention to the present position of affair!'
A section of the shareholders have felt justified in
endeavouring to free themselves from the liability
attaching to their position, and, as you know, are
now prosecuting that line of action. This step is
acting in a manner deeply prejudicial to the realise.
tion of the estate in point of multiplied expenses' .
which threaten to be enormous—in the indefinite de-
lay which it interposes to any settlement with the
creditors, which tells with great force against the
company in point of interest—and in imperil-
ling the recovery of calls which, obtainable at tne
present moment, may, by indefinite delay, perhaPs
be wholly lost. With regard to this action by 3
section of the shareholders, it is not for us to cow.
demn a course which they feel themselves justified
in adopting, but it is not the less proper for us t°
point out how disastrous such proceedings must b°
to the liquidation. We believe that but for these
proceedings it would have been possible not only te,
have paid the creditors the intended dividend ole
2s. 6d., but before the end of the year a dividend e'
ss. Bd. in the pound upon their claims, with the pros-
pect of a further paymentat no distant date. Asl
is, however, in view of these proceedings—the ex-
pense and delay attendant on which may, by ap-
peals, be greatly prolonged—the date at which a re-
duction of the company's liabilities will be effected
must be still longer postponed. The distress
many depositors which is thus occasioned is, 13°,
doubt, very considerable, but it is hardly the leas!
evil ; the sore burden of the shareholders seems
m likely, fro the causes we have pointed out, to be
greatly aggravated, and it is not to be forgotten that
the liquidators have still the power of calling UP f
further amount of £25 per share, to the exercise
which, they may, in the result, be driven by reason'
of the very proceedings to which we have alluded
So long as a considerable body of the shareholders
entertain the conviction that the action which they
are pursuing is likely to end in relieving them frog
all liability, and so long as they feel entitled to Osil
themselves of the right so to relieve themselves, °J.„
are not hopeful that any representations of ours will
have much practical effect ; but we are not the.l:::
convinced that it is our duty to bring these cous'u,,,
rations before them, and to point out the results to
which they tend. If, which at present we fear is
hopeless, the shareholders could all confer in fee" 7
that they have a just though a heavy debt to
idis-
charge, and,,would unite in an effort to effect ths •
we believe the present would not be an unfair°. r,,
able time for arriving at some arrangement
the creditors, which, based upon mutual conces-
sions, might have a speedy result. We cannot,
0,
but feel that the time for cordial co-operation be,
tween the depositors and the shareholders is 13°
and that by such co-operation, the creditors on the
one one hand, if willing to make concessions, rug tbe
taro a speedy settlement of their claims, and
eat
shareholders, on the other hand, may reap the beu
th°
of such concessions, and, above all, may aver- we
ruinous wasting of assets which law and delay
certainly entail, Whether such a result can be
cornplished depends upon the spirit in which sueh
negotiation is approached on both sides ; from eboo
forbearance and concession are required ; with t
we do not despair of an early wind-up of theser be
astrous affairs, and whether it can or canoe our
effected, we, for ourselves, are satisfied that
• bes
t
duty, both to the shareholders and creditors, is
performed by presenting these considerations
them and by endeavouring to bring about sucia

result. —We are, your obedient servants,
" HENRY KINGSCOIS.
" HENRY GRISSELL•
" CHARLES OPPENOEI3
" 65, Lombard-street, Dec. 12."

ALARMING ACCIDENT TO SIR FRANCIS GOI'll;
SMID, BART., M.P.—We regret to have to rust to
an alarming accident which happened on the 26th 11„,
Sir Francis Goldsmid, Bart., M.P , while hunting 110-5
Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Sir Francis has beelli -°;
cupying Newnham Paddox, the seat of the 1"/-01"o
Denbigh, and on the day named was out with under
of the local packs. He had a very good horse ti-theg
him, but the animal stumbled and fell when -It
awcetnotf taking a small "grip" between two fields.
down on its fore knees and rolled over. 6
over: '`
Francis slid off, but while still on the ground recel
blow on the head from one of the fore-hoofs of the troy
gling animal. The blow, if given direct, would Pr°a- o
have been fatal ; but it reached Sir Francis in °b:- -atia
direction, smashing in his hat and 50.s.,:i°hie
scalp wound. His right eye was also injured u fr°'' t
spectacles, which were crushed and broken in thef to
no permanent injury, ae are pleased to add, will oa°l' rot
the sight. Sir Francis was immediately taken to
house, near at hand, whore medical assistance Was ~f°1.,0,r-•
coming. He was afterwards removed home ill 11'130
riage and placed under the care of a local phYsicial'. nee'
is now, we are glad to say, fast approaching convalesce
—Brighton Guardian. A T,
ATTEMPT TO MURDER A PRIEST AT THE be
Ilautefeuille, cure of Chateauneuf-sur-Loire, the
XI. cli9'
other morning, while' celebrating mass at the ."'S' The
struck three times on the head with a choPPer; ,ios
criminal, one Robert, a shoemaker, and formerly a $
ly' d,
clerk in the Church of Chateaunouf, was at once arre e teiii
LNTENT TO AILTRDER.—Ou. Tuesday-Michael
was indicted at the Derby Assizes for attempting t° 1735
der Patrick Linskey. Kelly and some others wore Dgb too
in a public house, when Linskey interposed to resnif
order. Having succeeded in doing so, he was golug,_°
when the prisoner followed him, attacked him with it ayi
and inflicted three serious wounds. The defence wa e
the prisoner had u.od the knife in self-defence. 1 1:3
found guilty of unlawfully wounding, and sentences
'-
mouths' imprisonment.