Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

ENGLISH NEWS.

We have received from England papers to the 30th of October. Some of the papers say that the Queen's accouchment was daily, and others hourly, expected. At all events, the important arrival must be near, for " Sir R. Peel's horses were kept harnessed day and night " to avoid delay on the arrival of information of the indisposition of het Majesty. Much excitement has been caused by the discovery of a fraudulent issue of Exchequer bills, to the amount of from £ 150,000 to £ 300,000. Mr. Beaumont Smith was the chief clerk for issuing and making out Exchequer bills. He got into pecuniary difficulties, and, in order to relieve himself, had applied to .some of those scamps who live upon the unfortunate by discounting bills at an enormous rate of interest. Once in their clutches, he appears to have been led on by a fear arising from their acquaintance with his delinquencies, until his frauds had amounted to the enormous sum above stated. " The system of Mr. Smith has been to use his forged bills through agents in the City, by whose instrumentality they nave been deposited as securities. The fact that Exchequer bills are called in, that the interest may be paid upon them, only in the months of March and June, has enabled Mr. Smith to take up the bills of March, deposited by one party, by supplies raised by another party, by bills dated in the previous June, and thus the year they have had to run has not expired until three months after the period at which he had employed them to conceal his criminality. These latter bills were in their turn taken care of by the proceeds of others, dated in March, and thus he has for a series of years been enabled to carry on, without detection, hiß system of forgery." Mr. Smith has made a full confession, and other parties are said to be under surveillance. The London papers are full' of reprehension of the authorities who .intrusted so much responsibility to a clerk, whose salary was only £600 a year. It appears that a disappointment in an expected rise of salary to £ 700 was the original v cause of Mr. Smith's attempt to fill a gap in the small income which he had already forestalled by dishonest means. The bad management, too, which could allow of so long continuance of robbery to such an enormous extent undiscovered, is the subject of no little animadversion. Of course much interest is excited as to what Government intend doing as. regards innocent holders of the bills./ It appears that a section of them thuß issued may. come under the head of forgery ; others, merely under that of fraudulent issue ; but all is as yet uncertain on this subject, as well as the intentions of the Government. The corn laws have not ceased to give occasion to agitation, as is usual, during the recess. The bad quality of the majority of the wheat of .the last harvest appears to be universally al- '" lowed ; and. to that cause it is attributed that the price had not risen higher than it had. The average of the last six weeks which determined the duty was 625. 10d., and the duty on foreign corn was 245. *Bd. per quarter. The question of supremacy between the law and ths clergy of the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland is still open, and there appears to be some anxiety to know how v the present Ministry will fill a vacancy in the second collegiate charge in the parish church of Elgin, as the manner of doing so will be taken as an index to their views' on thia question, the settlement of which will form one of the many measures to be brought forward on the meeting of Parliament. Robert Brakenly, the murderer of Mrs. Bindon, in Eastcheap, has been found guilty. Mr. Phillips, who appeared for the prisoner, tried to set up a plea of insanity, which failed. . This * murder was exciting much interest just at the time we left England.

The Bude light is to be introduced into the streets of London instead of gas, at least in large open spaces. There isaueady one arranged at the middle of the crossing in Pallmall.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18420326.2.13

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, 26 March 1842, Page 12

Word count
Tapeke kupu
711

ENGLISH NEWS. Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, 26 March 1842, Page 12

ENGLISH NEWS. Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, 26 March 1842, Page 12

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert