The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-23 00:00:00

7HE LIVERPOOL BANK.

•
The Liverpool papers have now published is full
the report of Messrs. Roberts and Bartlett, tiv°
members of the Investigation Committee, on the
causes of the failure of the Royal Bank. 13
81
show that it mainly arose from the locking up a thecapital of the bank by advances of a most atrtivo
ordinary nature, and of unprecedented arnatett.ed
two firms, who, after their insolvency, were "0011 f
on" by the directors apparently from want
courage to admit the fact that they had made ve'.7o
heavy bad debts. In addition to this circunasteeci,
both of the paid directors were largely indebted wo
the bank. One of them (Mr. Hutchison) has been
adjudicated a bankrupt, and the other (Mr. Shen/
is dead, and his estate will not nearly suffice to 133:1
his creditors in full. A brother of the late manager !6
5
also a debtor to the batik to a large amount, and ill
account will result in a considerable loss. M re.
gards Mr. Hutchinson it is a peculiar feature "
his case that he was nominated as a director to Pr°,
tect the interest of Mr. Edmund Molyneux, a Ter'
large shareholder, and that from the Yeai
1859 to the date of the stoppage he contrive;
to get :into debt to the bank to the a'nett
of £103,477, against which they hold cw'
about £15,000 .of securities extracted fr°/11,r.
Lim a few days previous to the stoppage, and W—
right to which is disputed by his assignees. A ftire
ther noticeable point is that he is ascertained to have
been insolvent for the past 20 years, and that in tha
years immediately preceding his break up he he
been giving away between £2,000 and £3,000 in eba-
ritable donations. With regard to the other paid diree;
tar, Mr. Shand, his overdrawn account appear the
have been liquidated, and the only reproach is that he
remained a director under circumstances of pere°l3:o
difficulty such as to render it impossible for Wei
exercise proper moral control over his offending COI
league. The other directors, Messrs. Bibby, 11°Irapeel
and Rae, seem, as regards their pecuniary relaticiti.
with the bank, to have acted honourably. Mr'
00
Withers, the manager, who enjoyed a salary of £3vw
per annum, was not a debtor to the bank except ?il
account of shares to the amount of £6,717, and h
e
:ie
has made an assignment for the benefit of
creditors. :Mr. Jeffryes, the sub-manager, With,,
salary of £1,500, was a debtor to the amount oe'toJ
of £558, which has since been :repaid. As resPecbe
the advances of the bank to Liverpool firms, td
most singular is that to Messrs. H. T. Wils°,, 1
Cunningham, and Co., who were on the point ".
failing in 1866, when the bank, in order to avoid
loss of £60,000, agreed to carry them on, and "0
the course of little more than a year became Weere
to the amount of £528,000.

THE ELECTRIC AND INTERNATIONAL TEli

GRAPII COMPANY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Telegraph-street, London, B.C.'
Oct. 21, 1868.
Sin,—l beg to call your attention to the c, 1
cumstance that in your impression of Mean,
evening, the 19th inst., you head a report 'l.O,
trial in which this company was concerned—"
Windham T. the Electric and International 11
Lis
grip Cotnpany." Allow me to explain that %Pea
is an error. The case ought to have been headed
"The Electric and International Telegraph C6/301:1
pany v. Mrs. Windham," and I shall feel obit or
if you would correct the mistake. As your C°at
rectly state the verdict was for the plaintiff ;
te
as this company, and not Mrs. Windham, was 'r,
plaintiff, your report conveys an altogether ink°
rect impression of the result of the trial.-1
sir, your obedient servant,
THE SECRETAI