The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-02 00:00:00

CITY NEWS.

The following appeared in our LitestEiition of yester-
day evening.]

CITY, HALF-FAST FOUR O'CLOCK.

The bullion operations at the Bank to-day com-
prised an influx of £6,000, and a withdrawal of
£3,000 for Egypt.
The following is Messrs. Alexander Collie and
Co's report of the state of business at Manchester,
dated Friday, Nov.l :--There is no marked feature
observable in our market to-day. Tho dullness
which set in on Monday subsequent to the activity
of last week has continued until now, and there is
no prospect of au early change. Prices are lower,
but owing to the heavy engagements of producers
the reduction is inconsiderable. Shirtings may be
quoted 3d., mulls and jacconets lid per piece, and
yarns id per lb. less.. Printing cloths are weaker,
but quotations are unaltered. Late telegram i from
Calcutta report a better market, and an advance
of 4 annas on 8k shirtings.

THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN
RAILWAY.
We are requested to insert the following :
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—l desire to draw attention to a point with
reference to the Atlantic and Great Western Rail-
way that seems to have been overlooked. It will
be remembered that the debenture debt was created
in 186 E under the authority of the three Atlantic
and Great Western Companies chartered by the
States of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. At
the time of the issue of the debentures the extent
of the mortgage debts of the three companies was
well known to be restricted to certain amounts, and
it was supposed, and so stated, that the value of
the property of etch c mip.lny was greatJt than the
amount of mortgage debt, of each company. Hence
a, certain credit was attached to each corporation,
and the debentures therefore obtained pur-
chasers, it b.;ing known that whatever balance,
if any, that might be. duo to the holders there-
of, after the sale of the collateral securities,
would be a claim upon the respective companies.
A. year afterward:, under acts of consolidation
passed by the three States, the three companies
were dissolved, and a new company. was furnied.
By a clause in each of the Acts of Consolidation
the property of the three companies was transferred
to the new company, subject to all the debts of the
three companies. Subsequently, a mortgage of 30
million dollars was created by the new company
against the property so acquired, and the general
impression Ls that that mortgage outranks the de-
benture debt. Such, however, is not the case, be-
cause the property acquired by the new company
was, by the legislative enactments, liable to all the
debts of the individual companies, and the consoli-
dated mortgage, therefore, covered the property,
subject to the restrictions upon it, and thogo
restrictions consisted in the property being
responsible for the debts hitherto incurred by the
respective companies. A railroad company obtains
credit, not by reason of its being a corporation, but
by reason of its having property. It would be a
monstrous thing if the Legislature of a State could
authorise a company to part with its property to
another company, without providing for the pay-
ment of its debts. But the Legislatures of Ohio,
l'enusylvania' and New York took care of the cre-
ditors of the three original companies ; they would
not permit the companies to part with their property
without securing their creditors. it.-:otne doubts have
been expressed as to the solidity of the Consolidated
Bonds, but it is immaterial to the Debenture holders
whether those bonds are valid or not, as the deben-
tures rank first after the divisional Bonds, and the
Consolidated Bonds come afterwards.—l am Sir,
your obedient servant, iv.

There was no material variation in the Foreign Ex-
changes this afternoon. Annexod are the latest particu-
lars : —Amsterdam, 12 01 to 12 0/ ; ditto short, 11 181, to
11 18f.; Rotterdam, 12 0} to 12 01 ; Antwerp, 25 35 to
25 40; Hamburgh, 13 10 to 13 101; Frankfort, 1201. to
1201; Petersburgh, 311 to 32 ; Paris, 25 30 to 25 35 ; ditto
short, 2.5 10 to 25 171 ; Marseilles, 25 30 to 2) 3,; Vienna,
12 65 to 12 70 ; Trieste, 12 65 to 12 70 ; Leghorn, Genoa,
Milan, Naples, Palermo, and Messina, 28 15 to 28 25 ; Ma-
drid,.4Bl to 431; Cadiz, 491 to 491 ; Bilboa, 481 to 49 ;
Barcelona, 481 to 49 ; Valencia, 481 to 481 ; Lisbon, .511
to 511; Oporto, M: to 51/.