Messrs. Marsh And Son.
The Times, 1824-11-13T00:00:00

in additiOp.to'the eistablMhmenct in Brners..atreet, uiaget te firm of Mtem*& a. Irsh, Stracey, 'Pauntleroy, and Grabam, Mvr. Marshi somne years ago enteredI upion a spectulatton with his ion, Mlr. -Arthur * CibbrtltLsh asnav-aema i Sctiad-ned. inConsequelmce of thierecent foihtreof the banking.hottse tinern.erg5-streee,ttiecre-. ditors of the flavv..agency establishment- ha3ve becon3e much alarmed for the saftyatvf their- fuinds vested in that-concern ; and at tile lnyijta. tion of Mr. Sevmnrlar, IWlr. A. C. blarsbs 90ilcit6r, and whlo, uip to the failture OF' the binrking.hinuse, acted likewlvce. Ms saictDr for the firm, betweeni 30 and 40 of-thems iyiet 0n T tar4A&,.lttj_fl o'clock, at the British CofiThe-h6uGs, in Cooksplir-il'Vii~ tokt-the purpose of examining intto tliest-ste Of afFairs of tht , w4-aen ' estblsh menit. On the mnotionobf lilt. -Seymioutr, iBejrn Hello well was called to thle chalir. . i Mir. SEY310iin saild, ithat lie hedld in hshan~d a ease witich hiad been subulittedI to tbpoiji,nlosi Of Couns%el, but Pyevious to reading which, he w6uld hriifli'sthtc the nature ef the Circumnstnces, whiich Was, that thle accourit etaisding at thec bankdng..boimse in Bee.. ners-street. in the, name of Mtr. A.u ~Marsh, W23 coasideraLbly over- drawn, andI if fro thiR overdrawing Mir. A. C. M1arsh wats liable, there ~otuld be nio doubt tlistt he wrt insolvent. It wag the interest or every one of the creditors of the Navy Agents to avoid this, and consequenitly, if anY suchi claim wvas madle by the assigiseer of the bank in U~eznpr3-4treet, it was for them to resist it as far as, In themr lay. Hlaving stated thus much of the Outlinc Of the business, hie would now procevi, to read the case which he held in his hand. During its perusal, lltr. Seymour stated, for the infotmatioun of the oarnpauy, that tehaarguments in the case were founded on tacts ad snitted as well by the Berners-street assignees as the creditors o~ the- N~avy Agents ; and in reality those assignees l-id bee2 as atixious as themselves to obtaini the opinion of Counsel on the 'POint, that thte irlght k-nowr how to proceed. He mentioned this to show that the opinion of co~Unsel had not been taken on an expJarte statement. The cas.e thent seatead, that in Mlay, 1817, a partner3hip was, f-ormed for a term of 21 years between M1r. William ilaarsh, the father. ald1 Mrl. Arthur Cuthbert Marsh, theson, as navy2agents. Thjearticles of partnership wfere dated AMay 20 1B17 ; but it was therein agreed thlat the son should not be consijred as a eartner till Utheisum oaf 4-4,0001.3per Cents,were invested by'him- thtus aunLhadln~ver beenI so invested, anid he bad from that timne to the present contintued to act in the office on a salary of 8001. per annumn, -without havnay share whiatever of the profits accruing. Previous to thise(naco partnership, Mlr. W. Marsh had been carrying ort the samtiebans siTnce the year 1i313, and before his son's at all appearing ini the'd0is. cern, had overdrawa his acceunt in Bemners-street to the atuount- of 2,000. At Berrers-street it was perfectly understood that AMr. A. C. MVarsh had no share in the profits, although tht aceont lot the na- vy agency.office, at the banking-house,was kept open ini his niame: but .this wao on a clear understanding that he was -not to b'e'in ttay way personally liable : this undeestandin$.,wai dfst by parole, tubse-I quently by letter. It was therefore presiumned that al the p'artners - of l3erners.street wouldI testify that they did not cornsfdet the son as personally responsible, how ever they might argue relative to the applicaltion of the assets of Mlessrs. 5 arsh end Son; buit in re.ply to aniy such argument, iMr. A. C. Marsh contunded. that th."e siee of that bankruptcy ecould only, look to the siurplus xiet ta house, after the other creditors had been satisfted. The etrta announced that M r. A. C. Mlarsh was not in partnersi inthe Mlanaging Office, was written by the elder Mir. Marsht i bio.. thier parthsers in Berner8-seretr, after a very dangerous Iln As. A the case stood at present, it appeared that there wras a surn of 735851. due to the Berners..street house, fromn the house in Scot.. land I-yard, On the account entitled the accoumt of Mvl'. Arthiut Cshbert Marslh, for whiich indeed the formner house hald several valtuable securities, but which, comparatively, wouldi go but a smnall way towards liquidating that account. The surplus assets were calculated to amuount to 30,0001., and this was the only sum that could be pledged, for the original assets mnust net bie otherivise -redueed 4 but if' the assignees had really ai right to clamsn on the whole assets, there would be no doubt that the Scotland-yard house wouldI be ruined. To ascertain, this point, nri t pijalmation had been made, not only to t'he assignees, but likewise to-lilt. -Fatntleroy-..to Mlr. Fauntleroy, becaue, at he time of the application, that gen.