of the same, and at the same time that instructions be given that it be communicated to the liquidators, accompanied by a request to proceed with all despatch in obtaining an opinion of counsel on behalf of the whole body of the shareholders as to taking steps against the directors, and thereafter to take measures to render the claims of the shareholders sufficient. (Applause.) It was necessary for them to set the machinery in motion by which they hoped to be relieved eventually in some part of their distress. (Hear.) He happened to be one of an association which had been formed in Edinburgh, for the purpose of investigating into the affairs of the bank, and for some months they had been engaged in making inquiries. The investigation disclosed a system of gigantic falsehood he believed unparalleled in the history of banking, or indeed of any commercial business whatever. From the year 1853, it had now been proved that the bank had lost more than a fourth of its whole capital, besides its whole rest and reserve fund. From 1853 downwards the event had been going on increasing, till, as they knew, the year 1856, and especially 1857, when not only had the whole capital been lost, but it was involved in debt amounting to a million and a half of money. He mentioned these things without any vindictive feeling, for he had no desire to see the directors brought before the bar of a criminal court. Neither would he press hardly against them for civil liability, if he thought their errors had simply been errors of judgment. At the same time, when he thought of the many parties who, by this unfortunate concern, had been brought to the brink of ruin; how desolation had been carried into many happy homes; of the extreme poverty of those who had previously been able to afford every comfort, and how that many a grey hair would be brought in sorrow to the grave (cheers)-he could not doubt but that the law and justice of this land would afford a remedy. (Cheers.) From 1853 downwards he found from the published balance-sheets that bad debts, and debts due by discharged bankrupts on which composition had been paid, were set down as assets, together with interest said to be due on the same. He had found dividends paid out of capital for the last six years.

Mr. Blackburn seconded Mr. Sandford's motion, which was carried unanimously.

Captain W. Wellwood then moved, "That this meeting sanction the appointment of a law committee in Edinburgh to assist the liquidators. The motion was agreed to; and after some further discussion, in which Mr. Fleming and others took part, the meeting broke up.

THE PARTNERS IN THE BANK.

AN analysis of the recently published list of the partners of the Western Bank exhibits the following results :-The deputy-governor, the five extraordinary and the six ordinary directors, hold 2,133 shares, the largest holding being 350, and the smallest 45-the qualification for office being 30 shares. There are 63 partners of the bank having 100 shares and upwards; of these, 13 hold 200 to 300 shares, six hold 300 to 400, and two exceed 400 shares. The two highest shareholders are, a Manchester merchant, holding 490 shares (in addition to 60 held by trustees for himself and spouse), and a clergyman in Somersetshire, holding 415 shares. The rest of the larger shareholders are all in Scotland, and are thus distributed: 27 in Glasgow, 7 elsewhere in Lanarkshire, 12 in the city and county of Edinburgh, 4 in Ayrshire, 3 in Argyleshire, 3 in Renfrewshire, 2 in Stirlingshire, 1 trusteeship in Dumfrieshire, 1 proprietor in Perthshire, and 1 in

Fifeshire. Of the above 63 cases, 12 are holdings vested in trustees. In one family in Lanarkshire there are four partners, having 1,262 shares, and in the same family there are two trust estates possessing 632 shares. Taking the list as a whole, it appears that the disastrous consequences of the failure of this bank chiefly fall on Lanarkshire and other western counties of Scotland, and on the county of Edinburgh. The following is, as nearly as can be estimated, the local distribution of the shares-Argyleshire, 38 shareholders, with 1,061 shares; Ayrshire, 161 shareholders, with 1,881 shares (of which in the town of Ayr 47 proprietors, with 567 shares); Bute, &c., 46 shareholders, with 558 shares; Clackmannanshire, 25 shareholders, with 217 shares; Dumbartonshire, 36 partners, with 526 shares ; Dumfriesshire, 40 partners, with 768 shares; Edinburghshire, 263 partners, with 6,162 shares (of which in the city of Edinburgh there are 227 partners, with 5,514 shares); Fifeshire (with Kinross), 37 partners, with 419 shares; Forfarshire, 56 proprietors, holding 485 shares (of which in Dundee 26 partners, holding 275 shares); Lanarkshire, 384 proprietors, holding 11,315 shares (of which in the city of Glasgow 297 partners, with 8,178 shares); Perthshire, 36 proprietors, with 450 shares; Renfrewshire, 62 proprietors, with 1,363 shares (of which in the town of Greenock 22 partners, holding 567 shares, and in the town of Paisley, 21 proprietors, holding 268 shares); Stirlingshire, 33 shareholders, with 603 shares; in nine northern countries,-namely, Aberdeen, Kincardine, Elgin, Nairn, Inverness, Ross, Cromarty, Caithness, and Shetland-there are distributed 19 shareholders possessing 181 shares; and in eight southeastern and southern counties-namely, Berwick, Haddington, Linlithgow, Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, Kirkcudbright, and Wigtown-there are scattered 36 partners, having 362 shares. In England and Wales there are 31 proprietors, holding 1,283 shares, of which above two-thirds are represented by the two largest shareholders of the bank already alluded to. Of the 31 there are in London six shareholders, with 97 shares; in Manchester four shareholders, with 584 shares (including the case already referred to). The remaining cases are distributed in units over England, except in the case of the Isle of Man, where there are four holdings, comprising 36 shares. In Ireland there are seven holdings, consisting of 119 shares. In six cases the proprietors reside abroad, and their holding is only 72 shares. In the published list from which the above calculations are drawn, there are several cases where the amount of the holding is left blank; and there are cases representing about 300 shares in which the designation is too indefinite to enable their locality to be fixed. It appears that the shares held by the bank itself are 1,772 in number, besides 405 held for behoof of the Ayr Bank. In nearly 250 cases the shares are vested in trustees; the trust property representing from a fifth to a fourth part of the whole. One of the most distressing features of the list is the repeated occurrence of the names of whole families, six or eight members of the same family sometimes appearing in succession. Another is the very large number of female proprietors who have evidently enjoyed the investment as an annuity, and many of whom are now deprived of their all. In the city of Edinburgh, and in various watering-places, such as Rothesay, Helensburgh, Moffat, &c., large numbers of persons living in retirement appear in the list, and in many of these cases, as is well known, their whole means of livelihood have been cut off. It will be seen from the above that, on the supposition that all parties were able to meet the demand, the present call upon Lanarkshire alone amounts to £1,131,500, on Edinburghshire £616,200, the other counties following according to the proportions above indicated. VOL. XVIII. 62

