The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-14 00:00:00

Z7-(1

PRICE SD.

Mexico, Aug. 21, 18462

MEXICAN BONDHOLDER-S.
The following letter has been written bx aMexical
bondholder : , iti i
" Your letter in this day's money `article
-Mating t
the Mexican affairs has caused much excitement ant
uneasiness among the bondholders, as the 'variation it
the prices will show you. As I find that Messrg:Schnei•
der,and Co: Ohl Governmerq agents) stateithat the)
have ne authority to stop the conversion which was stil
going on, I beg that you will give publicity to the agents
assertion, or make further inquiry into the matter, to
save ruin to the unfortunate holders, who may II; other-
wise driven to sell their bonds at any price your re-
marks may drive the stock to." .
Our remarks on this subject have been little more
than a description of the contents of a certainAispatch,
copies of which are now in the City. In a matter of so
much importance it is but natural. that mach discussion
should arise, and that different opinions should be uttered
as to a proceeding which seems to jeopardizra large
amount of property. On such points as thei legitimacy
and permanence in power of the authorities prom whom
-the-dispatch has emanated, or their constitutional ability
to do such as act as repudiate th'e cOnverted:b4ids, we
leave the public to judge, according to the Frtffrmation
and knowledge they possess. We only . warn. them not
to question the existence of a document containing such
provisions as have been described under this head, and
to be prepared for its publication. They can then criti-
cise it at leisure, and consider whether the present
Government is more or less legitimate than that
Paredes.
Since writing the above we have received the 'follow-
ing from Messrs. Schneider, the Mexican agents; and
though the second document is of great length, .the at-
tention of the speculators is so completely absoibed by
the position of Mexican stock, that we do not hesitate
to give it entire. In the meantime, we would observe
that the statements of Messrs: Schneider do not in the
least impugn the validity of the document brought by
Senor Gomez Tories:—
" TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
" Sir,—ln the present state of agitation of the public
mind concerning the conversion of the old debt of 'Mexico
into the new stock, which was created by virtue of the
agreement entered into between the Mexican Govern-
ment and the bondholders in June last, we think the
publication of the following translation of a letter written
by the ex-Minister of Finance, Don Luis de la Rosa, to
the editor of a Mexican newspaper called the Republi-
cano, and published in that paper in the month of August
last, may tend very much to allay the uneasiness so na-
turally felt at the present moment, and we therefore
transmit it to you for that.purpose.
..
" We also take advantage—of this occasion "t maka
known'to the public, that neither by the last packet, nor
by the one which preceded it, have we received any
communication from the authorities in Mexico, nor have
we• any official information whatever concerning the
mission of . Senor Gomez Farias to this country; whom
we nave not seen, . and from whom we have not 'as yet
received any communication. •
" We are, sir, your most obedient servants,
" JOHN SCHNEIDER AND* CO.
""No._ 10, New Broad-street Mews, Oct 13;"
" ' TO THE EDITOR OF THE ' MONITOR REPUBLWANO2
" ' Sir,—The arrangement of the foreign debt has
been concluded in London—an arrangement which I had
the honour of setting on foot when I discharged the
duties of Minister of Hacienda. The large sum of
more than 50,000,000 dollars is embraced by it, and on
that account it claims the attention of the entire republic.
Those of us whose duty it has bet n to participate in this
grave matter have the right to expect from their fellow-
citizens that they will not pass judgment upon it with-
out examining previously, and with all the needful im-
partiality and circumspection, the important documents
which have to be published, and in which will be seen
the origin of this arrangement, its initiatory bases; which
were fixed by me when' I had charge of the Ministry,
the modifications it has undergone, and the terms on
which- it has been definitely established. I have with
difficulty kept silence on this important matter; which,
like all other great financial operations, has been, and
ought to have been, private until its conclusion, but
which has now been accomplished. Nothing, therefore,
was written on the arrangement of the foreign debt, not-
withstanding some public writers have spoken of it many
times very erroneously, because it was impossible for
them to have had under their notice the necessary data
for judging of it. On a late occasion the editors of the
Republican, in their number 164, have attempted to
sum up the result of this most important negotiation
in these few words, ' that the national treasury will
receive almost nothing of the enormous sum which is .
treated of in this affair, and that the good folks who, in
the name of Mexico, have concluded it would gain for
themselves some millions of dollars.' I should most
deeply deplore if such had been the sad result to the re-
public of a negotiation which was originated under my
ministry, and by which I wished to secure so-many ad-
vantages for the nation, that this very circumstance was
the reason why the bases which I had established were
disapproved in London. But I believe the editors pi the
Republican have very much erred in characterising in
so unfavourable a manner the negotiation under notice,
and I am sure that their good faith will cause them to
change their opinion when they have the respective
documents before them. I, therefore, entreat them to
suspend their judgment for a few days, until these are
published.
" 'ln the mean time I will notice the errors into which
it appears to me they have fallen. In the first place, I
will observe that the negotiation of the conversion of the
