Star.
London, England, 1825-12-17 00:00:00

THE SCOTTISH BANKS.

FROM THE EDINBURGH TVENINO COURANT,

The alarm and agitation of the money market in
London has scarcely been at all felt in this city ; and
we assert, without fear of contradiction, that money is
nearly as plentiful, and discounts, with a very few tri-
fling exceptions, are as freely obtained as ever; nor do
we think that there is any reasonable prospect of the
flucthati-ns of the funds, and in the value of money in
London, affecting, in 'any material degree, the Bank
transactions of Scotland. The immense capital of the
taisks, and the overpowering riches and unques-
tioned and unqnestionable stability of the private
Bankers in Edinburgh, render anything like a run
upon them not in the least likely, and certainly not in
the slightest degree to be-either feared or shunned.—
.Nor is thesecutity. "afforded by thrse.great public esta-
blishments confined to- Edinburgh alone. There is
now scarcely a provincial .town in Scotland in which
these Banks have not 7 'branches, -and where equal
security and accommodation is not afforded. The
.Cobntry Banking. Establishments too, composed like
other Scetch B ink-, of an unlimited number ci re.
sponsible partner., are entitled to, and justly possess
the entire confidence of the public. Nay, we tlsii.k
we are tight in stating, that in n instance has the pub-
lic suffered by the failure of a Scotch Country Bank.
Within these few days it has been determined by one
partnership cliiCern—the Fife Banking Company—to
discontinue operations and wind up its affairs ; but this,
we have the very best authority for stating, is not oc-
casinned by any alteration in the Money Market, but
by circumstances quite unconnected with it. Even this
however, has been attended with no public inconvenience
whatever. The Fife. Company possessing property and
securities far beyond their obligations at once found two
Companies in Edinburgh—the British Linen Company
and National Bank, we believe—to advance money to
meet the demands upon it, and it has proceeded, with-
out an hour's delay, to pay off its debts and recall its
issues.
.This, indeed, is the very worst that can happen
in any case in this country. To the liberal and wise
conduct of the Scottish Banks the great and totally un-
exampled prosperity of Scotland may NIT be attri-
buted. They have fostered trade, encouraged ma-
nufactures, promoted enterprise, and supported the
public credit of Scotland with a steady and unsparing
hand. Their liberal and generous conduct to the agri-
cultural juiciest during the recent times of unparalleled
distress, must be fresh in the grateful recollection of all.
But for them, Bankruptcy must have stalked through
the land, and hundreds of families now in the enjoy.
ment of a comfortable independence, would otherwise
'havebeen doomed to poverty and ruin. That their course
has been good for the country, and advantageous to
themselves, is test proved by the fact, -that the value
of their capital or stock has in all instances doubled, in
some nearly -trebled its original amount.
With these facts before us—with the knowledge that
the security of the Scottish system of Banking cannot.
be shaken, nor public credit even sensibly affected by
events which convulse the commercial world elsewhere
to its centre—it would be like continuing in an obstinate
course of infatuation to resist any proposal for giving to
our sister country the benefits we so happily enjoy. But
under our present enlightened rulers, the English system
cannot be much longer pursued. Ministry, we are
well informed, have for some time bed the subject under
consideration, and we know that one illustrious and in.
fliiential member of the Cabinet has said " that will begs
blessed day for Engloidlohich first sees the introductiou
of Banks upon the &r. ash system." That day, we are
confident, is neat at hand, and recent events will asz
suely strengthen and confirm the opinions of those'
Who are favourableto- the plan, and convert the for
who yet doubt of,its expediency.

