position of a bank, the accounts had been criminally withheld from any director by his co-directors, or otherwise, that would be a different matter. A third point, upon which alteration is apparently needed, is the existing meagre power which a judge holds to punish such offences. Whatever the magnitude of the misery caused by their misdeeds, the utmost term of imprisonment which it was in the power of the judge to award any of these City of Glasgow directors was two years, a limit which, we should think, might be considerably extended; and it has been urged with much force of argument that Potter and Stronach should certainly have received the full penalty which the law allowed. It was proved beyond dispute that they had full knowledge of, and had in fact arranged, the falsification of the accounts, they were cognisant of the fictitious returns to Government, and nothing which could be urged ought to have been allowed to lighten their guilt in the eyes of the public. But so much was said about methods of book-keeping, their good intentions, and their respectability, that these unquestionably criminal acts were in danger of falling into the background. No plea of a wish to retrieve a lost position by throwing fresh money into the whirlpool which had already swallowed up the old could by any possibility excuse a false return of the notes in circulation, a false return of the money in the bank's vaults, an entire mis-statement of the amount of the bank's acceptances, or of its securities held, and we believe it had no weight with this Edinburgh jury. But it is quite conceivable that weight may have been attached to it in passing sentence. Finally, we have seen it urged, and with reason, that if directors append their names to falsified accounts and lying reports, this should be taken as primâ facie evidence of their guilt, and that theirs should be the onus of proving themselves innocent. Happily we know, and the public have within the past two months been informed on every side, that the great mass of bank directors deal with the vast trust placed in their hands with the utmost care and rectitude. We have already had occasion to refer to this subject and need not further dwell upon it now. But it is to their as well as the public advantage, that their position, their duties, and their liabilities as directors should be clearly defined; and, above all, that neglect of his duties by any bank director should be equivalent to forfeiting his position. STATISTICS OF FAILURES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM DURING THE YEARS 1877 AND 1878. BY RICHARD SEYD, F.S.S. THE number of failures officially announced during the year 1878 has been 15,059, of which 2,643 are in the financial, wholesale and manufacturing branches of trade, and 12,416 in retail trades, professional pursuits, builders (see also contractors in wholesale list) publicans, among the working classes, &c., &c., (to this may be added at least 8 per cent. of private settlements,) the numbers for the year 1877 having been 2,172 and 8,850 under the respective headings alluded to, together 11,022. The failures in the wholesale trades were distributed as follows: The number of official failures in each month was as follows: 15,059 The various branches of commerce show the following proportion of failures : Agents, commission, yarn, &c. Bankers, joint stock banks and foreign bankers Boots and shoes.. Jewellers 29 29 12 10 Manufacturers and mer 135 and 5 7 chants of woollens, 153 worsted, elastic, silks, 75 92 20 63 Sugar refiners .... 18 1434 Tea, coffee and groceries Warehousemen & importers 64 33 Wine .. Woolstaplers & merchants Woollen and cotton wastes * 1 private banker, City, and 1 small joint stock bank in the West End, London; 1 foreign banker, Liverpool; 1 private banker, Rochdale; 1 private banker, Loughborough; 1 joint stock bank in Bristol; 2 joint stock banks in Scotland. Joint stock companies wound up voluntarily or by order of the Master of the Rolls: Of joint stock companies wound up during the year 1878 there have been 449, of which 365 were wound up voluntarily, and 84 by order of the Master of the Rolls. The Table annexed gives an Analysis of Failures in the different branches of the wholesale commerce and manufactures of the United Kingdom in 1878. VOL. XXXIX. 14 |