The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-04 00:00:00

and the Exchequer, to suggest_ what improvements
may be made in the law for the prevention, as far as
l human means can prevent, the repetition of crimes simi-
lar to that which forms the subject of our present attention.
I Before, however, I explain to Parliament the nature of
the measure which I shall propose to them to adopt, I
conversant with the business both of the Treasury
may be permitted briefly to advert to the cir-
cumstances of the case, and to the position
no doubt, known to all those whom I have the
honour to address. An extensive fraud has been
committed by means of a forgery of public
securities to a very considerable amount. That for-
.
. in which we now stand. The outline of the case is,
for-
gery was committed by a breach of confi-
dence on the part of a public officer, and by one
of those gross violations of duty, which hap-
pily are rare in the annals of this country,
but which, in proportion as they are rare, create, when
they do occur, general sensation and considerable
alarm. The mode in which the fraud was commit-
ted was simply this :—an individual in the department
having had reposed in him the confidence of his supe-
riors; having been in that department for twenty-
eight years; being connected with parties who had
themselves, both in the civil and military
r an individual who had
sdeistviineeguis ehfedthe eountry _
enjoyed the :uninterrupted Confidence of a series
of auditors and comptrollers in his department—who
had received the strongest testimonies as to his ability
and honesty from Lord Grenville, Lord Auckland, Sir
J. Newport, and until of late of the present
Comptroller of the Exchequer, had been guilty
of the deplorable crime of violating a most
sacred duty, and abusing the poWers which he
possessed to defraud the public, in whose ser-
vice he had been so long employed, and- whom
he was under the strongest obligations of duty
to serve with honour and good faith. The mode in which
he committed the fraud was by possessing himself of pa-
pers entrusted to him in his official capacity, and having so
from
h
possessedte office himselfein w
of
h'tiehti)is eh
lie served,
orderto forge the
by withdrawing
name of the Noble Lord, whose signature Exchequer Bills
were by law bound to bear. He then availed himself
of these forged Bills as negotiable instruments.
But this was an offence which if it had not
been committed guardedly and with great pre-
caution would have admitted of easy detec-
tion. The course this indiVidual pursued assisted
by agents, whose crime, perhaps, did not
equal, but certainly approached near to ' that
of the principal in the . transaction—the mode
in which ,he conducted the fraud, was
to give those Exchequer bills, so forged, as deposits for
loans of money on condition that the very bills so depo-
sited for loans should be returned to him on pay-
ment
of the money, or on other. Exchequer bills
being given in the room of those which had been
originally deposited. Thus by constantly at each suc-
cessive change of Exchequer bills forging new
bills, with a view to replace those forged bills
already outstanding, he contrived effectually to prevent
the presentation of the forged bills at the Exchequer
, Office, and to hinder their general circulation
among the commercial- community of the Metropolis.
Thus, he committed in the first instance a breach of
every honourable obligation, and afterwardi, by an
artful concealment of the forged instruments issued,
he succeeded in escaping the detection to which a
different course would have certainly exposed him.
On the 20th of 03tobor last an individual called upon
me at my, office, and informed me that an offer had
been made to him of Exchequer bills in deposit in re-
turn for a loan of money, and he told me that the
rate of interest offered to him' upon the loaa had
so far exceeded the market rate of interest that he sus-
pected the bills had been stolen, or that they n ere the
property of some other person. Upon that information
haVing been communicated to me I felt it was my duty, and
I lost no time, to inquire into the matter.—(llear, hear.)
In consequence of the information given to me, as I
already stated on the 20th of October, the result was,
that, on the 25th of the same month, in consequence
of the inquiry which was instituted, the guilty author was
taken into custody.—(Ministerial cheers.) Five days
only' had been occupied in bringing to light a fraud.
' which had been so long perpetrating.—(Cheers.) Let it
not be supposed that I mention that fact to gain
any credit for the Government, or for their activity, far
from it ; but I do it for this reason. It is
surprising that when so many persons had been engaged
in the fraud— amongst the many persons who must have
been cognizant of it—there was not one public officer who
had given any information whatever on the subject, and
the result of the immediate inquiry instituted was, that
this fraud, which aas earried on from April, 1830,
till October, 10341, had been detected in the' short
space of time I have already - mentioned.—(Cheers.)
