The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-21 00:00:00

MONEY-MARKET and CITY NEWS
CITY, WEDNESDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The English fonds have been much
more steady to-day, and have again closed at a slight
advance upon the opening prices. The first quota-
tion of Consols for money was 791 to but some
!ergo sales soon forced them down to 79i. After
this, however, it became evident that the public were
buying largely, and a gradual and steady advance
took place in eonseqtienee until the price reached 80,
from which there was not much alteration up to the
close of business, when it was 79i to 80. For the
Account, the range of Consols in the morning was
from 80i down to 79k, after which they rallied to
80i, leaving off at 80-4 to I.
We are glad to state that Messrs. John Shewell
and Co., the Stock-Exchange firm, who suspended on
the 30th ult., have to-day resumed business, after
paying all their differences in full.
At the Bank there was a further arrival of gold
from Paris, to the amount of 30,0001.
Letters from Liverpool received this morning re-
mark, with reference to the stoppage of the Liverpool
Banking Company, " It will be a small affair, and
irises from the usual facilities being withdrawn by
the Bank of England. We understand that in their
amount with that institution 20,000/. ran out on
Monday morning, but in consequence of the stoppage
of the Royal Bank, the Branch Bank here refused to
discount." It is added, "we do not hear of any
other disasters of moment, but the pressure for cash
is painful." H. Grazebrook and Son, connected with
the iron trade, are stated to have suspended, and also
W. Jones and Co., wholesale tea• dealers, the liabilities
of the latter firm being from 20,0001. to 40,0001. It
appears that Messrs. Curries and Co., the London
agents of the Liverpool Banking Company, will
escape entirely without loss.
It is understood that an application was made at
the Bank of England to-day for assistance on behalf
of one of the large Liverpool houses, whose affairs are
mixed up with those of the Royal Bank, and that the
decision will be made known to them after the Court
to-morrow.
The accounts received of the affairs of Knapp and
Co. the Abingdon bankers (against whom a fiat in
bankruptcy has been issued), appear to be as bad as
possible. Speculations in the funds are understood
to have been the final cause of the break •up, and it is
" feared there will be no assets at all," so that many
of the farmers in that part of the county, who are
large creditors, will be nearly ruined. Mr. Luard,
who visited Abingdon with the view of ascertaining
if the concern admitted of being carried on, was
unable even to see Mr. Knapp, but, with the authority
of his directors, before leaving the town he opened a
branch of the London and County Bank.
A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Perkins,
Schlusser, and Mullens, whose stoppage took place
on the 48th of September, was held to-day. Mr.
Joseph Tritton was in the chair ; when a statement
of their affairs was submitted for consideration. From
which it appears that a surplus was shown, after
deducting all estimated amounts of loss, of 8,721/. ;
and thus far, therefore, the expectations held out at
the date of suspension bid fair to be realised. At the
same time, the liabilities on bills receivable are very
large, and that much will consequently depend upon
the absence of any casualties that may bring the
holders of them as claimants on the estate. After
some discussion, from which it was evident that the
communications made to the meeting were consi-
dered, on the whole, to be very satisfactory, it was
resolved, that the estate should be wound up by the
firm, under inspection ; Mr. Joseph Tritton, Mr. W.
E. Few, and Mr. Edmund Brandt (of whom the two
latter represent foreign creditors) being the parties
named.

