THE VIRTUE OF AN AMERICAN PASSPORT.
I was once employed to track an absconding bankrupt and hand him over tothe tender mercies of a criminal court. There was nothing in the case,as it appeared on my instructions, to distinguish it from a host ofother cases. It had not even the merit of difficulty to lend itinterest. I made sure of catching my man with little trouble, as I did,and as I will point out. The affair, however, took a rather curious turnin the sequel, as the reader will perceive.
The bankrupt had been a trader in Liverpool. He had not been in businessthere more than ten months, but had contrived, during that short period,to contract debts to the extent of 84,000_l._ I don't know in what linehe traded. I believe in many, or in all lines. He professed to be abeliever in homely saws, and the philosophy they embody. He would notobject at any time, he said, to turn an honest pound in any way. Hetherefore bought all that came within the range of his credit, from ragsand hempen fragments to jewelry, and from tallow to diamonds. I don'tknow where he traded to especially. I believe that he sold more in thehome-market than abroad, although he talked largely about consignments,bills of lading, &c. If he had a skill for getting credit, he had agenius for disposing of goods. He was also an expert at what is calledhypothecating,--a process which, for the unenlightened, I may explain tobe as like pawning as any one thing can be like another. A peculiarityof his business was, that he always bought on acceptances, and forcredit; he always sold for cash on delivery. Hence he frequently, if notalways, traded at a loss. He was sometimes so unlucky as not to be ableto get half as much in cash for things as they had cost him in bills.
Such trading as this, the reader may think, would soon come to an end.It is quite clear that such trading must end in bankruptcy and ruin tosome one, or to more than one. It is not, however, so sure that thismode of carrying on business would overtake ruin speedily. Our Americanbankrupt lasted ten months; and it is the opinion of many well informedpersons that he might have gone on for three or four years if he hadcalculated well, and held his ground boldly. How was that to be done?Easily. There is a process which I have heard scientifically describedas "widening the ratio." That would have done it.
Suppose that a man in trade loses 500_l._ upon the business of 1000_l._,which is about the proportion in our Yankee's business or its results.Suppose that he wants to spend, and therefore does spend, the 500_l._ onhimself. Is he bound to stop payment at the end of that partialexperiment, and treat the problem as one therein solved? No. He maydouble his business and losses, and still keep right, in a familiarsense of that nice phrase. If he should trade to the extent of2000_l._, and lose 1000_l._ upon it, he will be able to pay off thefirst credits out of the net proceeds of his second series ofoperations; and all the people who get their money--noticing, also, theactivity of his business--will sound his praises as "a rising merchant,""an upright man," "a punctual tradesman." To live during the secondseries of operations out of them, they should, however, be extended to3000_l._ or 4000_l._, instead of 2000_l._; and nothing is much easierthan to do this. Keep on paying each bill as it falls due (no matter atwhat sacrifice,--by the forced sale of goods, or by discounts at anyrate of interest), and there will be no difficulty about "widening yourratio of trade," until you are entitled to a place in that category ofworthies which Mr. David Morier Evans has culled and put together in hiswork entitled, _Facts, Frauds, and Fallacies_. Some day the bubble willburst, I know; but the ball may be kept rolling for a series of years onthis plan.
It is just possible that a hitch may stop the machinery. There areaccidents against which no human foresight can guard; and if the brightpleasant road to ruin gets blocked up, you may in the side pathsencounter a policeman, who will lead you to a judge, and a prison, or ahulk. That I take to be one of the inevitable contingencies which anyswindler will look fairly in the face--avoid it, if he can; and if not,then meet it with calmness and resignation.
The Yankee did not, however, as I am told, understand this practicalmethod of commercial swindling, and he would have inevitably come togrief if he had been an Englishman. The reader may as well bear thatlittle fact in mind. A great man once observed that, although manypersons resolved to live by their wits, the vast majority of those whotried the experiment got half starved by a scarcity of the material forthat sort of existence.
The penal clauses of the New Bankruptcy Act are also to be kept in viewas things to avoid, for I see by the Old-Bailey intelligence they arebeing enforced with terrible severity. If caught and discoveredoffending against any of the primary canons of mercantile jurisprudence,the weight of punishment is heavy. The reader must also not forget that,although he gives the criminal law and its officers no hold over him, hemay encounter cantankerous or savage creditors, who, not satisfied withthe loss they may have already incurred through him, will throw awaymore good money, not after bad cash, but in order to punish what theyconceive a bad man. They may hunt him down to disgrace and beggary, holdhim up to scorn and ignominy--in violation of the pure Christian theorywhich bids us "live and let live"--never ceasing until he has no certainand regular mode of existence left except begging-letter writing,holding horses at the West End of the metropolis, hawking ballads,vending penny newspapers, retailing vegetables or fruit or stationery,or a life of idleness in a union workhouse.
But I am moralising, preaching, or sermonising, instead of telling mystory.
Well. Mr. Abraham Driver had run his career in ten months. During thistime it was believed that he had, however, to use a vulgar term, "made apurse," or "feathered his nest." He had realised considerable sums byhypothecating and selling goods, getting advances on bills of lading,&c. Where the money had gone to, his creditors were anxious to know.They believed he could pay 20_s._ in the pound. As a matter of fact, hedidn't pay 1_s._ in the pound.