Timis is an important matter for the House to bear
in mind—it is important to bear in mind that in the
progress of this fraud no information had been given to
load to its detection.. Upon the discovery of the offence,
the Government' had but one course to pursue. The first
course was to bring to punishment the offender by whose
agency this extensive fraud had b. en committed. The
unhappy man made a full confession of his guilt,
and means were taken for getting hold of the agent who
had been principally concerned in assisting him to
dispose of those Bills. An application was made to the
Government by both pdittes, for a remission of punish-
ment, if they gave information upon the subject. An
application was made on the part of Smith, the
principal, that he might receive commutation of his pun-
ishment if he pleaded guilty., and gave the Government
information. Of course, it was impossible for the
Government to accept such a proposal. Their duty
was to bebome acquainted with the minutest de •
tails of the 'fraud, and to punish to the utmost the
perpetrators of it. They could not allow them to
escape without punishment, and the answer the
Government gave to that application was that
no attention could be paid to it, and that the law
with the utmost rigour should take its course.—(Cheers
from the Ministerial benches.) With respect to the
other individual, the Government thought it right to ad-
mit him in evidence, bearing in mind the great
importance there existed to succeed in a convic-
tion of the principal offender, and bearing in
mind the great importance to obtain as far as possible
the most minute information respecting the matter. I
am fully prepared to defend the conduct of the Government
(Cheers)—although I am not diposed to think that any
person acquainted with the circumstances of the case
will be at all disposed to queStion that conduct.—(Hear.)
It so happened also that the individual, after the other
application had been refused, himself applied. The in-
dividual, after the other party had been admitted as evi-
dence, after haling retained counsel, and given informa-
tionwith respect to the signing of the bills, thought proper to
plead guilty ; and there have been complaints, that through
that plea of guilty—to which the Government, though
they have been accused of it, were, I am sure, in no degree
accessory—the public have been deprived of that develop-
ment of the whole circumstances which would have been
made. Having convicted the offender, another important
duty remained to be performed, namely, to re •establish
the credit which had been so greatly shaken. To effect
this no other means could be adopted than the difficult
and laborious one of calling in the Exchequer bills, ex-
amining them separately in the office from which they
gad ben issued, stamping them with a mark
to denote their genuineness, and then re-issuing them,to
the public. And here I should be guilty of the greatest
injustice if I did not pay a tribute to the assiduity
and zeal of the Comptroller of the Exchequer,
who, being called upon to perform a duty in some
degree foreign to the office which he held, devoted his
whole time for a very considerable period to the personal
superintendence of the necessary arrangements. To
his exertions on that occasion the public were in-
debted for the short time which elapsed be-
tween the presentation of the bills at the Exchequer
and their re-issue to the public, and, therefore, to their
not being exposed for a longer time to the inconvenience
which must result from the withdrawal of so large' a
mass of securities from the public service.--(Hear, hear.)
Having provided for this necessity, the Government
proceeded to a task which was obviously necessary,
namely, to institute an inquiry as to what were the re-
gulations of the office from which these Bills were
issued, with a view to recommending such alterations
as might be necessary to prevent the occurrence of
similar evils in future. For that purpose they selected
individuals, of whom I need not say that as they are
most distinguished for their ability, so they stand most
high in character, as upright and honourable men—men
who are neither likely on the one hand to be influ-
enced by popular prejudice, nor on the othei to pay
army deference to any wish which might be felt
in any quarter to veil whatever might have been
amiss, or to keep it back from public observation.
To these gentlemen I cannot sufficiently express my
obligations for having, at great inconvenience to them-
selves, undertaken a public duty of a laborious and irksome
character,and having devoted so much of their time,l trust
it will be admitted with benefit to the public. Now,
Sir, I do not mean at the present moment to enter into the
question of.the Report. Hon. Gentlemen are fully aware
of its contents, and a time
shall have to submit to the House regulations necessary.
will come when I
for hereafter establishing the whole question arising
upon that Report, and when it will proper y
the consideration of Parliament.
those who thought
ever remark, as an answer to
of what took
I may here how-
place in the office of the Exchequer
time Government desired concealment
; admitted one of
and who taxed us with having e and induced
the parties as Queen's evidence,
gentlemense
lnienatnd the Treasury,
to screen the
Smith to plead guilty, with a view
Government, there could -not be stronger proof
labours to th
a those
of its fallacy, than the investigations of
who had submitted the result of their
House. The Government had the power to act—
s fore it. But
act when the circumstances ar be
in this case, as
Sir, there is something more requiredxanaination of official
the Government acted as I think the House will
it appears to ine, than the mere
persons. It must be obvious, shaft
details of which I
completion of the crime, the ;u h
examination
in order to the
have given to the .House,
two circumstancas. One was a •want, of caution
of the State—a want of
on the part of that department
there n st ave been
caution I admit which has been shown for many years
past. But, Sir, for 150 years nooffence whatever has been
committed of a similar character. Nor had any thing
occurred which could lead to a suspition that Exchequer
bills had been forged—and something more was ne-
cessary than a b..each of confidence. on the part of
the individual in office, or Want .of strength in the
official regulations, to tempt an individual to this offence.
'I say, Sir, and I say it advisedly, that this offence could
not have been committed in the midst of time in-
telligent community which inhabits the metropolis
without the person being in communication with some
persons, I will na, say who .were conscious of the guilt,
givenin eln
iinformation. will
fosrany.:a
twi(l)ino. must
mid
duty it was .to have
, whose
sir, we gave the result of the
hade
some knowledge of the
transaction
going on, and
first detection of the offence. No sooner were
the proceedings taken against the individual Smith, than
I received from various quarters details of suspicious cir-