JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES.

[The following Speeches are reprinted as a record of the impression made by the late mania for Joint-Stock Companies.].

House of Commons, November 21, 1826.

MR. ALDERMAN WAITHMAN said, that the spirit of gambling and speculation which prevailed during the last year, had filled the Gazette with more bankruptcies than any other cause. The bubbles in 1720 had often been referred to as forming a parallel to those which had recently exploded; but he contended that the parallel was by no means a just one, as there had been a loss upon one scheme alone in the last year, which was more than equal to all the losses put together upon all the schemes which were devised in 1720. No measures, however, had been taken at present, to punish the fraudulent projectors of these ruinous schemes. In the year 1720, a proclamation was issued by the crown, and subsequently a bill was passed by Parliament, for the punishment of those who had offended, and for the prevention of such offences in future. In the address agreed to on that occasion, the house expressly pledged itself to apply its most strenuous efforts, with firmness and resolution, to discover and redress those manifold grievances. A vote was then passed by that house, declaring that it would not only inquire into those great public nuisances, but also that it would devise proper means for the due punishment of their authors and abettors. He said this, because he thought the house ought, in the present instance, to feel it to be a duty imperatively imposed on it to institute a similar inquiry; and if such an inquiry were directed, he believed that he could produce such evidence of the enormity of many of these speculations, of the ill effects which had flowed from them throughout the country, of the gambling, the loss, and the ruin, to which they had given rise, as would induce the house to take some decisive steps with respect to those who had projected and supported them. This, he was sure, he would be enabled to do, if the house thought proper to investigate the subject. He was VOL. XXVII. NO. LIII.

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sorry to say, that in touching on this question he felt a great deal of difficulty. And why? Because the names of many honorable members of that house-the names of several gentlemen who had been long esteemed and respected-were mixed up with some of those transactions. But, however blameable they might be for want of foresight, however blameable they might be for rashly lending their names to such speculations, he hoped they would be enabled to get rid of any charge connected with fraud and trickery by which some of these schemes were characterised. And here he felt it right to declare, with respect to one individual, an hon. member of that house (Mr. Brogden), that if it were proposed again to place him in the situation which he had recently held, he, for one, would call on him for a full and satisfactory explanation of his conduct with respect to some of the transactions to which he had alluded, before he would give that hon. gentleman his vote for again performing the duties of that situation.

Mr. BROGDEN immediately rose, but, from the buz which pervaded the house, his earliest observations were not perfectly audible in the gallery. As the hon. alderman had so pointedly alluded to him, he felt it necessary to say, he had unfortunately become connected with some of those speculations to which the hon. alderman had referred-speculations which, he conceived, had grown out of the excessive circulation of the country, and the low rate of interest. Some of these, he believed, were of a beneficial nature, and some, he thought, were connected with circumstances of a nefarious description. With one of the latter kind, (we presume the Arigna Mining Company), he was undoubtedly connectedbut it should not be forgotten that he was not the projector of that plan. He was induced to join it by the representations of one in whose integrity he placed the highest confidence. This fact he was prepared to prove. When complaints were made as to certain proceedings of the company, he, as one of the directors, consulted with the rest as to the course to be pursued. The consequence was, that a committee was immediately appointed-a committee of active and intelligent persons, who well understood the questions that were to be resolved-for the purpose of investigating all the facts. The points brought forward were examined most strictly, and the result was, that he (Mr. Brogden) received from that committee the most positive testimony of his innocence. The proceedings of that committee were laid before a general meeting; and by that general meeting the report of the committee was unanimously confirmed. There was, subsequently, another meeting called, for the purpose of removing those directors who appeared to have been concerned in the objectionable part of this transaction; and the result of that meeting was, to confirm,

almost unanimously, the former proceedings with respect to him. He said almost unanimously, because some few individuals opposed a resolution which exculpated him, while it inculpated those who held up their hands against it. The obnoxious directors were removed accordingly, there being a minority of only seven persons against the general resolution to which he had referred. It was afterwards found that there was some irregularity in this proceeding, which, it was supposed, might occasion it to be set aside; and another general meeting was therefore convened. At that meeting, he (Mr. Brogden) was the object of much, and he must say, of undeserved obloquy; but still the result of this last meeting was, to give full effect to the former resolution. The directors whose conduct was impugned were rejected-others were appointed in their room; and he (Mr. Brogden) was placed in the chair of that company. The proceedings had given him so much disgust, had so harassed his mind, and wounded his feelings, that it was much against his will that he undertook the situation. He did so, however, in justice to his own character, because he wished to prove to the world that he possessed that confidence which ever belonged to innocence. With respect to the company itself, he must say that it was not a bugbear. He never viewed it as such. There was a rage at the time for companies, and undoubtedly he might have experienced something of the prevalent feeling. He had been engaged in several of those companies; and, he would say, that with one or two exceptions (that of the Strand-bridge, for instance), they had all been beneficial, not only to the public, but to the proprietors. With respect to the Strand bridge, it should be observed, that he was not an original projector of that speculation. He came into it several years after it was instituted, and any loss connected with it was in no degree attributable to him. He spoke warmly on this subject, because he could not but feeland it would be ridiculous in him if he pretended not to be aware of the fact that on the first day of the session, a plain allusion was made to him by a gallant officer (Sir Joseph Yorke). He regretted the way in which that honorable and gallant officer, while remarking on the compliments which had been paid to the Speaker, had thought proper to allude to him (Mr. Brogden). That hon. and gallant member had been, as well as himself, a member of that house for many years, and from the intercourse of civility which had taken place between them, he was rather unprepared for such an observation. He (Mr. Brogden) was not hypocritical enough to say that he joined the speculations that had been referred to without indulging any hope of deriving benefit from them; but he could most sincerely declare that he never was influenced by any base or improper feeling. He had belonged to the

