THE Hansard Publishing Union had New Issues hardly issued their prospectus before the shares rose to to 1 premium. This premium was subsequently reduced in consequence. of extensive operations, which in a newly born company was simply phenomenal and exceptional, if we exclude undertakings like the Ruby Mines, in which the Rothschilds bear a hand. Nor is the success which attends the floating of this company at its very inception a matter of surprise, when we consider that it is no new and untried venture in which the public are invited to join, but a mere amalgamation of existing and paying properties, of which it can be, and has been, mathematically demonstrated that while on the one hand the profits must continue and increase in each of the businesses constituting the union, on the other hand the expenses of carrying on each separately is enormously reduced by the amalgamation, and the power of extending profitable operatons which such a combination necessarily affords is obvious.

The reader of books, illustrated and otherwise, newspapers, magazines, &c., is hardly able to conceive the numberless hands through which they have to pass, and the multifarious middle-men profits that have to be reaped before they reach him. That a book or journal does not reach him straight from the author's hands, he knows in a vague sort of way, but he probably seldom gets much beyond a clear conception of the existence of the writer, and the particular bookseller or newsvendor from whom he purchases. The composing-room and its foreman, the machineroom and its foreman, the warehouse and its head man never occur to him. Then there is the stitcher and binder, until we finally reach the wholesale publisher with his elaborate organisation all over the kingdom, before the book, periodical, or other form of printed material comes to be sold by the retail bookseller or newsman. But if you remind the ordinary reader of these things, it is easy enough to convince him that, if you amalgamate several businesses of this class together, you get rid of the necessity and expense of what we might call departmental managers for each concern, of separate establishments, and numerous rentals, to say nothing of the enormous power of expansion which such a union affords in this complex commercial world of ours, moving, as it does, on wheels within wheels. This very briefly puts the matter popularly and intelligibly enough for untechnical readers to understand the importance and influence of the combination. When we come to enquire as to the particular firms that have entered into this union, which in profiting investors must be beneficial to the general public, we find names that have long been well and favourably known to the public. Messrs. Macrae, Curtice & Co. (Limited), old firms which a few years ago constituted themselves into a joint stock company, for the purpose of carrying out on a small scale the main principle of the Hansard Union, and already pay dividends of 8 per cent. on their two classes of shares; Messrs. Wyman & Sons, a firm that has been in existence for about a century; Messrs. Clement Smith & Co., the well-known chromo-lithographers; Messrs. Vanoni & Co., the old-established photo zincographers and lithographers; and last, though by no means least, Mr. Henry Vickers, the wholesale newspaper publisher, whose business has been established over fifty years, and represents an income of

over £50,000 per annum, mainly cash. The company has elected to derive its name from the contract entered into between the above named firm of Macrae, Curtice & Co., and Mr. Thomas Hansard, for the acquisition of the copyright in Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, by which they are enabled to carry out the contract with the Government for printing the Parliamentary debates under the same title. Messrs. Monkhouse, Goddard & Co., the eminent chartered accountants, report, after full investigation, that the profits of Macrae, Curtice & Company, Clement Smith & Co., Vanoni & Co., and Wyman & Sons, are alone more than sufficient to pay the dividend of 8 per cent. on the entire issue of £200,000 of preference shares of this company.

