The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-04 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.,

GREAT NORTHERN.
A meeting of preference shareholders in this com-
pany was held yesterday at the King's Arr
Arms Hotel,
Westminster, to consider the propriety
o promoted
petition-
ing against the bill now in
Parliament,
by the directors of the company. Mr. Williams, at
the request of the meeting, took the chair.
The notice convening the meeting having been
read,
The CHAIRMAN said, the meeting had been con-
vened in consequence of the unjust way in which
it was proposed by the directors to deal with the
dividend of the preference shareholders. The whole
matter had been fully stated in a correspondence
which had taken place between him and Mr. Deni-
son, the Chairman of the Great Northern Railway
Company, the whole of which had appeared in
fferapath's Railway Journal. He supposed they
had all seen it. (Cries of " No, no ; read it.")
He then read the correspondence, from which it
appeared that Mr. Williams contended that the
directors had no right to retain any portion of the
dividend of the preference shareholders for the
purpose of making good the losses occasioned by
the frauds of Redpath. If they wanted to buy up
the 220,0001. stock issued by Redpath, they could
raise the necessary funds for the purpose of calling
up a portion of the 400,0001. the company was
authorised to raise on preference shares, but on no
account should they touch the money available for
dividend on the preference shares. It was a most
unjust thing to take from the net revenue of one
half-year the whole sum of which the company had
been defrauded during a period of 10 years. Some
of the preference stock had not been in existence
two years. The frauds had been perpetrated by
degrees, and the amount ought to have been re-
placed in a similar manner. He had suggested that
as Redpath's frauds amounted t 0220,0001., and as it
was determined by the half-yearly meeting to pay
the whole amount out of the 243,0001. net revenue,
23,0001. would remain, which, added to the 50,000/.
that Redpath's assets would realise, would make .
73,0001. This amount would pay 2 per cent. on the
3,500,000 of preference stock and shares, and the
remainder of the preference dividend could be paid
out of the net revenue of the next half-year. If the
Bill passed in its present form they would be de-
prived of their dividend. A petition had been pre-
sented against the Bill, and a similar one would be
submitttd for the approval of the meeting.
Mr. LAWRENCE, the solicitor, explained that the
directors of the Great Northern Company had in
the first instance presented to Parliament a Bill
authorising them to pay all the shareholders their
dividend for the past half-year, and to provide for
the loss by Redpath's frauds out of the unissued
capital of the company. The directors at the same
time circulated their report, in which they stated
that they proposed to go to Parliament for powers
to regulate the capit it of the company, and further
stated in paragraph 44 of their report, after refer-
ring to the loss occasioned by the frauds of Red-
path, that they could not take upon themselves to
propose or support any Bill which would throw
upon the preference stocks any portion of the loss
in question, and thereby shake the confidence of the
public in all such stocks. Numerous proxies were
sent out with that report and returned to the di-
rectors duly signed, authorising them to vote as
they pleased at the meeting. It was therefore the
duty of the directors to protect the interests of the
preference shareholders, a,‘; they had undertaken to
do by the statement in their report. On the con-
trary, however, the directors sacrificed the interests
of the preference shareholders by adopting an amend.
went to the proposal contained in the report. The
present Bill was called an amended Bill, but instead
of being amendments they were direct negatives of
the original Bill. The first and the amended Bills were
as opposed as white to black. A fewpreference share-
holders had instructed him (Mr. Lawrence) to pre-
sent a petition against the Bill in Parliament. The
petition had been printed, and was signed by five
or six shareholders, but it would not be proceeded
with unless they were supported by that meeting
and other shareholders. They could not undertake
to fight the battle themselves unless supported by
the preference shareholders generally. He then
read the petition against the bill, which was of con-
siderable length.
The CHAIRMAN proposed a resolution to the effect
that the meeting being fully convinced of the injus-
tice of throwing any portion of the losses by Red-
path's frauds upon the preference shareholders,
concur in the views stated in the petition of Dr.
W. C. Henry, Lord Wensleydale, and others on
the subject of the bill now before Parliament, and
that a similar petition be now signed and pre2euted,
and that a committee of preference shareholders be
appointed to conduct the proceedings in such man-
ner and to such extent as they may deem expedient.
On the motion being seconded a discussion en-
sued, in which Mr. Greening, Mr. Campbell, Mr'
Hardy, Captain Gladstone, and other shareholders
took part, in the course of which it was stated that
several shareholders had sent their proxies to thc
directors on the faith of the statement in the direc4
tors' report that the interests of the preference share-
holders would be protected. It was understood that
a Wharncliffe meeting would not be necessary t
sanction the bill. Lord St. Leonard's would cer-
tainly oppose the bill in the Upper House. It was
looked upon as a most unjustifiable measure, and
thought by some that the sooner they got rid of the
directors who promoted it the better it would be for
the company.

