, 1890-06-21

refer TO the application OF the petitioners
relative to the production of the cOmpany'S
hooks and accounts. The. petitioners drew
attention to thetleclarAtiJis made by tho
COmte Ferdinand de L.eSSeps on November,
20, 1888, when he said that he never recoii-
ed before his duty, and in JahuaryxtSSS,
whem he wrote; that, haAing nothing TO
conceal, he desired ~ public t.ehatr, III the
course of which The true situation OF
the scheme ToWid"he made clear. On the
strength Of these declarations tho le-
titi0rrrsrarptied for the, production of the
companv's books aud. accounts. They hat
insisted upon this for the purpose, as they
said rerbatim in their document, OF having
an accurate StatcmRslt al the. expenditure of
the funds, .,Sos lhat it. might he made
apparent how much bad been, usefnlly
snent. and low mhcR'' of Tie Hm0Aey
Subscribed liz Small capitalists had gone
into the pockets of y few .pr0'RIl4eiEt peE'
yR6hs wlhsSo snauaes tl.N general pubic, who
had been firstly ala rnlcd, would ike to
know. The Reporter admits the right4of
the petitioners to this itftdFmidtion, hias'
much as they hail Subscribed nearly four
teen hundred millions Of francs tor the
complexion Of,Only q portion OF the Canal,
whereas according to- statements male ll
the beginning of the enterprise; six hun
UCGu MItIlOIlS OI kEdHCN WOUi'N a. .S(Su
sufficient to lcover'tha expenses of the
work. Strictly speaking, all these points
came necessarily under the jurisdiction
and competency of o legal tribunal, MHl III
fact they we're referred 10 such R"bo,ly by
some of the shareholders who Summoned
the L%iduidator Of the Canal Company he-
fore the Civil Tribunal of the Seine. Par.
lament therefore had nothing to do with
these matters. The Commission, however.
did not conine itself to these considerations
but took in account the fact that the Pana-
ma enterprise; although begun by private
initiative, had become q sort OF work OF
general interest, either on account OF. the
enormous quantity of FIeIclr capital sunk
in it or of the, large number Of subscribers,
or, finally and chiefly, because the public
POWERS had interviewed OH its behalf on
several occasions. Here the Reporter quotes
the Law of June 1883, authorizing the Com
parry to" issue l6tterysbOndS the Bill of
December, 1885 for.the propagation of all
the iabilities-tChe dNCe8-Of The company
and the Law of July 1889, antholising the
LiQuilator to convert the LOO bonds
which had not been subscribed for into
lottery bonds, negotiable without limitation
of price. Under these circumstances The
Commission could not ignore The claims Of
the petitioners and simply refer them Ia
the Tribunal OF he Seine, in order to get u
statement of accounts from the LiqnidaiOr,
a proceeding which would entail long and
costly litigation. The public powers were
. bound, therefore, to go to the assistance Of
the small capitalists. AS to The question OF
responsibilities, which thepelitiOurrs main
tanned should fall on the administrators of
the Panama Canal Company, who were,
they limited AS amenahie to thu" Law, .as were
the Directors of the C Compton, deScompte-
the Commission had no special powers to
examine these matters. The case, however,
was for the cngn isanco OF tho tf0verIt-
ment. AS to tue civil'responsibility Of+he ade
ministratOrs, that ought to be sdbmjtttd to
Court. OF Law, but in view Of the general
considerations already taken into sccounv
by the Commissions, and by reason Of the
exceptional nature OF the ease, il would ho
more prudent to relax the TiCour-4t the
Common Law. If, then, the intcrv, ntiOn
0F-bhe Minister Of Justice would Ir>Ait in
the safeg1arding-to q certain extcnt-Of
the. rights of the ,bonEl aud share holders iu
the Panama Company, Parliament ceTtainly
would not hesitate TO ealF for it. The con,
Guiding portion OF the Report deals with
the question OF penal, r. sppnsIbility.@ The
Commissioners accortliii & t8their ResOIter,
surely were permitted to lbbpe that, the ,in.
situations made against tho Board of Dj.
rectors were not at all. ,WeIl;foupaed, bne
if any infr ingementNf the Penal Law had
hoon ANN uaiffod IL wnnII hn sJaofE Eifa, hw