The Sun.
London, England, 1827-03-13 00:00:00

MEETING-(THIS DAY.)

GENERAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY.
Pursuant to advertisement, an Adjourned Meeting took place at
the City of London Tavern, of the Directors and Shareholders in
the General Steam Navigation Company, which was numerously
and most highly respectably attended. At the Meeting that took
place half a year ago, complaints were made respecting the con-
duct of the Directors and Managers; a Committee was then formed

for the purpose of inquiring into the cause, &c. of those com-
plaints, and the Meeting was adjourned over to this day, when the
Shareholders, &c. met to receive the Committee's Report.
HILTON JOLLIFFE, Esq. M.P. was in the Chair. On rising to
address the Meeting, he said it was an adjourned meeting, ap-
pointed at the last General Meeting to receive the Report of the
Committee, formed to investigate the affairs of the Company.
The Directors, none of them, had seen the Report—and there-
fore he hoped and entreated that the proprietors would have
the justice to allow the persons, who might be individually
named in the report, to justify themselves, and that
those attentions which were due to a body would be paid to a vin-
dication of their conduct. `There was another subject he wished
to mention, not that he or any of the Directors meant to take any
advantage of it, but lie considered it right to mention it in the
discharge of his duty as Chairman, and it was, that at the last
meeting he took down the names of the gentlemen voted in as
they were given, and that two gentlemen who had not been
voted in had attended by their solicitors. The Committee was
formed of 13 shareholders, five of whom were to be a quorum,
and it was to report on the most efficient plan of carrying on the
concern ; the sum most iikely to be wanted for executing their
labours, Ind the individuals best qualified to conduct the same.
The committee was to have full power to call for the inspection
of books ; and to make every inquiry likely to elucidate the
subject.
Captain DuNnas said, that the list of the Committee was ex-
actly the same as that which he had mach of the Members of it
when they were appointed ; but he thought a great deal would
turn on the circumstance of two having attended who had not

