The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-11-30 00:00:00

THE ROYAL BANK.

A general meeting of the proprietors of this bank was
held in the Bank, yesterday, at twelve o'clock. The ob-
ject of the meeting, as announced in the advertisement
calling it, was stated to be as follows :
" To receive the report of the committee and directors,
which will be presented to the meeting, recommending
the re-opening of the bank, on Wednesday, the Ist day
of December next. To take into consideration the alte-
rations in the deed of settlement of the company, which
will be submitted to the proprietors as necessary for their
security in future. To take into consideration the call of
£lOO per share made upon the proprietors, and to deter-
mine upon and confirm the acts of the committee of
shareholders and directors in the recommendation of
Preference Shares of £lOO each, bearing interest at 7 per
cent., in lieu of the call ; and on the reduction of the
original shares, from shares of £l,OOO, £5OO paid up, to
shares of £2OO each, £lOO paid up. To receive the re-
signation of the old directors, and to appoint five directors
in their stead."

Shortly after twelve o'clock JOSIAS BOOKER, Esq.,
took the chair. He said, as the medium of communication
between themselves, the directors, and committee, he
threw himself upon their indulgence and kind forbearance,
and bespoke that indulgent consideration for himself and
colleagues which had been extended on two former occa-
sions, and which gave effect and energy to their proceed-
ings (applause). Since they had last met, the attention
•of the committee had been occupied in revising the deed
of settlement, and in its altered form it had been placed
in the hands of each proprietor ; also, in furnishing a
third report for the information and approbation of the
proprietors, which he should now have the pleasure of
reading :
Report of the Committee appointed at a Meeting of
Shareholders of the Royal Bank of Liverpool, on the
6th of November, 1847.
" Your committee have now the satisfaction of laying
before you the result of their deliberations since the
adjourned meeting of the 6th instant. The former report
was necessarily incomplete, and only of a recommendatory
nature, as the committee were then much restricted for
time in examining such numberless details.
" They have since been almost incessantly engaged in
arranging the affairs of the bank, and they rejoice in
being able to report that the available assets will exceed
their expectations, so considerable a sum of money
having been received in reduction of current accounts.—,
(Cheers.)
"The important exception is that of Messrs. Barton,
Irlam, and Higginson, against whom a fiat in bankruptcy
has been obtained ; and prompt measures have been
adopted to secure for the bank, in common with Messrs.
Barton, Irlam, and Higginson's general creditors, every
advantage that can result from the winding-up of that
concern, and they trust that, under good management,
and with active and energetic co-operation from all parties
from whom assistance can reasonably be expected, the lose
resulting from the large debt will not be so great as was
originally apprehended. (Loud cheers.)

