The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-29 00:00:00

RAILWAY DEPOSITS.

CHRONICLE.---The " standing order" applicable to the pay.
ment of deposits on railway Bills does not enjoin any specific mode
of making the payment, but simply requires that a sum, equal to
one-tenth part of the amount subscribed, shall be deposited with
the Court of Chancery, if the railway is intended to be made in
England ; with the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, or the Court
of Chancery in England, if the railway is intended to be made in
Scotland ; and with the Court of Chancery in Ireland, if it is in-
tended to be made in Ireland. As respects railway Bills wb ich were
before Parliament during last session, and which may be again in-
troduced in the next, or which were provisionally registered, or
the subscription contract for which was in whole or partly executed
before the 29th of July, 1844, a sum only equal to one-
twentieth part of the amount subscribed is required. to be de-
posited previous to presenting the petition for the Bill. The
act I and 2 Vic., chap. 117, provides that in all cases where
it is required by any standing order of either House of
Parliament that any sum of money shall be paid by the subscribers
to any work or undertaking to be made under the authority of
Parliament, the Speaker may direct an application from any five of the
directors of the company, that the money shall be paid,rito the:hands
the Accountant-General of the Court of Exchequer if the work is
in England, " or into the Bank of England, in the name and with
the privity of the said Accountant-General;" or into any of the
banks of Scotland established by Act of Parliament or royal charter,
in the name and with the privity of the Queen's Remembrancer
of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, in case the work is to be
made in Scotland ; or into the Bank of Ireland, with the privity
of the Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery in Ireland,
if the work is to be executed in any part of Ireland. An account
is also ordered to be opened in the name of the Accountant-
General, and the money is to be placed to the credit of such
account. It is directed that every sum paid into the
Bank of England in the name of, and with the pri-
vity of the Accountant-General of the Court of Exchequer,
shall be paid in and placed to his account there, "pursuant to the
method " prescribed by the Act I Geo. IV., c. 35, and in Ireland,
according to the provisions of the Act. 23 and 24 Geo. 111. The
ninth section of the Act above referred to, namely, 1 Geo. IV . c.
Si, enacts that whenever, at any time after the appointment of a
person to to Accountant-General, any person or persons are
ordered to pay "any sum or sums of money, or any Exchequer-
bills, bills of exchange, or other negotiable securities into the
Bank of England, the party on whom the order Is made shall, with
the privity of such Accountant_General, pay the same int* the
Bank of England " to the account of the Accountant-General of
the said Court, and the party paying shall take a receipt for
the same " from one ef the " cashiers "of the Bank. After
the deposits have been so paid in to the credit of
the Accountant-General, if the parties who make the payment
desire to have any part invested, the Court on a petition will order
that the same be laid out in the Threeper Cents. Consolidated or
Reduced Three per Cent. Annuities, or any Government security
or securities. There does not appear to be any specific day fixed
for making payment of the deposits to the Accountant-General,
the only requisite being that the payments shall be made " previous
to the presentation" of the petition for the Bill. Neither is there
any proviso that the payment shall be made in coin and bank notes.
On the contrary, there is authority in the Act I Geo. IV., c. 35,
for believing that it may be made in different kinds of negotiable
securities there_ mentioned, viz., " Exchequer-bills, bills of ex.
change, or other negotiable securities." If the Bank Dieectors
choose to make arrangements with the various banks who now hold
the deposits, there is nothing to prcreht them from receiving
short bills of exchange, or other negotiable securities,
falling due before the time that Parliament meets,
in payment. The prcmoters of railway Bills are only re.
quired to pay the deposits before the petitions for
their Bills are presented to the Speaker. Their solicitors will of
course intimate to their banker the day when this step is to be
taken, so that the deposits may be forthcoming; and for that pur-
pose it may be now easily arranged to be at the bankers' credit,
in the Bank of England, before the period when the petition will
be presented. Should this arrangement be completed, it will
follow that, when the order of the Speaker is received, directing