A meeting was also held of the creditors of Messrs.
Hastie and Hutchison, whose stoppage, arising out of
that of Denny and Co., of Glasgow, took place on the
10th of September, and a statement, prepared by
Messrs. Quilter and Co., the accountants, was ex-
hibited. The statement showed a deficiency of only
11,6551., and a consequent dividend of 15s. in the
pound. This amount Messrs. Hastie and Co. pro-
posed to pay by four instalment:, viz., ss. down, is.
in four months, 2s. 6d. at nine months, and 2s. 6d. at
fifteen months, to which the meeting agreed. It
transpired that the firm had sustained bad debts, since
the commencement of the corn panic, to the extent
of 28,000/.
CHRONICLE.—There has been an improvement
in the general character of the Money Market this
afternoon. The public funds have assumed greater
steadiness, and securities of all descriptions have borne
an increased value towards the close of business at
the Stock Exchange. But the general impression in
the City and in the best-informed circles is, that the
Government will be compelled to propose some miti-
gation of the existing law, to which the aggravation
of the present distress is ascribed.
The failure of large mercantile firms has been
susceptible of explanation, by reason of the trans-
actions in which they are engaged, and the gradual
decay to which most of those which have suspended
payment have been subject. But the difficulties
which threaten other houses, whose transactions are
conducted on sounder principles, and whose position
would, under ordinary circumstances, be considered
safe, have shaken the public confidence to a degree
almost unparalleled in the commercial history of
the country. Day after day the removal of notes
from circulation ie going on, and men prefer to keep
accounts in bank-notes in their own strong boxes,
rather than leave themselves unprotected against the
chances which they know net how soon they may be
called on to meet. The feeling in London, as in
Liverpool, is decided on the subject. In spite of the
reply which the deputation received from Lord John
Russell and the Chancellor of the Exchequer yester-
day, it is firmly believed that the necessity of the
case will be made apparent, and that an issue of notes
will be authorised by the Government without fur-
ther delay. It is impossible that, with the means of
information at their command, they can be ignorant
of the state of affairs ; and it is incredible that, with
a knowledge of what must result from a prolongation
of the present crisis, any further hesitation on their
part can exist. The circumstances of the time present
bear down all the minor differences of currency systems.
Their discussion may be postponed to a period when
there is less of positive and imminent danger. But with
the mercantile interest at its last gasp, necessity de-
mands an immediate remedy to recall the fleeting
strength, rather than a philosophical discussion as to
the peculiar character of the disease under which it
labours. In the meantime the country awaits with
the keenest anxiety the decision of the ministry.
They will be judged by their acts, and have now an
opportunity of securing the support and confidence
of the whole mercantile community of the empire
The Liverpool Banking Company which we re-
ferred to yesterday as having been unable to con-
tinue their payments, have kept their doors open to-
day, but only to answer inquiries. They have made
no public announcement of their inability to meet
the demands upon them ; but there does not seem to
be any probability of their resuming payment'. The
stoppage was officially intimated to their London
agents this morning. The bank was established
in 1836, about the same period as the Royal
Bank, which has failed with it; but it is in
every respect a much smaller establishment, and the
amount of deposits is insignificant compared with
those of the other bank. Its stoppage at this junc-
ture will however occasion much difficulty, and add
materially to the distress of the people of Liverpool.
The number of partners is about 150, and the shares
201. each, of which 101. only has been paid up.
It is stated that the shareholders are very respectable,
and it is probable that the affairs of the bank will be
satisfactorily adjusted, even more speedily than those
of the Royal Bank, notwithstanding the greater
wealth of that establishment.
There has been no fresh disaster of importance
announced in Liverpool to-day, although two or
three houses of secondary importance have been
obliged to come to a stop. An extensive building
firm, who banked with the Royal Bank, have given
notice to their workmen and the public that in con-
sequence of their funds being locked up in the Royal
Bank they will
be obliged to suspend their works,
and discharge the
greater part of their hands.
HERALD.—The
deputation met from Ministers
which the Liverpool
ters yesterday has been
warmly discussed in
come City
to is
circles to-day. The
conclusion generally
that Ministers are
strongly fortified against all isintethrference by the
opinion of influential parties in
de frteiamemt
time,
hat
ft
whom are numbered a majority of ethCeity
the Bank of England. It is, at the
ported. upon authority that entitles it to
tchreedit, that Lord John Russell is more flexible on
than some of his colleagues, but that great difficulty
is experienced even by him in coming to any definiteul
conclusion as to the modus operandi in an attempt to
afford relief. That there is great diversity of opiion
on this part of the subject, API amongst persons of
the most extensive experience in monetary and mer-
cantile affairs, must be admitted. Different forms of
administering relief are, in consequence, advocated in
every direction, but no scheme yet proposed appears
so likely to answer time purpose as to remove all re-
straint upon the issues of the Bank of England, and
leave the whole responsibility of extending accom-
modation on the airectors of that establishment.
This was the course which was successful in
arresting the panic in 1825, and the extent
to which the extraordinary issue of the Bank
of England was carried on that occasion we
stated in the Herald of Monday last. This is a
course which the law now forbids, but which an
order in council could sanction ; and who dreams of
the refusal of an act of indemnity for such an order ?
One of the arguments used against all interference,
which has some plausibility, is, that no interference
should be made either on the part of the Government
or the Bank that would have a tendency to prop up
insolvent concerns. There are, however, very few
such eitiQS of any consequence whose real situation