This action was brought by the plaintiff and his wife
against John Kinsey, a police-officer belonging to the
parish of St. Olave, Southwark, for slanderous words
alleged to have been spoken by the defendant, of and
concerning the plaintiff's wife. The words were—
You are a w—; you keep a b— h—; you have
five husbands.
Mr. SCARLETT, in stating this case said, the plaintiff
was foreman of the works going on at •London.bridge.
In order to be near his business, he took a house at the
corner of Joiner-sweet, in Tooley-street. His wife kept
a green-grozer's shop, and the upper part of the house
was let occasionally to honest and industrious feisnns.
Mr. Mason had the misfortune, however, to live within
In few doors of a disorderly house. It had often been
the subject of complaint among the neighbours, and the
wife of the plaintiff, among others, opposed it. A
.woman named Swenny, who was supposed to be in the
interest of Fenton, some time in August last, brought
her stall and placed it before the door of Mrs. Mason,
for the purpose of selling the goods which Mrs. Mason
sold. This was considered a great annoyat ce, and
Mrs. Mason, in anger, kicked it down. The next day
she received a visit from the defendant, who thought
proper to use the words which became the founda:ion
of the action. He had an order for her appearance
before e sitting
ffi Alderman. She accordingly went to
-ttl
the Poli •oce, and as it appeared to be nothing more
than ach Tge of knocking down an apple stall, the
Magistrate was disposed to dismiss the complaint.
The defendant then said he could prop an assault, and
he added,—" She is a bad woman ; she keeps a bad house.
That she keeps a bad house is notorious. The Magis-
btrate said, if that is so, she shall find bail. She was
loc
ord ngly locked up with common prostitutes. A
person who was present would have been bail for her,
but the defendant advised him no: to be bail. He s rid
As a proof of the etterfsive conelpendence care ied on she nas under a charge for exposing herself indecently
by some of the Making firhit in the City, the house of in a barber's shop, and that the Alderman would not
LLOTD, &mai, and Co. yesittday received, by post, no like to see him (the man was a watchman) bail Itr such
less than four hundred tetteri:
a person. In consequence of th-it. representation, ill,.
- .
man declined bec.rming bail. She was taken to the
Purchases Of'ExchOquet-bills were made by the Bank man
in the'ibUtae of Thbesdat, we tit de .rand, to the amount Clink Prism, where the . e:end4nt tQI4 the 14/4/er she
of 500,0001. '' ' • ' ' ' , was a- notorious bad woman, and kept aad bow,-
J. .
Shepassed the 'shlt- • t.ons ST
. The- qoatifity nirbell'on 'returned by the differs it •-- -•in‘ Pa - with 14""1/ of the.
, 1, .- •
Bettildrs, in e*ehinga'for notes, yesterday was itruisense. *Worst description.
sturres stxtemax.oa
.: We' unierstand• three. -hundred thousand sovereigns Severs! witnesees premed life
Mr. Gt:a?icv addressed the Jury for the de-minus.
.hate arrtestliqd Mr. Rerroteciants front.Parle, and a ntL.cli gloater
,apply is daily expected. •:ind uo.jetwok to :hew that the plaintiff's wile had es.
. .•

9-..,.-

tiutiisd aeveiai acmes, and .vt its net, to.
`Taiwan itotataidais teartlid Fiend had de.efilied
Seveivd artnifiaktliete kal!ed or the:
sthenririppeir that-they •e,stild.eharge Ora. iiron
irti modesty. There at as no pioof whiiiever •II die had
eier kept a &sordid,' hoti.e. Indee.l there wai no
jostificatiod'on the record.
The .tury, uoller all the elretinittancii, &and a veraiet for thi
plaintiff—Damages toot.
COURT OF Coll NION Pt.RAS, Dec. t. 6.
STOLBN BANK NOTC6.—SNOW ANC/ CO. u. VIACOM(

