The connection of the Bank of England with the liquidation
cf the Baring estates has ended, and the guarantors are released from further liability. The remaining debt to the. Bank, £1,500,000, has been paid, and the assets taken over by friends and connections of the old house, who offer a certain amount of debentures to the public. The precedent set by the Bank's action was not a safe one, and it is mot likely that it will ever be repeated, but Mr. Lidder- dale has proved himself a better calculator than he was at one time believed to be. The emergency which would have been created by allowing "Borings" to be three at into bankruptcy-would, we fancy, have been more Aesperate than was even suspected, and all connected with the liquida- tion deserve high credit for nerve. We see that 'the many people who lost money through their belief that the Barings could never blunder, are angry at the partial rescue 0 the partnere, who will retain small fortunes out of the surplus ; but the feeling is a little unreasonable. If investors want absolute security, they should buy Consols or American National bonds, and not trust firms which, even if they have millions, are and must be dependent upon the personal equation. Some day there will be a spendthrift Duke of Westminster, or a Rothschild who cannot count.
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