The Press. — London, England, 1856-11-29 00:00:00

1130 personal considerations. Parliamentary prin ciples of the first importance are at stake on the question, as to whether Lard PALMERSTON can be obeyed as the chief of the Ministerial party ? From Lord JOHN NiY*SELL'EI ttiib point 0 view the question ha& twofold itiSportittiCa, p .trsonal and polittai. lord' PA* RUSSELL, the leader of the Whig party, must naturally chafe at seeing the Most inconstant politicise* of the times installed as chief of "Liberal" Cabinet. Such a dispensation must be dis paraging to the personal pretensions, not only of Lord JOHN RUSSELL himself, but also to the hereditary position held by the " house of Bedford" in the Whig connection. For the first time in Parliamentary memory, the Russell family has nothing to do with the Cabinet, although the Whigs are in power. That fact, alone, is remarkable. The Howards, the Gowcrs, and the Greys, are all repre sented in the Cabinet, but there is no Russell in the Ministry to keep up the traditions of the Woburn household. In vain did Lord JOHN RUSSELL bring in the Reform Bill in 1831, and denounce the House of Lords ; " the " whisper of a (PALMERSTON) faction " com municates the sad news that " the voice of a " people" (that is to say, of the Reform Club) is now against the quondam idol of Brookes's, whose praises were sung by THOMAS MOORE, though his pretensions were satirised by SYDNEY SMITH, when the latter (as he himself has admitted) " took to writing Conservative " pamphlets." Ought not the sums of money, also, which the chiefs of the house of Bedford gave in support of the Whig party, count for something in their pretensions to the first post of honour in a Whig Ministry? When did the " Bedford Whigs " ever before make so poor a figure in the Liberal procession? So much for the personal part of the ques tion, and it adds stinging bitterness to its consideration, that the " Coalition" with Lord ABERDEEN was brought about at Woburn. We were told, also, from Lord JOHN'S own lips in Parliament, that the mighty Mr. MACAULAY said, at Lansdowne-house, tin his best ore rotunda, "I feel assured of your courage, and I "do not think that you will be intimidated " from the path of duty," or words to that effect. On the same occasion, also, it was told that " the late Sir ROBERT PEEL had advised "her Majesty to consult Lord John Russell about ",foreign affairs." The fact is not likely to be forgotten by the Noble Member for London in the present aspect of our foreign relations with Austria and France. The acts of the Church of Rome, also, in Italy, are of a character likely to arrest the notice of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, and we may be sure that the Noble Lord is no idle spectator of what is going on in the Italian peninsula. And, furthermore, there is the awkward dilemma of the Ministry as to what it will do about " Reform." Either we are to have a " Reform Bill," or not. Could a Liberal Ministry propose a new Parliamentary change, without having first settled its account with Lord JOHN RUSSELL? We think not. And it would be catremely difficult to persuade Lord JOHN RUSSELL to occupy a secondary position in any Cabinet which charged itself with such a duty. We may rest assured that Lord JOHN RUSSELL will, as long as he is in the House of Commons, insist on being allowed to rule the subject of " Parliamentary Reform." On the other hand, should the Cabinet elect have no " Reform Bill," it will then stand in a singular position before the country, and serve to confirm the truth of the view taken by Mr. DISRAELI at the close of the last session, that we have a Liberal Ministry carrying out a Conservative policy; a view of affairs in which the Quarterly Review concurs with the Right Honourable Member for Bucks. As to the dream fondly entertained by the Premier's friends that Lord JOHN RUSSELL would subside into a peerage, we cannot think that them is much likelihood of such a solu tion of the Ministerial dilemma. Lord JOHN himself would obviously lose statue politically by going into the House of Lords. He be longs to a famous and ennobled race, whereas . PJLIENEY and WALPOLE were not of pwrician stock, and founded peerages, which to some extent consoled them for " their fall up-stairs,' ^rd CassuRFIELD wittily said, Relatively As Lord CE lIIL THE PRESS. to the House of Commons, the Upper House in those days bad more power than it now possesses. Nearly all its members were pro prietors of Wrought, and its debates had more direct thiluetlte on affairs. Besides, Lord ritmEnstois it the older man, and why should not he go up to the Lords, and have his " fall np-stairs," instead of proposing to Lord JOHN RUSSEL/. that bode of " climbing down wards Such arc the eciniderations which are urged by some of the friends and old allies of Lord JOAN RUSSELL. To solve such a dilemma will be extremely difficult, and it is not for nothing that Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S supporters boast, " that though Lord PALMERSTON may have the " official leadership of the House of Com " mons, I ord JOHN RUSSELL will not let " go the political leadership of the Liberals." DECIMAL COINAGE. THE question of a decimal system of coinage has again been brought before the public by a paper by Mr. DE MortoAN in the " Companion to Knight's Almanac." The conclusions of our reviewer on that paper will be found among our literary notices, but it may be convenient here to recapitulate the leading points, that we may see how the question stands. The plan advocated by Mr. DR MORGAN is the pound and mil scheme, the pound being taken as the unit of account, divisible into tenths (florins), hundredths (by a coin to be adopted equivalent to a cent), and thousandths (far things, or mils). To decimalise our coinage according to this plan would only require a royal proclamation, reducing the value of the copper coinage by four per cent., making 121 d. change for a shilling, instead of 121, as at present. The sovereign would then represent 1,000 farthings instead of 960, and the ele ments of a decimal system of money would at once be established. The copper coinage would remain as at present. The halfpenny would still be two farthings, or