debt such as was set on foot under my ministry would
be advantageous to the republic, even although the Ex-
chequer did not receive one single dollar, because, under
the administration of Senor Herrera, the question
treated of in the arrangement of this negotiation was -
not so much that of receiving great sums of money
as that of preserving the credit of Mexico, which
in the succeeding year was liable to be very much
comprOmised, and of diminishing the national debt by a
considerable amount. Nevertheless, I have received
under my ministry, and as an anticipated payment, half
a million of dollars in effective money, without, as I re- •
member, any charge for interest, and without the addi-
tion of paper or credit of any class. I will not say (be-
cause I do not yet know circumstantially the mode in .
which this negotiation has terminated) what may be the
sum which in effective money the Exchequer has yet to
receive. The amount fixed, according to the bases
which I subscribed, exceeded a million and a half of
dollars. The sum which (according to the same bases)
the national debt would be diminished would reach to
8,000,000 or 10,000,000 dolls.; but I can assert (trust-
ing in the probity of Senors Fernandez del Castillo and
Paraes, who succeeded me in the Ministry) that what-
ever may be the amounts by which the sums upon
which I have calculated may have been diminished, the
result of the arrangement will still be very advantageous
for Mexico.
" ' With regard to the millions which the editors of the
Republican° suppose the agents of the nation have
gained in making this arrangement, much might be
said, but I will limit myself at present to .the. de-
claration that one of the errors into which these
gentlemen have fallen is that of believing that Senor
Don Manuel Escaudon had been the party intrusted
with the conversion of the debt on the behalf of
the republic. I will say more, —that if this gentleman
had been so intrusted, he would have discharged his duty
in accordance with the instructions of Government, and
with the same advantages which have now been obtained
for Mexico. But I repeat, that Senor
,Escaudon (ac-
cording to the information I have received) has not inter-
fered in this matter in any official capacity. His Excel-
lency Senor Murphy, the Mexican Minister in LOndon,
Senor Don Guillermo O'Brien, and the Senors Schneider,
agents of the republic, have been the parties officially
charged with this important operation. With regard to
Senor Murphy, I have always entertained the most
favourable idea of his talent and probity; but w hen I
was discharging the duties of Minister of Hacienda,
I found in the archives of that department so many
docuinents which proved his patriotism, his - intelli-
gence, and lealty to the republic, that I did not hesi-
tate a moment in the belief -that he was without
doubt the person best adapted for managing the
grave operation in which the conversion of the
debt consisted. Another person of talent and honour-
able feeling was required to co-operate in this matter,
and after many and most scrupulous reports which
I received, I determined to appoint Senor Don Guillerino
O'Brien, an individual well-informed in Mexican affairs,
intelligent in banking operations, of entire probity, and
who, if my recollection rightly serve me, has already
discharged very important commissions intrusted to him
by the Government of our country.
" ' With respect to the house of Senors Schneider, to
whom I intrusted the agency of the republic, which was
previously conducted by the Senors Lizardi, even my
ouemies have done me the justice to confess that I made
a wise election. A new proof of this is presented to us
in the documents which the editors of the Republican.
have recently published. At the meeting which the
holders of Mexican bonds held in London, for the pur-
pose of examining the proposals of the Government re-
lative to the conversion of the debt, a committee pre-
sented its report on these proposals, and amongst other
things expressed itself as follows :—' The committee
cannot conclude their report without expressing their
satisfaction at finding the agency of the Mexican re-
public in the hands of the highly respectable house to
which it has been transferred : in their communications
with that house they have seen an anxious desire to afford
to the bondholders all the information which could be
useful to them.'
" ' It also appears to me that the editors of the Re-
publican° have erred in believing that by the new ar-
rangement of the debt the tobacco revenue has been
sold, and that the payment of anterior charges upon it
had not been provided for. The tobacco revenue has
been especially hypothecated, but it has not been sold,
nor in any manner alienated ; and as regards the credits
especially charged upon it, I am assured by persons who-
have seen the definitive arrangement, that those credits
are in no way prejudiced.

" 'As it may be interesting, and serve to illustrate
this negotiation, I will add, that propositions for the
conversion of the foreign debt had already been pre-
sented under the Provisional Administration, and that
Senor Santa Anna (as I am informed) did not disap-
prove of them, although the conditions of this arrange-
ment were then less favourable to the republic than
those which were afterwards adopted.
" This is what I have at present to say on this im-
portant subject, reqw•sting the public will be Pleased to
suspend its judgment until the important documents
which are to be made public have been printed.
"LUIS DE LA ROSA.
'— Times.

---
As Captain Liddell, eldest son of the Hon. H. T.
Liddell, M.P., was exercising with the yeomanry cavalry,
on the Town Moor, Newcastle, he had an awkward fall
from his horse, and received a kick from the animal on
his chest. The sufferer was immediately attended by
the medical officer of the corps, and was afterwards con-
veyed in a carriage to Ravensworth Castle, where, we
are happy to hear, ho is doing well,—Durhant Advertiser.