has not been so much exposed that they will not be
able to maintain their position for any length of time,
and even if a few of them should escape, the evil is of
less consequence than the fall of numerous solvent
concerns. The best illustration of that fact will be
found on reference to the early months of 1826, for
although the panic was allayed in the beginning of
January, the bankruptcies and declarations of insol-
vencies were more numerous than before the Bank of
England extended her issues.
As an illustration of the different views taken on
the subject of relief, we annex the following letter to
Lord John Russell, by one of the largest capitalists in
the City, although we do not concur in the suggestion
made by him to the Premier, as the most eligible
method that can be adopted :
(Copy.)
"Old Swan Wharf, London Bridge,

Oct. 11, 1847.
"My Lord,—l venture most respectfully to sub-
mit, for the consideration of your Lordship and her
Majesty's Ministers, a plan which, in my judgment
(founded on a long mercantile experience), would ma-
terially relieve the present monetary pressure in the
commercial world, and restore confidence, the want of
which is prevailing and extending to such an alarming
degree in the community at large.
" My plan is simply to fund five, say five millions,
Exchequer-bills, and to allow Exchequer-bills to be
received in payment of excise and customs duties, the
same as bank notes.

"At a period like the present, when credit is de-
stroyed and the whole commercial system convulsed,
it is, perhaps, unnecessary for me to offer any apology
for this intrusion on your Lordship's notice ; but I
trust, whether my suggestion be deemed worthy your
Lordship's consideration or not, that you will kindly
excuse the liberty I have taken in making it, and
" Remain, my Lord,
" Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,
(Signed) " RICHARD THORNTON.
" To the Right Hon. Lord John Russell,
First Lord of the Treasury, &c."
(Copy.)
" Downing-street Oct. 12, 1847.

" Sir,—Lord John Russell haS desired me to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th
inst., on the subject of the present monetary crisis.
" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) "GEORGE KEPPEL.
"Richard 'Thornton, Esq."
The Liverpool Banking Company apprised Currie
and Co., upon whom they drew in London, that
they had stopped payment this morning. This bank
was established in 1826, but it never had a very ex-
tensive business, although its affairs have been
always considered to have been well conducted by
the manager, Mr. Wilson. By the last returns to
the Stamp-office there were 150 shareholders, but
the amount of paid-up capital has not transpired.
Currie and Co. held a balance of 6,0001. in favour
of the bank, so that the stoppage is believed to be a
matter of prudence, to avoid making sacrifices. It
is, however, understood that the affairs will be
wound up.

THE MONEY PRESSURE.
(From the Liverpool Courier of yesterday.)
OFFICIAL CIRCULAR.

" The directors of the Royal Bank of Liverpool,
having waited the result of the town deputation,
regret that it has returned unsuccessful ; there is still
another effort being made by the directors for assist-
ance, the result of which will be made known as
soon as ascertained.
" Royal Bank, 20th October, 1847."
BIRMINGHAM, WEDNESDAY.
The fanwing memorial to the First Lord of the
Treasury is to be submitted for the approval of a
public meeting in our town-hall on Friday evening
next. It is unnecessary to say that it will be car-
ried :

