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.. ¦*¦ . *• ¦ . ¦ ¦ ' May 5,1860.J The L...
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| ¦ | ' ..-, **. ^ SCIENCE AND AVAR. //¦...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Pullingee, Frauds. " Joint Stock Com...
pass-book , and sometimes takes it to or fetches it from the bankets * himself , after it has been made up . Thus it would be extremely difficult ' to deceive him by substituting another book , as appears to have been done in the Pdlhngee case . Either a director or the manager of the Union Banfc ' ought from day to day to have examined the cash to be paid into the Bank of England , and ought from day to day to have seen the pass-book also , and ascertained that the entries corresponded with the transactions of the concern . With such precautions Pctli-inger might have bolted with the whole sum he was intrusted with on a single occasion , but he could not once have divided it , leaving some for his masters and keeping some
gers , as degraded , and far more mischievous than the bank clerk variety . When wealthy manufacturers forge trade marks , or represent their goods to measure far more than they do , a wave of rascality , is set in . motion that legitimately ends in robberies of another 'form . It is not the Bullingers alone who-are guilty , or . even chiefly guilty ,: a deeper -blame rests upon those who encourage a false morality ; * and' worship success however achieved . It was accident that determined Robson , Red-PATir , and Pullingee to their particular modes of fraud . There are lawyers , engineers , and contractors moving in the best society * , who have robbed unfortunate shareholders of an amount choice these have
for himself . Thus there can be no doubt that the "Board" egregiously failed in a simple matter of duty , and allowed one of the most important departments - to escape scrutiny altogether . In another particular they neglected the warning given in Mr . Morgan ' s pamphlet—they issued a balance-sheet upon defective principles , wanting that precision and clearness which is the only security against fraud . They lumped assets togetheivso that the amount they believed to be at the Bank of England was confounded witli items of a different kind . In this , there was simply an exhibition of the magpie nature of Boards without a shadow of excuse . In many joint stock companies , all sorts of tricks and dodges are resorted to which ifc is desirable to conceal * Some directors do not pay up their portion of share
as large ; and if they had had their - rogues we named would no doubt have preferred the safer gains of their luckier rivals in the arts of depredation . Almost every great bankruptcy reveals transactions quite as bad in point of morality as the embezzlement of cash ; but the reckless abuse of credit seldom meets with either reprobation or punishment * By the employment of more caution we may diminish such cases as those of Uobson , Redpatit , and Pcxlinger ; but we shall do little more than alter the shape of villany until the public conscience is sufficiently " enlightened to condemn the worship of unprincipled success . It is curious that our conspicuous rogues are eifcheF pharisees or " sporting gents " and yet by their disgusting idohitry of Tom Sayees , the members of the Stock Exchange and the Mincing Lane ions inhabited
capital ; others enter upon transactions to rig the market , " bribes are paid to persons helping the concern , and there is in fact a great deal to he ashamed of . With the Union Bank this could not have been the case . It was established when really wanted . It has enjoyed uniform success , and we do not believe it could at any period have been a gainer bv the policy of concealment or mystification . We" do not think that the directors had any motive for avoiding an explicit statement . They merely acted according to the traditions of their craft , and the result was that they assisted the black sheep , who appears to have been the pet of their fold . When the frauds were detected , their conduct was characteristic . There was of course ground for satisfaction arid pride , that so enormous a loss Could not in ' tlie' slightest degree affect the stability of their concern . Everybody knew it could afford to lose a quarter of a million , and had the loss been doubled , no depositor would have felt
brokers encourage their clerks to frequent reg by betters and blacklegs , to cultivate tastes of debauchery and demoralization , and to consider mere " pluck , " as it exists in the bulldog or a tiger , the highest of known qualities . We know some of I the associates of Mr . Pttx / linger , and we trust the Stock Exchange ] and Union Bank Directors will permit us to know the rest . _ He ! may have improved his morals on the race-course or by the ring ; i but such enormous transactions , as he was engaged in leave no I doubt that he must have had the countenance of persons of wealth , and station , who , as in the case of Redpatit , did not choose to know that a clerk upon a few hundreds a year could not honestly be ! engaged in the operations of a millionaire . We fear , however , we ' ¦ shall not get at this sort of information ; but the shareholders should force it out , as it may lead to a recovery of a portion of their loss .
