Cent. stock has fallen to a heavy discount, are naturally indignant; and this feeling seems to have been increased, by an impression that the Bank of Bengal has been a leading instrument in each of the movements. That establishment is said, for instance, to have advanced heavy sums on Government securities, with a small margin, when an inflation of the money market was essential for the practicability of the conversion; and subsequently, on the very eve of the announcement of the new loan, to have resorted to measures of such stringency as to have created a general panic. The professed object of the Government, in their unexpected and ill-timed demand upon the market, is, to carry out public works; but it is suggested that a step so unpopular, if not reprehensible, would never have been resorted to on that ground, and that the real reason has been a desire to fortify the treasury for such contingencies as may be entailed by the existing war. It is to be added, that a further strong complaint is urged by the Calcutta merchants, to the effect that even the immediate announcement of the measure was attended by circumstances of an unworthy character. "The Government opium sale," it is remarked, "took place on Friday without a suspicion of the intended loan being allowed to transpire, but the moment the sale was over, the already-prepared advertisement was put into print, and appeared on the Saturday morning." It was, of course, quite open to the Government to pursue a course of this kind; but the public, in the long run, generally prove more acute than officials, and, after having once been taken by surprise, are likely to contrive for the future to exact a heavy penalty. In the midst of the prevailing derangement, it is satisfactory to find there is no mercantile distrust. On that point, the following occurs in a private letter:

"The re-appearance of Government as borrowers has, of course, complicated our position here, so that it is impossible to see when the existing pressure may be removed; but, as far as trade is concerned, we believe it to be sound, and that the amount of the Government acceptances falling due next month would be ample to put the Bank of Bengal into a perfectly easy position again, and to supply the whole wants for business purposes. We, too, have not any anticipation of failures, and believe that, unless Government come forward with some further prejudicial measure, the crisis will be weathered without disasters."

In relation to the motives for the loan, the Calcutta Overland Price Current makes the subjoined statement :—

"We feel convinced that some pressing emergency has called forth this distasteful act of the Government; and, looking round for a cause, we think the present state of Europe, as developed within the last mail or two, affords good reason to believe that the ministry, wishing to provide against all contingencies, have desired this Government to make itself quickly as strong in that vital point, its treasury, as it can do, without letting the precise object become known; and hence the reason assigned a loan for public works,' which, of course, would be supposed to take well with the public. But, if there be any truth in this surmise of ours, we conceive that no such step would be taken for

a paltry 2 crores of rupees. If war is to reach to our boundaries, or to make calls upon our resources, it will be for no trifle like this; and when the allotted sum is filled up (as doubtless it will be shortly), another and yet another 5 per cent., or even, perhaps, a 6 per cent. loan, may follow upon its heels. Gloomy as this prospect is for the country, we confess we would rather find it to be true, than be obliged to believe in that want of veracity and good faith on the part of Government which otherwise it seems to be open to the charge of."

PROGRESS OF PORT PHILLIP SAVINGS BANKS.

FROM the accounts of the savings banks of the colony for the twelve months ending 30th June, 1854, we gather the following information :-The gross amount of money received and credited by the commissioners during that period, including interest, was-in Melbourne, £4,115 5s. 7d.; in Geelong, £2,989 5s. 9d.; in Portland, £565 4s.; in Belfast, £213 13s. 11d. The sums paid during the same period were-Melbourne, £7,926 10s. 7d.; Geelong, £514 11s.; Portland, £20 1s.; and Belfast, £362 16s. 7d. From the balance-sheet, it appears that the following sums were lying to the credit of the different trustees, viz. :-Melbourne, £166,123 16s. 10d.; Geelong, £9,839 5s. 9d.; Portland, £884 14s. 8d.; Belfast, £1,157 2s. Id.; making a total of £178,004 19s. 4d. The gross profit during the year was £9,066 15s. 2d.; from which £3,461 9s. 6d. have to be deducted for charges, as follows:-Premiums and exchanges, £638 19s. 3d.; charges of commissioners' department, £1,134 2s. 1d.; charges of Melbourne banks, £1,321 6s.; of Geelong ditto, £249 15s. 6d. ; of Portland ditto, £40 4s. 8d.; of Belfast ditto, £77 2s.; leaving a net profit of £5,605 6s. 8d.

