The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

1182 TO CORRESPONDENTS. It Is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive• Their insertion is often delayed owing to a press of matter, and when omitted, it is frequently from reasons quite inde- We cannot undertake to return communications of which we do not avail ourselves. Advertisements sent from the country must be accompanied by a remittance or a reference for payment iu town. pendent of the merits of the communication. Communications should always be legibly written, and on one side of the paper only. If long It increases the difficulty of finding space for them. ,;Aj t LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 5, 1857. POSTSCRIPT. HAMBURG. A telegram from llarnburg,dated 3rd instant, says : A general meeting of Hamburg merchants has been held at the Exchange. A proposal of tile Senote has been accepted, that in the case of a house btopping pay. ment the majority of the creditors shall decide whether such house is to be managed by a committee or declared bankrupt. The Danish Government _bas advanced five millions of francs as a loan. Two directors of the Copenhagen Dank are to proceed to Hamburg, to redeem some of the protested bills. The financial crisis at Stockholm continues to weigh heavily on that place. AMERICA. The new Collins' steamer, the Adriatic, arrived at Liverpool yesterday morning, bringing advices from New York to the 23rd of November, and 390,360 dollars. Monetary affairs continue to improve. The herald reports a great increase in the specie reserved in the banks, and says that in all probability specie pay ments would be resumed by all the banks before the close of the week. The Paris Patrie announces that the marriage of the King of Portugal will take place in April next. His august fiancie will, in that month, leave Germany for England, where a flotilla, commanded by the Duke of Oporto, the King's brother, will come to fetch her to Lisbon. LAST NIGHT'S DEBATE. HOUSE OF LORDS. INDIA. The Earl of ELLENBOROL'GF3 gave notice that on Thursday next he should move for a series of returns relating to the policy adopted by the Governor-General of India as to the public press, the carrying of arms, and other questions in our Eastern empire. Pl' BRIO WORSHIP. The Bishop of Oxronn, adverting to the Public Worship Bill introduced by Lord Shaftesbury on Thursday evening, and ordered for second reading on Monday next, accused the noble earl of stealing a march on the house, and characterised his conduct as " indecent." Some lively conversation followed, in the course of which The Earl of SR kFTESBURY explained and vindi cated the course lie had pursued with regard to the bill, but promised to postpcne the second reading to a later day. Their fordships adjourned at half-Fast five o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS. THE ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION. In answer to Mr. Knatchbull Hughessen, Mr. MASSEY stated that the Ecclesiastical Com mission Bill of last session would be reintroduced in the House of Lords with a few modifications after the Christmas recess. INDIAN TELEGRAPHS. Mr. CRAWFORD having inquired "whether any arrangements have been made, or conventions entered into, by the Government with any corn. panies, individuals, or foreign Governments for establishing telegraphic communication with Egypt and India, or whether any negotiations relating thereto were now pending," Lord PALUERSTUN replied that the negotiation on this subject which had been entered into with Austria was broken off, the conditions demanded being such as her Majesty's Ministers could not accept. Those conditions were that the British Government would promise to use no other line, and undertake to complete the line of communication from Suez to India. These terms were considered inadmissible. lie was, however, not without hope THE PRESS, DECEMBER 5, 1857. that Austria would consent to continue the telegraph to India, in which case the English Ministry would gladly pay for its use. The Turkish Government, he added, proposed to establish a line from Con• siantinople to a point on the Persian Gulf, if the English Government would consent to extend it to THE 4 6 CAGLIARI." Mr. M. 1111LNEs asked what steps had been taken to secure the release of the two English engineers of the steamer Cagliari, who had been so long detained in prison in Naples. Lord PALMERSTON eiplained the circumstance under which the two detenues had been appre hended, and the measures taken by the Foreign Secretary in their behalf. The men had nothing to complain of with respect to their treatmen t ; money had been freely supplied for their use, and able counsel retained for their defence upon trial. As matters stood there was nothing to complain of in the conduct of the Neapolitan Government. Tho report upon the Address in reply to the Royal Speech was brought up and agreed to after some conversatior. THE DANK ACT. The house having resolved itself into committee, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved the preliminary resolution necessary for the introduction of a Bill of Indemnity sanctioning the breach of the Act of 1844 by the directors of the Bank of England. After entering into a copious detail of the circum stances which had induced the Government to issue their letter on the 12th of November, and comparing the commercial position of affairs on that day with the powerful status in October, 1847, when a similar proceeding had taken place, Sir G. C. Lewis con tended that the measure was justified by the neces sity of the case. The act, he admitted, was sponta neous on the part of the Government, who had been subjected to no pressure from without, but having adopted the step en their own idea of public advan tage, they were prepared to accept the entire respon sibility. The result, he submitted, had been per fectly successful. Alarm had subsided ; relief was afforded to commerce at a crisis when total suspen sion was impending without impeaching in the slightest degree the perfect convertibility of the Bank of England notes. The right hon. baronet then proceeded to contend that the policy pursued by the Bank with regard to its note issues had always been most judicious, and that the system which regulated its operations had worked well. At moments of panic, however, the commercial public seemed affected by an access of irrationality which seemed to require exceptional treatment. This point he proposed to submit to a select committee, who might also inquire into the advisability of rendering Bank of England notes a legal tender in all parts of the United Kingdom. Mr. GLAIISTO;E confessed that the present act of the Government was warranted by the precedent established in 1847. He strongly objected to the reappointment of the select committee, feeling assured that it would practically postpone ail legis lation on the Bank Act probably for an indefinite period. There was no danger that the house would legislate precipitately on the question. Two or three hundred members at least had