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SUCCESSFUL. EMBEZZLEMENT. Union Bank of London ht
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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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that of most of our moreinnocent fiction writers In-England . So the . mischief spreads ; they are most popular in Belgium and Russia , and to a certain extent in Germany , England , and the North , It is . quite possible , indeed , that they may clo the least harm to the country of which they are the native produce . This if often the case ; there is a great deal in coherency and consistency of evil ; infidelity , for- instance , is no doubt least felt where it is mutual , winked at , and condoned ; and mariages de convenarice are , of all marriages , the least sacred . Crimes are the worst , and in one sense the most injurious ,
when committed against a strong conscience , and natural gaiety and levity carry off evils and calamities which would be grave , to a grave nature . These arc the reasons , together with a strong external control , and j > olice which save France , but in a measure only , from some of the consequences which are the natural fruit of the literature which she produces and has hitherto encouraged . Many Frenchmen dispute the superior morality of England . In England , doubtless whatever is done , contre la morale , is far more known than in France , partly from the freedom of the subject , and partly because there is less family and social condonation in such
matters . ; . but the literature of England shows the real state of the case , a . literature which indicates not the will of the State , but the taste of the people . In the points above indicated there is no comparison between the works of fiction of the two countries . We have our vices , and we cannot always Iceep them private . France lias them , and could keep them private if she chose—afleast in a great measure ; for there is much , as "We liave already shown , to facilitate privacy .
She rejoices in the decency of her streets and newspapers , at least the upper half of them , only to make a full and voluntary " expose of herself in her novels ; and the revelations made in England for public good , are votichsafed by 4 xer for private gains , and private amusement ; what we know against her we know by lier own description , at her own good pleasure . She draws the sketch , pretty much the same , with a legion of pens , it is not our fault if we take it for a likeness . - -
^ JWe have spoken of M . de Girardin , we will now quote Madame de Girardin—not young JDtimas , of Sand , or BaTzee , or Murger , or Stenddal , &c .- —but a French lady , accomplished , ' patriotic , and familiar , thoroughly familiar , -with French , society . Would any English lady have dared to offer to English eyes the following cold-blooded delineation as a true picture . It is on " Modern French amours "—— ¦ : : ; ' . ' ' , - '¦ . ' ' . ¦ ' V ' . ' . ' \ . '¦ " Un amour maintenant , est une affaire d' occasion , on aiine celm- ^ n-celle-qu ^ n-voit--naturellemen-t—le—p lus-sou 3 cent ^_ oii choisit dans sou petit cercfe JN " ous avions les mariages d ' interets ; aujourdhui nous avons de plus les amours de eonvenance , ce qui est fort triste . "
Fort triste , indeed ; and it is to be hoped that as in most French writing there is some exaggeration even here in the portrait by a writer of letters whose popularity must depend upon Her truthfulness . Her remarks refer to a very recent though not the present period . The Stuarts and Louis XIV . are said to have trusted to Koyal Societies , Academies ^ and Sciences , to divert the minds of thinking men from political questions ; a far more wholesome distraction , however mischievous , than the corrupt romance ; and Louis Napoleon has , perhaps , the sense to see it .
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been lost , and thus the necessity for a prosecution was avoided . The case now before us bears no resemblance to ordinary cases of embezzlement , for not even a hint has been . given that any other person besides Pullinger was concerned . The directors have dismissed two or three clerks , who are not even suspected of having shared in the plunder , and the clerk who fir ^ t discovered . the deficiency at the Bank of England is stated , in the Times of the 14 th instant , to have retired in disgust , on account of the dissatisfaction Which was expressed at his having taken the only certain means of veriMm * the balance at the Bank ot England .
The power of the directors of joint stock companies to pay losses out of capital is much doubted , and it is therefore important that the case submitted to Sir Hugh Cairs and Mr . Daniel , Q . C . should be brought under consideration . The point was , " whether , after applying the existing surplus fund , and the whole , or a par t of the " current half-year's profits , to the liquidation of the ^ present deficiency , the directors or the shareholders , by a major ity of votes at " a general meeting , specially convened for the purpose , have power to write off the balance of the present loss against tho capital of the company . " The answer was , " we are of opinion to resol b
that it is within the powers of the company ve y a majority at a meeting duly convened , that the loss of £ 263 , 000 . sustained in consequence of the frauds referred to , shall be made made good in the manner pointed out , that is to say , Jirsi , Inapplying so much of the capital as consists of the £ " 130 , 000 capitalized in July 1859 ; secondly , by applying £ 100 , 000 of the reserved fund - thirdly , by applying £ 40 , 000 out of the year's income ; and we are fiirther of opinion that the company may , in like manner , resolve , that all or any part of the remainder of the earnings of the year shall be divided as a dividend . " soundness of this ini it is im
Without questioning the opon - peratively necessary that there should be some clear understanding ' respecting capital " accounts . The payment of dividends out of capital has been pronounced not only objectionable but illegal ; and whether the payment of losses be strictly legal or not * there is too much treason to fear that the ease with which the loss of a quar ter of a million has been surmounted by the Union Bank may operate as a most baneful example . It is impossible without seeing the books of the establishment to know how this loss has been written off , but the explanation of the chairman at the general meeting was confusion worse confoundedr ™ , " Your shares will remain at £ 12 paid up capital . ¥ e have not altered your position .