The motion was put and carried unanimously.
Resolutions were also passed, pledging the meet-
ingto' subscribe to the extent of 5 per cent. of the
amount of their dividend towards the expenses of
opposing the bill, and calling upon the other pre-
ference shareholders to do the same ; and appoint-
ing Messrs. Heath, Greening, Campbell, and Wil-
liams a committee, with power to add to their
number ; three to be a quorum, to carry out the
objects of the meeting.
The proceedings then terminated.

GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA.
It appears that this company's relief bill passed
the House of Assembly on the 13th ult. by a majo-
rity of 13; and it was expected to pass the Legisla-
tive Council on the 19th ult. by a large majority.
The object of the bill is to dispense with Govern-
ment directors at the board, and to facilitate the
completion of the works from Riviere du Loup to
Sarnia. The bill am -nds former acts relating to
the company, and provides that the present direc-
tors appointed by the Governor of the province
shall go out of office at the first general meeting of
the shareholders for the election of directors ; the
company shalt render half-yearly (and oftener if
required) to the inspec' or-general a full statement
of their affairs, with abalance-sheet, the correctness
of which shall be attested under otth by the book-
keeper, accountant, or other officer having a know-
ledge of the accounts. It also provides for the pro-
duction and inspection of the books, accounts, and
vouchers of the company by the board of audit. On
condition that the company, by means of prefer-
ential bonds and other loans, complet e their railway
from Riviere du Loup to Stratford, and thence by
St. Mary's direct to Sarnia, including the Victoria-
bridge and other works, undertakings, and engage-
ments mentioned in the Act of 1856, and supply
the railway with a sufficient plant, rolling stock
and appliances to work the same efficiently within
the limits of time specified, being one year after
the time named in the Act of 1856, and so long as
they maintain and work the same regularly, the
province -foregoes all interest on its claim against
the company until the earnings and profits of the
company, including those of the Atlantic and St.
Lawrence Railroad Company, shall bs sufficient to
defray the following charges :-1. All expenses of
managing, working, and maintaining the works and
plant of the company. 2d. The rent of the Atlan-
tic' and St. Lawrence Rail Way, add all interest on
the bonds of the company, exclusive of those held
by:the province. 3. A dividend of 6 per cent. on
the paid-up share capital of the company, in each
year in which the surplus earnings shall admit of
the Stine; and then in each year in which there
shall be a surplus over' the abovenamed charges
ouch surplus shall be applied to the pay-
went of the interest on the Province Loan accru-
ing to
-such, h
z c year, The bonds and share capital
herein mem'
of all loans sod
toned shall be held to include and consist
paid-up capital which the company
have raised or raa
of
ay hereafter raise bona fide under
the-authority
11, act of the Provincial Legisla-
ture passed or to bus
such
aTta.aseid,.for any purpose autho-
rised by any
are autho-
rised by the bill to reeei-v6ifrom the Receiver-Ge-
and expend upon the works,
neral of the province,
the proceeds of the preferential bonds, provided the
sum so depended upon each work bears the same
ptoPortion to the total BUM allotted to it as the
sums paid in bear to the whole amount authorised
to be raised by the act, and that each of the seve-
ral works shall be proceeded -with simultaneously
and in the same proportion. This is considered
Itom
wi I relieve the c a
very liberal measure.
from the Government claim of 3,111,500/. sterPliann4
hieh stood as a first mortgage on the Whole of the
company's railway and works, and enable them to
complete the undertaking.