The Messrs. Baird, of Gartsherrie, paid the full amount of their call on Tuesday, October 5th. The family hold among them 1,886 shares, and the sum paid, at £100 per share, amounted to £188,600.

THE FRENCH CUSTOMS.

THE French Custom-house have just published the complete statistics of the trade of France in 1857. The real value of the total imports of France in 1857, including the precious metals and the transit trade, was £107,560,000, and the real value of the exports, including the same, £105,560,000, making the total value of the imports and exports together £213,120,000. Of this amount, representing the total external trade of France, £153,200,000 is the value of the united imports and exports by sea, and £59,920,000 of the exchanges carried on by the land frontier. The total trade, which represented a value of £213,120,000 in 1837, was only £93,600,000 in 1847, showing an increase of £119,520,000, or 128 per cent. in a period of ten years. In estimating this prodigious increase, the enhanced value of all articles in 1857, and the large movements of the precious metals of 1857, of which there was no corresponding item in 1847, must be taken into account; as also that trade was exceptionally depressed in 1847 and very active during the first nine months of 1857. Yet, after making all these allowances, there still remains a real and positive augmentation, corresponding to a certain extent with that which has taken place in this country, and affording strong proof of the material progress France has made during the last few years. In 1857 the total value of the trade between France and Great Britain (imports and exports together) was £38,960,000; in 1847 it was only £10,480,000; showing an increase of £28,480,000, or 272 per cent. Although the same allowances must in this case be made as in estimating the general increase of the commerce of France, and perhaps to a greater extent, yet there is a very large actual advance; and it will be noticed that the trade between France and England has trebled, while the general trade of France has little more than doubled. It is to be remarked that Havre and Marseilles between them represent a value of £96,120,000 out of £153,200,000, or nearly two-thirds of the trade of France by sea. Next, although at a good distance below them, comes Boulogne, the principal point of the transit between France and England; and close to it is Bordeaux, the great centre of the wine trade. A good deal lower comes Nantes and Dunkirk, and these six ports concentrate 85 per cent. of the total maritime trade of France. The special trade of France, representing the imports for home consumption and the exports of French produce and manufactures, is very much less than the total trade, including the transit trade, to which all the foregoing figures have reference. It is especially in the transit trade that French commerce has increased in the last ten years, and this result is mainly, if not entirely, attributable to the influence exercised by the great lines

of railway from Paris to the Belgian, German, and Swiss frontiers, and from Lyons to the Swiss frontiers, which have more and more tended to make Havre, Marseilles, and Boulogne the ports of the central portions of Western Europe.

THE BANK OF FRANCE.

THE Moniteur publishes the following monthly debtor and creditor account of the Bank of France, made up to Thursday, October 14 :

Certified by the Governor of the Bank of France,

1,006,300 0 1,654,600 0

51,804,200 0 10,823,510 0 45,770,200 22,553,850 577,000 0 219,300 0

45,000,000 0 12,980,750 14

52,188,102 18

73,150 0

4,000,000 0

6,617,585 0

1,269,894 38

6,058,917 4

F. 1,215,458,509 34

DE GERMINY.

Although it was known that the above return would show a falling off in the bullion, its extent (£1,770,000) is greater than was anticipated. The drain is attributed chiefly to the demand for silver at Vienna in connection with the arrangements of the Austrian Bank; but it is thought to have been increased by purchases of foreign grain and the requirements of the vintage. The total of specie now held is £22,000,000. There has been an augmentation of £1,350,000 in the discounts, indicating a fair demand at the present minimum of 3 per cent. The note circulation has also increased £1,800,000. To the advances on rentes and shares there have been large additions, namely, £750,000 in the former case, and £290,000 in the latter. In the Treasury balances there is a reduction of £640,000.

TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

THE Board of Trade returns for the month of August were issued on the 23rd of September, and again show a considerable falling off as compared with the corresponding period of last year, although not to

an extent equal to most of the previous instances, the general depression in other articles having been greatly counteracted by active shipments of cotton goods to the East Indies and the Mediterranean. The reduction, therefore, is only £504,042. Among the items which show the greatest diminution, hardwares and haberdashery are again prominent, these productions being influenced chiefly by the state of the American and colonial trade. There is likewise a heavy falling off under the head of unenumerated articles, the amount of which usually furnishes a good test of the activity or otherwise of ordinary business. The subjoined table exhibits the exact increase or decrease in each description of export :

DECLARED VALUE OF EXPORTATIONS.