UNCLAIMED MONEY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3854, 23 November 1883, Page 4

UNCLAIMED MONEY.

It may have been a bold question, but evidently the gentleman avlio asked for " a list of the funds paid out of Chancery during the last 50 years" had but a faint idea of "the magnitude of the transactions of the Chancery' paymaster. AVithout entering into very minute details, one is fairly astonished to read of the dormant funds in Chancery. From the annual budget of the Paymaster-General it appears that the receipts for the year ending 31st_ August, 1880, added to the securities iioav in Court, made up a grand total of £05,501,187 Os ml. Though not generally knoAvn, it is perfectly true that very considerable sums of unclaimed money luiA'o from time to time thus accumulated, and in fact, the Royal Courts of Justice have been built almost entirely with the surplus interest of the suitors' money, large sums of Avhich havo been borrowed to enable the (Jh/m----cellor of the Exchequer to carry through his financial operations ; thus, in IBSI, MiGladstone borrowed no less than forty million pounds for National Debt purposes. It Avould appear by this that these unclaimed funds have been utilised to lighten the burden of taxation, it being impossible to divide the surplus interest among tbe suitors. By a return made to the House of Commons iv July, 1854, the total amount of suitors' stock then in Court amounted, to forty-six million pounds. Tbe folloAving year a list containing the titles of such accounts, but not stating the amounts, Avas printed and exhibited in tho Chancery offices Avith tho following satisfactory results, that many persons came forward and preferred their claims, and about one-half of the stock supposed to be unclaimed Avas transferred out of Court to successful claimants. At intervals, lists of these unclaimed funds are indeed published, but they arc said to lie lists AA'hich any man of business AA'ould bo ashamed of ; and until something more intelligible is published, many persons Avill continue to luive fanciful claims on these dormant funds. And if avc Avere to take the catalogue of spurious claimants, avo should, no doubt, find it a long one ; and perhaps it is not altogether to be wondered at, as they have randy any difficulty in finding people ready to believe, not only in the genuineness of their claims, but also to find the money to assist in substantiating them.—Chambers' Journal.