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAlLWAY.—Traffic
return for the week ending May 31, 1857 2n5,406 0 0
Corresponding week last year
GREaT NORTHERN RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the
week ending May 24, 1857
Corresponding week last year 21,026 1 7
CHESTZRAND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Trattic return fc r
the week ending May 31, 1F57 £5,392 0 0
Corresponding week last year, 5,083 0 0

inereaße in 1857
... 300 0 0
LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY.--L-Traffin re-
turn for the week ending May 31, 1857. £24,372 14 9
Corresponding we last year .................... 22,724 9 0

Naval and Military Intelligence.

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 4, 1857

to prove of great importance, as well to the general
prosperity of the island as to the interests of the na-
tional treasury. For iF, as we consider in every way
improbable, the guano from the new depo,it.,
whence the samples collected by the commission
have been taken, should not be found to be im-
mensely more rich than th former in fertilising
power, the information we have received of the
avidity with which the guano most resembling that
first analysed is received on the neighbouring con-
tinent would already assure us of its recognised
utility and value for exportation when once autho-
rised, as it has accordingly sinee been, by the de-
cree of his Excellency the Governor Superintendent
of the 12th inst. The liberal terms of this decree
deserve our warmest acknowledgments, as much on
account of the just discretion exercised in the total
avoidance of any grant of monopoly as on account
of the zealous desire shown on behalf of the agri-
cultural interests of this island.
" Such, then, are the facts and observations
which we proposed to enregister. That our agri-
culturists should not show themselves indifferent
to the benefits thus conferred upon us by Provi-
dence, or ungrateful to the exertions of the autho-
rities, is our sincere desire, as it must needs be of
whoever feels a true interest in the prosperity and
enrichment of the island."

THE WINDING-UP ACTS AMENDMENT
BILL.

(From the eolica777ournal.)
The Bill which has been introduced by the Attorney-
General nominally for the amendment of the Winding-
up Acts, but mainly for the purpose of legalising the in-
tended compromise in the case of the Royal British
Bank, was read a second time without opposition on
Thursday evening. The Attorney-General professed his
readiness to consider any amendments which might be
suggested in committee, and as very considerable altera-
tions will be needed to make the measure at all satisfac-
tory as a piece of permanent legiattion, it is to be hoped
that the bill will not be hurried through its stages with-
out full consideration.