Business during last week was of an exciting and animating character so far as the general rise in British Rails was concerned; scarcely a stock or share which did not have its rise, and in some cases this rise was of an astonishing character. I have hitherto advocated the purchase of leading lines, knowing and believing that an advance all through was certain. I must confess, however, that the advance of the past few days has exceeded my anticipation. Nor do I think the progress in general trade warrants the enormous bull which has unchecked been running its upward career. The time has arrived when the judicious speculator will begin to clear out, and, where possible, pocket his differences. There need be no mincing the matter. The way in which many securities have been "jumped" has no warrant either in the surroundings of individual companies or in the requirements of the investing public. The way in which this dangerous suicidal spirit has been brought about is difficult to say. Many theories are propounded to account for it, but the reasonable explanation seems to be that certain syndicates or trusts lately formed have determined upon buying their Home securities with the capital placed at their command by their shareholders, and all of them at the same time running upon similar lines has led to the present unjustifiable "bull." The moment the old stagers in the Railway Market commence operations from their point of view, there will come as rapid, or a more rapid, fall than there has been an advance. It is on these grounds I advise all holders of open speculative accounts to close, in order to net profits whilst obtainable. Without exception, the prices of Railway securities are perilously high, and, in my opinion, cannot, under any circumstances, be maintained. companies are all very well when the area of their speculations is limited to healthy operations, guided by sound judgment, and with actual knowledge of the prospects of subject taken in hand for manipulation. But when the managers of these companies madly rush like the proverbial bull at the gatepost, without either rhyme or reason, and rush up a security to a ficticious value, then the day of reckoning must shortly follow such wild venturing. The operations of Saturday were but a replica of those of the preceding days, and stocks jumped not by fractions but whole numbers. London and North Westerns rose 23, from 181 to 1833, and closed very strong. Midlands opened at 1424, but closed at 143g. Great Easterns continued the bullish spirit by taking on an additional 1. Manchester and Sheffield responding to the general rise, made an advance of 1, and closed at 119. Even East London, the long despaired of of and generally despised, rose. In connection with this line, a certain firm of outside brokers are bulling it, and having made a pool of some few thousands, look like doing their clients a good turn, supposing always these said clients are wise enough to close whilst they see a profit. The reaction which is as inevitable and as certain as death, will very likely put this security points lower than the starting price of the present bull movement. Strangely enough Chathams do not seem to have benefited to the full extent of other rails, in the present proceedings, so I can only suppose the line of operations carried out by the present body of speculators is drawn at Chathams. It is true they have also alvanced, but the small amount of business done in

Trust

them leads me to suppose they are not intended to be included in present operations. Metroplitans, and Metropolitan Districts. are somewhat lower than previous quotations.

THE long expected rise in Yankee American Rails, rails has arrived at last, and judging by the persons engaged in rigging them, there is every likelihood of their continuing the present upward movement. Chicago and Milwaukee Preference have advanced 2, from 105 to 107. Illinois central, 1, from 113 to 114. Ohio and Mississipi, 1, from 21g to 22g, whilst these have been followed by a rise of in each of the following: Louisville, and Nashvills, Chicago, Northern Pacifics, Union Pacifics, Union Pacifics and Lake Shores. So far as the Pacific routes are concerned, I expect each of them to continue their upward movement. Philadelphia and Reading have not advanced with the others, but in spite of unexceptional authority to the contrary, I shall expect to see them make definite and decided progress between now and the next account. Indeed 1 think that with those who choose to operate in American Rails, this line is as good as any I can mention for an important advance. The account now being adjusted looks like being an exceptionally heavy one, both in British and American Rails, and whilst deprecating any further purchase for the rise, in the first case I am not at all sure that the latter have seen by any means their best prices.

The most noticeable features in this Foreign market have been in connection with NiRailways. trate Rails against which there has sprung up a decided spirit of antagonism during the past fortnight. A steady fall has to be chronicled, and the spirit of the movement seems as strong at the moment of writing as it was at the last settlement. As a consequence there will be a very heavy carrying over charge to be made on existing bargains, and those who determined upon cutting their losses will find their deficiency a substantial one. So far as the Nitrate Railway itself is concerned, the property is as good as ever it was, and believing as I do that these shares are now quoted at their absolutely lowest figure, I should much rather buy than sell. Nitrate Deferred are now selling at 21, 22, and the ordinary are readily to be obtained at a fraction under 24. I question whether the making up price of the last April account will not show any reduction on this figure, but rather that an increase will follow. Mexican Rails have been extensively dealt in, and seem good for a further rise, though traffic receipts have not quite answered expectations. The latest quotations show a slight fall, but this is only a temporary movement brought about more from want of actual demand than anything else.

South Africans have relapsed considerThe Mining ably since my last, and the "bear" now Market. running is evidently a strong one. The ultimate result, however, will be that most of these really valuable securities will take an upward movement in the course of the next few days. The present depreciation in these shares arises from the fact that the output during the month of March was below the sanguine expectations of those who had anticipated a big advance. Still it must not be forgotten that, though hopes have been somewhat dashed with regard to the actual quantity of the output, the gold raised has shown progress. City and Suburban shares have dropped £4, and Durban-Roodeport are also down £1, and the remainder of the Randt series, without exception, show a falling off of more or less importance. Robinsons remain very firm, which is no great wonder considering the optimistical reports sent over from the company. With regard to this company it is proposed to reconstruct and raise the capital to £750,000. When it is considered that this mine originally commenced with a capital of £5,000, after