"Your committee haN;e directed their most anxious
attention to the Deed of Settlement, which has undergone
a complete and searching revision ; and, as a copy of the
various alterations proposed by your committee is now in
the hands of each shareholder, it will be perceived that
every precaution has been taken to secure an efficient and
responsible executive, and placing' such a controul over
the general management of the affairs of the bank as will
protect the shareholders from such results as they have
lately had to deplore; while the operations of the bank
will remain unfettered for every legitimate purpose, with
the fullest guarantee for the future stability of the esta-
blishment. (Applause.)
" Your committee have pleasure in stating, that satis-
factory arrangements have been entered into with the
London Joint Stock Bank, the directors of which have
met their wishes in the most liberal manner; (cheers)
and nothing is now wanted to confirm their arrangements
but the sanction of the shareholders to the re-opening of
the bank. (Hear, hear.)
" A considerable number of preference shares have
already been subscribed for; and your committee have no
doubt that, when the remunerative character of these
shares is taken into consideration, coupled with the secu-
rity and advantages afforded by the alterations in the
Deed of Settlement, the remainder will be speedily taken ;
thus giving the bank a broader basis. with an increasing
capital, and offering the most favourable inducement to a
much larger constituency. .
" Your committee have pleasure in stating, that the
manager has met the exigencies of the occasion, with
reference to his own remuneration, in a manner that must
be gratifying to all. (Loud cheers,)
" Your committee have now only to add, that the
arrangements which they have made, and the recommen-
dations which they offer, are the result of the most serious
deliberation ; and they feel assured that the sanction of
the shareholders will be cordially conceded, so that the
bank may resume business on the Ist of December next,
according to the notification already given."
The report was received with considerable applause.
The CHAIRMAN said, I have to congratulate you, gen.
tlemen, on the prospects of the re-opening of the bank
under such favourable circumstances. lam not fond of
extravagant professions, nor is this the time or place for
making a long speech, and more particularly when we
look at the work (the reading, we understood, of the
Deed of Settlement which our solicitor has before him.
But myself and col eagues must be insensible indeed if
we do not feel deeply the marks of distinction, of favour,
which have been shown by the depositors in this bank.—
(Hear, hear ! and applause.) They have exhibited un-
bounded confidence in the integrity and the stability of
the institution ; and as to you, gentlemen, who are pro-
prietors, I am sure your duty will be promptly met by
taking up the preference shares, and vieing with each
fa lilanceffigniariTEPutplikiitglarsnel:Y nefiniTgreti,
there exists between the proprietors and the customers of
this bank a reciprocity of obligation. (Hear!). The well-
being of both are intimately connected. Your future di-
iectors, I am sure, will bestow that unremitting attention
to this important subject which it merits : and, gentlemen,
I should belie my own feelings, and those of my respected
colleagues, if I were not to confess to you. the deep feel-
ings we have, and the pleasure we feel, in associating our
names with the resuscitation of the bank (applause) ; an
event so anxiously looked for, and so well calculated to
restore commercial confidence both at home and abroad,
its benefits not being confined to depositors, or share-
holders, or customers, but directly and indirectly to the
community at large. (Loud applause.) Before I close
my observations, gentlemen, permit me to express one
wish—that a kind Providence may so guide your new
directors, in their future proceedings, that they may in-
deed deserve success. (Applause.) I. have now to move
from the chair, that the report now read be received and
adopted, and that the Bank be re-opened on, the Ist of
December next. (Loud applause.)
Mr. S. HOLME said, in seconding the motion, which it
was his intention to do, he was sure they would not con-
sider him presumptuous if he offered to the meeting a few
observations. ( Cheers.) He could not help contrasting
the position in which they now stood with that unfortunate
assembling together a few weeks ago, for at that period,
even solvent men looked upon the state of affairs with
anxiety and fear ; but as men, when they act precipitately,
always act foolishly, so he then thought, and having moved
the appointment of that committee, he was gratified it
had been appointed to investigate their affairs. ( Loud
cheers.) It was now, therefore, a matter of congratula-
tion, whilst they were bound to admit the shareholders
must submit to a great loss, that they had neither lost
their honour nor the bank its credit, and that the whole
of the deposits, together with the balance of current
accounts in the bank were just as safe as if they were in
the Bank of England. (Loud cheers.) He congratulated
them that whilst that bank was in a position to give all
the legitimate accommodation which could be reasonably
required, he believed speculation with the money of the
bank would be discountenanced, and it would be impossi-
ble in future for any one or two large concerns to absorb its
capital. (Applause.) He had no doubt the future direc-
tors of the bank would learn prudence from the past, and
that it would again possess what it did previously, nqmelv,
that public confidence which was part and parcel of the
great arch of Britain's credit. (Continued cheers.) He
could not reflect, without shuddering, on what the conse-
quence would have been if the bank had wound up its
affairs ; and he told mercantile men that, by such a
course, prudence must have been sacrificed ; and it
would have been difficult to say where the mischief
would have ended had the bank been called upon to adopt
the resolution which was proposed. (Hear, hear.)—
He (Mr. Holmo) hoped the warning which they had re-
ceived, locally as well as nationally, might be the means
of checking that inordinate speculation which had become
a national misfortune, if not a national crime that good
may have accrued to the country from the interregnum
which had occurred in the business of the bank, and that
its operations may for the future be based upon the only
proper footing they ought to be based on, namely, labour
and industry, and not upon the most baseless of all,
namely, reckless speculation. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
He thought it necessary to say a word or two upon a
practical subject. He attended a meeting of the com-
mittee, at which a resolution had passed that each depo-
sitor should have six per cent. for his money. He was
glad to learn from all the depositors with whom he was
acquainted, that such a determination was most satisfac-
tory, and he trusted that spirit of forbearance would still
be manifested by them which would enable the bank to
resume its operations. (Hear, hear.) Another point to
which he wished to call their attention, was the very hand.
some manner in which Mr. Chaffers had menthe difficulties
with which he had been surrounded. (Cheers.) By the
present management, the salary which Mr. Chaffers was
to receive would be reduced to what it was when the bank
was first established. (Applause.) Then the committee,
after much and serious consideration, had resolved to ad-
mit that class of the community to which he had the
honour to belong, by reducing the value of the shares, so
that the £lOOO shares, with £5OO paid up, were now to
be converted into five shares of £2OO each, with £lOO paid
up. By this means a larger basis would be given to their
operations, which he trusted would result in a larger consti-
tuency as well as increased capital. It had been decided
that there should be two paid directors, which would be
a guarantee that there would be a proper supervision over
the affairs of the bank, and they, together with the mana-
ger, would afford a check as much as could be that such
a cillamitous event as had recently happened would not
happen again. (Hear.) There would also under the new
deed of settlement be a board of seven directors, who
would form a court of appeal, by which questions in which
the manager and the paid directors could not agree
would be decided. Another provision of an important
character was, that for the purpose of carrying on the
legitimate objects of commerce, capital would be advanced
to the extent of £50,000, but beyond the sum of £20,000,
which may be advanced with the consent of the executive,
security will .be required from every man who wishes to
exceed that sum. These were some of the principal mat.
ters contained in the proposed deed, but he should not
consult his own feelings if he did not bear is testimony