nor our own , for the directors are in the same x > osition with you : aseaehof us holds a large stake in the company . I think it right to explain this , as some misapprehensions have been circulated , and it is difficult to frarae a statement which shall not be misunderstood , to state that the shares have not been reduced from £ 12 to £ 10 . Each share is £ 50 , arid each shareholder is liable to pay the unpaid por tion of his shares , if called upon ; Each of you having paid £ 12 is still liable to pay £ 38 , and no action that we can take can make you liable to pay £ 40 . '' What the chairman means is altogether beyond comprehension . The report distinctly states . that it is . " now proposed to re-debit capital account with amount carried last year io credit of thitt account from reserved fund shareholders \ vill
£ 120 . 000 ; " therefore , if this be done , the obviously have that amount less capital . Instead of £ / 20 , 000 , tReT ^ ill ~ nWe ~^ l y ^^ alter the fact that this £ 120 , 000 has been taken , to make good part of the deficiency of £ 263 , 000 . The very roundabout way , however , in which the chairman tried to persuade shareholders that they could take away £ 120 , 000 , > y ithout diminishing thencapital , suggests another enquiry . Is it the intention of the directors to carry the balance of the deficiency , after deducting the £ 100 , 851 15 * . 10 < Z . reserved fund , and £ 31 , 15 C , 16 * . iff . proportion of profit devoted to making up the loss , to capital account , or to a suspense account ? ¦ Without entering into technical explanations , it looks very much like an intention ol " cooking the accounts to make things pleasant . " ¦ ¦¦
This is by far the most serious matter that has yet been mentioned ' in connection with this marvellous case , for , if . under any circumstances the jpayment of either dividends or losses , out of capital , can be justified , it will be extremely difficult to define how far this mischievous doctrine may bo extended . When tjhc chairman told the shareholders that they were only liable tor £ 38 , and that no action could make them pay more , it is surprising that no One should have reminded him , that the company was founded on tho principle of unlimited liability , and that each proprietor was consequently liable to his last acre und his last shilling . Tho chairman said that the directors wore able to certify that all tho accounts were now perfectly correct ; but . as the same assurance has been annually given for the last twenty able to
r ^ HB fraud mignow bo JL consigned to oblivion , if it were not desirable to notice one of the most remarkable instances of successful embezzlement ^ on record . We use tho term successful , as all Pullinger ' s accomplices have been allowed to escape unscathed , and consequently the same individual ** may now be plotting some fresh conspiracy , in tho hope that by the offering 1 up of some second Pullinger as a sacrifice , they may add to the ill-gotten gains Avhich they have already appropriated . It is wholly unnecessary to refer to tho
details of proceedings which have already engrossed so large a portionofpublic attjention $ —but it-may- be -advisabla to . enquire whether any additional security has been torovided against another fraud of a similar description . It is greatly to bo feared that no additional precautions have been adopted , which are tho least likely to pi'dve effectual , if' a dishonest directorate should over bo entrusted with tho management of tho book . Pullinger ' s accomplices have not been exposed , although it is . scarcely possible to believe that they still remain undiscovered . Most persons are fully aware that ' in former times , when tho , robberies of bankers ' parcels of notes wore discovered , it was found impracticable to offer a reward for the discovery of tho stoUn . property ; accordingly tho felony wan compounded by advertipingr that the bnnlc notes had
years , it would have been more satisfactory to have been append a certificate of accuracy by some independent person . i ><> doubt the directors are anxious to avoid the indignation which might result from a full exposure of all tho foots of the wise ; but Jbhe public wilLnot suffer ^ matter * to rest n « they are , witli the ^ aTOt ^ oFMe " * WSt ^ T&nTc" ^ r " Bi 5 oflaiTd' beforo—theni . A bill in ohuncery wan filed 6 u the 14 th instant , by MeHsrH . Davidson , Bradbury , und Hnrdwick , acting on bohnlfp ot tni ' shareholders , against the Union Bank of London , to restrain them paying dividend out of capital , and to ascertain tho liability ol the directors to make good the dofulcationw occasioned by trio frauds of PulUngor , and there w now every prospect of a lua explanation , however desirous tho directors may be ot » tiu proHorving silence .
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6 fO The Saturday Aiidlyst and Leader . . [ July 21 , i 860 :
Successful. Embezzlement. Union Bank Of London Ht
on the Union Bank of London ht SUCCESSFUL EMBEZZLEMENT .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1860, page 670, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2357/page/6/
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