Abraham Driver, merchant, dealer, and chapman, as he was described inlegal processes, was adjudicated a bankrupt. He didn't surrender.Perhaps, if his creditors had had an adequate idea of the dignity ofAmerican citizenship, or the sanctity of the stars and stripes, or thepotency of the meanest recognised Yankee diplomat, they would never haveoffered such an affront as they did through Mr. Driver to his bumptiousnation.
The Yankee merchant and citizen, as I have said, didn't surrender to hisadjudication in obedience to a printed and written summons, which hereceived. He treated that "big broad slip of paper" with gross verbalcontempt. Yet he thought it inexpedient to stay in Liverpool. That finetown was too hot for him. He therefore shifted his quarters to Londonbefore the day limited for his appearance in the Liverpool DistrictCourt of Bankruptcy. When in London, he said he thought he might as wellenjoy himself; and this notion carried him further from the late sceneof his enterprise than the British metropolis. He turned his backdisdainfully upon the land over which Queen Victoria's metaphoricalsceptre sways. He went by rail and steamboat to the continent ofEurope.
Almost as soon as Mr. Driver left the shores of the Mersey, I wasdesired to bestow upon him my attentions. I supplied him with an unseenguard of dishonour. His movements were watched until he landed at theport of ----. Here, as no instructions to arrest him on the Continentwere given me, he was left.
The principal creditors of the bankrupt determined to follow him. He wasnow an outlaw. The time for his surrender had expired. A warrant thatwould run into France could be obtained for his arrest and for hisremoval to this country. The requisite processes--or those which ablelawyers thought sufficient--were obtained, and placed in my hands.
I went over myself, and one of the Liverpool gentlemen was my agreeablecompanion.
In obedience to the wishes of my employer and associate, I consented togo with him to the office of the British consul.
The British consul was a high and mighty man in his own esteem, and hesnuffed me out in the grandest style. I could not help admiring the artwith which this servant of the British Crown reduced me, from the heightof my legitimate self-respect, to the nothingness he thought my truestatus.
"They manage thi
ngs differently in France to what they do in England,sir, I can tell you. Now, leave the matter all to me, sir, till thefellow's captured, and you have him again in England."
I and my friend retired to the passage of the consul's office (which wasone small room) to confer on the subject. The consul also had aconference in his office with his man of all work, whose name Iafterwards ascertained to be Boggy. At this conference I agreed to allowthe consul to take his own course of action in France, and I was tomerely assist when asked to render aid.
"Well, my man Boggy shall go and see whether the fellow is at thismoment in the port. Boggy will soon ascertain that."
Boggy's palm was crossed with a golden coin, which bore an effigy ofEngland's Queen, to stimulate his zeal in the execution of her laws.
The Frenchman was not long in discovering Mr. Abraham Driver'swhereabouts. He came back to announce that the man we wanted wasunsuspectingly smoking a meerschaum at the Anglo-American Hotel.
Now to seize the villain. I was ready, and the defrauded creditor wasintensely anxious for the fellow's capture.
"Nay, nay," said the consul. "We must go to the commissary of police. Imust pay his fees. It will not take long to get through the ceremonies,but it will cost money to arrest the scoundrel. Nothing is done in thiscountry, sir, without money."
"What will be the amount of the fees, do you suppose?" asked my client.
"I can't say exactly. About 16_l._ or 17_l._ You had better let me have20_l._, and I can return you the balance."
Boggy here threw his mercurial eyes at the consul, and then at me, andthen at my client. This had the desired effect.
"Never mind about the change. I don't object to give 20_l._ (handingover the money) for the villain's capture. You can let this good manhave the balance," said the gentleman from Liverpool.
Boggy, with glistening eye, and with triumphant mien, led the way. Ifollowed with my companion.
We passed into and out of several mysterious offices. Our warrant andother papers were scrutinised with tedious minuteness. Boggy seemed athome, and at ease with the minor officials, and to have a becomingveneration for the big-wigs.
At length we quitted the head-quarters of the commissary, and ourprocession looked really formidable as we marched towards theAnglo-American Hotel. There were six gendarmes, a sergeant at theirhead, Boggy in their rear, and two Englishmen in the rear of the Britishconsul's Frenchman.
As we passed along the quay, we observed, not far from theAnglo-American Hotel, and with steam up, ready for her departure, avessel bound for a distant Atlantic port.
"He is going away by dat ship, is he?" chuckled the Frenchman. "See,here he comes," the lively man continued to exclaim.
He was quite right. There, at a few yards' distance, was Mr. AbrahamDriver, merchant, dealer, and chapman, late of Liverpool, an abscondedbankrupt.
He was walking coolly down to the quay, smoking his cigar, and about totake his departure in the vessel we had noticed.
At a suggestion from Boggy, the sergeant arrested the English bankrupt.The creditor and the debtor exchanged a very few words, not of mutualcompliment.