the Accountant.Geueral t. open an account for behoof of the
railway company in the Bank of England, the clerks of that este.
hihshment will have nothing more to do than to debit the account
of the bankers making the deposit, and to credit the amount in
account to the credit of the railway company with the Accountant.
General. If the banks who hold the deposits place in the hands
of the Bank of England short bills to cover the amount which will
be required of them, so as to have the same at their own credit in
the books of the Bank of England, the solicitors of the different com.
panies will apply to the Speaker of the House of Commons,
who thereupon will order the money to be paid to the Accountant-
General, and an account to be opened in his name for that pur-
pose, upon which the amount will be transferred from the credit of
the bankers' account to the credit of the Accountant-General.
Bills of exchange, Exchequer-bills, or other negotiable securities,
may be used for the purpose on the usual terms. It might be a
good step for scripholders to apply by written requisition to the
Provisional Committees, calling upon them to explain the position
of their finances ; distinguishing the amount of deposit paid, the
number of shares allotted, the number of shares reserved, the names
of the banks who hold the deposits, and the manner, amount, and
nature of investment. Information of this description, if officially
published, would tend to establish the credit of bona fide schemes,
and to enable the public to draw a line of distinction between the
good and the bad. The weeding process would then commence in
teiaerztsht,eabnudhwmhesilewesuubldsthanetrisatl. lines would recover their proper posi-
satiosffynathraosese
TIMES.—Now that the notion has been put forth of making
r atvtvhhaeoee:
present
gsruaep exposure
peopleienosneun vrleynicneotooafmrt
tth,
phhafen.cdir
ei
amountat
sniy,lowbtivanyt
ye inclined
manianietnofe
drseu
bptoma
depositrdi
tptellocpe
dsuetpinp depend uyep :Pteaahn
lrolti asihaParliament,
consideration
preliminaryoeernrigecredit
n itwateief
originating
nhnoi
dne-f
Pa Pa
theenqtus
as the
onlymanner
anencumbrance
oc fu
mmharkeinncge theupon
estotiotnh,euAntcicol
tuhnistafinrts; G
stepe n e rhaals,
beets established. It is extremely probable that those companies
which have
.honest intentions, and are in all respects of a bona fide
orem gbraarnktedingwiitnh.
character, without' any false assumption
may
yrm the basis of a fund of
demnities, will volunteer
. some such communications on the state of
tthheemir aicncoutnhtes antntdertheariamba.nngk,ersanasd
information, such as that now desired by the public. This they
will of course make known through the ordinary medium of adver.
tisements, but we may give place here to the first instance of the
kind which has come under our observation, for the sake of the
good example it will afford to the rest. With respect, then, to the
Chepstow, Forest of Dean, and Gloucester Junction Railway
Conipany, Mr. W. T. 11. Phelps, the solicitor thereof, desires
to state, for the satisfaction of the shareholders, that
the sum of 54,0001. has been paid into the bankers'
hands to its credit, the greater portion of which has since
been invested at interest ; that the whole of the deposit
called for amounts to 60,0001., some unallotted shares to the ex-
tent of the difference between the two sums " having been re-
served for the landowners on the line or for contingent circum.
stances, as is usual in all railways." This is setting a good pre-
cedent for others to follow, and one part of this statement leads
to another consideration for the benefit of the participators in
similar companies, in showing that it is not always left to the
t
bankers to use the deposits as they please, but that the parties
direct an investment to be made, the profit upon which
goes of course to the credit of the concern.

SEVERE SENTENCE.—At the Sheriff Criminal
Court, Edinburgh, a few days ago, James Ferguson, alias Francis
Henderson, was charged with falsehood, fraud, and wilftd imposition,
in having, on the 12th or 13th day of June last, uttered as genuine a
forged letter, addressed to Mr. It. S. Moncrieff, Chamberlain to his
Grace the Duke of Ruceleuch, at Da'keith, setting forth a tale of dis-
tress, and containing various false representations, whereby he im-
posed upon Mr. Moncrieff, from whom he obtained a small sum. He
was also charged with imposing on Mr. J. Paterson, Dalkeith. The
prisoner pleaded Guilty; and the Sheriff, after severely reprobating
his conduct, sentenced him to 18 mouths' imprisonment.

The Olasgew Argus announces that when the
Caledonian Canal Is re-opened, after the completion of the present
great Improvements on it, steam-tugs will ply regularly along the
whole length, and make the voyage from sea to sea in twenty-four
hours,