The mischief to be remedied is notorious enough ; and
probably there is not a member in the house or a lawyer
out of it who would say that the law ought to remain in
its present anomalous condition. It has been denounced
in the strongest terms from the bench, and popular feel-
ing has approved the outcry against the slovenly and dis-
graceful legislation which has been the means of prevent-
ing a satisfactory settlement of the demands of the credi-
tors of the swindling bank. The existing law may be very
shortly summed up. The shareholders in a joint-stock
bank are individually liable to make good every farthing
of the debts of the concern. By the Joint-Stock Com-
panies Act, every creditor is entitled to take proceed-
ings, under which he can issue execution for the full
amount of his debt, against any one of the shareholders.
Under the Winding-up Acts the shareholders may get
their liabilities relieved by the application of the corpo-
rate assets to the debts of the concern so far as they
may suffice for the purpose, and may have the remaining
deficit supplied by means of rateable calls upon the various
members. At one time the courts of law seemed to con-
sider that the pendency of winding up proceedings was a
sufficient reason for withholding their assent to execu-
tions against individual shareholders. Unfortunately,
though no doubt correctly in point of law, they have now
adopted the practice of permitting executions to be
levied notwithstanding that the official manager may
be in course of getting in contributions, with every
prospect of being able to provide 208. in the pound,
The consequence of this, in the caoe of the Royal
British Bank, together with the litigation which arose
out of the bankruptcy, has been that the share-
holders have been put to flight, and that the excessive
eagerness with which some creditors have pressed on
their remedies has rendered it rather problematical
whether the official manager will be able to raise a suffi-
cient sum by calls to pay off the whole liabilities.
The law has thus worked ruin to the shareholders who
have remained to face their liability, and has at
the same time seriously diminished, if not altogether
destroyed the prospect which the creditors would other-
wise have had of obtaining foil satisfaction] through the
medium of the Winding-up Acts.
This is the first evil which the Legislature has to repair,
and to which the bill of the Attorney-General is directed.
The proposal is, that representatives of creditors shall
be elected in the winding-up proceedings, or that that
fun c.ion shall be performed by the assignees in cases where
there may have been a previous adjudication of bank-
ruptcy. Very extensive powers of binding all parties
to a compromise are to be conferred upon them, and
no execution is thereafter to issue against individual
shareholders without the leave of the court which
has the conduct of the liquidation. This arrange-
ment seems to lean as unfairly towards the side of the
debtors as tke existing law does in the otherdirection, and
the result would general y be, that the creditors, being
deprived of their compulsory power, would be com-
pelled to submit to a c,mpromise, even is cases, where
the shareholders were well able to pay in full. If the
members of a defau!ting company which has commenced
busine-s on the principle of unlimited liability are to be
relieved from the plenum of individual executions, some
provision should be introducd either requiring them to
give ample security for the payment of calls In the wind-
ing up, or in default, rendering all disposition of their pro-
perty fraudulent and vuid as against the official manager.
There ought'also to be a clause, as suggested by Mr.
Malins to enable creditors to arrest any shareholders
who may be about to abscond, and also summary
powers to prevent a fraudulent removal of property.
It is right enough to relieve the debtors from the
harassing process which the law now allows ; but
at the same time care should be taken that their pro-
perty may be forthcoming, so far as necessary, for the
purpose of meeting the calls which may be assessed on
each particular contributory. The bill as it stands does
not provide this security, and we hope that the point
will not be neglected in committee.

CURRENCY AND BANK REFORM.

Yesterday a preliminary meeting of the members
of the Currency and Bank Reform Association was held
at the London Tavern, Bishopigate-street, to elect a
president, vice-president, and acting committee. The
announcement convening the meeting, and explaining
the objects of the association, was to the following
effect :

" The object of the association is to diffuse informa-
tion and arouse the attention of the whole kingdom to
this, the most important question of the day. Without
energetic action a high rate of interest will become per-
manent, and revolutionise the value of property of every
description. Railways.—An advance of 1 per cent. on
the mortgage debt of the Great Western Railway would
be a reduction of 50 per cent. in the dividends. Other
railways rateably, as the debts bear upon share capital.
Mortgages.—lf land yields 3 per cent. rental and mort-
gages advance to 5 and 6 per cent., how long
will it require to deprive a large portion of the
present proprietors of their incomes and estates ?
Manufacturers.—lf interest on capital be a cost of pro-
duction, how can we compete with the foreign manu-
facturers when that cost is doubled ? Agriculture.—
By the large importation of foreign corn, &c., the ex-
changes are acted on most disadvantageously. The
remedy is the increase of our own growth. Will this be
done extensively under a ruinous state of interest ?
Shipping.—Steam navigation, mining, and distant un-
dertakings, like irrigation and the growth of cotton in
India—the retail trader, the artisan, and all classes ex-
cept the money-lender, are seriously injured by the
present rate of interest on current money, although
capital is abundant, and trade sound. To invests•
gate the causes are the objects of this proposed
Association, and so urge the remedy upon Government
and the members of both Houses of Parliament as to
ensure the removal of so great an impediment to the
national prosperity and progress. Co-operation from
all parts of the United Kingdom is earnestly solicited
without delay, as the Committee on the Bank Charter
is now sitting. A low rate of interest is not desirable,
but to avoid the two mischievous extremes—very high
and very low rates—is a consummation most earnestly
desired."