"I guess you've made a grand mistake, my good gentleman," said Mr.Driver, with a strong nasal accent (which had never been remarked inLiverpool), as if anxious to supply the evidence of his nationality, andsave the trouble of being asked for it.
Up to this moment neither the creditor nor I had any idea that he wasnot an Englishman and a subject of the Queen's.
"What do you mean, sir?" asked the sergeant of gendarmes, in tolerablygood English.
"Why, I guess you know that I am an American citizen; and mind now, Iwarn, you, sir, not to annoy me for the delight of those confoundedBritishers."
The officer looked at us.
"He is an English bankrupt subject, to the jurisdiction of our laws, anda felon," I observed.
"I calculate that's very tall talk, all that, and when you catch me backin that old country of yours you may be all right, I dare say; but Itell you, sir, that if you keep me here till after that ship's gone,you'll have a very pretty penny to pay, that you will, I reckon."
"You must come with us to the _maire_," the sergeant said.
"Oh, I guess if you say I must, that I must; but here--look--here is mypassport. It's all fair and square, you see. Now, mind what you do to anAmerican citizen--that's all I tell you now."
The hissing of the steam increased.
"Now, I guess," he continued, "that you'll take me first to theconsulate of the United States, won't you?"
"No, to the _maire_."
He looked round wistfully, and took out a ten-franc piece from hispocket.
"Who is there will go to the consul of the United States, and tell himthat an American citizen wants his protection. Ask him to come to the_maire_ before that steam-ship there can go away."
Boggy grasped the piece of money.
"Here, I don't mind doing that. An Englishman in trouble would like tohave his consul's advice. That's only right."
Away Boggy ran to fetch the guardian of the stars and stripes, ascheerfully as he had devoted himself to Mr. Driver's discovery.
Three minutes took us to the _maire_. The American consul was there assoon as we were. The British consul was not there. The _maire_ heardwhat the bankrupt and his consul had to say, and then ruled that therewas no ground to justify the further detention of the bankrupt, who wasprotected by the passport of his nation. He could certainly not be givenup under the English warrant, and he should not detain him unless hisaccusers could enter into sufficient recognisances, available in France,to indemnify the accused.
We had nobody present to enter into the required bonds; the extent ofthe risk was an unknown quantity, and the vagabond was set loose.
As he parted from us, he put his finger to his nose, and whistled a barof "Hail Columbia." He picked out a fusee from his pocket, then lit hiscigar, and, with a degree of speed compatible with an air of mockstateliness, the blackguard walked down to the quay, then on board theship, as she let slip her hawser.
We were neither of us very well pleased at the result of this excursion.It was impossible to resist the mortification of seeing the blackguardslip through our hands, as we thought we had him effectually in ourgrasp.
We did not return to the consulate of her Britannic Majesty. We stayedonly about another hour in France to refresh ourselves, as there was avessel then about to start for England, and we were desirous of gettinghome.
* * * * *
There is a moral to this story which politicians may relish; and I amtherefore about to add material out of which a Member of Parliamentmight make a reputation. I have disguised the names and localities ofthe actors in this little international mercantile drama. It may,however, be worth while to add, that the facts are substantiallyand--with the specific exceptions I name--literally correct. If anyMember of Parliament or noble lord wants the real name and address ofthe consul, I am at liberty to give it; if he wants the real names ofany other actors in this little drama, I can and am at liberty to supplythem.
On our return homewards we discussed the conduct of the consul--our ownconsul--in this affair. We were led to doubt the propriety of histaking that money from us. We suspected that he wanted it, not to paythe French police any fees, but to put in his own pocket. We thoughtthat, if our suspicions were accurate, the conduct of the consul wasscandalous.
I made inquiries. In a letter from the commissary of police I wasinformed that the French officers were not permitted to take fees, andthat not one sou had been paid to a gendarme out of the 20_l._ takenfrom us. By direction of the French local authorities, proceedingsagainst the British consul were taken in a local court. He disputed thejurisdiction of the French tribunals. He set up his consulship in bar ofthe suit. On this purely technical point--the merits of the case beingtaken from under the control of the court--an appeal went up to a courtof appeal. The consul's plea in bar of jurisdiction was held to be agood one. The Fre
nch judges held that the defrauded person being anEnglishman, and the alleged offender being an English consul, the remedywas by an application to the Foreign Office in London. Memorials,setting forth all the merits or demerits of the case, and setting forththe miscarriage of justice in the French courts, accompanied bynewspaper reports of the arguments and the decisions, were laid before alate Foreign Secretary. The answer to this memorial and evidence was,that, as the case had been taken before the French courts, and decidedupon, his lordship saw no reason to interfere. Further explanations wereoffered, rearguing that the merits of the case against the consul hadnot been heard, that he took effectual means to prevent these meritsfrom being touched by the French courts, and that the case was indeedremitted from French law to British diplomacy. Still, almost word forword, and to the same precise effect, was the answer. A thirdapplication, further endeavours to show the Foreign Office its duty,elicited only an answer, almost word for word, and to the same preciseeffect. So the matter was dropped, and it now lies where it was droppeda few years since.