studied the subject, and were provided with special nostrums for its settlement. It was a question which attracted men's minds, and indeed often overset them. Currency had made as many lunatics as love. The appoint ment of a committee to inquire into the commercial causes of the present crisis would, he thought, be exceedingly injudicious. Mr. SrooNER attributed the difficulties experi enced by the commercial public to the operation of the Bank Act, and approved of the proposal to sub mit the whole question to a select committee. The subject required a thorough investigation. Mr. GLYN believed that much misconception had arisen from a confusion of the ideas of capital and currency. He pointed out the distinction between those principles, and traced the action of each into its practical consequences. The legal limitation to the Bank issues aggravated the pressure which it did not cause, and must, he insisted, be at Pitch times inevitably relaxed. The power of relaxation should not be intrusted to the Government, but to the directors of the Bank, under parliamentary control. Mr. HENLEY thought the Government fully justi fied in creating the law, but inquired why a law should be maintained which it was periodically neces sary to break ? Lord Joint RUSSELL expressed himself tolerably satisfied with the Act of 1844, and entirely satisfied with the suggestion that it should be referred to a committee. The Government had also, in his opinion, exercised a wise discretion in relaxing the law just in time to avert serious disasters. The existing Bank Act was, he thought, a useful supple ment to the Act of 1819, and, on the whole, worked well. But no statute could altogether prevent panics, and against such periods of crisis it might be reinisite to provide some dispensing power, The noble lord then related the circumstances attending the relaxation sanctioned by his own Administration in 1847, and admitted that the present position of affairs exhibited parallel conditions, justifying a similar indulgence. Mr. DisfisEra wished. to rescue the question from the declamation in which it had been enveloped by many speakers on both sides of the house. The subject for their consideration arose out of a breach of the law on the part of her Majesty's Ministers. This act was prompted by the commercial distress of the country, and it was necessary to inquire into the causes of that distress. It was observable that dis tress was universal, extending over the United States and the Continent of Europe, and must have been caused not by any mismanagement of the currency in England, but mismanaging the capital of Europe. Adverting to the Act of 1841, the right hon. gentleman admitted that its avowed pur pose, that of securing the convertibility of the bank note, was irreproachable ; but he thought it aggra vated the suffering experienced in periods of pres sure. Under its machinery the managers of the Bank of England were obliged to treat in the same manner two very different symptoms—namely, a foreign drain of bullion, and a domestic drain. It was unjust to accuse those who wished to secure a more liberal supply of bank notes of wishing to tam per with the currency, or inundate t to country with depreciated paper. Distress and distrust now pre vailed through the circles of commerce, which he could not think attributable to the management of the currency ; but it was a striking coincidence that the act by which the currency was regulated was always found intolerable at such periods, and that when it was suspended distrust and distress was at once assuaged. The system of currency and conver tibility of bank-notes were too important matters to be left under an act which it was constantly neces sary to suspend. It was most injurious to teach com mercial men to act upon the belief that the law could be broken for their benefit. Lord John Russell bad proposed to leave matters as they stood, allowing the act to continue in force during quiet times, but per mitting the Government to suspend it in cases of crises with no further check than the applying to Parliament for a Bill of Indemnity. He protested against this policy, as being to the last degree uncon stitutional, and should regret to believe that English commerce must always remain in a state of inter mittent prosperity, broken up with constant repeti tions of panic. If the suspending power was exer cised, as a matter of regular course, how could the moment cf its application be determined ? How compensate the injustice inflicted upon mercantile firms who failed just before the act was relaxed, and who might have been saved if the interposition had been anticipated even by a few hours? In eight weeks lately 85 commercial houses had failed, with liabilities exceeding 42,000,0001., all but 8,000,0001. of which appertained to firms that suspended pay ment before the issue of the letter of November 12th, and many of them a very short time previously. He maintained the expediency of remodelling the law, so as to render further suspension unnecessary, and regretted to find ber Majesty's Ministers so unwilling to undertake that task. The Bill of Indemnity was really required on behalf of the Bank directors, who had acted well, and lie should therefore willingly consent to pass it. With the conduct of the Go vernment he could not express his approbation. The house was amply informed on the subject of the currency. There was no reason for postponing legislation. The principle of convertibility must be maintained inviolate, but the act should be modified in those particulars which rendered it a cause of aggravating distress in periods of commercial diffi culty. The law sufficed to meet the contingency of a foreign drain for bullion, but had proved wholly inadequate to cope with the demand occasioned by a domestic drain. Several committees had sat within the last twelve years on the question of the Bank Act. Many large volumes of evidence had been collected. Information in abundance was in their hands. The time was come when they should call on Government to settle the question. What was the use of a Government that could not settle such a question? and what was the use of a Parliament that could not force the Government to settle the question? As the Legislature had been summoned at an unusual time it was right that they should not only pass a Bill of Indemnity, but indicate a line of policy. Mr. Disraeli cmcluded by suggesting that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should divide his motion for a select committee from the Bill of In demnity, intimating his intention to move an amend ment to the former motion to the effect that it was more expedient to legislate than to prosecute further investigation. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER accepted this proposal, preferring to proceed with the bill on Monday, and take the debate on the appointment of the committee on Friday next. The resolution was agreed to, and the house having resumed, the bill was brought in and read a first time. The house adjourned at a quarter to twelve o'clock;