A more serious mischief is the conflict of jurisdiction
, between the Courts of Chancery and Bankruptcy, which
the government bill leaves without a remedy. Until last
year it was generally supposed that the Winding-up Acts
had by implication repealed the statute under which a
company might be declared bankrupt. At any rate
that act had re:mined a dead letter until it was un-
luckily revived in the ease of the Royal British Bank.
The effect has been to squander 17,000/. in establishing
the privilege of the Court of Bankruptcy to distribute
the assets which would otherwise have been divided by the
official manager. At the same time it is found necessary
to continue the winding-up proceedings, for the sake
of raising the contributions which the Court of Bank-
ruptcy has no power to levy. In many winding-up cases
which occurred before that of the British Bank, as, for
example, in Mr. Boyd's Australian bubble, enormous sums
were raised in liquidation, which certainly never would
have been got in if the struggle between the courts had
occurred cases, and there is every reason to be-
lieve,
matter been allowed to go on in the
depositors in the Royal British
ordinary
that, i
course,n
had thoset h
et the
e
Bank would have recovered 20s. in the pound. It is
obvious, indeed, that the whole liquidation ought to be
in the hands of one court. There is no earthly reason
why an official assignee should distribute the assets of
the corporation, while an official manager has the task
of dividing the amount which may be raised by calls.
The extent of the calls must depend on what the assets
may realise ; and it is clear that nothing but cost and
confusion can arise from the intervention of rival juris-
diction in the liquidation of the same estate. It is
dearly, therefore, the duty of the legislature to prevent
such conflicts in future, and the only remaining question
is which court should be employed. The main objec-
tion to the sinding-up procedure is, that it gives
the creditors no voice in the matter, and that the
official manager may be as dilatory as he pleases.
The remedy for this is to associate with him a re-
presentative of the creditors, and this is one of the
provisions of the Government bill. The objections to the
bankruptcy jurisdiction are more serious. The delicate
business of settling li4ta of contributories and enforcing
calls is one for which the court at Basinghall-street has
not the requisite machinery, and which is altogether
foreign to its ordinary business. If it is the better court
for the purpose, by all means let the-whole jurisdiction
of the Chancellor be transferred to it ; but we can see no
exouse for allowing the two courts to run races for the
possession of an estate after the unseemly fashion exhi-
bited in the recent struggle. The Attorney-General's
bill, however, leaves tbis absurdity untouched, only so
far mitigating the evil as to make the assignees, by vir-
tue of their office, the representatives of the creditors
in the winding up. This is a blot which ought not to
be suffered to remain.

DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT IRISH ORNAMENT.--A
few days since, as a poor man named Daly was engaged
in levelling a ditch at Liscarrol, 29 miles from Cork, he
found in the deep part of the ditcb, about 18 inches be-
low the surface, a valuable Irish relic, which is believed
to be unique. It consists of a gold fillet or ornament for
the head, composed of nine strands of twisted gold joined
together like a band, with a loop at each end. lts length
is fully 20 inches, and it weighs loz. 3dwts. 12 grains.
The gold, which is of great purity, would be worth at
the standard value over 4/. The reiic has been examined
by some local antiquaries, who have pronounced it be
over 1.000 years old.
A LIINATIO ON HORSEEACIC—One of the most laugh-
able circumstances we remember to have heard of has
occurred in connection with the Lunatic Asylum here.
Amongst the inmates of that institution is a boy named
M. Clogher. The great illusion in Mickey's mind is
hunting and horseracing, the noise of which be fre-
quently mimics by putting his hands to his mouth and
imitating the sound of a horn. It appears that Dr. Dil-
lon, the highly esteemed visiting physician, proceeded
at the usual hour from his residence on Saturday
morning to inspect the patients, and on arriving at the
front entrance had his mare, as was customary, sent to
a stable in the rear to await his departure. The doctor
had not been more than 15 minutes in the institution
when the lunatic proceeded to the stable and took out
the mare. Having led her to the back gate, he informed
the porter that he was taking the mare round to the
doctor at the front entrance. Murphy opened the gate
and allowed egress to the lunatic and the doctor's
mare. Mickey io sooner found himself free, and
the gate locked behind him, than he mounted the
animal, rode fearlessly past the front gate unobserved,
and got into Ballinasloe. He rode quickly through
the Main-street unchallenged, and dashed rapidly up
Dunlo-street. Here he was observed by one of the offi-
cials of the asylum, who used his best exertions to over-
take and arrest the fugitive, but to no purpose. The
official then proceeded to the asylum and reported the
circumetanee. A,car was procured, and two keepers
sent in hot purssit. By • this time, however, Mickey
had passed the suourban district of Brackerna, and had
the.wide country tefore him. At 10 o'clock at night the
lunatic 'was brougit to prison in custody of the keepers
despatched after him.— Watern Star.