wards increased to £50,000, it becomes a marvel in history of mining ventures. Domkops, which I recommended last week as a good purchase, can now be obtained for 15s., so that they have fallen in sympathy with other South Africans. My opinion, however, remains unaltered, that they are a really good purchase. In the miscellaneous market little has been doing. Indian Gold have dropped somewhat, but are all good purchases, and the time is not far distant when many of these will be making as many pounds as they are now fetching shillings. Colonial Gold are good for an important rise, and, I hear, are likely to fetch 15s. each before many days are over. An important private advice is to the effect that everything at the mine is going on well, and that the work of developing the property warrants even the most sanguine expectations. Esmeraldas have advanced, and there is little wonder that they should do so, considering how favourably the last report speaks of the property. Crushings have commenced in good earnest, and assays of the quartz now being worked return as high a percentage as 5ozs. to 1 ton. As something like only a fourth of this is required for working expenses, it is needless to say that should this report be confirmed, and the strength of the lode continue, that the shares will run up to par. in the course of the next month or so. Etheridge United, another mine of which I have spoken favourably, is now looking better, and is well reported upon. The following shares should be bought for a rise, Esmeraldas, Etheridge, Oryums, and Colonials. MERCATOR.

LEGAL HONOURS.

MR. HARRY TICHBORNE DAVENPORT, barrister, M.P., has been appointed an Unpaid Commissioner in Lunacy. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in Michaelmas Term, 1860, and practised on the Oxford Circuit. Mr. Davenport is a magistrate for Staffordshire. He was M.P. for North Staffordshire in the Conservative interest from 1880 till 1885, and he has sat for the Leek Division of that county since 1886.

MR. GEORGE SCALES, solicitor, has been appointed Clerk to the Dorking Board of Guardians, Assessment Committee, School Attendance Committee, and Rural Sanitary Authority. Admitted in 1884.

MR. EDWARD WILLIAM BEAL, solicitor, has been appointed Clerk to the Magistrates for the Tower Division of London, in succession to the late Mr. Blomfield Burnell. Admitted in 1870.

MR. WILLIAM CHARLES CRIPPS, solicitor, of Tunbridge Wells, has been appointed Town Clerk of the newly incorporated Borough of Tunbridge Wells. Admitted in October, 1877.

MR. LEWIS HENRY LONGBOTTOM, solicitor (of the firm of Longbottom & Sons, of Halifax and Hebden Bridge), has been appointed a Commissioner to administer Oaths in the Supreme Court of Judicature in England.

MR. JOHN AMHERST PHILPOTT, solicitor, has been appointed Registrar of the Cranbrook and Tenderden County Courts (Circuit No. 42), to act jointly with Mr. Joseph Mann Mace, of Tenderden. Admitted in 1864. He is deputy coroner for the

Tenderden Division of Kent.

MP. WILLIAM JOHN MANN, solicitor, of Trowbridge, has been appointed Clerk to the Melksham Board of Guardians, Assessment Committee, School Attendance Committee, and Rural Sanitary Authority. Admitted in 1870.

MR. GERALD HARDWICKE COWIE, barrister, has been appointed to act as Queen's Advocate for the Gold Coast Colony Called at the Inner Temple in January, 1883.

MR. GEORGE EDWARD WEBSTER, solicitor, of Sheffield, has been appointed a Notary Public. Admitted 1865.

THE Lord Chief Justice has given it as his opinion that the amalgamation of the two branches of the legal profession is a mere question of time.

The New Law and Practise of Railway and Canal Traffic. By Robert Woodfall, of the Inner Temple, barrister-at-law (Wm. Clowes & Son, Lim.), 1889.—This volume gives us at length the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, and the rules of procedure to be observed in the constitution of the Railway and Canal Commission, with notes embodying cases on more important points. The book will prove, we believe, a useful contribution to the literature dealing with questions to be litigated in that Court, from the eminently accessible form in which the author has compiled his treatise, and the useful and readable introduction, or sketch of previous legislation on the subject. The rules of procedure, so lately issued, given here, will be found wanting in many of the treatises which were earlier in the field.

VOL. VIII.

