Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-05-28
SUSPENSION OF SIR MORTON
~. --..-r- PET0,

-l--.-l.
SUSPENSION OF SIR MORTON
r.,--- PET0. rl.-
Circular to CrehItors-ResoureeS Of
!he Ffrm-COmments OfIhe London
l1i 20 gi-75r
From the LONDON Daily News, Nay I2.l
The eminent railway Contractors,
Messrs. Peto & Belts, have, through the
pressure of the times, been compelled TO
announce their suspension. The lisbili-
ties are about $4,000, 600, ofwhich e. 8O0-
600 are amply secured, with large mar.
gins, and the remaining f200, 900 repre-
sent acceptanees and accounts for cur
rent supplies. All the works which the
firm contracted for abroad, are in a very
forward state, and arrangements VIII Be
made at once for their due completion.
In England nearly all the contracts have
been undertaken jointly with lother con-
tractors, and these works will, therefore,
not be inpeded. 1t is understood that
the house could have had plenty Of as
sistance this morning for their immediate
necessities but it was foreseen that this
would prove merely half measure, and
it is fairly considered that no dishonor
whatever can attach to the partners in
stopping payment in time OF terrible
pressure like the present. oa
CIRCULAR TO CREDITORS. st
--1 No. 9 GREAT GEORGE STREET.
WEsTMINsTER, May IL, 1856.
We much regret to find ourselves un-
der the painful necessity of allowing our
acceptances to be returned, owing wholly
to the disappointment Of the arrange
ments we had made for their provision.
which nave been defeated by the
very unexpected turn which has,
taken place in the money mar
ket within the last few days. We have
considered it to be the most expedient
course in the interest of ali parties, that
for the present we should make no fur
ther payments, and await the, ,subsidelce
of the financial panic now prevailing; but
We are enabled to state, that having com
mitted statement of our affairs to Mr.. J..
E. Coleman so lately as the 23d of LAST
month, we then possessed clear balance
Of upward Of sI, ,000, 600 estimating our
various properties at their then deprscfa-
ted value. Our position now is but slight
ly changed, and We have therefore only
to solicit forbearanee on the part Of those
who hold our engagements, and we trust
in very short time to submit, through
Messrs. Coleman, Turquand & Co.. a satif.
factory proposal for the adjustment and
discharge of our liabilities. r--
We remain your obedient serv rs,
Pro & Belts.
RESOURCES OF THE F1EM.
The London star of the 18th has the
following lsl- % s5-7 L. ea1s
We understand that several weeks ago
some indications Of impending difficulty
became apparent and that the firm had
their books examined by Messrs. Tur-.
quand, Coleman & Co., the result being
that as, after allowing a wide margin for
every probable contingency, the assets
exceeded the liabilities by one million
sterling Sir Morton Peto and his partners
were treasured as to their position. But
the events which have taken place in the
intervening period have materially
changed the sspectof their affairs. Being
railway contractors their capital was rep.
resented partly in money and partly in
securities on railway and other prop rty,
the latter being only realizable ct their
legitimate value when the market is in a
healthy state. In peaceful times morey
may always be borrowed on substantial
securities, but these are moi, such times,
and in the case Of firm like Sir Morton
Peto's the external aid which Is indispen-
sable assumes such a magnitude as to be
practically unattainable In the faee Of
panic, and what panic may lead to, dis
count-houses and banks need ali or
the greater proportion Of their cap
ital to meet prospective demands
on their own credit. With such resources
of intellect, of influence and Of estate %
Sir Morton possesses, he might fairly haze
hoped to tide over the crisis; but the wild
panic which, like a species of madness,
has laid hold Of the city, has rendered, for
the time being, every kind of security
even though, like eonsols, they are based
on the granite rock Of the national credit
-uneonvertible and therefore practically
valueless. Everybody being IN a state Of
apprehension, and not knowing what
would happen, it is not surprising that for
the exigencies of to-day-7Which ara after
all, inexorable-Sir. .Mortoa Peto : bonds,
and bills, and shares, representing his IN
terest IN undertakings as far apart es
Eastern Europe and North America and
in railways, either wholly OF partially con-
in the two great hemispheres,
should be only worth the paper on which
they are written. A great contractor can
only carry on his enterprises by means of
advances which are made on theguarantea
of bills backed by collateral securities of
a more tangible kind; and when, owing
to q strain on the money market, these are
not accepted, a deadlock is inevitable. q
1t appears that Sir Morton estimates
bis liabilities at four millions, and that Of
this amount not less than So, 500, ,O09s is
largely, IL not amply, secured. His friends
yesterday morning offered to advance him
sufficient money to meet the pressure
which threatened him with collapse. He
resolved, no doubt wisely, not to tamper
with the difficulty, or to seek to postpone
the evil day, but to meet it at onee. Ask
ing for the forbearance of his creditors,h he
toprosecute, without intermission,
both his home and foreign contracts
matter Of vital concern not only to their
but to those Of the forty thous-
and persons in his employ The sudden
stoppage of these great works in which he
is engaged would occasion as much desc
latioa as usually follows in the track of an
invading army. Such is the state Of this
grave business, so far as we UNDERESTIMATE
and as, in the very nature Of things, It
must far. deepen the gloom which prevails
in the monetary world, we can only hope
that the calamity viii not be made worse
than il really is. s-o
At the session Of the Grand Lodge Of
Good Templars, at Boston, on the 23d,
the Hon s. d. Hastings, Of Wisconsin,
-, 1o11.7 - A. ft,s, ~ fhe fnI1rth ar1c-