West India Dock Company, and to many other companies of wealth and importance; and he must say, that it was only in these latter days that such speculations were discountenanced that such sweeping odium was thrown on joint-stock companies. He called on the house to mark the advantages which the country had derived from such associations. He would argue, with confidence, that the empire had been much benefited by them. Let them look to the East India Company, let them look to the Bank, let them look to their numerous bridges and canals, and then decide on this point. All these were joint-stock companies, and were most beneficial to the country. He admitted that a great many most absurd and nefarious schemes had recently been set on foot; but he denied that those to which he belonged were visionary. He had been charged with having connexion with a great number of companies; but some of them-the Russia Company, for instance-had existed since the time of Queen Mary. When he was elected a chairman in that house, he was a young man, and he felt that the distinction was a proud one. Now, when his conduct was impugned, when his character was at stake, he felt it due to himself not to shrink from, but to court investigation; and he must say, when he found it reported that the worthy alderman had elsewhere accused him with having improperly possessed himself of thousands of pounds, that it was a direct and positive falsehood. (Cries of order.)

Mr. Alderman WAITHMAN said it was impossible for him to sit silently under such personalities.

The SPEAKER dared to say that the offensive words were not intended, but had escaped from the Hon. Member in the heat of discussion.

Mr. BROGDEN begged pardon of the right hon. Speaker and of the house, if he had inadvertently been guilty of any breach of order. But he must say, that he saw it reported in a public newspaper, as part of the speech of the hon. alderman, that he (Mr. Brogden) had pocketed thousands of pounds, without any inquiry or investigation. He did not impute this observation to the hon. alderman. It might have been an exaggeration; but as he had seen the statement, he thought that he was bound to repel it. The greatest prejudices had been excited against him through the medium of the public papers; and therefore, he called for full, but calm and deliberate inquiry. He begged pardon of the house if he had said any thing improper, but his feelings had been so harassed during the past year, so many malicious statements had been sent abroad, that, as an innocent man, he could not avoid calling for justice loudly and warmly. (Here Mr. Brogden, who appeared to be much agitated, paused for a moment.) 9. diograŃ

Mr. Alderman WAITHMAN rose, but

Mr, BROGDEN requested leave to proceed. After the animadversion of the hon. alderman with respect to him, he felt that he was called on to trespass a little longer on the attention of the house, and he thanked them for their kindness in suffering him to proceed. He begged again to draw their attention to the circumstances connected with the Arigna Company, because they were infinitely important to his justification. At the time when certain proceedings of the directors attracted the notice of the proprietors, a committee was, as he had said before, appointed for the purpose of investigation. That intelligent committee met, and they proceeded, as they were instructed, to inquire into the whole of the transactions of the society. The report which was made by them on his conduct, he would take the liberty of reading, in opposition to the calumnies that had been sent forth-that report, it should be recollected, being agreed to by the most competent tribunal that could be selected for the examination of his conduct. He conceived it was the most competent tribunal, because it was composed of persons, who were thoroughly conversant with all the affairs of the company. Their report was most conclusive in his favor: it was subsequently adopted by the proprietors at large; and the same persons, after the real delinquents were removed, and new directors appointed, called on him to fill the office of chairman. He thanked the worthy alderman for having given. him an opportunity to make this statement; and he would take the liberty of reading the report, to which he had alluded, for the information of the house. There were, even now, proceedings in Chancery with respect to this company; and the very first notice he received of them was through the solicitor, who stated, that though he (Mr. Brogden) was included in them, yet he was not at all included in the imputed guilt. He would now read the report of the committee, which was afterwards adopted by the proprietors. [Mr. Brogden here read a report from the committee of the Arigna Coal and Iron Company, No. 11, Throgmorton Street, Feb. 2, 1826, in which they state that Mr. Brogden has "throughout the whole of these proceedings acted with strict honor and integrity."] In addition to that exculpatory document, he had the consolatory testimony of the chairman of that committee, that, up to the month of July, he (Mr. Brogden) never was cognizant of the proceedings of the accused parties. The very day notice was received of those proceedings he did all in his power to convene a meeting of the proprietors, to consider of the conduct of those parties that those who were really innocent might be distinguished from those who might be found guilty. Of his own integrity and innocence he was conscious; and up to the time