mils, and the penny four farthings, or mils. Practically, however, some change in the coinage would be necessary, and for this reason. In every system of money it is desi rable that each coin should be readily ex changeable into other kinds of coin ; as gold into smaller pieces •f gold and into silver, and silver into smaller pieces of silver and into copper. This is the first requisite of every kind of coinage. But with the proposed alteration, making the shilling consist of 121 d., the fourpenny piece, which is the third of a shilling, would not be exchangeable into copper money, as we have no third of a halfpenny, and the three- penny piece would not be exchangeable for a like reason, as we have no fourth of a half penny. Six pennies and a farthing in copper money would also be inconvenient change for a sixpence. To remedy these inconveniences it would be desirable in the first place to add to our copper coinage a piece of five farthings, or mils, the character of the coin being distinct from that of the present penny to avoid confu sion. Our copper coinage would then con sist of pieces of one farthing (or mil), of two farthings (the halfpenny), of four farthings (the penny)—all as at present, without altera tion ; with the addition of a piece of five farthings. With respect to the silver coinage, it would be necessary to withdraw the threepenny and fourpenny pieces, and it might be expedient to withdraw the sixpences also. The crown is an inconvenient coin, scarcely in circulation at the present time, and the half-crown is not wanted, as it is so near the florin. Those five silver coins might all be withdrawn. In place of them might be substituted pieces of ten farthings (which might be conveniently termed cents), and pieces of twenty farthings. With these alterations the decimal system would be complete. As regards the coins themselves, they would be quite as convenient as those at present in use, and they would be fewer in number. We should have in copper coinage pieces of one, two, four, and five farthings (or mils). SATURDAY, We should have in silver, pieces of one cent (ten farthings, or twopence-halfpenny), of two cents (fivepence), of five cents (the shilling), and ten cents (the florin). The gold coinage would be unaltered ; the half-sovereign would be five hundred farthings, or fifty cents, or ten shillings. The sovereign, as at present, twice as much. The whole of these coins—gold, silver, and copper —would be exchangeable into coins of their own metal, and be exchangeable into coins of the other metals, and this exehangeableness would be facilitated by the simplicity of the numbers, ten and five, to be represe n t e d by the new coins. The new silver coinage would be not only more systematic, but more con venient than the present coinage, and it would consist of four pieces only instead of six Even the Vice President of the Board of Trade might, by severe exercise of such facul ties as God has gifted him with, understand a system which permits him to exchange a sovereign, the highest unit of account, into as many parts as he pleases of the farthing. the lowest unit, varying from two parts (half sovereigns) to thousandth parts (farthings). Suppose he wants to apportion this sovereign into 167 parts for one thing ; into 249 parts for another; into 271 parts for something else; and into 313 parts for a fourth purpose. With the proposed coinage he would get, for the first sum, one florin, one five-cent (a shilling) and one one-cent piece, a five farthing (or mil) piece, and a halfpenny—in all five coins; for the second sum, two florins, two two-cent pieces, a five-farthing piece, and a penny—in all six coins ; for the third sum, two florins, three two-cents, and a farthing— in all six coins; for the fourth sum, three florins, one cent, and a halfpenny—in all five coins. The apportionment would then stand expressed in coins thus : Parts of a pound gating. Florins. Cents. Farthings or mile. _ ior •• • • 1 •• • • 6 •• • • _7 249••••2•• . • 4 • • • • 9 271 .... 2 .... 7 .... 1 313 •• • • 3 .... 1 .... 3 1,000 10 The ten florins being the equivalent of one pound. Now, let the Right Honourable Vice President of the Board of Trade attempt to work out this or any similar apportionment by means of the existing coinage : and if he shows that it can be done as easily, and as completely, we shall be willing to admit that one of his after-dinner speeches is far superior to any demonstration in the " Principia." The only difficulty in the way of the pro posed change would be that caused by the depreciation in the copper coinage to the extent of four per cent., a depreciation fully warranted, however, by the high value which the copper coinage at present bears, as com pared with the coinage in silver and gold. All the' arrangements connected with the penny would soon adjust themselves to the new standard, more especially if Government were to set an example of liberality by allowing the postage stamps, and some other Government duties reckoned in pence, to fall four per cent., in accordance with the reduced standard. In other cases, as in railway fares, when pence rose to shillings, 12-0. would be counted ; and general traders would have the option of keeping commodities sold at a penny still at that sum, or of raising them to the five-farth ing or half-cent piece. No change of the kind ever can be wholly exempt from difficulty, but it is peculiarly the characteristic of an advancing civilisation to make some present sacrifice of convenience for the sake of permanent) future convenience. In this respect we act with convenience as with capital. We make a round outlay at once to insure a certain provision in future. The question with social changes, as with commercial undertakings, must be,—Will they pay? Whether the proposed decimal system will pay, whether the future convenience will re compense the inconvenience which must be paid to secure it, is a point for the community at large to consider. If the system we have explained cannot be brought into use, no other system has a chance of adoption, for no other can be effected so easily, and with such flight alteration. The assoclition for securing a decimal system would, in our opinion, act -- . 1