From this, allowances for interest to depositors have been made in the following manner :-To Melbourne, £3,556 7s. 11d.; to Geelong, £247 8s.; to Portland, £23 15s. 4d.; to Belfast, £34 1s. 3d.; and the balance, £1,743 14s., had been carried to the Rest Fund, which had previously reached £3,168 8s. 4d. The cost of managing the Melbourne bank is also 37 per cent. of the amount allowed to depositors. Of the funds of the bank, £78,850 are lent on 64 mortgages; £73,300 are lent on New South Wales Land and Immigration Debentures; £20,000 on Melbourne Corporation Bonds; and £8,769 7s., balances in banks. On the 1st July, there were 633 depositors whose balances did not exceed £20, their deposits amounting to £5,264 14s. 11d.; 688 ditto above £20, and not exceeding £50, amounting to £22,269 15s. 7d.; 499 above £50, and not over £100, amounting to £34,291 10s. 10d.; 313 above £100, and not exceeding £150, amounting to £36,344 2s. 1d.; 122 above £150, and not exceeding £200, amounting to £20,691 7s. 8d.; and 162 above £200, amounting to £45,534 15s. 11d.

In the Melbourne Bank, the depositors' balances on the 30th June, 1853, amounted to £132,891 1s. 10d., and the deposits during the succeeding twelve months amounted to £178,003 8s. 6d.; whilst the repayments to depositors during that period was £147,619 10s. 3d., showing, in the twelve months, an excess of deposits over repayments, of £30,383 18s. 3d. On the 1st July, 1854, as compared with the same date of the preceding year, there was in Melbourne an increase of 170 in the number of depositors, and of £33,940 6s. 2d. in the amount of deposits; in Geelong, an increase of 11 depositors, and of £3,269 4s. in amount of deposits; in Portland, an

increase of 28 depositors, and of £249 13s. 8d. in amount of deposits; and in Belfast, an increase of 3 depositors, and with a decrease of £93 13s. 9d. in amount of deposits; showing a total increase of depositors of 212, and in amount of deposits of £37,365 10s. ld.

FORGERY UPON THE CARLISLE AND CUMBERLAND BANK.

A FORGERY of a serious and somewhat daring character has recently been committed upon the Carlisle and Cumberland Bank, which has resulted in the capture of the forger, and his committal to take his trial at the next assizes. The prisoner, Edward Stewart Wilson, was, for some years previous to 1847, clerk to Mr. G. G. Mounsey, solicitor, of Carlisle, and since that period he does not seem to have had any regular employment, but with the assistance of his friends has been enabled to assume an appearance of respectability. On the 5th February, Mr. Ward, the manager of the bank, received by post a letter dated Carlisle, February 3rd, signed "Thomas Sanderson," stating that, on arriving in Carlisle that afternoon, he was too late to get the enclosed cheque cashed, and requesting, as he was compelled to leave by the next train, in order to be in time for his clerical duties the following day, to have an order forwarded on the London agents of the bank, payable at sight, addressed to him at Langford Vicarage, near Lancaster. The cheque, which was for £538 12s. 8d., was drawn in favour of the Rev. Thomas Sanderson, and purported to be signed by Messrs. T. H. and C. B. Hodgson, who are solicitors in the city, and keep an account at the bank.

Below the cheque was a letter, purporting to be written by the Messrs. Hodgson, and addressed to the Rev. Thomas Sanderson, referring to some recent business transactions, and stating that the cheque was forwarded in payment of the balance due to him for property sold. The paper on which the letter and cheque were written had been damped, so as to give it the appearance of having passed through the copying press in the ordinary way of business. Mr. Ward forthwith drew a bill at sight on Messrs. Hankeys, the London agents, for the amount of the cheque, and forwarded it, as directed, to "the Rev. Thomas Sanderson, Langford Vicarage, near Lancaster." In the ordinary course, the draft was returned by Messrs. Hankeys to the Carlisle and Cumberland Bank. It was indorsed in handwriting similar to that of the two letters received by Mr. Ward, so the matter rested until the 21st of April, when Messrs. Hodgson, on looking at the entries in the pass-book, this item was perceived, and as no such cheque had been drawn in their office, it was at once pronounced a forgery, and steps were taken to obtain some clue to the forger. The postmaster at Lancaster was applied to, in order to ascertain by whom the letter addressed to the Rev. Thomas Sanderson was received. He replied, that he had received a note from the Rev. Thomas Sanderson, dated "Carlisle, February 3" (the day on which the cheque was sent to the bank), stating that a letter would arrive at Lancaster addressed to him, and requesting that it might be returned to him at the post-office, Carlisle. He had accordingly sent the letter back to Carlisle, immediately after its arrival on the Monday evening. Inquiry at the post-office at Carlisle showed that the letter had been received there, and that it had been called for on the Tuesday morning, After the detection of the fraud, suspicion at once rested on the prisoner. It was ascertained that on Monday, the 5th of February, he had been induced to make an engagement for the following evening, but on Tuesday

