On this page

• Departments (2)
  • 
  • 
• Text (8)

  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.

  • 

    ¦NTo. 442. September 11, 1858.1 T H E X,...

  • 

    NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. No notice .ca...

  • 

    _ ^^y ^^yT ^ V XShIjC/"^ ¦ ^ffl- ¦ ¦ ¦ ^ V fif'^fi& °^ 09 Hy /%*/ ^--JXm^ JK C^ ^P J^ A' ? /'-n. j£(o \ ^ ^^ *^ ? ¦

  • 

    V _ ^ - \ ^_ y SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1...

  • 

    . '^PVtt It f 11* ^lfl' V |Ttt*r jrc/tlUlIt AvIHllt<4» • » ¦ ¦ ¦¦

  • 

    Tbere is nothing so revolutionary, becau...

  • 

    LORD PALMERSTON IN PARIS. The prolonged ...

  • 

    RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS. Tun recen...

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    ¦Nto. 442. September 11, 1858.1 T H E X,...

    ¦ NTo . 442 . September 11 , 1858 . 1 T H E X , E A P E IL 98 a

    Notices To Correspondents. No Notice .Ca...

    NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice . can be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee / of his good ¦ faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive Their insertion is often delayed , owing toa press of matter ; and when omitted , it is freaucnt ^ y fro m reasons quite independent of the merits of the commumca-We caiinot undertake to return rejected communications .

    _ ^^Y ^^Yt ^ V Xshijc/"^ ¦ ^Ffl- ¦ ¦ ¦ ^ V Fif'^Fi& °^ 09 Hy /%*/ ^--Jxm^ Jk C^ ^P J^ A' ? /'-N. J£(O \ ^ ^^ *^ ? ¦

    < 3 ifP ' ™ f

    V _ ^ - \ ^_ Y Saturday, September 11, 1...

    V _ ^ - \ ^_ y SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 11 , 1858 .

    . '^Pvtt It F 11* ^Lfl' V |Ttt*R Jrc/Tlulit Avihllt&Lt;4» • » ¦ ¦ ¦¦

    public iftuiM .

    Tbere Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Becau...

    Tbere is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed ' -when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dr . Aknold .

    Lord Palmerston In Paris. The Prolonged ...

    LORD PALMERSTON IN PARIS . The prolonged stay of Lord Paimerston in Paris lias given rise to aninfinity of conjectures . Among those whose opinions give the tone to what is called *' good society , " the visit of the ex-Premier of England is looked upon with vague emotions of misgiving , qualified only by the prevalent conviction that the Viscount ' s day of power , whether for good or ill , is past , and that , as a Minister , should he ever return to office , he will never be paramount again . Bonne socicile in France comprises many sects , differing from one another ¦ ¦ ¦ widely in points of

    political faith , and warring fiercely with one another wherever the hope of eventual supremacy is rekindled . But all these sects , whether Legitimists , Orleanists , Eusionists , or Republicans , concur in remembering with imassuaged resentment the active sympathy shown by Lord Palmerston in the success of the coup d ' etat . M . Walcwski , then ambassador in London , was then on terms of peculiar intimacy with his Lordship , and a very general impression prcvaiLed at the time in both countries that the venturous attempt of the 2 nd December , 1 S 51 , caused our then Foreign Secretary no surprise

    Before it was possible to be sure that popular resistance might not have been organised , and measures taken for a coUlrecoiq ) , Lord Pahnerston hastened to present his enthusiastic congratulations , and to give the warmest pledges of personal support . It was whispered audibly at the time that theso assurances having been semi-ofiicially given without the knowledge of the Court , or the assent of the other members of the Cabinet , no little dissatisfaction was expressed at what seemed to be so rash and prematures a step . But crc explanations could be demanded , Louis Napoleon ' s triumph was

    a fail accqmjilij and the munnur-crs , whether princely or . ministerial , wove sarcastically given to understand that had they been as well aware beforehand of what was in preparation by Lord Pahnerston ' s confidants of the Elysce , they would not have doubted the possibility of success . Outwitted and humiliated , there was nothing loft , but to acquiesce . The leaders of the Tory party woreprompt and loud in thoir admiration of tho skill and daring exhibited iu tho ooup d'etat . The Palaco trembled at tho triumphant restoration of tho Bonaparte dynasty ; and ; true to its instincts , hastened to propitiate the newly-born powor . Tho Whigs resolved to temporise . They confirmed officially all that their

    unooniitting colleague in tho Jforoigu Oillco had done ; mid within three weeks the grudgo of Court and Cabinet was gratified by his contumelious dismissal . Whatovor mystery might bo thrown over tho real oauses , either in Parliament or tho press , and however technically true might be tho oatcnaiblo nrovoon 1 * njnstWHP % ^ Yisopunt m his modo of communicating with Prinoo Albort , every one of ordinary information ' umloralooil the real history of the transaction . Lord Palmarston was ,. aud is still , rcgardod by tho partisuns of Henri V ., of the Oojtito do Paris , and of tho Hepublio , as an aooomplioo in tho resuscitation of tho . Umpire ; and to say tho truth , no pains havo been spared by his Lordship to maintain tho impression , in diplomacy aud iu tho press , there lias , during tho

    last seven years , been no want of proofs of personal accord between these distinguished friends . Schisms and estrangements there have been between each of them , and other potentialities . ; But to the claims of individual confidence , and of what may be called personal politics , both have continued true . A second occasion unexpectedly arose , when the strength of this attachment was put to the test ; a second time Lord Palmerston realised all that the French Emperor expected of him ; and a second time-lie was in consequence hurled from power .

    These things are too fresh to be forgotten , and people naturally ask what are the confederates about just now ? Paris is empty ; the sulo ? is are shut ; few of the celebrities of war or statesmanship are to be found lingering there' ; what is the veteran Minister doing in the French capital at such a time ? What means the unusual ¦ enipfesse ' mejit with which he is invariably received ? Why these repeated and protracted visits to St . Clouci , strangely contrasting , as they do , with those so brief and ceremonious paid at Osborne ? What does it all mean ? Far from seeking to allay the curiosity of observers , or to tranquilhse their conjectures of his having some definite purpose in view , the diplomatic

    Viscount takes especial care to see every one who calls on him , to talk with apparent frankness to every one he meets , and to volunteer now and then indications of his future policy on questions relative to French interests , or to those of the alliance . Nothing can be more conciliatory than his whole deportment ; and nothing better calculated to create the impression that he contemplates a return to power , and that at no distant day . The naivete with which he asks French ¦ politicians- why this and that has not been done by Lord Malmesbury , and the

    suggestive look of wonder , on being told that the present Foreign Secretary has pronounced it to be impossible , are \ said to be worthy of Talleyrand . ' If he stays long enough , he will make us all believe , " said a French politician the other day , " that not only is he worth a score of the Emperor s old boon companions in London , but that he is , after all , the best minister we could have in England . " We , of course , means the friends of the existing system : all others stand aloof and watch what this singular species of embracery will come to .

    At seventy-four it is doubtless hard to get up a belief in oneself ; and it would be incredible that any man of shrewdness and experience in the evanescent ways of political life should try , were not Lord Aberdeen still busily engaged as ever in muffled intrigues , and were not Lord Palmerston still playing the part of " the Coming Man , " to select audiences in Paris . When it was proposed some weeks ago

    that the members of the House of Commons ought to invite themselves to Cherbourg , and take for granted that his Imperial Majesty would be very glad to see them , Lord Palmerston , with the levity that lias always been intertwined with his oilier characteristics , said he would go , and Captain Gossefthad actually made arrangements for his accommodation . A few days afterwards his lordship sent word to say he had changed his mind , and that he would not go on "the parliamentary Inrk . " ! No reason was assigned , ana tho self-invited made the trip without the ex-Premier . Tho circumstance is thus accounted for . The unforgctting Emperor of the French did not choose to recognise or receive the " gentlemen below the gangway" who had so recently denounced him and Ins Conspiracy J 3 ill , and who , oddly enough , formed a considerable proportion of the CNpcdition . Ho wished , ' moreover , to have a better opportunity of private and confidential conference with his best ana ablest friend amongst British statesmen . An intimation , therefore , was conveyed from the occupant of St . Cloud to the tenant of Cambridge House , that if he would visit , France ni ' ter the Cherbourg festivities were over , his presonco would be regardoa as a gratifying mark of consideration and good-will . Tho liint suluced . Lord Palmers ! on suddenly discovered that urgent business required his personal attention on his estates in tho county of Sligo , and thither accordingly ho repaired till the smoke of the sinister fetes had rolled a \ va \ yanil the coast of Brittany was Clear . "' "

    Responsibilities Of Directors. Tun Recen...

    RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS . Tun recent decision in reference to I ho responsibility of directors has lost nouo of its interest . Viewed in its relation to , and hairing on national enterprise , its importance ) cannot be overrated . But , in proportion to its importance and possible ell ' eots , so ought tho principles and tlie law on which the

    verdict was arrived at be clear and definite . We are bound to confess , that the more we consider the dictum of the judge' who tried the case , and the verdict of the jury in connexion with the evidence the more difficult we find it to arrive at a satisfactory and conclusive opinion on the case . ~ N < 5 one , we apprehend , will be disposed to dispute the propriety of punishing fraudulent directors of jointstock undertakings ; no one will be disposed to question the expediency of making fraudulent directors suffer in . purse and person whenever fraud is undeniably established . But it is essential to the ends of justice , nay , it is indispensable to the prosperity of the country , that fraud should not be assumed , but that , as the preliminary step , a clear and unambiguous definition of what constitutes fraud on the part of a director should be laid down . :

    In the present excited state of public feeling muck folly , as well as positive injustice , is committed in respect to directors , who are held by the unreflecting to be responsible for matters over which they exercise no possible control , and of which they can . have no personal knowledge . At the present moment senseless attacks are made on every director of a public company ; indeed , to be a director , by one class of writers is held to be of itself a damaging' circumstance . But let us recollect for a moment that among the thousands of directors of public

    companies are to be found the names of the highest and most honourable in the land , many of whom have , from patriotic and unselfish motives , consented to associate ^ themselves in great undertakings calculated to enlarge the commerce of the country and to minister to the national prosperity and security of the empire . Let us recollect that the senseless outcry and clamour raised by a portion of the press is placing these parties in a false position before the public , and causing alarm to themselves and their families . We

    have said that joint-stock undertakings have ministered , aud are largely ministering , to the material prosperity of the country . Look , for instance , at railways , at the telegraph , at joint-stock banks , would they have ever been brought into practical and profitable operation but ' or associated capital , and for combined personal enterprise ? Recent disclosures mav have shown that hi some , nay , if you will , in most of these . undertakings , jobbing and fraud have found entrance . It seems to be a law of human nature that nothing merely human shall be pure and perfect-r-we must expect , therefore , to find , especially in great

    commercial combinations , that something not altogether squaring with abstract notions of honesty is discoverable ; but after all that can be urged against such undertakings , will any one be bold enough to deny that the balance of good vastly preponderates , or that the whole nation is not benefited by what joint-stock enterprise has achieved ? Take joint-stock banks : in spite of the delinquency of one or two concerns , the general body has shown itself to be sound and the management beyond suspicion . These bauks have proved of incalculable advantage to the extending commerce of the country , but it is not merely owing to the governing body of directors that so much public good has

    been attained . With most of the joint-stock banks , nvo believe , the main recommendation held out to the public is , tlint the directors have nevor interfered with or inspected the customers' acoounts ; indeed , several pass-books of largo banking establishments have this fact set forth conspicuously in them . The powers , therefore , of directors , a , ve limited , hud very properly so , when the circumstances of their position and duties are taken fairly into account . In many cases they must not bo re < - garded as in a more responsible condition than that hi which trustees of friendly societies arc regarded by the public It : is customary for such eocictiosto put forward great names as trustees , but the public are never deceived by this ; they know that the functions of trustees are limited . ' and thov would

    never dream of holding thorn responsible for tho business arrangements , still less for the continued solvcnoy of tlio concern . And in tho case of a , gruuW > UftJiy ^ joiaiU ' sLooli ^ -oonvpivuios , Uio-w ^ iuotion 3--of a director are not more cxtousivo than those of a trustee ; in common fairness , therefoiv , tho rosponsibiltics should not bo greater . Tho public arc too apt to throw on tho shoulder ' s of dirootors that responsibility which properly belongs to shareholders . , , Wo have already referred to ( he courso taken by soino portion of ( ho press on iln ; question ot thy new-born responsibilities of directors . Those journals arc Jiouiulinff on tho publio to an m-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1858, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11091858/page/15/