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<DATE>1-15-10</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<HEAD>Rea&s;ons mo&s;t Humbly Offered to the Con&s;ideration of Parliament, Why a Bill now depending before them, again&s;t <HI>Richard Thomp&s;on</HI> and Partners &s;hould not be pa&s;&s;ed.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="suggestion">
<P><HI>THE Bill &s;ugge&s;ts,</HI> Fir&s;t, <HI>That the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom made for prevention of fraudulent and wicked practices of Bankrupts in deceiving their Creditors, do not &s;ufficiently reach the evil contrivances of</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on <HI>and Partners, in regard the Penalties of the Laws are not &s;evere enough to meet with them.</HI></P>
<P>The Honourable Hou&s;es of Parliament can be&s;t judg whether in general the &s;aid Laws and Statutes be not &s;ufficient? and, Whether it be the de|fect <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> or exce&s;s of &s;everity which de&s;erves their in&s;pection, &s;ince the &s;aid Laws are more &s;evere and penal in <HI>England,</HI> than in any other part of Chri|&s;tendom. And if the former Laws have been thus long &s;ufficient for others, It is humbly hoped there will appear no occa&s;ion for making a more ri|gorous Law again&s;t <HI>Thomp&s;on</HI> and his Partners, than again&s;t any other, &s;ince they lye under the &s;ame circum&s;tances with all other trading Merchants.</P>
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<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="suggestion">
<P>Second SUGGESTION: Secondly, <HI>That</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on <HI>and Partners having been Merchants and Traders in or near the City of</HI> London, <HI>and acquired great E&s;tates, the better to gain them Credits, became joint Partners in taking up and giving Security for great &s;umms of Moneys, by which means they became po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ed upon Security to the value of about</HI> 200 <HI>Thou&s;and pounds, with intent to defraud all their Creditors.</HI></P>
<P>The Summs though great were not above 136 Thou&s;and Pound in all, as appeared to their Creditors, upon view of the Books, and is &s;aid to be <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> 200000 <HI>l.</HI> meerly to encrea&s;e clamor again&s;t them; the greater their E&s;tates were at fir&s;t, the better was their Security, and the le&s;s probability is there of having any fraudulent de&s;ign. Their Security was made good by them for above five years, no man all that time was refu&s;ed either Principal or Intere&s;t when demanded. But afterwards their Creditors running upon them all at once, de&s;troyed that Security; but they deny that ever they had any intent at any time to defraud any one of their Creditors of a penny.</P>
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<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="suggestion">
<P>Third SUGGESTION: Thirdly, <HI>That in Order to accompli&s;h this fraud they di&s;po&s;ed their Stocks into &s;everal Factories beyond the Seas, and put the &s;ame out of the reach and power of any Commi&s;&s;ion of Bankrupt; which practice of the &s;aid</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on <HI>&amp; Partners are to the utter ruin &amp; undoing of many Families.</HI></P>
<P>They did as all other Merchants imploy their Moneys in Foreign parts in the mo&s;t probable Trades, the better to enable them to pay Intere&s;t, but <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> did not &s;o di&s;po&s;e their Stocks to conceal or imbezel them from their Creditors; for their Books in which was included an Accompt of their whole E&s;tate from <HI>March</HI> 1675, till near <HI>Mid&s;ummer</HI> 1677, by agreement with their Creditors, lay con&s;tantly open for their daily in&s;pection, which clear|ly &s;hews that there was nothing of &s;ecret contrivance on their parts, but always in a fair open method of Negotiation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="suggestion">
<P>Fourth SUGGESTION: <HI>That</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on <HI>and Partners, the better to colour their wicked de&s;igns after they had made over their own private E&s;tates, and &s;ecured the Moneys of their Creditors, did refu&s;e to pay any of them. And the &s;aid</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on <HI>and Partners did appoint a meeting with all their Cre|ditors, to acquaint them that in regard their Moneys was beyond the Seas (though they could not pretend any lo&s;s) they did only de&s;ire time to pay them without abatement; to which they con&s;ented: Which de&s;ign of the &s;aid</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on <HI>and Partners was to get what Moneys they could into their hands, and to &s;ecure their Books and Accompts, and leave all their Creditors unpaid.</HI></P>