been voted in.
The CHAIRMAN said, the circumstance was easily explained,
for the fact was, that his own name, together with that of Mr,
Daniel Whittle Harvey, had been scratched out, it not having
been convenient for them to attend the Committee ; and that two
other gentlemen had attended in their roor..
The Report of the Committee was then called for.
Captain Dulinws said, that Captain Weldon had been appointed
Secretary, who should read the Report.
The CHAIRMAN knew no Secretary of the Committee.
A Shareholder never heard of such a thing, as that Captain
Dundas should take upon himself to appoint a Secretary.
Captain De DAs contended he had a right to do so, and that
Captain Weldon was the fittest person to read the Report.
(Cries from all quarters to hand the Report to the Chairman,
which was accordingly done, and a Gentleman, assisting the
Chairman, read it.)
The Report stated, that the shortness of time from the appoint-
ment of the Committee to the present, would not have been an
objection or obstacle in the researches of the Committee, had not
the most determined opposition obtained on the part of
the Directors to give any information whatever. That
the Committee had to complain most seriously of the very
confused state of accounts and incorrect statements that appeared
in the books of the Company. This circumstance had left the
Committee in almost as great a state of doubt and uncertainty at
the end as at the beginning. It appeared that nearly half the
number of shares of the Company, between nine and ten thousand,
had been reserved by the Directors, and that at the end of 1825
they had been obliged to sell those shares. What they had called
who were restricatsedsubbyseathueenDtliyreccotournetteormseallntdue-do,tlaitoludsafinvde
a Sale Committee of three Directors had been appointed for that
purpose,
a month. This order w
thousand of the Shares were sold at a premium of twelve shillings;
the market price of that day being no less than five pounds. The
remainder of the Shares were subsequently disposed of at a
premium of twelve shillings and eleven-pence. By this in-
explicable transaction upwards of 20,0001. had been lost to the
Company. Many Shares had been sold at immense premiums, and
many tenders of purchase made, without notice having been taken
of them in the minute hook of the Directors. That the systematic
resistance of Mr. Attwood, the Deputy Chairman, and other
Directors, to give any information to the Committee respecting
their affairs, left a most unfavourable conclusion on the minds of
the Committee, and caused them to believe, in fact, that those
shares were monopolised by the Deputy Chairman and others :
so that it merited the consideration of the Company, whether
further confidence should be placed in those individuals or not.
One transgression of a standing order, was that the Direc-
tors had allowed Mr. William Holman to receive his
dividends on seven hundred shares standing in his name, and
to pay the sum into the Bank, without having given
a receipt or signed the deed. The Committee imputed this also
to other Directors. They exonerated the clerk from all blame—
having found that he uniformly acted under the direction of Mr.
Hall. The Committee deeply regretted the ignorance and insuf-
ficiency of the Directory to manage the affairs of the Companywhich
they had taken in hand. The most injurious system, with respect
to the finances, had been followed. The heaviest matters had been
left without the least consideration between two and three thou-
sand pounds per annum having been lost, by the extravagant pur-
chase of enale. A great dispute had arisen respecting the
purchase of some timber, subsequenth.• suspected to have
been the property of one of the Directors, and respecting
' which the Company had nearly got into a lawsuit. That sums
of money had been paid by the Company standing in their books,
entered only in initials. That the debts owing by the Company
amount to about forty thousand pounds. That the good debts
owing to the Company amounted to five thousand five hundred
pounds, which, with money in the Bank, &c. &C. amounted
to twenty-two thousand pounds. That the outfit of boats
this season would be fourteen thousand pounds ; and admitting the
earnings of this season to be as much as they were last season,
the Company would be left very greatly in debt. That with re-
spect to the individuals best qualified to manage the conccrn, the
Committee felt imperatively called ;man 'se recommend the
immediate dissolution of the Company, and therefore pro-
posed that all the money due to the Company should
be ordered to be paid into the Bank of England, in the
names of certain trustees, as the only mode o rescuing
any psrt of the 13/. per awe a,iiat bad been paid by the
Shareholders; and that the Committee had received every possible
assistance from the Chairman, and from Mr. D. W. Harvey, in
the course of their investigations.
Upon the conclusion of the Report, several gentlemen rose to
address the Chair but finally give way so
Mr. ATTWOOD, M. P. who stated that the report was a mass
of absurdities and falsehoods. There Were six points which he
had taken down, which were perfectly false. He appealed to hie
brother Directors whether the assertions contained in the report
ptlwerety r(i7obtariri
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alt o
nivtaos
tsail d committee that:
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on the contrary, he invited the Committee to receive information.
As to the other charge against him, that as Banker to the Corn.•
pany, he had received dividends without authority. He would
not say this was not the case--it might be the case, but he dis-
believed it. He would have disbelieved it coming from good
authority ; but emanating from the authority which bad given.

birth to the report, he altogether disbelieved it, and felt himself
warranted in declaring it to be false.
Mr. BowatNa said, that in point of order it ought to be un-
derstood that, by receiving the report the meeting did not sanc-
tion its allegations, nor bind itself in any way. The learned gen-
tleman was proceeding, but was interrupted by cries of " order,"
and much tumult.

Mr. DAVY opposed the reception of the Report, which he
thought would be disgraceful to the meeting. It was intended
to poison the public mind, and injure the best interests of the
Company. If the managers of the concern deserved animadver-
sion, let them have it; but if they did not deserve it, let them
be shielded from it. The gentleman then entered into an earnest
defence of the conduct of the Directors, and concluded by ex-
pressing his conviction, that the Directors were entitled to the
thanks of the Shareholders.

Mr. HAMLET (the jeweller) said he had never heard that the
,hares were at a premium of 41. 10s., and believed that to be an

absolute falsehood.