" The Memorial of the undersigned Inhabitants
of Birmingham—
" Showeth,—That your memorialists have wit-
nessed with grief and astonishment the unchecked
progress of ruin which will have made the last twelve
months fatally memorable in the history of this
country. Houses whose experience and wealth had
grown up with the growth, and were interwoven with
the existence, of English commerce, have been suddenly
destroyed ; and other houses, whose vast fortunes
had been shattered by former shocks of our monetary
system, have now been swept away by renewed cala •
mities. The place of these great agents of English
commerce, prosperity, and power, cannot be suddenly
filled up. The wealth and experience necessary to
create and sustain these great houses must grow up
together. Your memorialists lament the attempts
which have been made to conceal the ruin caused by
the Bill of 1844, by attacking the character of its
victims. These unfortunate and libelled men have
not fallen from any imprudence of their own; they
are found generally not to have extended their en-
terprise beyond the healthful requirements of trade,
or beyond that due proportion to the extent of their
property, which ordinary experience had justified, but
they have undeniably been destroyed by the fatal law
of 1844.
" When the h;gh price of food caused by the bad
harvests of 184,5 and 1846, the great railway con-
tracts sanctioned by the deliberate decision of Par-
liamentary committees, and confirmed by Parliamen
tart' acts, as undertakings of importance to the
national welfare—when these and other circumstances
combined rendered an increase of monetary facilities
imperative, then the Bank of England, notwithstand-
ing the exportation of 10 millions of gold money for
the needful purchase of food, was compelled by the
law of 1844 further to contract its paper issues.
With an abundant gold circulation, the law of 1844
permitted the issue of thirty millions of paper money
by the Bank of England. The nation was tempted
into enterprises of great extent by this large basis for
its operations. The gold money had been reduced by
at least ten millions, and the law of 1844 has reduced
the issues of paper money to the Bank of England
to 21,961,585/., and the Bank of England, though
using its resources to a limit almost dangerous to
itself, has been compelled to reduce the actual circu-
lation of legal tender paper to 18,639,8851. The
completion of undertakings and the payment of
obligations entered into when gold was plentiful and
paper money abundant are thus rendered impossible.
It is the madness of the law and the crime of the
Legislature, and not the speculative spirit of the
people, that has produced the ruin that now affects the
country.
"The danger of this Bill was clearly pointed out
by the bankers of London at the time when it was
under discussion. Their opinion was embodied in
a memorial to the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel,
submitting that some power should be reserved by
the Bill for extending the issues of the Bank of Eng-
land in cases of emergency, to be made apparent
to the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, and the Master of the Mint. This
opinion of men so familiar with monetary affairs
should have been absolutely decisive of the impracti-
cability of the Bill. In the opinion of the London
bankers the Act of 1844 could not be carried out
without a tampering clause. Your memorialists are
of opinion that the main principle of the Banking
Acts of 1819 and 1844 is altogether erroneous, and
that the Act of 1844, which was framed for the ex-
press purpose of carrying this principle into strict
operation, cannot be continued in its integrity with-
out producing consequences too terrible to be con-
templated. The principle to which your memorialists
refer is that which makes the foreign exchanges the
regulator of our internal circulation. This principle
they consider erroneous, because whenever, from any
cause, no matter what, gold is either drawn out or
sent out of the country, or hoarded from panic, the
home trade is deranged by the monetary value of all
cotismoclities being reduced, not simply in proportion
to the gold withdrawn from active circulation, but in
many cases in a proportion exceeding ten times in
;Amount the gold withdrawn. An exact estimate of
the value of the national securities, calculated at pre-
sent prices, would show that there is no exaggeration
in this statement. The value of the national secu-
rities is now more than one hundred and fifty mil-
lions below par. Other securities have been reduced
in monetary value in a like ratio. The large falling
off in the income of the nation, as shown by the late
revenue returns, is an admonition which cannot
safely be disregarded. The same amount of taxes
cannot he paid out of the diminished profits of reduced
capital.'
" The struggle between the railway and the mer-
cantile interests for the monetary facilities of the
nation, your memorialists consider to be another proof
of the inadequacy of the present monetary system, as
your memorialists are of opinion that no impediment
should be allowed to stand in the way of employing
productively the whole of the labouring population, in-
asmuch as that it must be quite evident that it is better
that the labourer should be supported by his own
gains than that he should be supported as a pauper.
The present monetary system, by unduly limiting the
eamioonuonftyoofutr m
of the of property, in the opi-
°ria
bliests forbids that the credit of
the country should
used for this purpose, and
hence the attempt of oneinterest to strangle the other.
Were the monetary system equal to the wants of the
country, the whole of them population
pro-
ductively employed at remunepruat3on would be
in" Your memorialists would
wagrnwyagoeusr Lordship
that energetic measures are now absolutely necessary
to restore confidence, and would point out to your
Lordship the policy pursued in 1825 ; but in doin-gr
they only point it out as a palliative which
may be
to alleviate the present pressure, being convinced
that nothing less than an entire abandonment of the
principle of the present monetary system will restore
general and permanent prosperity.
" Your memorialists would warn you that the
means of sustaining employment are rapidly giving
way, and that very soon will be added to the evil of
a falling revenue the dangerous discontents which
always arise out of a general condition of suffering,