- rlemn ha no bee incude In the commifssIont of bantkruptcy. The letter that haa been addressed to t'Rese persons by Air. A. C. Marsh stated that the overdrawn account was solely hsis father's, and that hie, in fact, was merely acting as clerkc. On ithis letter DIr. Pauintleroy endorsed a memorandlum, stating that he would not con- Rent to any prtoeeding, against the hiouse of M4arsh and Son, except by, joining with them in appointing a receiver and manager. MVr. A. C. Marsh then contenided thiat the house in Ilerners-street hadl no Personal remetly for the cash due to them, and no claim oni tile pro- pierty till the other creditors were paid. This case, Dlir. Seymlour stated, liad been submiitted to Sire. Bell, and, with permission, hie wouxld read that Colusel's aLnswer to tIme case. It was as follows:- 1 Air. A. C. Marsh is liable at lawv to all the debts of tire part. nersbin) in the Navy Agency business, and if he and the assikimeea canniii agree in the mode of getting in, anWo4plying the effects of thant co-partnership, a court of equity wil'.appoint a 'receiver to get in the saiTe, andl will apply thiemi ih prtpnent of the joint creditors. "1I htave often readl wiili astonistiment- tlmida5riA ltt law where one partner lias been allowed to recover in hWiaybns isaree, because his, otherc partner was 'what is called a riominalp~*-amley Qn) ,ad thinl- if ever thiey came to be examined by a tnm'ieLrEldon's, w1lo knows the various consequenices of such cinfsions, bouti at law and equitv, thtey wvill never he acknowledged as'l'w. It ut lriowever a court of law way deal with such caies, that will iot prevent Alr. A. C. Mlarsh's right to liav4 a receiver appointed. indeed, it seems miore niecessary that ejniity shourld-intertere for the protectioui ateMr. A. C. Mfarsh, if guch is the saiw. IIWhethier the banking-house can claim to share'the -ioltat effects as a creditor of the partnership, is a quLstiouj'otsinore dlfleqley. But thiough the monay was applied for partn r sImjp'-p- es, yes if it was in fact advanced upon thle mRete eszha "i tynd eroft of Mr. W. Mlarshb,-aa is-asserte4in the letters, lini -iiio l6iig house has no claimoni the partnership efi'ects asapareneraiblpiitr but only on the separate estate of M~r. W. IMarsh. "1 Lincoln's-mnn, October 18, 1824."1 -JOHN BELiL." Mr. Sliyaxuit conigratulated the meeting on the opinioni of Mr. Bell, which wvas decidedly in their favour, though stRiIt coulif niot be denied that mnany difficultics presented thiemselves in the case. It was certain that Mr. A. C. Marth was neat personally lia- ble, but that the house in Berners-street had all along looked to the assets, whIclh asets hiad been deposited with them with security; thus was ani unitoward circu~mstance, and it was lik-ewise a thiiig that woulst tall against themr, the chlecks of the navy agents on the hiouse in Ilerners-street being always signed by Msr. A. C. Mlarsh, or by Mfr. Stevensr, his clerk, expressing that he signed for Mdr. A. C. Marsh, thotugh the real cause of this wras to distinguisli the account of the naLvy agenicy estalilishment, from Ills. W.. Marshl's Private account. The assignees lhad had the candour to stt,that since Air. Bell's answer, they had resortted to xeveral oiiropinions, and time majority of those opinions they bad founid to he discouraging. Thec real fact was, t'hat the wishi of the assig- nees was to be uiltinmately right, though the responsibility was niot vested in them to decide whethier it was for thzem to resigii atll claims to anyv but thea surplus; assets. This decisioni rested with the creditors of the B3ernevs.street house, and he Certainly had some hopes tha;t they might yieldI the point, thiough, doubtlhss, they had no. tinlination to put it desperately to a, venture. At all events, as it was quite clear thlat the assignees eouhl niot take shec assets of the Sctad-yard house iinto thteir possession, andpaA,Bor;li trusted at least that they would copsesmq -t0 the appointment of a re- ceiver and mianager, to keep possession till it was decided what the claimns of thle Barniers-street house were. -If Mir. A. C. Marsh had wished to hrave saved himself trouble, nothing would htave been so easy for himn as to have got a commissoion out against himself, and so htave ended the matter ; but his real desire wasl to do justtice to all the ereditors, And it wras for this purpose that he opposed the in- cluiding the claimls of the Berners-street house In the division of the original assets. A Creditorf asked, ie' the opinion of the partners relative to the lia- bility of Mlr. A. C. Mlarsh had been given subseqiueLtly Wo thesaeeu- iities and other pledges being left at thje Bernerasrsreet bank? Dir. SEi,Ymoun, in answer, stated, that this acknowledgment had been made subsequent to every thing. For his owni part, hie could not ace any objectioni to the appoiititnentof a receiver ; for even if a rourtatf law were to decide the great tuestion' against themn, they wouldi only be driveni hack to the point from which the ystarted, and would have the saLisfaction of knowing