A DIRECTOR said, that if the 9,000 shares were thrown upon
the market, it would embarrass all the proceedings.
Captain DITNZAS said, that as Chairman of the Committee he
felt himself bound to reply to the statements of Mr. Attwood.
The report was founded upon what appeared in the books of the
Company, and upon the letter of Mr. Damant, who was himself
a Director and a gentleman of unquestioned integrity.
Mr. ATTWOOD again denied that he had refused information to
the Committee ; on the contrary, information was tendered, and
the only difference between the Committee and the Directors was,
that the Committee refused to come into the room when the Di-

rectors sat, and the Directors refused to go down to the room
where the Committee sat. This was the determined opposition
complained of.—(Laughter.)—Altogether, the style and tone of
the Committee towards the Directors was intolerable; and if the
Chairman (Captain Dundas) was not more useful at sea than he
had proved himself to this Company, his services would not be of
much value to his country.—(Hear, hear.)—The insults
opposed by this Committee to those who went before them to
give information were such as could not be endured. Would it

be credited that one of the first questions put to a Director who
was at the head of as respectable a house of business as any in this
great Metropolis, was, whether he had not lately been a bank-
rupt? Was it to be wondered, that the Directors thought it
their duty to shield the Proprietors from such insults ?—(Hear,
hear. )--Or could it be mstter of surprise, that a Committee con-
ducting itself in such!a manner, should have been capable of collecting
any beneficial information, or of producing any report which was
not calculated rather to mislead than to direct the Shareholders?—

(Applause.)—For his (Mr. Attwood's) own part, when messages
were sent to him to come before the Committee for examination,
those messages were couched in such a manner, and were commu-
nicated in such a spirit that be did not find himself justified in
attending to them.—(Hear, hear.)—These facts be thought
it necessary to state to the Meeting in order that the Share-
holders might know what reliance was to be placed upon
the report which was now produced, and which, in his opinion,
and to the knowledge of many who heard him, was at once false
and ridiculous.

The CHAIRMAN said the question before the meeting now was,
whether the report should he received.
Mr. BOWRING again presented himself to the meeting, but
could not obtain a hearing.
Mr. DAVY said, that if he was permitted, he would move
" that the report be not received."
A SHAREHOLDER said he believed the present Directors to he
as honourable a set of men as any in the kingdom, and he should
therefore feel great pleasure in seconding the motion of Mr. Davy.
The CHAIRMAN, after consulting with some gentlemen who
were near him, said he understood, that the proper course would be
to put the resolution, and leave it to the Meeting, either to receive
or reject it.
Mr. WILLIAM CLARK, and several other Gentlemen, here at-
tempted to address the Meeting, but withouteffect.
Mi. ATTWOOD—The result, however, was, that from
their own incompetent conduct, they had come to a re-
port replete with coloured statements, false representations,
and dark insinuations against the characters of men, in
every way more entitled to respect, than the individuals
who presumed thus to attack them, this was the course pursued
by the Committee, instead of directing their inquiries to some
useful or beneficial object. They now professed to have concluded
their labours, and yet he would not hesitate to say that they were
still in perfect ignorance of the finances of the Company ; they
knew not the state of its shipping ; nor were they possessed of
the slightest information as to the stations upon which it would be
most profitable to employ them ; he had not any intention of with-
holding any explanation as to the conduct of the Directors, con-
duct which he at the time approved of, and since deemed abso-
lutely necessary for the maintenance of the Company.—
When the Directors had disposed of the nine thousand
Shares they imagined that they could distribute the re-
maining ones at the different ports to which their vessels
would trade, and with this view they bad advertised them at
Liverpool, Bristol, Dublin, and Brighton. Notwithstanding their
exertions to get rid of them in this manner, the shares were daily
falling—debts increasing, and it was tnerefore, deemed expedient
to dispose of the remaining shares in the manner now so
loudly complained of. These shares composed nearly one
half of the capital stock of the Company. It was
complained that the individual to whom they were sold,
had not given five pound premium on each share, as if
a gentleman taking one half of the capital stock of a concern,
was to regulate the sum which was to be given for them by
the prices of a few shares in the market. This gentleman Latu-
rally enough, without any reference to the price in the market,
looked into the true state of the Company ; the state of its ship-
ping, and the probability of its ultimate success. Were not
the Directors justified in giving preference to such a
person rather than to a person who came forward to purchase
shares with a determination of disposing of them the next day, if
he could realize a profit on the sale. The conduct of the Com-
mittee, Mr. Attwood hoped, would act as a warning to the Com-
pany what description of persons they should for the future
employ in the investigation of their concerns, and at tile: same
time be an example to other Committees how they should
direct their enquiries.
Mr. HALL, one of the Directors, protested strongly against
the language used against the Directors; they were men of cha-
racter and respectability—men who valued their character more
than their lives, and, before the meeting separated, he called on
Captain Dundas to declare that these charges against the Directors
were false and calumnious ; if the Captain did not do so, he must
stand the consequences as a gentleman if a gentleman he were.—
(Loud cheers.)—Mr. Hall went on to say that the manner in
which he was examined before the Committee, and the course
pursued by them, was such as to make him treat them with
contempt--a feeling which he still entertained for them.
Indeed, so extraordinary were some of the questions put to him,
that lie reported the matter to the other Directors, and a resolu-
tion was come to by them, that a board of Directors would from
that time not be held, and that, if the Committee required any
explanations, they must come into the Board-room for that purpose.
[he coy ,sed that he could scarcely keep his temper within bounds
when recollected the insolent manner in which he had been
treated by these gentlemen who now came forward with charges
whose only foundation rested on falsehood and calumny. Nothing
could exceed the profligate extent to which these false accusations
had been carried. Even Capt. Dundas himself charged a most
respectable gentleman with having fraudulently embezzled some
coals belonging to the Company.
Capt. DUNDAS-1 never said any such thing.
Mr. HALL.—You mentioned it to Colonel Jolliffe, and I now
call on him to confirm or deny the truth of my assertion?
Captain DUNDAS.—I deny having said any such thing.
Mr. HALL again called on Colonel Jolliffe.
Colonel TOLLIFFE—GO on—never mind—what signifies it

