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

Over,-nd, Gurney, and Co. (Limited).

The committee of supervisor of the above com-
pany yesterday issued the following to the share-
holders and depositors :
" Gentlemen,—lt has been our wish for some time
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 hauls. 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. A
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 our
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 11 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 the
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 affairs'
A section of the shareholders have felt justified 10
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 realisa-
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 the
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 con-
demn a course which they feel themselves justified
in adopting, but it is not the less proper for us to
point out how disastrous such proceedings must be
to the liquidation. We believe that but for these
proceedings it would have been possible not only to
have paid the creditors the intended dividend of
2s. 6d., but before the end of the year a dividend of
ss. Bd. in the pound upon their claims, with the pros-
pect of a further payment at no distant date. M .
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 to
many depositors which is thus occasioned is, no
doubt, very considerable, but it is hardly the least
evil ; the sore burden of the shareholders seems

likely, from 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 3
further amount of £25 per share, to the exercise of
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 frau.,
all liability, and so long as they feel entitled to avail
themselves of the right so to relieve themselves, we
are not hopeful that any representations of ours Will
have much practical effect ; but we are not the less
convinced that it is our duty to bring these eonside"
rations before them, and to point out the results to
which they tend. lf, which at present we fear is
hopeless, the shareholders could all confer iu feeling

that they have a just though a heavy debt to dis-
charge, and„,would unite in an effort to effect this,
we believe the present would not be an unfavour-
able time for arriving at some arrangement wlth
the creditors, which, based upon mutual conces-
sions, might have a speedy result. We cannot
but feel that the time for cordial co-operation be-
tween the depositors and the shareholders is now,
and that by such co-operation, the creditors on the
one hand, if willing to make concessions, may oh"
Lan a speedy settlement of their claims, and the
shareholders, on the other hand, may reap the benefit
of such concessions, and, above all, may avert the
i
uinous wasting of assets which law and delay
certainly entail. Whether such a result can be ac-
complished depends upon the spirit in which such
negotiation is approached on both sides ; from each
forbearance and concession are required;
with these
we do not despair of an early wind-up of these di"
astrous affairs, and whether it can or cannot be
effected, we, for ourselves, are satisfied that our
duty, both to the shareholders and creditors, is best
performed by presenting these considerations t°
them and by endeavouring to bring about such
result.—We are, your obedient servants,

" HENRY KINGSCOTE.
" HENRY GRISSELL.
" CHARLES OPI'ENUEI3I•
65, Lombard-street, Dec. 12."

ALARMING ACCIDENT TO SIR FRANCIS GOLD'
SMID, BART., M.P.—We regret to have to record •
an alarming accident which happened on the 26th ult. t°
Sir Francis Goldsmid, Bart., M.P., while hunting Desl.
Luttor worth, Leicestershire. Sir Francis has been °„cf
cupying Newnham Paddox, the seat of the Ball
Denbigh, and on the day named was out with °11"
of the local packs. Ho had a very good horse undo'
him, but the animal stumbled and fell when in tb-ft
act of taking a small "grip" between two fields. •.--
went down on its fore knees and rolled over. S':
Francis slid off, but while still on the ground received
blow uu the head from one of the fore-hoofs of the strut
gling animal. The blow, if given direct, would probable
have been fatal ; but it reached Sir Francis iu an obliqu
direction, smashing in his hat and inflicting a serie,.ll •
scalp wound. His right eye was also injured from 01-
spectacles, which were crushed and broken in the fall, hut
no permanent injury, .% e aro pleased to add, will result to
the sight. Sir Francis was immediately taken to a ftuln
house, near at hand, where medical assistance was feral'
coining. He was afterwards removed home in his clri;
riago and placed under the care of a local physician•
is now, we are glad to say, fast approaching convalescence'
—Brighton Guardian.
ATTEMPT TO MURDER A PRIEST AT THE ALTAIL--.
M. Hautefeuille, curd of Chateauneuf-sur-Loire, was, t,e"
other morning, while celebrating mass at the AsYlu'
struck three times on the head with a chopper. Th
criminal, one Robert, a shoemaker, and formerly a singiu,.s
clerk in the Church of Chateauneuf, was at once arrestec!
INTENT TO MURDER.—On Tuesday Michael Belly
was indicted at the Derby Assizes for attempting to nl.'l_l:
der Patrick Linskey.' Kelly and some others were figghoure
in a public house, when Linskoy interposed to resto
order. Having succeeded in doing so, he was going 11°ni
when the prisoner followed him, attacked him with a 101
and inflicted three serious wounds. The defence WS
the prisoner had used the knife in self-defence. II c
12
months' imprisonment.
found guilty of unlawfully wounding, and sentenced to