The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-17 00:00:00

1,794,214 11 11

Showing a deficiency of . ..
Exclusive of the entire capital 0f...
And the reserved surplus funds and
profit for the year, amounting in
the aggregate to

16,248 7 0
741,030 0 0

43,609 8 9

And making in the whole a total
loss of ...................... £800,887 15 9
It must be evident that such a state of affairs Was
quite incompatible with the continuance of the busi-
ness of the Bank ; and Mr. Smith, to whom the in-
vestigation had been exclusively confided, with a
soundness of discretion which the Directors feel bound
to acknowledge, assumed the entire responsibility of
devising a plan, whereby the safety of the Share-
holders, the convenience of the customers, and the
general interests of the Bank, might be most
effectually secured. The negotiations for this end
could only be successfully carried out by the most
vigilant caution and absolute reserve; and the Di•
rectors were, for the first tune, made cognizant of the
actual state of affairs, on Friday the 7th instant,
when called upon to • confirm the arrangements de-
vised by Mr. Smith.
It is, therefore, a source of great satisfaction to the
Directors to be able to state, that arrangements have
been made with the Manchester and Liverpool Dis-
trict Bank, for rendering available such portion 'of
their assets as will promptly liquidate every demand,
and for affording all reasonable facilities to the cus-
tomers of the Bank of Manchester. As a means of
insuring success in these desirable objects, and of pre-
venting the premature sacrifice of property, the Di-
rectors have felt it their duty
to make a call of 21. per
share, which they hope will, on due consideration, be
promptly responded to y the Shareholders.
They are sorry to be obliged to report, that Mr.
Burdekin, who has for many years been connected
with the Bank, has recently absconded, and has misap-
lied the endorsement of the Bank to his own purposes.
It has not been possible to ascertain the extent of
these fraudulent transactions ; hut the
Directors are
in hopes that they will not exceed the amount for
which his sureties are liable; and they can
only pro-
mise, that no exertion shall be wanting on their part
to bring Mr. Burdekin and his confederates to account.
In submitting so deplorable an exposition of mis-
management, the Directors, or at least that portion of
the board who were in office previous to the last ge-
neral meeting, cannot but feel that they have exposed
themselv • to the seveie3t animadversions, for having
so fatally misplaced their confidence in a Managing
Committee; and the only argumentes
which they can
offer in proof of their having *themselves been deceived
. and extenuation of that which they so bitterly re-
gret, is the fact that they have been, and are still,
among the largest Shareholders, and consequently
among the heaviest suftrers.

The Directors who retire by rotation are—Mr.
John Spenzer, Mr. John Hall, and Mr. John Potter;
who will be proposed for re-election. Since the last
meeting, Mr. Thomas Rae, Mr. John Brown, Mr..
John B. Smith, and Mr. Richard Roberts, have re-
signed their seats; and the Directors have supplied
their respective vacancies by the election of Mr.
William Haynes, Mr. Willim Hill, Mr. William
Smith, and Mr. William S. Steil all of whom will
be summated for the approval of this meeting. The
vacancy occasioned by the removal of Mr. Burdekin
remains to be supplied by the Shareholders, and the
Board would beg leave to submit the name of Mr.
Thomas 011ivant for their consideration.
•In conclusioA, the Directors have to state, that, at
a preliminary meeting of some of the principal Share-
holders and the Directors, held on Friday the 7th in-
stant, it Was resolved to anticipate the wishes of the
general body, by the appointment of Messrs. I Bur-
ton, Thomas Onivant, and Alexander Bannerman, to
undertake the examination Of the accounts, of which
the summary is now submitted. These gentlemen
will, no doubt, be prepared to express to the meeting
their opinion as to their correctness.
It was also decided to recommend to the share.-
holders the dissolution of the Company, and the ne-
cessary steps are in progress for convening a special
general meeting for the purpose.—By order of the
Board.

After the reading of the Report, a very long discus-
sion ensued, which was begun
by a Mr. GjtkaG. He
made a serious attack on the Managing Directors, in-
cluding Mr. J. B. Smith and a Mr. Roberts, and con-
cluded by making these observations :—There really.
must be a stop put to the wholesale degraded system
which we have got into; and I say that there could
be no better plan adopted to
willingli give five
Punish the offenders,
erected over the
thanßank thoaft a
Manchester,pillc:
Mould occupy the top statiou--those Directors
houinld
Nt%),ehich
who have plundered the bank so grossly
likeness of he who
y to be below
rys
expect nothing else than
oN
itihaeanili,bssouorimldoeudnttoecal
—and rather than
n"o'ittilliera ccoatsitntirr7,lslliiowlit,hg.efoullu. dfaietherss,
one for the Committee of Managmnent. another for
the Directors, another for the Shareholders, and an-
other for the Public, if it could be considered that he
ltthaed
thingon ea t
should ft all—(clinch (faiNili't,iclh
wouldlau gh,t,oe ir.3),
J say that
there has been a serious fault
lcommitted
or ten pounds towards it.—(lieur, bear.`
by the Di-
rectors, in keeping that man so long in his situation—
(Cries of " Hear, hear")—ura_ess his character had
been very different indeed to what it
before this
was known to
who was not present at the be in Manchester. He could
in
nhe is not
mtheaettliiiiegw:oulhNivahsavfnellnyuiotottnlintheoed coo.funittriyr
n
mind, and therefore Ido not feel disappointed ; but
broughti- shall
bebadcekeptloy tlis u disappointedtry.— country—(hear, hear) Mr.
Greig retired amidst loud applause.
Of Mr. Roberts. w
meet-
ing, it was afterwards stated by Air. Smith—Mr.
Roberts having suspended payment, and being
actually in bad debt to the bank, I have no hesitation
in staticg, that his total liabilities, on his own account,
and in connexion with others, amounts to 74,503/*,
which caused a .
J
g.reat sensation. It was admittetl 1,3,
the friends of Mr. B. Smith that 1 i .1
ht
had committed
;ins of omission in not having paid proper attention to
the proceedings of the Bank of which he was at the
head, but his bi other said for him, that his own
individual less will be some 14,0001. or 15,000/„ and
that the loss of his family will be two or. three times of
that amount—and some of them, lam sorry to say,
will be among the widows and orphans who suffer on
this occasion.—(Hear.) ne has, from his not being
in business himself for several years Vast,
~ beep in a
position to act a perfectly 10(104104 part, He has
no occasion fop axtradiclinary advances from the
Bank ; no necessity to use the money of the Bank;
nc.r have any of his connexions ; he has not matie use
'..f the money of the Bank, nor Imp his f„mliy. He
does licit, at this moment, nor do any of his family,
owe the Bank one farthing.—(Hear.) Therefore,
whatever his faults of omission or commission, I am