what he bair:.
Several persons in the immediate neighbourhood C,f the chair
exclaimed, " It is useless t? press him, he'll say and unsay anv
thing.
lLt ut. resumed, and proceeded to comment ('-r Cie character
of the Report. It was in his opinion one of the most foolish un-
profitable documents that ever issued from any set of men.
It was an insult, no less to the proprietors than to the Directors
--(Applause)—and he trusted that the Meeting, by an unanimous
vote, would mark their reprobation of it.—(Applause.)
Mr. Halt was,still addressing the meeting when our Reporter
came away. From the tone And feeling of the Proprietors
we may almost conclude that the report will not he adopted by
them,

EARL OF LIVERPOOL.—At twelve o'clock this
morning, the following Bulletin Was issued Lord Liverpool
is going on very well,"

- ••
Mr. CANNING remains this morning in the same
state as he was yesterday. His relapse was produced by his exer-
tions in the debate on the Roman Catholic Question. The Right
Hon. Gentleman took a warm bath previous to his going to the
House, which did not agree with him.
COURTS OF CONSEWVANC7.—The Lord Mayor
will hold Courts of coniervancy of the River Thames, for Surrey
and Middlesex,' on Friday, June 8, and Monday, July 23; for
Essex and Kent, on Wednesday, June 13, and Monday, July 16.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.-(TIIIS DAY.)
THE BERWICK ELECTION.