Pump

Morris v. Salberg, a note of which we give in another column, draws attention to a vexed question, presumably now laid at rest. It may be worth while to refer shortly to the earlier cases. In Jarmain v. Hooper, 6 M. & Gr., 827, the solicitor endorsed on the writ what the Court held to be a direction to the sheriff to seize the goods of some one who was not the execution debtor. The direction was as follows: The defendant is an upholsterer and bill-broker, and resides at No. 3, Prospect Place, &c. A person named Joseph Jarmain, residing there, was not the judgment debtor. The sheriff was misled by mis-direction, and seized the goods of the wrong person. The Court held that the direction of the solicitor was in the scope of his authority, and bound the execution creditor; and they so held on the ground that the attorney has the "general conduct of the cause, and is the only person with whom the sheriff has communication, and in taking the step essentially necessary for the benefit of his client, i.e., the obtaining the fruit of his judgment, we think he cannot be held to have acted beyond his authority, though he miscarried in its execution."

Childers v. Wooler, 2 E. & E., 289, is an authority which somewhat conflicts with Jarmain v. Hooper (ubi supra), but in Smith v. Keal, 2 Q.B.D., 340, the Court of Appeal had occasion to consider these and other cases. In Smith v. Keal (ubi supra) an action of trespass had been tried before Pollock, B., and a jury, at Liverpool Summer Assizes. It appeared that defendant had recovered judgment against one Law, who had at one time been in partnership with plaintiff, and had issued execution. After the fi. fa. had been delivered to the sheriff, his officer, doubting as to the goods available for seizure under it, wrote to defendant's solicitors asking for an interview. The sheriff's officer had an interview with their managing clerk, and some conversation about goods at a brewery which was the address entered on the writ. The clerk said he thought Law had a share in the brewery, and that the sheriff had better seize there. On this conversation

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the officer seized at the brewery some goods belonging to the plaintiff. An interpleader was tried and the goods found to belong to plaintiff and not to Law. Plaintiff then brought action against defendant for wrongful seizure of goods by the sheriff, and Pollock, B., directed a non-suit. A Divisional Court, consisting of Manisty and Stephen, J.J., and Pollock, B., discharged a rule for a new trial though they differed in their reasons for so doing. The Court of Appeal, consisting of Jessel, M.R., and Lindley, L.J., (for Bowen, L.J., took no part in the judgment, not having heard the whole of the argument) were of opinion that but for the question of law there would have been evidence of a direction to the sheriff, and they were of opinion that Jarmain and Hooper (ubi supra), whether sound in principle or not, ought not, after a lapse of 40 years, to be disturbed. But, they held, they were asked to extend the doctrine of that case and to hold the execution creditor liable for the wrongful act of the sheriff in consequence of some verbal advice or direction given by a solicitor's clerk to the sheriff's officer, and they laid down that it was not within a solicitor's authority to tell a sheriff how to perform his duty.

THE case of in re Henderson, Henderson v. Bird, a short note of which we gave in last week's reports, furnishes a much needed authority. The general principle in cases of bonds given by a man to his paramour is clear. If given in respect of past cohabitation merely, they are equivalent to voluntary bonds, but if given to secure continuance of the illicit relationship, they are founded on an immoral consideration and therefore invalid. The difficulty occurs in those cases where the bond does not show on its face that it has been given to secure the continuance of the cohabitation. In this case the deed recited that the obligee had become acquainted with the obligor, who had cohabited with her; that there had been issue, a boy; that differences had arisen and determinatian to discontinue the cohabitation; and that obligor had agreed to grant obligee a certain annuity as compensation for loss of his protection and to provide her with an income for maintaining herself and child. The judge was of opinion that cohabitation was discontinued at the time of the deed, and resumed some time afterwards. The executors of the obligor, however, contended that one of the motives of the deed was an agreement for future cohabitation which vitiated it. This contention was a somewhat bold one, but the fact of it being urged shows how much such an authority was needed.

IN Gray v. Mathias, 5 Ves., 286, where two bonds had been given, the second disclosed an immoral consideration on its face. The contention was as to the first bond, and it was urged that inasmuch as cohabitation had not been discontinued when the bond was given, the court would presume that it was for an immoral consideration, but this contention was distinctly over-ruled. In the later case of in re Vallance, Vallance v. Blagden, 26 Ch. Div., 353, the testator, six months before his death, gave a bond to a lady with whom he had cohabited for more than thirty years, the condition being for payment to her at the expiration of two years of a sum of money and interest. He continued to cohabit with her until his death. There was nothing on the face of the bond with reference to cohabitation, and there was no