<P>The fact indeed is thus, When the Creditors fir&s;t grew jealous (without any ju&s;t cau&s;e given on their parts) they did not for &s;ix Months after refu&s;e <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> any payments, nor &s;o long as they were able to make Moneys out of their E&s;&s;ects at home or abroad, &s;o that before any &s;top of Payments they had paid them in that hurry about 60000 <HI>l.</HI> This being &s;o &s;uddenly torn out of their &s;everal Trades (well) but newly laid, was of &s;o great prejudice to the growing E&s;tate, that they were inforced to de&s;ire a meeting of all the Creditors, which being accompli&s;hed, they there propo&s;ed to &s;urrender Books and E&s;tates into their own management, de&s;iring them either to accept thereof, or to allow time. The far greater part of the Creditors upon their own rea&s;ons, and the in&s;pections made into their Books, refu&s;ed the fir&s;t, but complied with the &s;econd, that &s;o that E&s;tate (what remained) abroad might be drawn back with better conveniency, and &s;ub&s;cribed their agreement to that purpo&s;e. Whereupon <HI>Thomp&s;on</HI> and his Partners pro|ceeded with all diligence to get in what they could, le&s;t all &s;hould be lo&s;t, well hoping to have paid every man, but were di&s;abled by one third of their Creditors, who &s;tanding out by daily Actions, Arre&s;ts, Attachments, and by threatning with Statutes of Bankrupt; extorted from them &s;ome double, &s;ome treble, their Proportions payable to them by agreement afore&s;aid; and many were paid their whole Debts, by which means there was I&s;&s;ued out to them and others in Principal and Intere&s;t at lea&s;t 50000 <HI>l.</HI> being above one third of the whole remaining Debt, which nece&s;&s;arily after their fir&s;t &s;treights put them upon further Extremities. So that it is evident hitherto there could be no fraud intended.</P>
<P>And as to what is &s;aid, That they could not then pretend any lo&s;s, &s;o far they allow it to be true, that having at that time &s;ubjected their Books to their Creditors, they di&s;cour&s;ed but &s;paringly of their Lo&s;&s;es, (although then very con&s;iderable:) Becau&s;e the complying Creditors had many of them promis'd to give new Credits, nor were the wounds <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="2 letters"> the E&s;tate then &s;o wide but the performance of &s;uch promi&s;e would have clo&s;ed and cu|red them, and would not only have re-e&s;tabli&s;hed <HI>Thomp&s;on</HI> and his Partners, but &s;ecured their Creditors debts, which was the only Cau&s;e that they did not openly publi&s;h their Lo&s;&s;es at that time, but that &s;uch there were, hath &s;ince been and will at any time be made out by clear and full proof if de&s;ired.</P>
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<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="suggestion">
<P>Fifth SUGGESTION. <HI>That a Commi&s;&s;ion of Bankrupt is lately I&s;&s;ued out of His Maje&s;ties High Court of Chancery again&s;t the &s;aid</HI> Richard Thomp&s;on, <HI>and Partners; but they to prevent the due execution thereof, have ab&s;conded them&s;elves, and conveyed away their Books and E&s;tates on purpo&s;e to defraud their Creditors, and the Execution of the &s;aid Commi&s;&s;ion, and are declared Bankrupts by the &s;aid Commi&s;&s;ioners in pur&s;uance of the &s;everal Statutes again&s;t Bankrupts, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>About <HI>Mid&s;ummer</HI> 1677, (till which time their Books and E&s;tates lay open to the Creditors view and di&s;po&s;al), they taking a Survey of their <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> Trade, and remaining E&s;tate were &s;urprized with the va&s;t lo&s;&s;es they found was befallen them, partly by ca&s;ualties at Sea, partly by bad Debts; but mo&s;tly from the impatient demands of their Creditors, by which they were made utterly incapable of complying with their Obligations; yet nei|ther then did <HI>Richard Thomp&s;on</HI> and Partners ab&s;cond them&s;elves, or convey away their Books or E&s;tates, with de&s;ign to defraud their Creditors; but being in a mo&s;t deplorable Condition under daily Arre&s;ts from tho&s;e Creditors, that had not complied before, their E&s;tates and Credits was there|by ruined and de&s;troyed. Whereupon one of their company was forced into the <HI>Kings-Bench</HI> Pri&s;on, where he hath remained ever &s;ince, and long before the &s;itting of the Parliament made frequent offers to deliver up the re&s;idue of their mangled E&s;tate into the hands of their Creditors, which by as near a calculation as they could make, amounted to Six Shillings eight pence <HI>per</HI> pound, which with the 50000 <HI>l.