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(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

NEW YORK, Nov. 21.

The great “Erie Railway war” has been renewed. The present contest is even more remarkable than that of last year. On Tuesday Mr. August Belmont, the well known banker, and E. B. Lucke, brought suit against the Erie Railway Company and about 20 other defendants, who have been engaged in speculation in Erie shares, to restrain them from buying or selling certain shares of the common stock, said to have been fraudulently issued by the directors. The complaint is supposed to have been made in the interest of English capitalists, holders of Erie, who have become thoroughly alarmed by the manner in which the value of their property has been diminished. The complaint sets forth, in substance, that by law the directors are commanded to issue no more than $16,500,000 of common stock; but that, in violation of this command, they have issued, first 58,000 shares of common stock, and subsequently shares to the amount of $36,000,000; that the amount of common stock has been fraudulently increased to more than $60,000,000; that the directors have cleared more than $40,000,000 by these operations; that they now hold some $16,000,000; that last year, finding that Daniel Drew, treasurer of the company, had in vast speculations lost a large amount of the company’s money, they induced him to resign, and that he was permitted to settle all claims by payment of $1,000,000; that, desiring to secure the resignation of the president, Mr. Eldridge, they bought, at his request, $5,000,000 of the bonds of the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railway (owned by Eldridge’s friends), paying in two instalments $4,000,000, toward the purchase; that they have secreted the $16,000,000 held by them; that they have used this sum to “lock up” money, and thereby create a stringency of the money market; that they have made large purchases of real estate and other property, among the transactions of this nature, specified being the purchase of Pike’s Opera House for the sum of $850,000, property in New Jersey for $300,000, another piece of property in that state also for $1,500,000, nine houses in Twenty-third-street, steam boats on Lake Erie $300,000, real estate in Buffalo $300,000, and other large purchases, taking the titles to the property, or some of it, in the names of Fisk and Gould; that they have made contracts for leases of other railroads, these three directors being interested in purchases, and receiving bonuses in stock and money to the amount of $1,500,000 for their individual use; and finally, that they have altered and falsified the books of the company, in order to cover up their transactions. These allegations are sustained, or supposed to be sustained, by affidavits of Daniel Drew and others. The statement of Mr. Drew is remarkable for its frankness. He admits that while treasurer of the company he used the stock in his hands to increase or depress the price of Erie and otherwise affect the money market; that for permitting two of the directors (Fisk and Gould) to take from the company’s office 50,000 shares, and for agreeing to sell to Fisk, at a figure below the market price, $5,000,000 of the company’s bonds, he received a cheque from Fisk for $375,000. Drew proceeds to give the history of the “Erie war” of last summer. He alleges that Eldridge, former president of the company, received $1,000,000 in cash for resigning. He says that the earnings of the Erie Company are from $14,000,000 to $15,000,000 a year. He confesses that he used the company’s money to “lock up”* the money market, and so produce tightness and panic. Upon hearing the complaint and affidavits, Judge Sutherland, of the Supreme Court, made an order forbidding the directors to issue any more stock, or to remove or conceal any of the books, papers, or funds of the company, and commanding them to pay into some solvent bank the money in their hands, retaining only a sufficient amount to meet the legitimate debts and expenses of the company.

Two sides to every question may be naturally looked for. In the Supreme Courts on Wednesday morning Mr. C. M’Intosh, who says that he owned 200 shares of stock, appeared as plaintiff in a suit in which all the parties to the suit of “Belmont von the Erie Railway Company,” are named as defendants. He asked that investigation be made to show whether or not the issue of Erie common stock is limited by law; further, that all parties be forbidden to commence the prosecution of actions founded on alleged fraudulent issues of stock; and finally, that a receiver be appointed to take, hold, and disburse the earnings of the company. An affidavit of James Fisk accompanies this prayer; it recites confessions by Mr. Drew, who is by this instrument placed in even a more contemptible position than by his admissions. Judge Barnard issued the order of injunction, stopping all suits on either side; the same order appointed Jay Gould, president of the company, receiver.

*“Lock up.” This is a new and remarkably successful invention of the Wall-street swindlers. A few speculators combine and borrow all the paper currency that can be obtained from the banks; depositing gold and stocks as “collateral” security. When merchants, dealers in produce, &c., go into the street to buy currency, they find themselves compelled to pay exorbitant prices (sometimes 2 and 3 per cent. a day); the conspirators, of course, make great profits not only on loans of greenbacks, but by operations in stocks. This is a trick that can be repeated indefinitely, and there seems to be no means to prevent it.|