The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-04 00:00:00

TUE sUS, LONDON, THunBi )4a t:VgNiNG, AUGUST 4, 18 u.

IMPERI AL PAULIA ‘I EN

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—This DAY.
Zipeaker took the chair at five minutes to foul'

o'clock.

rHE .MONEY MARKET

AND
COMM EiICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CITY, Two o'CLocx
ANOTHER. RISE IN THE BANK RA ! E.

At the meeting to-day in the Bank Parlour the rate of
discount was again raised to 6 per cent.
The expectation of further failures keeps all the mar•
kets flat.

Consols are now 88i to 89 for money, and 884 to
891 for account ; Three per Cent. Reduced, 881 to 89 ;
New Three per Cents., 884 to 89 ; Exchequer Bills,
par to 5 prem.; Indian 104 per Cents., 202/ ; Indian
Five per Cents., 109 to 7 ; ditto Four per Cents., 1001;
ditto, 5 per Cent. Enfaced Paper, 100 ; ditto 4 per Cent.
Bonds., par ; Metropolitan Board of Works, 34 per
Cent. Stook, 90.
In the Foreign Market Brazilian Bends of 1865 are
863; Egyptian Seven per Cents. of 1864, 824; ditto
of 1868, 67 to 68 ; Spanish of 18C7, 24a to 241 ; ditto of
1869, 231 to 244 ; ditto Quicksilver, 65 to 68 ; Peru-
vian, 83 to 21; Turkish Five per Cents. ,of 1865, 38 to 39,
ditto of 1869, 47 to 481; and Five per Cent. Italian of
1865, 82.
The Railway Market—Metropolitan are 631 ; Great
Eastern is 821 to 30 ; London and Brighton, 324 to 321;
Caledonian, 71 to 711; South-Eastern, 64 ; Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, 38 ; Great Northern, 1131 to
1131 ; ditto (A), 118 f; North Eastern, 1291 ; London
and North-Western, 1211 ; Midland, 121 ; Lancashire
and Yorkshire, 126 ; Great Western, 62.
Canada Six per Cents. are quoted 1001 ; New
South Wales Five per Cents., 98 to 981 ; New
Zealand Five per Cents., 931 to 931 ; Queensland 103 ;
Victoria Five)bper Cents., 98 to 971; and ditto Six per
Conte., 1081.

Telegraph Shares—Anglo-Amrri•an, 83 to. 88 ; British
Indian, 61; China, 5 to 5i ; Falmouth,l 8 ; French
Cable, 141 to 15 ; and Construction and Mainten-
ance, 22i.

In Bank shares Alliance are quoted 13 ; Anglo-
Austrian, 4to 6 prem.; Chartered Meroantile, 26 to 28;
Consolidated, ; Imperial Ottoman, 9i to 10k ; London
and County, 50; London and Westminster, 60, 59; London
Joint Stock, 31 33 ; and Union of London 354.
In Miscellaneous Shares Berlin Water Works are quoted
11 12 ; Viceroy of Egypt 9 per cent. Mortgage, Loan, 70 ;
National Discount Company, 114 ; and Peninsular and
Oriental Steam, 39 4L
The telegrams from Berlin describe an increased ten-
dency toward recovery on the Bourse. The subscriptions

for the National 5 per Cent. Loan of 15 millions sterling
were opened yesterday morning. Previously to the war the
Prussian Five per Cents, were at 102 i, and the price of
the present loan is 88.
Advices from the South of France state that the hoard-

ing of silver is being carried on to a great extent.
A Petroleum Bill introduced in the Rouse of Lords has
passed its second reading, and is now in committee.
According to the view of the leading persons engaged in
the business its clauses are such as would completely in-
terrupt this important branch of commerce, and strong
representations have therefore been made to some of the
principal mercantile members of the House of Commons
to prevent its being passed without full consideration
when it shall come down to that House.

Messrs. John S. Stanley and Son, yarn agents at Man-
chester, have called a meeting of their creditors for
Tuesday next.

The Glasgow Herald states :—" The following failures
have been reported from America Messrs. George
William Bond and Co., of Boston, and Messrs. Thomas
Hilsen and Co., of Philadelphia, both in the wool trade—
the senior partner of the latter firm having absconded to
Europe, it is said, by the Samaria, leaving unpaid
balances to the extent of $60,000. Both firms bad deal-
ings with Messrs. F. H. Jones, jun., and Co., of Boston,
whose stoppage we recently announced.' "
A meeting has been held of the creditors of Mr.
Richard Guest, cotton spinner, Firs-lane, Leigh. The
statement prepared by the accountant showed the liabili-
ties to be £24,617 15s. 9d., of which £9,196145. 6d. is fully
secured, and assets about £l,lOO. A resolution was una-
nimously passed to liquidate the estate by arrangement,
under petition, in the Bankruptcy Court.
At a meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Joseph Eller
and Co., merchants, of Manchester, it was shown that
the estate would yield 13s. in the pound, and a committee
was appointed to confer with Messrs. Eller as to a com-
position.

