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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4246, 29 October 1874, Page 2

Thk late great failures in Launceston have not only occasioned considerable discussion of a serious kind in the commercial circles most affected,,but appear to have, created a feeling of alarm both in the North and South: of Tasmania that the reputation of the colony will suffer not merely in the eyes of their despoiled creditors but in estimation of the colonies generally. And thero does appear to be good reason for the apprehension. Hobarton has been comparatively free from commercial swindles. Launceston, on the contrary, has contributed not a few equivocal cases of bankruptcy to the story of commercial life in the island. In the present case one after another of the business hnns of the northern capital went to the wall almost in a day. Large and small all wont at once, the oldest firms and the newest establishments went down together. Some of these houses have been able to offer a very smali composition ; others are unable to show any appreciable assets ; and in every case there aro large accommodations, one firm supporting another, and the whole working upon tho fullest system of credit. To add to the suspicion which to these no sooner does a somewhat rough and determined Jewish creditor from Melbourne make his appearausa oh the scene, to trace goods consigned by him and others to one of the bankrupt firms, than lie finds every obstaclo thrown in his way, access to the books is denied him, and for his audacity in asking to Bee them hois threatened with

being given into custody. At a meeting of the victims of another firm a Victorian creditor, who asked some troublesome questions, was almost ejected by force, and because he still remained,- "wanting to know, you know," the meeting broke up without any business being done. Last of all, when the inquiries of the Melbourne men became too close, and it was apparent that they were hot upon a welldefined scent, the leading member of the firm wliich is supposed to have been the most active in furthering the peculiar business of the involved Launceston merchants suddenly disappears from the scene, is supposed to have sailsd for this Colony, but is believed in Hobarton. merely to have gone into retreat in some of the remoter districts of Tasmania, or to be in hiding in the capital—merely to be out of the way of being called upon to answer troublesome questions. A reward of £SO, offered by one of the Melbourne men, had not led to his. apprehension, up to the latest date, and thus justice is defeated. The supposition gains ground in Melbourne, and has its believers even in Hobarton, however, that for a length of time the merchants of Melbourne have been systematically victimised. It is stated from £OO,OOO to £BO,OOO worth of goods had been obtained in Launceston from Melbourne, or was consigned to that market foi sale on behalf of the exporters, for -which there is nothing—neither money nor goods—to show. It is gravely asserted that if the absconder were placed under examination a swindle would be exposed in which some hitherto unsuspected names would be involved. Where, it is asked, "has the value of the decoyed goods gone ?" " This is not the first time," says one of the Hobarton journals, " that a wheel from the great commercial swindling machine has been detached from the colony, at a time which suits the purposes of those who are left behind, even more than the detached wheel itself." Who are benefited by the swindling operations of the ' missing person, who, after all, was but the " decoy duck ?" The same journal expresses an assured belief that the missing person will never be placed in the dock, as there is "no wish in certain quarters to expose what is rotten" in the island. Altogether the state of affairs in the commercial world of Launceston for some time past appears to have been very extraordinary ; and it will be well for those among the merchants of that city against whom no stone can be cast to lend their best assistance to clear up past mysteries, that confidence in the merchants of North Tasmania, now greatly shaken, may not be absolutely destroyed.