-afraid " of the security of his deposits , nor would the permanent i position of tlie ~ in ' stitution have been • injured .,. ¦ This questions of confidence is independent of capital , and will turn entirely upon the ^ management . If the directors think that they- ha . ve pnty to Compliment tliemselves ; and express sympathy with their manager , j the public will regard them as quite unfit for their posts , and we i cannot conceive that the shareholders will be so blind to their own interests , as to accept their misfortune as a matter of course . The j
men who have allowed it to take place may-be ' very estimable and honourable , but they have failed in a most important duty , and their negligence gave opportunities which ought never to have been afforded . No one for a moment imputes any more , blame to them than that of following the habitual carelessness of boards , which may be said never to adopt the precautions of private firms , but surely this is blame enough . Had this been the first great fraud since that on the Bank of —T 3 ntJ' ?! Tm ^ ir * ftfi 37 wlntth-iT ^
memory of , some excuse might be made for the directors not , at all events , securing themselves by taking full and efficient guarantees > from -their servants . who had the handling of such vast amounts . The system of suretyship has been gradually growing up as a corollary to the larger trusts and greater temptations imposed on confidential clerks ; and most large establishments adopt the principle . Indeed , to such an extent has this prudential arrangement extended , that . powerful and responsible joint-stock companies have been instituted to relieve the pressure on private individuals ; aiid the Government , railways , contractors , and all reposing great trusts or requiring large recognizances have recourse to them . How , after the extraordinary defalcations of Robson , Redpatii , and Co ., any banking association did not make this a principle , from their cashier down , to the poorest collecting clerk , we are at a loss to understand , and amore especially when for seven shillings for the hundred pounds they could thus assure themselves . It is indeed said that
Puxlinger did give some security for a very small amount ; but the Bum assured ought to bear some proportion to the risk of robbery . If at the rate of a thousand pounds a week could be imperceptibly •^ abstracted by a single clerk , surely his assurance should at least have covered half a year ' s possible loss . Had this been the case , -two shillings in the pound might at leust have been saved to the shareholders , and added to their dividend . Moreover , the companies that guarantee these amounts look very keenly into character and circumstances , and . had they guaranteed such an amount « s twenty-five thousand pounds , wo may feel assured they would havo instituted such an inquiry , and maintained such a surveillance as would , in all probability , have led to a much earlier discovery of this vast robbery , and consequently to a great saving to the share'holders . ' . ' .. '" ' 7 . ' . '' \ " ¦; " . ; # - ¦• ¦¦¦ ¦ •¦ The Puixjngkii frauds / jught not to be considered alone . They Jbrin a part of our commercial and social system , und are led up to by transactions which meet with little reprobation . Members of Parliament do their part towards developing such results'when f ' . Viow miil .-n lniD < tnn > ii' nfnmioni ] flinv tiovni int . ntwl tn lfflrtn . ftllll Ifilld # f ¦
IWIIVJ ftlfttl I * W IIIIQVI || UO K / Jb Vf ¦ ¦¦•»**•* " m' ** 'J ««»* . W » •» » ' ^* .. *^ W ^^ . »* " ^ J »— -w - ^ — — -- — their nt \ mes , for a consideration , to enterprises they do not take tho trouble to check . They have their counterparts in the Ernest JWaltbaverb school of morals , and when a legislator wins the applause of his party by proclaiming corruption to be the natural way for wealth to deal with democracy , he does his best to create political Pullin-
.. ¦*¦ . *• ¦ . ¦ ¦ ' May 5,1860.J The L...
.. ¦*¦ . *• ¦ . ¦ ¦ ' May 5 , 1860 . J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 419
| ¦ | ' ..-, **. ^ Science And Avar. //¦...
| ¦ | ' ..-, ** . ^ SCIENCE AND AVAR . //¦ - AN . excellent Lecture delivered last Friday evening at the Royal institution by Mr . A ? EL , Che head of the chemical department at Woolwich , on the application of science to ¦ military affairs , was sufficient to prove that a very great advance has been made in . the management of biir warlike arrangeTnents , but was also calculated to lead to the conviction that both in Parliament and out of further must tak if to maintain
j jt ; still -changes e place we are our position against all assailants . A large part of Mr . Abel ' s discourse x-elated to the Armstrong and Whit worth guns , but he ~ mentioned several other subjects , which illustrated the urgent demand for skilled scientific labour , both in the administration of departments , and in all parties concerned , from the Minister of War I and Commander-in-Chief , down to the artisaii employed in making ! various implements of destruction , and tho private soldier , by whom ! they are to be brought into play . *¦¦¦ ¦ ¦ _ . ... . . » ¦ . . ¦ n 1 « S ** « lir . _ 1 i-1 _ _ . l tliatTireraTSTistcrsotthefcHnmean
It appears --- -vv-ar-ana-cije . ijiarao . uc of public opinion did manage to rouse the authoi'ities from their slumbers , and among other matters—some still grievously neglected —the construction of artillery engaged their thoughts to an extent which is not generally known . The siege of Sebastopol was remarkable for the consumption of cannon a 3 well as of projectiles , and it became apparent that the enormous work required of modern artillery could not be performed either by cast iron or what are commonly called brass guns . Accordingly the Ordnance chemists and metallurgists made a variety of experiments , with a view of forming some alloy of copper , which should be more hard and tenacious than ordinary gun metal , and serve for the construction of comparatively light and portable guns , that would stand prolonged firing , without either bursting or losing their form . In these efforts they seem to have achieved a considerable success , and among other compounds produced a mixture of copper and phosof serviceable characterAt the timeSir
phorus , a very . same , William Armstrong was overcoming the difficulty of forging iron cannon , and Mr . WinTworth was arriving at an analogous result by a peculiar process of working steel , so as to get what he terms " homogeneous iron , " and which is uniform and tenacious in its texture , and quite free from the crystallization that renders cast iron unreliable under a sudden strain . Sir William Armstrong carries out with modern skill and appliances the notion of the original artillerists , who made their guns of many pieces , which they endeavoured to weld together . His cannon are in fact made much like the best barrels for fowling pieces . Ho twista a long ribbon of iron round a mandril , heats it white hot , and hammers it until all tho joints are "firmly welded together . This is sufficient for the barrel of a small cunnon ; but when a larger size and greater strength is needed , he places a series of spiral hoops over the original cylinder and welds them together , not by hammering , but by the action of a screw . These hoops nro put on hot , and as thoy shrink in cooling they squeeze tho mass which they embrace , and enable it all the better to stnnd the concusbion of tho discharge .
In constructing the breech of his guns , Sir William Armstrong takes care that tho fibre of tho iron runs parallel to the nxis of the weapon , a plan which secures tho greatest strength in tho direction of tho greatest explosive force . Mr . Whit worth uses for his material not wrought iron , but a material resembling tho cast eteel ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 5, 1860, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05051860/page/7/
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