The report of the Land Securities Company (Limited),
to be presented on the 11th inst., shows an available total
of 23,802, including a previous balance of £985, and
re commends a dividend at the rate of 4 per cent. per
annum, and the appropriation of £5OO to reserve, leaving
£1,302 to be carried forward.

The report of the French Cable Company, to be pre-
sented on the 9th inst., states that the traffic since the last
meeting has yielded over £3,000 a week, which enables
the directors to recommend an interim dividend for the
six months ended June 30 of 14s. per share, or at the rate
of 7 per cent. per annum. _ _

The half-yearly meeting of the Carnarvonshire Railway
Company is called for the 18th inst.

The ordinary general meeting of the East London Rail-
way Company will be held on the 18th inst.
Berger. Spence, and Co.'s weekly report says :
During the past week there has been much agitation
and irregularity in the Chemical trade. For home con-
sumption there is scarcely an average demand, but the
prices for staple articles do not present symptoms of much
relaxation. For Minerals there is a good market ; but
Pyrites cannot be said to be as firm as during the last few
weeks. Oolitic Iron Ores continue in good demand in
the Staffordshire district. There is a lively demand for
Lead, and some probability of a further advance in value.
Spelter in rather better enquiry. Other Metals dull.

THIS MORNING'S NEWS

PORTUGAL.
A Royal decree has been published declaring the neu-
trality of Portugal in the war bet Ween France and
Prussia. The Marquis Anjena has left the Ministry.
Manifestations against Marshal Saldanha have been made
by the merchants of Lisbon and (Oporto. The crops have
suffered from the heat and drought.

OUR COTEMPORARIES---This Morning

Tilt; BATTLE OF SAARlkitdk.

The Tithes finds it impossible to reconcile the discord Ant
accounts of the fight, and therefore attempts to solve the
question as to what was the real object of this action,
and what the material gain .of the French by
their success. It is not said that the French
took possession of Saarbruck itself ; much less
that they. forced their way across the river, obtained a
footing in St. Jolmn; and secured the railway line
and station on the right bank. The river is cn the spot
broader than the Thames at OXford, and nowhere ford-
able, and the bridges have been for several days protected
by strong stone barricades. It is by no means clear
whether the French will push their attack at this voint,
or whether their adversaries will prolong their defence.
As an isolated fact, this first victory would not have
the slightest importance, and we have yet to see
whether the cannonade at Saarbruck was accompanied
by a general advance of the French. The. Prussian line
of the Saar is still unbroken ; all the towns and stations
on the railway—Saarburg, Merzig, &c.—are on the
right bank, while Saarlouis, the only strong place, is
built on a peninsula almost entirely surrounded by
the river., with its bastions spreading equally on either
side. The immediate return of the Emperor to Metz and
the silence of the telegraph with respect to further opera-
tions for more than twenty-four hours, if we contrast it
with the glowing accounts of this first exploit, Might
almost induce us to believe that nothing of great conse-
quence is immediately to follow, and that the causes which
have hitherto condemned the French troops to inaction
are still at work.