that the funids had bcart pre- served wvhole, uithout any expenise being attached to such preset-- vation. On she questioti ~~~~~~from another Creditor,Mr gaonbrvd thatat alleet nothing could be done with the creditors of the othor hiouse for aonie time, asq the nextt meeting of the Comrmis.' sionerrs wvas'not to take place till the 16th of Deceimber, and it was not likely thiat- thiere would be any meetini; prior to that, as there wvould be u.o new farits to put the creditors in pOeessliOi of. An Attorney, who stated that hie attendled on the par t Ms Ar. Commissioner Middleton, asked where the fuinds hiad been remasin- ingu to thle present tiie ? UTl .eyotuit. replied, that of course they had tested In the hands, of' Air. A. C. Mlarshi, A Crediltor observed, thiat it was a very difficult questlion to tinder. stand hiow, if two persons carry on bushkss ro.etbar, and borrow a sumi of 70,01101., thiat they were not mnutually liable for the debt. Mlr. SEYmxount observed, thiat thle whole case abounded with in- triesacies, buit that in answer to rime particular objectioni that hiad been startedl by she Iagt'speaker, he would refer hiim- to Mlr. Bell's opinon. ''l'hc most feasible plan, as it appeared to himt, would be a letter Of licence, Ally. Seym-our thien, after inquliring if thnere were any fur- ther questions thatt he couild aniswer, proposedl Mr. A. C. M1arshs,g anti his owim retirinig, in order that I ny discutssion that auight be) started mnight be carriedi on the nmore freely. These gentlemnen accordingly withdrtew, rrfter idr. Sevynour hiad 8ubniittedI time following paper to the attention of the MeI'eting, as a: statemient of the affairs rn Scotland-yard : Ani account of debts and credits of Win. MVarsh anti Sons. Tolal am-ount of debts, as extracted from t1ieLedgers ?28,788 3 8 Air. Pettit'sclaim.400 12 6 29,1818 16 2 B-alance * . 34,024 0 4 - - ?0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X3,212l I 6I Total atnount of debts esteemed goot, and extracted trom the LJedgers .. * .53t186 13 4 Estimatte of vailue of a Policy of Insurance at the Equitable Office, on the lif'e of'ir. Joshua now 2.400 0 0 One-eighth of the ship Jointn. ~ 0 0 0 Doubtf'ul debts . . . * . . * ' 7,121 3 2 During M1r. A. C. AMarsh 's absence, zeveral of the creItors, among whomra was the Chairman, took sai opportunity of expres- irg tie high opinion they had of Air. A. C. Mareh's character and Jintegrity. 'l%e first proposition brought before the meeting was time period of time that should be allowed M r. A. C. Jfiarell to endearour to co1- leCt the debts of the firm. The letterof licence, accOrdiz to lUr. Seymoar's hints, appeared to be universally adented, and it was at length resolved thlat the saidl letter should extend in the first instance for 12 niontlis; the creditors retailning the power of sabsequendly pro. longing the period, if necessary. It was then reso red tlint a rcceiyer shouldi be appointed on time part of the. creditors, and on the part of Mr. A. C. Marsh; Mr. Alarsh of couitge.to appoinit liis own receiver, and theereditors theirs: .and in case 6f imny tifficulty, a commnittce of the creditors was agreed to be a ppointed, who might convenincitly be caled together s decido on saich points. In reference to the accounts of the debts and credits of the house, as inserted above, the solicitor who attended on the part of ir. Mid. *lleton stated, that lie had jast remarked to 1[r. A. C. MBarshi that it would have been more satisfactory to the meeting, if, the items as well as the grO5s aziount Pad been stated. in zealy, Mr. Mualat oliervcd, theat thouagh to. any one inaividual, xuch as a Ireceiver or a moanager, 'he should have nio objectjon to o_xq,!Ain thle 'whole of thie debts, yet it wottid( be invidiotts to lay a lisp of tlis debtors atnd thc securities they hadl put in before sach a utnirerous body,of erbditors, hie had, thlerefore, not brought that list withi him. the largest debt included in the 63,0Q01. was flearlv 7,0001.; that there were bet-ween a Acore between 1,0001. atud 3,0001,.; and that the hverage rad eof the, debts wasB0DI. 'rhe wholeof thbe debts were se- Cured-'in one Way or an6ther; soie of course less complete than weere. bnst iably io athem were of stOlch a natref, that the pressisig foremgeiin onat paoente twould be attenrded by total loss. On is bing sopsedthat Adr. A. C. MVarsh shoutld himself be spnonte reeivr,ft was alleged thiat this would open the road to manydiffculies,andthat If by~ any chance Al r. Al arsh should be- cote bakrpt,th whiole ofthe sxtuns yoult1be seized upon under A.gentleman, whose name was Underst&oodto be Derimark, saidi thict e had every reason to believe that the large debt of 7,0001. u,ihhad been mentioned ivas amply secured, and that in genieral the debts weve pretty safely dIisWtlbnted. After a few niore remarks from somne of the other- creditors, whichi wL wvere not able to catech, owing to the several conversations that were gping on at once, the mneeting separated. JiESSS. MalRS) A'D SON.