184 SPANISH LOANS. 



honest debtors had no other course than to remain burdened with an 

 additional million of hard dollars,* or above two hundred thousand 

 pounds, which has probably never been refunded to this day. 



* "Among the documents which have furnished these details are some papers 

 which have disclosed a fact worthy of notice for its singularity. 



" The stock arising from the old Dutch loans, which, by virtue of their 

 contract of conversion, MM. Ardoin, Hubard, et Comp. remitted to the 

 government, which remitted them 5 per cent, stock in payment, was deposited 

 with the government's consuls at Paris, London, and Amsterdam. 

 S r . Machado, then consul at Paris, received : 

 99,599 dividends of the old Dutch loans; 

 664 bonds of ditto ; 

 33,409 ditto of the first loan ; 

 71,062 premium- tickets of the same loan ; and 

 3,478 bonds of the second loan.^ 



' The moment these stocks were deposited at the consulate, a stamp was set 

 upon them bearing in large letters the word annule. 



"Being compelled by the events of the year 1823 to quit Paris, S r . Ma- 

 chado packed up the records of the consulate, secured the above-mentioned 

 stock -shares in boxes, and entrusted the whole to the care of MM. Ardoin, 

 Hubard, et Comp. 



" Some years after, in 1829, the conversion (that of Aguado) of the old 

 Dutch loans took place. At that time, the parties who had these boxes in 

 their care, knowing that they contained shares of these loans, presented a 

 requete to the president of the tribunal de premiere instance of Paris, alleging 

 that they had in their keeping different boxes belonging to third parties, 

 wherein certain bonds were deposited, which would become void unless pre- 

 sented in time at Amsterdam, to be converted into permanent stock. Upon 

 the allegation of this banking-house, an ordonnance de rtfe're was made, au- 

 thorising them to open these boxes, to take out the shares they contained, 

 to take the necessary steps for avoiding their nullification, and then to keep, 

 for the account of those to whom they might belong, the amounts arising 

 from their conversion. Accordingly, they proceeded without delay to open 

 these boxes in the presence of a juge de paix. The bonds and dividends of 

 the aforesaid Dutch loans were taken out, then despatched to Amsterdam, 

 where they were presented, for the purpose of conversion, to MM. Willinck, 

 jun. and Co. to whom that operation had been entrusted; but these bankers, 

 immediately observing the stamp upon these shares which rendered them 

 null, refused to convert them. The other parties, however, persisted ; and 

 had the instruments in question legally noted, in order to avoid a forfeiture. 



" But as soon as this scandalous proceeding came to the knowledge of the 

 Count d'Ofalia, ambassador at Paris, he interfered, and obtained, by the 

 mediation of the French government, the delivery at the embassy of those 

 cancelled bonds, as well as of the other papers belonging to the con- 

 sulate." 



f To make it more intelligible to our readers, it may be as well to state 

 what we understand by the process of the conversion. Before Ardoin, Hu- 

 bard, and Co. made sale of the indeterminate stock assigned to them, they 

 purchased bonds and coupens of the old loans on the best terms they could, 

 charging them, however, as we have seen, against the state at a fixed rate or 

 at par. The bonds and coupens so purchased were in the course of the pro- 

 cess deposited with the agents of the government. Had the fraud above- 

 described succeeded, the stocks annult, for which the.Cortes paid several mil- 