The Daily News says this attack has not lifted the veil
which hides the movements of the Germans behind the
Saar, and that we do not really know whether there is a
great army waiting to receive the French as soon as they
get well across the frontier of the Rhexiieli Province, as
some critics believe, or whether it is the policy of
the German Commaede.--iu-Chief to draw the
French on to the more ample battle-fields about
Mayence. The truth on this point will soon appear. In
the meantime the comparatively easy terms on which the
French, according to their own account, have been per-
mitted to obtain Saibruck, seem to put an end to the
theory which has found advocates here, of an intention
on the part of the German Cothinander-in-Chief to attack
the French communication in forte from Saarlouis,
and cut off their communications with Mets.
Whatever German troops may be stationed between Saar-
bruck and Saarburg, must now either be raised to a strength
such as will enable them to undertake important opera-
tions from that position, as they might do, or be ordered
to fall back if the French should advance, since a
small force in such a situation would be liable to be cut
off. Having gained a point which opens all the roads of
Rhenish Prussia, and the Palatinate south-west of
Mayence, the French have now to choose those by which
they will advance.
The Telegraph does not consider the battle of any great
consequence. It seems to throw more light upon the
movements of the Prussians than on those of their oppo-
nents. The Telegraph's information concerning the posi-
tion of the two armies is so imperfect that it would hesi-
tate to say that an offensive movement of the German
troops was not still upon the cards. Many high military
authorities are of opinion that the first great battle of the
war will be fought upon French soil. It may be so, and
in that case the evacuation of Saarbruck is not decisive
one way or another. But, so far as it goes, it seems to
strengtnen the impression that the Prussians will await
the attack of the French on their own territory. We
were informed yesterday that the Seventh Prussian Corps
d'Armde was marching towards Trhves by the Eigel
district. Now, in case the Germans had any strong
force in Rhenish Bavaria, or along the Prusso-French
frontier from Sierck to Saargemund—that is, a force
with which they could contemplate the invasion of
France—it is obvious that it would be of immense import-
ance to them to retain possession of Saarbruck ; the junc-
tion of the lines along which—according to the hypothesis
---the two main divisions of the German army would be
advancing towards France. Of course the abandon-
ment of Saarbruck is perfectly consistent with the
theory that the Prussians intend to pass the frontier
through Rhenish Bavaria or across the Rhine; but' it is
not easily to be reconciled with the ingenious notion
started by some of our contemporaries, that the German
right intends to march into French territory in force from
some point to the north of Saarlouis,
Saarbruck, or Saathrucken,says the Standard, is a small
manufacturing town, with a population of about 14,000
people, situated on the left bank of the Saar, with a
bridge connecting it with a suburb, St. Johann, on the
right bank. It has always contained a small
Prussian garrison, but it is without fortifi-
cations, and, situated in a valley it is completely
dominated by the adjoining heights. When these
heights were once gained by the French troops the affair
was practically over. The French artillery made the
town unto cable to an enemy. We are unaware of the
strength of the Prussians at the time of the attack, but
we imagine the French to have been greatly superior in
numbere. French accounts speak of one division op-
posed to three Prussian divisions, But it is extremely
Unlikely that the Prussians were in so great force.
in the first place, no great object was to be gained by
'
holding the place • in the second, it was almost impossible
that any force the Prussians could have spared at that
extremity of their line could have withstood the strength
the French could easily dispose of at that point, with-
out in any way weakening their position. The
wonder is, that the Prussians made any fight at all—that
they did not, for the sake of the population, allow the
French to take quiet possession, thereby saving the towns-
people the terrible calamity that has overtaken them, and
avoiding a certain defeat, calculated at once to discourage
their own troops and greatly inspirit the French.
The Standard is not quite sure that this movement be-
tokens a general advance. General Bazaine, it is true,
is reported to have moved forward from Boulay, and to
have had a successful encounter with Prussian troops on
the frontier; but nothing authentic from that quarter has
reached ue. Private information from Prussian sources
induces us to believe that, on the line between Saarburg,
Merzig, and Saarluie, a great Prussian army is ooncen-
trated, prepared either to assume the initiative by cross-
ing the frontier just to the south of Luxemburg, or to
await attack on their own chosen ground.

CONTRABAND OF WAR.
The Times expresses a hope that some means may be
found of restraining the exportation of unquestionable
munitions of war. It has been rendered clear, in the con-
troversy of the last few days, that there exists no legal
prohibition against such contraband traffic, and that the
Crown has only power in great emergencies to prohibit
the exportation of such articles. What the exact nature
of such emergencies may be appears in some mea-
sure uncertain. The Government, indeed will be bound
to see that we are not deprived of a sufficient supply of
horses for our own army. This is a point which must be
left to their own responsibility; but, apart from this,
horses, oats, and hay are the staple of a trade which is as
serviceable in peace as in war, and the emergency ought to
be very urgent before we prohibit their exportation. It
is quite otherwise, however, with definite munitions of
war, such as guns and cartridges. It is quite certain
that if we are supplying these on any considerable scale
we are supplying them for the purposes of the
contest now raging. It is also clear that,
under certain conditions, we may be prac-
tically affording material aid to one side in
the struggle, and in such a case no one can doubt that a
bitter and dangerous resentment might be aroused in the
mind of the belligerent whose interests were thus preju-
diced. It seems equally clear that it is a matter perfectly
within our own competence to abstain from supplying
warlike munitions to either side in the contest, and, what-
ever the practice hitherto observed, we cannot but think
it desirable to adopt this course.