</HI> paid before, makes above thirteen Shillings <HI>per</HI> pound of the whole debt (if it had been equally divided), being a much greater Compo&s;ition than mo&s;t men have lately paid under the like Circum&s;tances. With this Propo&s;ition mo&s;t of their Creditors (&s;eeming &s;atisfied concerning the great lo&s;&s;es come upon the E&s;tate, which are ready to be made out upon Oath by good and creditable Witne&s;&s;es), were as before, and &s;o &s;till are willing to accept the remaining E&s;tate according to the afore&s;aid Calculation and Propo&s;al of 6 <HI>s.</HI> 8 <HI>d. per</HI> pound, the which they publickly declared in print before the meeting of Par|liament; but are hindred by tho&s;e few, who not only do violently pro&s;ecute the Statute of Bankrupt again&s;t them, but al&s;o have preferred this Bill, which tends only to the further wa&s;t and imbezlement of the remaining E&s;tate, and ruin of many poor Families. And this they violently pro&s;ecute, (it is to be feared) only for their own private advantage, and to prevent &s;o good an agreement as afore&s;aid, from coming to a conclu&s;ion. In order whereunto they way-laid another of the Partners, when he adventured to have met the Creditors upon their own de&s;ires, publi&s;hed rewards in print, to any that &s;hould di&s;cover him or any other of them, &s;earch hou&s;es for them, and procured them to be publickly proclaimed Bankrupts, for which extraordinary eagerne&s;s they cannot imagine any cau&s;e, unle&s;s it be, becau&s;e they have lately before the bringing in this Bill, offered to the Major part of their Creditors, the whole E&s;tate in kind, &s;o as all their Obligations may be delivered up, and they be allowed a rea&s;onable maintenance for their numerous Family.</P>
<P>This being the true Narrative of their pre&s;ent State and Condition, they mo&s;t humbly offer to the &s;erious Con&s;ideration of Parliament.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Whether they will think it fit or rea&s;onable to pa&s;s this Bill (and that with a retro&s;pection) purpo&s;ely to puni&s;h them in a way more &s;e|vere than ever by Law hath hitherto been provided, and that for a fact committed before the Law made; an accident under which many other eminent Citizens have unhappily fallen of late years; and &s;ome of them &s;ince this misfortune hapned to the&s;e, and yet none but them&s;elves made liable to the penalties intended to be inflicted by this Act.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Whether it &s;tands with the Honour of Parliament to make a Law to invite any per&s;on what&s;oever to a breach of Faith, by di&s;cover|ing a &s;ecret tru&s;t repo&s;ed in them, and to confer Rewards upon them for the &s;ame, or to impo&s;e a penalty upon &s;uch, who notwith&s;tanding &s;uch Law &s;hall be ju&s;t in keeping the &s;ecrets of tho&s;e who have intru&s;ted them.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Whether if a Bill for &s;uch a pupo&s;e &s;hall be thought rea&s;onable to pa&s;s the &s;ame, ought not to be General again&s;t all men in <HI>Thomp&s;on's</HI> and his Partners Condition, and not again&s;t them and their Tru&s;tees or Creditors only: and whether convenient to be made with retro&s;pection, or on|ly to puni&s;h &s;uch who &s;hall fall under the like Circum&s;tances with them for the future.</P>
<P>Whereas to prevent all agreements between the &s;aid <HI>Thomp&s;on,</HI> and Partners, and their Creditors, and the more ea&s;ily to effect the pa&s;&s;ing of this Bill; &s;ome of the Pro&s;ecutors thereof, have, and do frequently declare abroad, that they have been offered their whole debts with a good &s;ur|plu&s;age, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="1+ letters">te.</NOTE> &s;o as they would agree to proceed no further upon this Bill. Now the &s;aid <HI>Thomp&s;on</HI> and Partners do &s;olemnly declare to all the world, That neither they, nor any of them, nor any others for, or on their behalf, by their direction, or with their privity, knowledg, or con&s;ent, hath or did at any time directly or indirectly ever make any &s;uch offer to any of them. But on the contrary do aver, that &s;uch Propo&s;itions have been made to them, to which they could never give their con&s;ents, lea&s;t they &s;hould ju&s;tly lay them&s;elves open thereby to the Cen&s;ures of the re&s;t of their Creditors, who in &s;uch ca&s;e would have had good grounds to have affirmed they were guilty of de&s;igning to defraud them of their ju&s;t Debts.</P>
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