The attendance was very small. Mr. W. Matins oc-
cupied the chair.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the business of the meet-
ing, said that they were met to consider the meat impor-
tant subject of the day, and he regretted that some other
person of greater importance had not been called to the
chair. The movement was between a wealthy class
who were opposed to any alteration, and others who were
suffering, but did not like openly to complain, of the
present state of monetary affairs, and it was to that he
attributed the finial attendance. The hon. gentleman
having referred. to the announcement of the meeting,
tbat it was a preliminary one for the election of officers,
said that the report of 1848 on the distress of the country
showed that the panic of 1847 was caused by the want
of available capital to pass from hand to hand, and not
from the want of actual capital in the country, and the
question was whether the people of this country would
tamely submit to the re-enactment of the Bank Act of
1844. An important inquiry was, in what capital con-
sisted ? Some said the National Debt was capital, whilst
others said it was only gold and silver represented by
Bank-notes, but in the banking account 14,553,0001.
were put down as proprietors' capital. That was money
lent to the Government in the reign of King William.
(Hear, hear.) In 1844 the Bank was allowed to issue
paper to that extent, so that if the proprietors' stock
was to be taken as capital, he thought the national debt
should be considered as capital also. It was stated that
the whole commerce of the:country required nine thousand
millions per annum, and the whole capital of the country
was only five thousand millions, consisting of fixed pro-
perty of various descriptions, of which the national debt
formed about eight hundred millions ; and the question
arose what portion of that eight hundred millions
should be available for the use of the public
whenever they required it for carrying on the
ordicary operations of trade. After alluding to
the fluctuations in the issue of bank notes, and
the rate of interest, the hon. gentleman said that the
Bank of England bad greater powers in taxing the coun-
try, in interest, &c., than were possessed by the Queen
and her Ministers, and which tended to the injury of
the people, and to the advaatage of the Bank proprie-
tors. An important modification had taken place since
1844, in abolishing silver from the Bank coffers. No
person could hold silver without effecting a loss, because
the legal tender of silver did not exceed 40s. In 1847
it was much felt, and he knew of a gentleman who had
a large amount of silver in his possession, but who
could not convert it, and suffered in consequence. He
(M:r. Malins) thought that silver was applicable for the
requirements of the trade of the country, and he saw
no reason why it should not be accepted by the Bank as
a security as much ae gold. He objected to the bill of
1844 from the great revolution it had caused in the value
of property, and he prooeed,ed at great length to illus-
trate his assertion, an&said that previous to 1844 the

