[From the Supplement to the Australian, Feb. 18.] COMMERCIAL SUMMARY. "Monthly Times" office, Oct. 25, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 274, 15 March 1848, Page 3

[From the Supplement to the Australian, Feb. 18.] COMMERCIAL SUMMARY. "Monthly Times" office, Oct. 25, 1847.

A highly satisfactory result v as shewn at a meeting of creditors ot Pc Jersey & Co., of Manchester, whose failure appeared in our "Latest Intelligence" by the last mail ; a statement was exhibited showing assets to the amount of £430,000 agdin»t liabilities for £345,000. — Amongst the assets are — goods shipped to Russia, £189,000: consignment to Russia, £53,200; claims on houses in Germany, £72,900 ; consignments to Germany, £7,200 ; rmount to be received from Mr. Holzauer (a partner of the firm at Moscow), £15,000; stock, £16,500; mills in Rochdale, £20,000 ; and various amounts due to the house, £42,100. Of the liabilities £264,000 is upon acceptances ; £51,700 is for yarn, not yet settled for ; and £13,200 for machinery. It was distinctly understood that Messrs. De Jersey & Co. are not partners in any way with Thomas, Son, & "Lefevre; and the proposition made to the meeting was the highly satisfactory one of payment in full by instalments of 25 per cent, per month. In four months, therefore, the firm, it may be expected, will be once more in a perfectly sound and independent position. At the close of the day, however, it was known that Mr. William Nash, Manchester and woollen warehouseman, of this city, had stopped ; liabilities said to be £80,000. Several timber and corn merchants' affairs at Waterford also were announced to be in a state of suspension ; and at the close of business on the Exchange men's minds were full of gloom and apprehension. Very early on Wednesday it was declared that Barclay, Brothers, and Company had been compelled to yield to the pressure ; and among all the fearful disasters that have occurred, this pei haps has excited more surprise and created more sympathy. The liabilities are stated at about £450^000, of which, however, only is upon acceptances. Large engagements in the Mauritius, involving a constant absorption of capital, first involved the firm in trouble, and th« recent failures in England of parties on whom it held acceptances, coupled with the existing pressure, have rendered extrication impossible. The head of the house is one of the present, members for Sunderland, and the partners are distantly related to Messrs. Barclay, the bankers. They are also related to the members of the brewery, but an impression which seemed prevalent that they have some share in that business is, we understand, entirely erroneous. In the afternoon, a meeting of the "Company of Copper Mingland" took place, and attracted considerable attention, as 'it was shown they had had recourse to the Bank for a loan of upwards of a quarter of a million ; and that Mr. Gower, the late governor of the company, was a debtor to the extent of £20,000; that I. ti. Pelly, the deputy-go-vernor, was a near relative of another Bank director, and that a third in the Court of Assistants (Mr. William Little) was also a director in the Bank of England. The conduct of the Bank Parlour, in this instance met with i ever* censure ; it was said to show a

spirit of favouritism, to the prejudice of parties who were refused aid with the best of commercial secuiity to offer. We believe, however, the principal inducement felt by the Bank to afford this seasonable relief to have been the desire there was on the part of the directors and of the Government, with whom communication was had on the matter, to prevent some 5,000 miners, in Wales, from being thrown out of employment, in which case the presence of several regiments of the military in the localities likely to be thereby disturbed would have been indispensable. The Money Market closed with the highest pitch of feverish excitement, and Consols left off at 80. The excitement in the Stock Market continued on Thursday, and it became known that a large Hebrew firm had carried over a portion ot their loan at 9 per cent., but commercially speaking, matters were comparatively quiet. On Friday, the Funds underwent violent fluctuations, but no new feature was manifested. Some failures of minor importance tock place on the Stock Exchange ; the parties were a Mr. Hadlow, and a Mr. Oakley; the pressure for discounts was unabated. In the commercial circle, we are sorry to say, the "suspension of Messrs. Lawrence Phillip & Sons was announced by the following circular :—"lt: — "It gives us much pain to inform you, that in consequence of the unprecedented pressure on the money market, and the impossibility of obtaining advances, upon security, we have deemed it for the interest of those parties who have claims upon us to suspend our payments. We have confident expectations that our estate will yield a handsome surplus over and above our liabilities, and therefore trust that the course we have taken will, under the unfortunate' circumstances of the case, be considered satisfactory to all concerned." The liabilities of the firm upon acceptances amount to £70,000. The assets from £120,000 to £125,000, and these may be classed as follows : — Securities in hand, £20,000; lemittances expected from India, £10,000; ditto by the next steamer from America, £10,000; coffee plantations at Ceylon, £8,000; capital employed at Calcutta, Madras, and Ceylon, and balances due from New York, £75,000 ; the largest portion of this item consisting oi the capital at Calcutta. Mr. Phillips has long been respected, not only for his business character, but for a life of active benevolence, apd kence the hopes entertaiued by his friends of a favouiable liquidation are strongly shared by all parties. There was a somewhat diminished demand at the Bank for discount on Saturday, 16th; but it was still exceedingly heavy. Out of doors the rates were very high. A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Lyall, Brothers &c, was held. A statement of aff.iirs prepared by the accountants, Messrs. Quilter, Ball & Co., was submitted for consideration, and showed a deficiency of £iB3, 831, and a dividend of not quite 9s. in the pound ; but with commendable care to guard against expectations that may prove fallacious, the firm have excluded all estimates of the sums that may be received from the estate of Lyall, Matheson & Co., except such as are actually looked for by the three next mails. Hence a claim of £203,675 figures in the assets at only £60,000. Messrs. Lyall appears to think that the Indian house "will be able to meet their engagements by the sacrifice of the partners' capital," in which case the dividend would be increased to about 17s. The concern is to be wound up under inspection. The most striking features hi the statements are the large proportion of bad and doubtful debts, the lock-up capital in India, the amount of acceptances, the enormous total of indirect liabilities, and the complete unpreparedness of the firm, as re o ards the amount of its capita], to meet the slightest casualty. A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Thomas Usborne & Son, whose suspension took place at the end of August, was also held to- : day. The statement shows a dividend of 11s. I 3d in the pound, and Messrs. Usborne having made a proposition to pay 11s. in the ' following manner, namely, 7s. on' the 15th of November, 2s. on the 15th of February, and 2s. on the 15th May, the meeting agreed thereto. Letters from Liverpool this morning state the pressure for money to have been more heavy than had yet been experienced. The failures of three jobbers in the share-market, named Wotherspoon, Stewart, and Langton, was announced ; and it is said that the former was, three months since, worth £85,000 upon which he was about to retire. It is likewise added that Messrs. Peter Cornthwaite & Co., wholesale tea dealers, have suspended, with liabilities to the amount of £40,000. Id London the only failure was a small one, which had been anticipated. The parties are Frederic Barnes & Co., ironmongets and manufacturers (having shops also at Birmingham and Sheffield), and the cause of the stop-

