ABSTRACT
It is impossible to withhold sympathy from the victims of misfortune, even when they have brought upon themselves the ills which befall them. Nevertheless, we feel unable to join unreservedly in the chorus of condolence which has been raised this week over the collapse of Messrs. Baring Brothers. It is, indeed, a pity that such a great house should have been brought low, but it would have been still more to be regretted if the punishment for the errors that have been committed should have fallen, not upon those responsible for them, but upon innocent parties. Had Messrs. Baring Brothers been able to shift the
burden of their South American obligations upon the investing public they would now have been standing erect; and without indulging in any recriminations, it must be admitted that they did not neglect to use all the means in their power to rid themselves in this way of their liabilities. The subject is not a pleasant one to pursue in present circumstances, and we would rather not speak of the market devices that were employed to attract investors. Our opinion as to these was expressed freely and strongly enough at the time, and no good purpose is to be served by going back upon them. We cannot, however, profess to feel sorry that the efforts to induce the investing public to come to the relief of Barings have proved ineffectual, even although the result has been to drive that firm into compulsory liquidation We do not seek to blame Messrs. Baring because they were not satisfied with the safe and magnificent profits which their splendid merchant banking business yielded. It is now seen that they acted very unwisely, but temptation to add riches to riches is hard to resist, and for whatever errors of judgment they may have committed they are now being made to suffer. In no unkindly spirit, however, we feel bound to say that it is better that things should have turned out as they have done, than that the Barings should have succeeded in relieving themselves from the evil consequences of their own rashness in the pursuit of wealth, at the expense of confiding investors.
