New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-07

| 'u' ihiiiionaire lady whom he had married few
| years previously and who, living with him on
| the most affectonate terms. could easily have
| settled his liabilities in full without in any way
! hampe1ng her resources
Inc late Duke of Newcastle was a bankrupt in
! spite of his marriage to one of the wealthiest
| heireSSes Of the day. and his second SON Lord
I FRANCIS Hope. married to the American actress
May zone who. by reason OF the childlessness
OF ms elder brother is next heir to the dukedor
mas likewise been gazetted as an insolvent debtor
with liabilities to the tune Of about So 900 600
me late Duke of Hamilton and Brandon owing
10 extravaganza and acknowledgements likewise
inquired IN the bankruptcy court. but eventually
! emerged therefrOm with flying colors on produce
ing PROOF that instead Of his being in the debt Of
''ie famous money lender Padwick popularity
known as the Spider" who appeared as his
principal creditor. creditor to a very big
amount Of Padwick owing to the stter's having
o"'alhed large sums of money frJal the ducal
estate by means that We're not altogether legal.
NhlIe the Duke Of Fife himself has never ap>
peared before the public as bankrupt, he has
tWobrothers 'in-law. namely, Colonel Adrian Hope
ana the late Niscount Dupplin, whose financial
embarrassments have attracted public attention.
Among other members of the British peeragc
who have shared their fate are the late Lords
Aylesbury. Maidstone Winchester, Aylesford and
his Grace OF Manchester, and the present Lords
Poulett Thurlow. Huntly, Donegal, Sudely.
Iiill. HardWick, Athlumne. ReVelstOke and the
old Earl Of Buchan. These are only few-a very
small fraction, indeel-of the names that could
be mentioned. How little the position Of even an
undiSChdrged bankrupt affects the mode Of eX-
istence OF the s"ions of the aristocracy is shown
by the fact that the Earl Poulett. whose liabi-
tiles amount 10 some S2,OOO,OOO, on which as
yet he has paid no dividends finds it ncverthe-
less possible thanks To some arrangement with
his wife. 10 keep. not one. but two. steam yachts
as wen as carriages and horses. and to give some
OF the most splendid and successful shooting
parties of the sporting year.
a CONTINENTAL IDEA. TOO
Nor is this Indifference to bankruptcy con-
fined to Great Britain nowadays. 1t likewise
prevails on the Continent and it Is not 90 long
ago that the reigning Prince of LieChtensteln.
who is one Of the weathiest rulers in Christen-
dom. permitted his first cousin. Price Charles
Lechtenstein. To be bankrupted for a ridicu
lousy small amount the contents of the his
torc Liechtenstein Castle Of Neulengbach be-
ing actually sold at public auction by the
Sheriff in order to comply with the terms OF a
judgment obtained against Prince Charles by a
Vicnnese tailor for The sum Of $1,000. OF
course, only the furniture and personal effects
Of the Prince were put up at auction, the castle
itself and the estate forming part Of the eF
tailed possessions Of the family. But among the
articles disposed Of to the highest bidders were
many family portraits. pieces of plato adorned
with the family arms. etc, which were subse-
Quently haWked about the country hy pediers
along with the Princes 800 pairs of trousers. his
eighty pairs of shoes his seventy coats and sixty
umbrellas. Nobody in Vienna was able TO under
stand how the reigning Prince OF Liechtenstein
or his brothers could have permitted this an
cent home Of their family to be thus invaded !
when small II money would have
preserved II from desecratlon ana avoided inc
scandal Prince Charles subsequently migrated
to France. where few years later he came |
once more before the courts az an insolvenl |
debtor the proceedings before the tribunals |
bringing u light the fact that the Partisan |
money lenders with whom he had dealt had |
foisted upon him the most extraordinary arl" |
cles part ana parcel Of their loans theii |
object in so doing being to evade the penalties |
tions with the Prince We're not of money
lending order, but connected with the pur- |
chase and sale of goods. IL was found that |
the Prince had become in this manner the pro-
pretor Of fifty tons Of spoiled cheese, Of num-
Der of cases Of muskets without triggers or |
locks. and of no fewer than rs obsolete and
totally useless locomotives. which could only |
be described on par with the whole train
load Of wornout chimney tubing palmed of
upon OLD Ferdinand dc Lesscps's son-in-law, the
Count de Gontaut Biron, as part OF the loans
that he had obtained from the cent per cent
gentry Of Paris.
In France. when a man Of any position and
family becomes nsolvent. he IS provided with
what Is described in legal phraseology as a
"Conseil judiciarc" or board of trust tees. usually
composed Of some members Of his family, who
under tho direction Of the courts. administer the
remnant OF his property-that is 10 say. his as
SetS-fOr the bencnt both Of his creditors ana OF
himself. In Germany and In Russia the "COnseh
judicare' is known az 'curatei," and there are
few houses Of the arlstOcracy or even OF sover-
egn rank who have rot one or more OF the mem
bers Of their family thus reduced to the condition
Of minors II would be difficult even to begin to
enUmcTate them, so numerous are they. ana IL
will suffice to mention the cases Of the late Duke
Of Uzes in France. whose widowed mother Is a
multi millionaire. or Prince Benjamin Rohan in
Austria, brother of the wife Of Don Carlos Whose
fortune amounts 10 S200000o0 Prince Joseph
Rohan q still younger brother, Is IN the same
prcdcament. and actually left his children. full
nedCed Princes and Princesses Of the old Cru
sader house If Rohan. 10 be cared for by the
parish authorities OF Wessenbach last year "a
inmates of the worI;house. where they remained
FOR nearly three months before finally the cutlery
in the public press forced the enormously rch
head OF the house. the Duke of Rohan and OF
Bouillon, to provide for their support At Madrid
bofh the late Duke Of Ossuna and the Duchess
Of SantOna have been sold out by public auction
without any OF their wealthy relatives coming to
their assistance. While The financial difficulties
Of the Duke of Neragua, the lineal descendant
OF Columbus, formed the theme of much news
paper comment in Europe at the very time VIII II
he was being entertained by the Government OF
the United States in connection with the WORLDS
Fair.
At Rome the head Of the ancient and patrcian
house OF Borghese has been bankruptea, and his
possessions dispersed bT public auction. although
his younger brother, married to the heiress OF
the great bankers TOrlOnia. IS rich beyond the
dreams Of avarfce AT Berlin Prince George
Radziwiu has been placed under "cura ter be-
cause his father now dead. did not wish TO pay
his debts. although he could have done so with
out difnculty. Indeed, there IL no end 10 the
names of the bearers of the most illustrOus
names OF Europe who profess the same opinion
as the Master of the Rolls in England. namely. |
that the notion that there is any disgrace in
bankruptcy is IAN exploded idea and that the
payment Cf a few cents on the dollar IS "A per-
fectlv honorable manner Of the settlement Of liza
bilities that have been incurred without the
slightest prospect of the debtor ever being able
10 pay.
THE DEPT OF HONOR"
The explanation for this condition Of affairs
ls 10 be found in the peculiar ethics that prevail
in the old World with regard to debts of honor
the characterization limited strictly 10 those