page lies in the unfavourable nature of their remittances received, or expected to be received, from India. The strain commercially on the market was never greater ; and Rumour, with her hundred tongues, was busily employed throughout the day which closed this week. Merchants left the city for their homes so full ol dread and distrust of each other, that it was most painful to witness. The failures of any importance in the Provinces during the week were Messrs. Mocatta & Son, of Liverpool, a firm in the La Guayra trade; Messrs. Southan, of Asbton-under-Lyne,cotton-spinners; Messrs. E. and J. Andrews, calico printers, Manchester ; and that of Messrs. Knapp & Co., the bankers, at Abingdon, whose liabilities are not large. The week opened very ominously ; early in the day (18th) general attention was absorbed by the intelligence from Liverpool of the failure of the Royal Bank in that town. It was established in April, 1836 ; the number of partners at the date of the last return was 250 ; the number of shares about 1,300 of £ 1,000 each, £500 of which has been called up, and the paid-up capital is £646,000. The bank had no branches, and its London agents are Robarts & Co. It was not a bank of issue, and the dividend paid to its shareholders has been hitherto at the rate of 8 per cent per annum. The reserved fund was £100,000, and the contingent fund £30,000. It is staled that the immediate cause of stoppage arose from large advances made to three Liverpool commercial houses. The bank has for some days been pressed for money, and last week the Bank of England was applied to for assistance, and refused it. The transactions of the bank extended to some of the largest houses engaged in- the East and West India trades, and it was feared that other eseablishments wouid be unable to stand the effect of its suspension. A meeting was held of the creditors of Mess. Cockerell, Larpent & Co., at which the chair was taken by Mr. Samuel Gregson, M. P., and the statement which had been prepared by Mr. Oliverson, the solicitor, in conjunction with Mr. Hall, was submitted for consideration. It shows a nominal surpluf of £19,000 and, from what transpired during the discussion which took place, the prospects of the creditors, supposing no very serious difficulties to arise in Calcutta, consequent upon the disasters on this side, may, on the whole, be considered favourable. In the formidable item of £430,000 which appears to be due from the Calcutta House, we have a sufficient explanation of the stoppage, and also the indication as to the principal contingency upon which the character of the liquidation will depend. It appears that securities are held against a portion of the amount in the shape of indigo factories and other property, which have hitherto been estimated at £200,000, although of course, it must be expected that they will not produce that sum when a realization shall be attempted. The item of £339,000, " which is in course of remittance," arises, it was stated by the chairman, from goods shipped by the London house during the past and [ present year, all of which are in regular course of business, to be remitted for during the present season. It was further stated to the meeting, that Mr. Martin, who was formerly a partner in the Calcutta house, and who is intimately acquainted with the various properties, had gone carefully through the last balance-sheet of that house, (made up to the end of April, 1846) along with other parties conversant with the commerce of India, and that " their very confident opinion is, that it will be found fully competent to meet all its liabilities, and that nothing but a most unwarrantable sacrifice of property by panic and forced sales can defeat its capacity to do so." Uuder these circumstances it was finally arranged by the meeting that the estate shall be wound up under inspection, and that Mr. Martin, who is still interested in the concern, shall proceed to Calcutta, accompanied if it be deemed fit, by some other competent person, wholly unconnected with either house, in order to protect the interests of the creditor* generally. Mr. Samuel Gregson, Mr. Edward Mills, Mr. John Horsley Palmer, and Mr. J. D. Campbell, were then appointed inspectors. £5,000 was agreed to be set apart for the liquidation of small claims not exceeding £100, and au understanding was come to that dividends will be made from time to time wheuever there may be funds in hand to distribute 10 per cent. Letters from Liverpool mentioned the stoppage of Mr. William Pearce, an agent, who had drawn largely upon Barclay, Brothers & Co., for shipment to India, and also of Messrs. Molyneax and H ulbert, tea brokers. In the share-market several defaulters are reported. Consols left off 79^. On Tuesday, the first quotation of Consols for money was 75 to whence they declined to 78$. Considerable fluctuation took place daring the day ; business was at a " dead lock," and the arrival of each train from Lirejpool was expected with the greatest anx-