and the difficulty of providing the means of existence
for the unemployed masses of the people.
" Your memorialists, while they thus warn your
Lordship of the necessity of immediate palliative
measures, earnestly entreat your Lordship to take
into consideration the whole system of the currency,
with a view to such a reform of the monetary system
as will give to the nation an efficient, just, and secure
instrument of exchange."

SUSPENSION of RAILWAY CALLS

MANCHESTER, WIIDNESDAY.—To-day the deputa-
tion appointed at a meeting of shareholders in the
Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle Junction Rail-
way, lately held here, waited on the directors of the
company by appointment, at the offices in Princess-
street.

The deputation consisted of Sir Ralph Pendlebury,
Mr. Rawson, Mr. Harpur, and other gentlemen.
They were received very courteously by Mr. Wilson
Ffrance, of Rawcliffe-hall, the chairman of the direc-
tors ; Mr. Thomas Broadbent, Mr. Wilson, the secre-
tary ; Mr. Hawkshavr, the company's engineer ; and
others.

The proceedings on the part of the shareholders'
deputation resolved themselves into three questions :
First, whether the directors were disposed in the pre-
sent state of the money market to abandon the under-
taking ; secondly, whether they were disposed to
return any portion of the 98,0001., now in hand, and
wait for more favourable times ; and, thirdly, if not
disposed to do either, what they really were disposed
to do ?

The directors replied, that after mature considera-
tion they found that they could not do the first with-
out a new Act; that their legal advisers informed
them that to do the second would be illegal ; and, as
regarded any reply to the third inquiry, they might
state that they were perfectly aware of the condition
of the money market, that they would do all they
ould to suspend works and curtail expenditure, that
they had let no contracts and had bought no land,
except conditionally, and that it was their intention
to suspend all operations, in so far as was consistent
with their engagements. The directors also drew the
attention of the deputation to a memorial which they
had submitted to the Railway Commissioners, expla-
natory of the difficult position in which the directors
felt themselves placed. The suggestions contained in
it were received as valuable by the Commissioners,
but those functionaries could not give any promise as
to what would be done in the matter, as they were
only prepared to receive the memorial in a suggestive
point of view. This document, a copy of which was
furnished to the deputation, represented that under
their Act of incorporation only two courses or alterna-
tive:; were open to the directors—in the one case, either
to proceed to make calls ; or, in the other, to let their
Act of incorporation expire. To do the latter would
involve the loss of all the outlay incurred in Parlia-
mentary expenses and surveys, besides, in all proba-
bility, the loss of the remaining deposits, inasmuch as
engagements hal been entered into which the direc-
tors would be compelled to complete, such as those
with landowners, &c. The depution to the Commis-
sioners, however, had suggested that in order to meet
the difficulties in which they, and companies in their
position were placed, a general measure should be in-
troduced early in the next session entitling companies
to defer the prosecution of their works until a more
favourable period, with powers for an extension of
time in the purchase of lands, &c., not longer than
fifteen years.
The Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle Com-
pany is about the first that has publicly moved in this
matter, and its example is expected to form a prece-
dent that will be pretty generally followed, at least as
regards this district. The total deposits received
amounted to 179,0001., and the total expenditure to
about 80,0001., leaving a present balance of 98,5C01.
Nothing beyond the finishing of the surveys and plans
for the portion of the line from Kettlewell to Bolton
Castle, fifteen miles, which it was intended first to
commence out of a total of sixty, and which includes
a summit tunnel, has been done, and this only has
been staked out. The line is to a great extent in
alliance with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.