The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-14 00:00:00

THE BANK STOPPAGES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sflt,—lt is meet to have a giant's strength, but it
is cruel to use it as a giant—an aphorism assuredly
applicable to the heads of the newspaper press.
In your Sun of last night is a communication from
this town, headed " The Bank Failures," which is
calculated to increase the panic, to spread ruin,
and, indeed, to cause a panic throughout the
country. Your reckless correspondent states that
the liabilities of the Monmouth and Glamor-
gan Bank arc said to be somewhere about three-
quarters of a million ; the cash in hand not two
thousands, and the other property of the bank trifling.
The truth of this cruel and ridiculous assertion may
be tested by the following statement :
Crs.
By Cash in hand ...
Securities, &c.
Property in houses, &c.

£15,578 19 2
... 762,939 14 11
... 31,851 9 5

X 810,370 3 6

Dra.
Capital paid up
Due by the bank
Reserve fund
Bad debts ...
Balance ...

". £220,294 0 0
.•. 554,748 1 7
... 11,604 18 6
". 13,411 8 6
... 9,311 14 11

X 810,370 3 6
Now, Sir, I leave you to judge whether in any
wind-up 220,0001. be not margin enough for any loss,
and will not also leave a large return of capital to the
shareholders. Is it not most shameful that your
correspondent, in the plenitude .of his ignorance or
wickedness, should fan the flame of alarm by such
sentences as these :—" Many of the smaller shareholders
will be ruined "—the town will suffer a fearful convul-
sion this winter. The notes of other country banks
are now regarded with apprehension—only gold is
current; this is a monetary crisis that will shake the
credit and the stability of trade to an alarming extent."
I will not trust myself to comment on this string of
falsehoods. The man who wrote them cannot be aware
of the awful responsibility which attaches to the paper
that publishes them—certainly anything more calcu-
lated to ruin the trade of Newport and the surround-
ing country, it is difficult to conceive. In the name,
therefore, of the common weal, I trust to your inser-
tion of this letter. FIAT JUSTITIA.
Newport, Oct. 11.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
NEWPORT, MONMOUTHSHIRE, OCT. 13. A
numerous and respectable meeting of the credi-
tors of the Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire
Banking Company was held at the Town-hall, this
day, for the purpose of considering what " steps were
most expedient to be taken for their security in the
present position of the bank." Sir Thomas Phillips,
Knt., was unanimously voted to the chair. A reso-
lution was proposed by W. S. Cartwright, Et.-q., a large
coal proprietor in this district, and seconded by E.
H. Phillips, Esq., "That a committee be appointed
to meet the shareholders, and that they be requested
to report to the creditors, as early as possible, the re-
sult of such meeting."
The following gentlemen were selected as the com-
mittee, on behalf of the creditors, for that purpose, in
order to ascertain the precise position of the bank,
with reference to its assets and liabilities, and to avoid
the necessity, if possible, of compelling the share-
holders to resort to a court of bankruptcy, viz. :
Sir Thos. Phillips, lint. ; Messrs. S. Homfray, Thomas
Brown, Vere Smith, W. S. Cartwright, W. A.
Williams, P. Woodruff, Charles Conway, E. H.
Phillips, James Rennie, James Evans, and Roger
Keene. Monday next, the 20th inst., was appointed
as the day on which the creditors are to receive the
report of the Investigation Committee.
The greatest anxiety appeared to prevail amongst
the creditors, as to the assets of the bank, but nothing
transpired during the meeting calculated to remove
their doubts in this respect.
The only financial statement upon which at pre-
sent calculations are based is as follows :
To capital paid up ... ... £220,294 0 0
Due by the Bank ... 555,748 1 7
Reserve fund... ... 11,604 18 6
Bad debts account ... 13,411 8 6
Debts carried to profit and
loss account

9,311 14 11

Total Drs.

By cash in hand ...
Bills discounted, loans and

securities... ... ...
Property in houses, pur-
chase of banks, &c. ...

Total Crs.