iety. It was reported that £200,000 of gold bad arrived at the Bank. It was known on Wednesday morning that the " Liverpool Banking Company" had stopped, being comparatively a small affair ; also W. Jones & Co., wholesale tea-dealers — £40,000 liabilities. It was understood that members of the several leading firms in Liverpool were in London, asking for assistance to a large amount, and as the Bank parlour's decision could not be known till next day, the greatest feeling of anxiety prevailed ; otherwise, as concerned London, there was more quietude. A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Perkins, Schlusser, and Mullens, was held, Mr. Joseph Tritton was in the chair; and the statement which was submitted for consideration showed that the liabilities on bills receivable were very large, and that much will consequently depend upon the absence of an> casualties that may bring the holders of them as claimants on the estate. After some discussion, from which It was evident that the communications made to the meeting were considered, on the whole, to be very satisfactory, it 'was resolved, that the estate should be wound up by the firm, under inspection; Mr. Joseph Tritton, Mr. W. E. Few, and Mr. Edmund Brandt (of whom the two latter represent foreign creditors) being the parties named. The result of Mr. Littltdale's application to the Bank yesterday is said to be favourable, and that the ' Bank have agreed to advance Consols, provided the Bank solicitor approves of the security offered. The private letters from Liverpool this morning are generally more satisfactory, the intensity of the pressure having abated. From Manchester the accounts, on the whole, were rather remarkable from the absence of expressions of alarm. In the afternoon, however, it was announced that the Newcastle Union Joint-stock Bank had suspended. The following notice of the circumstance was given : — ••The Union Banking Company in conseqnence of tl c difficulty in obtaining discount, are glider the painful necessity of suspending payment." Much excitement is said to prevail. The Union Bank was established eleven years back, with a paid-up capital of £152,400, and not many months ago its shares, on which £5 were paid, were quoted at £8 to £10. The number of partners is 505. An unfavourable liquidation is expected, large advances, it is alleged, having been made on collieries and other property of that description. As in the other cases of joint stock bank suspensions which have just occurred, its London agents (Messrs. Barnett & Co.) are entirely untouched by the event. The following failures occurred in Liverpool : — Berry & Young, cotton brokers; Livincnon & Co. East India merchants; James Logan; Brooke & Wilson; Mr. Grozebrook, and Scholes & Co., bankers, Manchester. On Friday last the pressure for money in the discount market was severe beyond all former precedent, and the rates charged put carrying on regular business in any department of trade out of the question, without subjecting the parties to severe loss. The rates of exchange indicated a pressure beyond anything remembered ; as an evidence of it, Rothschild & Co. took bills to be paid for a fortnight hence, the usual practice being on the day following the purchase. In London, however, notwithstanding this strong demand for money, the day passed off well. Consols were less fluctuating, and closed at 79|. The favourable tenor of commercial advices from America to-day (Oct. 23rd) caused the funds to improve, the exchange ruling will induce gold to return. £40,000 has arrived by the Sarah Sands, and advices of a considerable amount being in course of shipment from New York, is a cheering feature amid the gloom that has otherwise prevailed. It was announced that Messrs. Scott, Bell, & Co., of Alderman's-walk, had stopped payment, and that the London agent (Glynn & Co )_of the Calcutta Union Bank had refused to accept the drafts which arrived per the last mail. It was also made known that the assets of Messrs. Prime, Ward, & Co., of New York, are represented by 200,000 dollars, and their liabilities by 2,000,000 ! At a meeting of Messrs. Gowers, Nephews, & Co.'s creditors to-day, a dividend of about ss. in the pound was shown, exclusive of any proceeds from the Mauritius estates. Here ends our eventful history of the last ■fourteen days. It is only the beginning of the end, unless some remedial measure is adopted to restore confidence.