and on.
Mr. Salaam VA UGH AN stated, t'rat this was in action
of trover, to recover the sum of 5001. being the amount
of g bank nate, whi-h had; With other property, been -
stolen .from the servant •of the plaintiffi, .who are
Bankers in London, and changed by the defendaties,
who are Bankers in Linco'nshire. The question at isitie
involved a principle of paramount interest to the corn.
mercial world. It was; whether the defendants were '
liable to the plaintiffs for changing a note of sue'
amount as 5001. to a stranger, withodt having taken the
due and ordinary precauthic.te have the person's name
inserted on the note, in order, if it should afterwards
prove to have been forged or stolen, thst a clue mig:tt
be had to trace out the party. offending? The Learned
Serjeant then stared the circumstances of the c.t'e,
which were briefly., that a dividend wattant had been
paid into the Bank of the plaintiffs
.for 13001. which
they sent wi;h 'their porter to the Bank of .England,
where he got the money, and was robbed on his return.
One of the nines for 5001. was changed by a stranger
at one of t' e b .nking-houses of the .defendants, in the
country, without having asked any of the ordinary
pre tion6. The plaintiffs had used everything in their
passer to c'rculate the account of t .e jobbery, and were
clearly entitled to a verdict. -
Mr. Llgktfuut-.-1' in employed in the Office for Auditing Public
Accounts. • I 'hid a dividend warrant for one thousand pounds
made out as the'Ogie and payable to Mr. Luke. This is the warrant.
J .mes Allen=l am employed in the house of Messrs.
Snow and Co. The dividend warrant was paid into
our house on the 7th of September, 1824. John James
was the porter to our house at that time. He is now
dead. This tote was delivered to him on the Bth of
September for the purpose of taking it to the Bank of
Engl and to receive the amount of it. Ha did not bring
back the produce. He came back and said he had been
robtsed oust. .It is the invariable practice to examine
notes before they are exchanged.
A Clerk from the Bank of England here proved the payment of
a dividend warrant. He paid the dividend in two 5001. notes,
dated Slid of July. .
Cross examined—lf a person comes with a 5001. note to have it
changed, all that the Bank does is to require the name aad address
of the person Who peasants ft.
Henry Bousfield*-I am a clerk at the Bank atßourne.
The same partners have a Bank at Sleaford. I have
been a clerk there abOut eleven years. On the 13th of
April, about eleven o'clock, a person came there to
change a note. 'fhe mail arrives . about nine o'clock.
The person who came and asked me to change a note
was about sixty years of age, and of a middle stature,
He did not appear to have the use ut one of his hands.
He produced the note and asked for pact of the change
in Bank of England notes. 1 told him it was not the
practice to do that. He then said he would take it in
4.5 ten pound notes, and 10 five pound S:e +ford notes,
which 1 gave him, and he folded them up and went
away. I sent the note to London, at six o'c!ock the
same evening. Messrs. Hoare, Barnett, .and. Co. are
our corresponJents in London. They gave our account _
credit for the note.
• Dues-examined by Mr. Setjeant Shasta-4 had no previous
intimation about the note, either directly tar indirectly. There were
a numberof fairs about that time. I gave the notes in the ordinary
course of lousiness. There was nothing about his band or person to
excite the least suspicion. A .5001. luau Is a row/einem remittance.
The man told me his tunic was Edwards. lle was a. resinetable
looking person.
By a Juror—l do riot reColieet taw !Save, in the course of the
time I have lived there, etteltang,e4 3.3914.,11 4001. ur'a 3t104 or a
2001. note. I may have exchatigeJA 5001 note. • -
Warnford stuck-40.61mm( 7Su heiteafferitig a reward
for the kat noses. . •
A Lad proved the distribution of hanribills,(on the 'IA and 9th of
September, in the City, at all the .I;ottery Officvs, Bankers, atc.
James Mallison, the R.gistrar of the Newspapers at Somerset-
house, produced the Morning Advertiser and the Hue tied Cry of the
9th Sept. containing an adv.rti.enient off ring a retrard rat 5001.
The Banker'stietk recalled by the Loan Cusar.Jubvre.—We
do not take iu the line and Cry. I don't know that it circulate in
Lincohishire.
Mrs. Downes—My husband prints the Hue and Cry. • We send
atom; fifty of them into Lincolnshire.
Cross.esamined—We send them to Magistrates and gaolers.—
They are not sold. We get theAavitip Jai the persons to whom they
are to be sent from Government thruu h
The Banker's Clerk again ealAi-Merriftity is a Magistrate
of part of Lincolnshire. Lincokaltigeilis divided into parts.
A Clerk from the Bank. of Er.gland produced a book
containing a list of 1 ist notes, which had been stopped.
No. 248, dated 22.1 July, 1824, for 5001. was stopped.
The note produced is the nJte ; it has been cancelled.
This was the plaintiffs case. • •
Mr. Setjeant t;PANYte then addressed the Jury for
the defendants. lie contenued at some length, that
there was no evidence of the plaintiffs having any pre -
perty in the note at the time of its presentation to the
defendants, and that no action could be maintained. -
The Loan Cam Juane', iu summing up, observed,
that there were two questions for the consi.erAtion of
the Jury ; the first wa., whether the plaintiffs had done
all they ought for the recovery of the notes alter they
had been stolea, for if they had not done that they cou'd
not obtain a verdict? Tne nest question was, whtae:
the defendants had used due caution in changing a note
for such amount? It appeared t';at . the plaintiffs had
sent about fitty c p'es of the line and Cry into Lincoln-
shire; they had also stuck up bills in town, and adver-
tised the loss of the property. It was obvious that the
defendants should have taken due caution in having the
name of a person presenting a 5001. note. Their cau-
tion should increase w ith the sum. But it appeared
that they had not been in the habit of changing notes of
5001. or even of 2001. and their caution should have been
pr portionate. The only evidence was, that the de-
teudants were most respectable persons. He felt exceed-
ingly happy that the Jury were better judges of the
case than himself ; but it had been decided by the
Court of King's Bench, that unless a person had used
due caution, he could aro recover, and it was fur them
to say whether the plaintiffs had used due diligence, or
the defendants due caution? and to find their verdict
accordingly. The case was must important to the com-
mercial interests of the public.
The Jury found a verdict for the plaintiffs-4)=oles 1100 L
adding, that they had not the least Issue of anything fraudulent or
improper io the cooduetof the detendeitt.•
Tbs. Loan Caw Justicesaid, that alieervation meat be. very
acceptable to the defehdams, than he node coma a. mete
reirettable. . .
N
X•huirday, a Board of the L irds.of Ase Treasury was
.held auks I.lvanityChambers. .
4 MRS*, 4 Mee-tine took -phut last night in the
4./L:mak Wheal in tbe City, of the pretest Gammon Council,. to
. 6: im,cert measure' for their re-election en next St.Tluttlisslr Day.

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