morning he stated that he would not be able to adhere to it, as he had received a communication which would render it necessary for him at once to go up to London, and he accordingly went off to London that day. On the morning of Wednesday, the 7th, the draft on Hankeys for £538 5s. 8d. was cashed at that establishment, and was indorsed Received, Thomas Sanderson." It was paid in one Bank of England note of £500, five £5 Bank of England notes, and the remainder in goid. Within an hour or two the large note was presented at the Bank of England, and paid, all in gold, and was indorsed Thomas Sanderson, Langford Vicarage, Lancaster, and Elder's Hotel, Adelphi." Four of the smaller notes were some time afterwards paid into the Bank of England, and were traced to have been in the possession of the prisoner, who paid them to Mr. Luxmore, a pawnbroker, for some gold watches, which were found in his possession, and which he had previously pawned. It also appeared that soon after the draft was cashed the prisoner was in possession of a sum of gold, amounting to nearly as much as the amount of the draft, and that subsequently he called at Messrs. Prescott, Grote, and Co.'s, and paid about £450 to his credit with the bank of Mona, Douglas, Isle of Man. A short time ago the prisoner purchased a house at Douglas for £150, and had been residing there for a fortnight. Previous to his being taken into custody, the prisoner was a young man of apparently devout habits. He recently seceded from the Church of England, and presented to the Roman Catholic church at Warwick, which he attended for some time, a stained glass window, with the inscription, "Pray for the soul of Edward Wilson." He attended the cathedral on Easter Sunday, and took the sacrament!

TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

THE monthly returns of the board of trade were issued on the 1st of May, but as there is a departure from the usual period to which they are dated they do not afford the ordinary means of comparison. Hitherto the returns have been to the 5th of each month, and, if there had been no change of practice, those now published would have reached to the 5th of April. But, in pursuance of a recent act, all such documents are henceforth to be made up to the last day of the calendar months instead of the financial months, as heretofore, and the present accounts consequently reached only to the 31st of March. They thus include but 22 working days instead of 27, as in the past years, and therefore, as contrasted with those for the month ending 5th of April, 1854, are five days short. Hence the various totals present an undue diminution, and the declared value of exports appears to be only £7,311,305 against £10,042,754 in the corresponding month of 1854, whereas, by allowing for five days extra, the amount would be raised to about £9,000,000, showing an actual falling off of not more than £1,000,000, a result much less unsatisfactory than in the preceding month, when it was £2,470,496. Metals seem to have experienced the greatest decline, owing to the diminished demand for iron for railway works in the United States and elsewhere. Woollen, cotton, linen, and silk manufactures have likewise been much depressed, as well as haberdashery, hardware, and saddlery, the re-action in the Australian markets being

especially felt in the three latter branches of production. Annexed are the figures for the month ending the 5th of April, 1854, and for the month in part from the 6th to the 31st of March, 1855:

DECLARED VALUE OF EXPORTATIONS.

--

THE position of credit, so far as the metropolis is concerned, continues satisfactory. No failure of importance has occurred in London since the appearance of the last number of the Bankers' Magazine. Those which have taken place are wholly associated with the provinces, where the excess of late speculation continues to produce unfavourable results. Taking them in the aggregate, however, they do not represent an important amount, the iron trade having, to all appearance, suffered principally from the lapse of the accomodation system, which has temporarily been exhausted from the extent to which it was previously carried. The following is a list of the leading firms which have been prejudicially affected :—