highest rate of interest charged was 6 per cent., bu

, since then it had risen to 94 per cent., and without limi-
tation under peculiar circumstances it might get much
higher by the present Bank Act. Our exports
of gold exceeded the imports, and therefore it
was not likely we could obtain relief from that
quarter. It was high time for the traders of the
country to consider whether something should not
be done to prevent their being rode rough-shod over by
the moneyed interest. What was wanted was a just
medium that would fairly remunerate the money-lender
and not rob the borrower. He referred to free trade,
to the requirements of cotton, large interest paid
on joint-stock banks' • deposits, &c., as having
produced an effect on the Bank of England. The
meeting was called , without previous arrange-
ment to get an attendance, believing the whole
country was interested in this question, and he had no
doubt that by combined action they would be able to
effect an alteration in what they complained. Many
members of Parliament bad intimated their readiness to
support the objects the meeting had in view.
Mr. BELL said the question excited the greatest inte-
rest throughout the country from a belief that double
the amount of interest had now to be paid for money by
the producing classes than formerly, and that they were
paying more for it than money was worth. If legisla-
tion was bad in reference to this question, it was
their duty to get it remedied as soon as -pos-
sible. The present system told most inju-
riously in the end on the working classes, because if
an employer of labour could not pay 10 or 12 per cent.
for money, he must discharge his bands. He considered
it a subject demanding the fullest investigation. We
owed the present law to Lord Overstone, who instructed
Sir R. Peel on the question ; but he and those who went
with him had failed to show the reasons why interest
should be double what it, was before 1844. He (Mr.
Bell) asked for a full and impartial investigation. That
could not be obtained :from the present committee,
many of their number being ignorant of monetary
matters, whilst those who did understand the goes-,
tion were bound up in the present system. He
had no doubt that, when the objects of the meeting be-
came known, it would receive the support of the public.
He moved the following resolution :—" That this meet-
ing pledges itself to use every effort to form an associa-
tion sufficiently powerful to resist the renewal of the
Bank Charter Act of 1844, experience having demon-
strated its injurious action on railways, on agriculture,
on shipping and mining, and on wages in every depart-
merit of industry."
Mr. J. DUNOLN seconded the motion, and proceeded
to expose the several fallacies connected with the queE •
tion, and said that it required a thorough sifting.
Mr. DODD urged that a movement should be got up
to have the Bank Committee a public instead of a private
one, that the public might have daily opportunitienof
analysing the evidence produced before it.
The resolution was carried unanimously.

Mr. DODD then moved a resolution, expressing the
opinion of the meeting that the Bank Committee should
be a public and not a private one.
Colonel MAODONNELL seconded the resolution.
The resolution was then agreed to.
A resolution, appointing a committee to carry out the
objects of the meeting was then agreed to,

A. vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the
business of the meeting.

CRYSTAL PALACE. ONE SHILLING DAY.—Yester-
day, June 3. Ad m ission s on payment, 6,646; ditto, by
season tickets, 586 ; total visitors, 7,232.
THE POWER OP WOMAN.—According to a writer in
Blackwood, every man who is not a monster, mathemati-
cian, or a mad philosopher, is the slave of some woman
or other.

SIGNIFICATION OF LADIES' NAMES.—Mary, Maria,
Marie (French), signify exalted. According to some,
Mary means lady of the sea. Martha, interpreted, is
bitterness ; Isabel, signifies lovely ; Julia and Juliet,
soft-haired ; Gertrude, all truth ; Eleanor, all fruitful ;
Ellen, originally the Greek Helen changed bythe Latins
into Helena, and by the French into Helene, signifies
alluring, though according to Greek authors, it means
one who pities. The interpretation of Caroline, is regal ;
that of Charlotte, is a Queen ; Elizabeth and Eliza, sig-
nify true ; Clara, bright, or clear-eyed ; Agnes, chaste ;
Amanda, amiable ; Laura, a laurel ; Edith, joyous ;
Olivia, peace ; Phosbe, light of life ; Grace, favour ;
Sarah, or Sally, a princess • Sophia, wisdom ; Amelia
and Amy, beloved ; Matilda, a noble maid ; Pauline,
little one ; Margaret, a pearl ; Rebecca, plump ; Han-
nah, Anna, Anne, Ann, and Nanny, all of which
are of the same original name interpreted, mean, gra-
cious, or kind. Jane, signifies dignity; Ida, the morn-
ing star ; Lucy, brightness of aspect ; Louisa, or Louise,
one who 1 rotects ; Euinaa, tender ; Catherine, pure ;
Fiancee, or Fanny, frank or free ; Lydia, severe ;
Minerva, ,haste,—Ladies' Note Book.