The Town Cie;lcexainined by a Member of the Committee.—
Deposed that Colonel Logan was Mayor of that town last year ;
that he had been ] 5 years ago appointed barrack-master, at Scar-
borough, at which time he was deprived of his meadow and stint on
account of non-residence ; but that three years ago lie was restored
to his rights as a Burgess, having taken np his residence at Ber-
wick. In his absence be exercised all his personal rights, such
as voting at elections for Members of Parliament ; he was deprived
only of his local rights, such as meadow and stint, &c.—The
case having closed on behalf of the petitioners, no evidence was
offered on the other side.
Mr. ADAM addressed the Committee in support of the sitting
Members. The only question, he observed, for their consideration
was, whether or not non-residence did away with the right of voting
at elections for Members of Parliament ? He admitted, as was
advanced on the other side, that if it ever existed as a law,
that none but resident burgesses should vote at elections,
neither custom, nor charter, nor bye-law of the Corpo-
ration could supersede it ; but he contended that there
was no Act of Parliament to that effect. The only evi-
dence produced by the petitioners in support of this posi-
tion was a Charter of Edward the First, and another of
James. The words contained in the former Charter, on which
they relied, were these :—" That every free burgess shall be at the
Guild and at Scot." His Learned Friend contended that these
words implied residence, as they could not attend at the Guild un
less they resided in town; but he (Mr. Adam) was of a
different opinion,—being at the Guild meant no more
than being a member thereof, for in those days guilds were prin-
cipally composed of merchants, who, from their occupations,
were obliged to travel, and consequently could not be always re-
sident; and being at sist implied payment of talliage or assess-
ment to the King, to which every burgess was liable wherever he
resided. In support of this be cited Marryatt's " Firma Burgi,"
and Maddox's " Exchequer." A free burgess, he continued, was
any man who had liberty to exercise a free trade, whether he
resided in the town, or got permission to reside out of it, as it had
been the custom of this Borough to admit the votes of non-
resident freemen for nearly 200 years, without interruption, and
as this custom was not contrary to any Act of Parliament, or
Charter, lie hoped the Committee would not see any reason to
alter it now.

The LEARNED COUNSEL was continuing his address as we
went to press.
In the Committees on the Reading and Pontefract Elections,
several witnesses were examined with a view to establish fraud
and bribery on behalf of the sitting Members, but nothing ma-
terial was elicited from them.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.)

COURT OF CHANCERY.
EX-PARTE INJUNCTION.
DUNN V. WATKINS.

Mr. Ha' applied ex-parte for an injunction, under these cir-
cumstances, on behalf of one partner against another : the plain-
tiff, John Dunn, and defendant Benjamin Watkins, in the year
1814 entered into copartnership, together with Austin,
❑nder a contract that each partner was to bring into the con-
cern capital to the amount of 7,0001. Mr. Austin died
in IS2I, but the plaintiff and defendant continued to carry on the
business jointly from then till now. In addition to the stipu-
lated sum of 7,000/. capital, that the plaintiff had brought into
the partnership, he had been obliged to advance no less than
26,000/. The defendant never brought in more than 8,0001., to the
amount of which he owed debts, and he drew out of the concern
12,000/. The bill then stated,that the defendant had been speculating
in wool, without the sanction of the plaintiff, to meet which he
had drawn bills, but afterwards assured the plaintiff that those
bills had been paid ; yet the plaintiff had been called upon to dis-
charge them. All this had occurred during the years 1825 and
1526 ; but the plaintiff, unwilling to take any unpleasant
step, abstained from giving notice to dissolve the partnership until
the month of December last—there being no limited time for the
expiration of the partnership. The bill further stated, that the
defendant was insolvent and very embarrassed ; that in January
last, he took a journey for the purpose of recovering the ortmer-
ship debts, on which lie had received 4001. that he had not
brought to account, but applied to his own use; that he
had threatened to receive other partnership monies upon
another journey on which lie now was, and to apply them
in the same way ; and that only yesterday afternoon lie had re-
moved a waggon-load of goods from the warehouse and partner-
ship concern without communicating it to the plaintiff. The
bill therefore prayed for an injunction to restrain the defendant
from further entering in the partnership affairs, from receiving the
partnership debts, and more especially from drawing, accepting,
or endorsing any bills of exchange in the partnership name.
The LORD CHANCELLOR granted the injunction without hesi-
tation.