Star. — London, England, 1811-05-07 00:00:00

• • • ( Hear, Lear, hear,) —As to what l;ad been said re specting the price of corn , he was ready to admit that the prices fixed by the legislature for the importation of grain might have eehanced it, since there had been censidetable importations of corn ; but those importations had been made under a choice of evils --the fall of exchange, or a scarcity of grain. He bad advised the importation of grain, without which the quarter's loaf would indeed have been at 2s. 6d. He was therefore ready to take his full share of re sponsibility on this head. The comperative value of our exp.nes and imports had also been wrongly stated, as the balance amounted to a mere nullity. Many if the statements as to our exports and im ports were extremely unsure. Last year, for instance, some of tle,e exports were returned on our hands ; some of them were confiscated by FofeignStates,'and in various cases sums of money were expended to rescue other portions of them from the destructive grasp of the Tyrant of the C ontinent ; so that, in fact, furnished no criterion of our exports and imports. — The nature of our exchanges was likewise variable. Since the Frescis had been driven out of Portugal, the course or exchange there had highly improved, as be learnt from some mercantile correspondence which he had seen. (lie :r,Near.) Perhaps the Hon. and Learned Gentleman (Mr. Horner) was not prepared to hear, that the great capitalists were directly oppos ed in opinion to his propositions ; and yet from a long intercourse with them, with capitalists emieently great, he could assure him of this fact. Respecting any attempt at restoring the payments in specie, this, depending on circumstances, could not properly be enacted before those concomitant circumstances were fully in contemplation. There was such a train bf errors in the very Report itself, upon which the Honourable and Leerned Gentleman's propositions were grounded, that the House ought most maturely to consider how far it was authorised to sanction them. The price of gold was stated one year to be £4. 10s. whereas it was XI. 2s. Even as to what was called the reasoning of the Report, it continually differed from itself : when they came to that part which was termed its experience, however, where he Lad the advantage of recurring to facts, these made still more completely against the theoretical proposi tions of tke Honourable and Learned Mover ; and Le (Mr. Rose) had no objection to commit those de-. tails to him, that he might not be obliged to trouble the House with them. Fairly and reciprocally exa mined, the amount of notes and gold warranted no such deductions as had been advanced ; whilst the . fluctuations in exchange completely distanced all the theories they had heard. Any alteration in the ex changes was unaffected by, and independent of, the issue of Bank paper ; for the exchange had on the whole been uniform, occasionally favourable, and ge nerally stationary. Other circumstances were to be considered. 11;11s of exchange were now so circui tous, that much was lost in the mode of their nego tiation ; while, at the same time, our foreign ex penditure (about twenty-four millions) created de and necessarily era drained the cotry of its gold. The home market was not the twentieth part of the home consumption. It had been stated that the price of all commodities had risen, and that the price of gold had in like manner rose; but whilst the price of other ankles had doubled, the price of geld had been found stationary. France, however, had more than kept pace with us in this rise ; if there was one seventh advance here, there was, he knew, one tenth there. Silver, he would affirm, in coin, would never fetch so much as silver in bullion. Were it not tiresome to the House, he could refer to the evidence of gentlemen ( Aaron Goldsmid and Sir F. Baring) which proved that gold had got up more in 1762 and S e and towards the close of the American war; and that, in the want of gold, an increased circulation of Bank notes was recommended. Continuing to re probate various parts of the Report, the Right Hon. Gentleman (Rose) denied erur foreign expenditure to have been borne out by our exports, of which there was ample proof in the events of the year 1796. The merchant would export, if he could pay by bills or bullion, and, if not so, by bankruptcy. According to one foreigner, whose evidence was so much relied on, the only remedy was fraud and perjury, and this he stated stiffly ! Respecting that part of the Report which recapitu'eaed .the history of the Bank of Eng . land at the time of William HI. their lending of 'no pies, their rates of interest, and the assistance they gave to Government, and the falling of their notes, he was at someloss to know where this information had been glean ed. [Mr. Horner said from Somers'stracts.] ifso, he did not think that the Committee had dorrejustice to itself in blindly taking such evidence, and which, at least, was little applicable to us. The Acts of the 7th and Bth of William and Mary ordered the value of the guinea, at first, to 265. and then to 225. This, ne vertheless, was the identical Parliament whose exam ple we were now called upon to follow—a Parliament which, allowing the Bank to increase their capital, also authorised the Bank to augment its issues. So much for our looking back to the good old times, and endeavoeir:ng to emulate our uncorrupt ancestors ! It v; es not less extraordinary that an enlightened Com mittee, appointed to examine into such a question as the present, should have terminated their labours by mistaking every fact of importance, and admitting evidence of which they had no substantial proof.— There were circumstances connected with the Ex change, which were not necessary for him then to go into ; but with respect to the Bank Directors he did not know he it was possible to invent any new mode by which they could govern. themselves, In his own ()pi llion there were not the least, grounds for suspicion against the conduct of the Bank Directors, and the way its which the Honourable and Learned Gentle man had stated it, in one of his last Resolutions ; he conceived such a regulation would be attended with very injurioesconsequences ; for instead of the Bank ex • ercising any discretion in the matter, it would be vested in the hands of exchange merchants. The next question was, whether there had been an excessive issue of Bank .paper? and upon this point the opinion of the Bullion :Committee was, that the amount of discounts had , increased since 1796: From 1802' to 1809, the in crease was as follows :—in 1802 they amounted to $1".0 V 064 and in 1809 to $17,964., makingan increase . Of little more than $300,000 in eight years, and then came the question whether there had been a greater *ssue of Bank paper than was actually called for. It ewes admitted on all hands, there had been a great eceeeee of Bank ?Ater, and upon this Mint he tv, ferred to the opinion of Sir Francis Borings-who sail, that an iacreased trade and revenue must ne. cessarily increase the circulating medium ; and to elucidate this opinion, he cited the experts of 1798 end 1810: in I'9B the exports were £26,000 the issue of Bank of England notes was £12,000,000 in 1310, the exports were upwards of 650,000,000 more than double the former year ; and the issue of Bank paper was only £22,000,000 ; thus theincrease of exports wa s upwards of £24,000,000, while the increase of bank-notes amounted to no more than £10,000,000. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman saw no reason why the Bank of England notes should not be restrained ; but if they restrained the issue of Bank of England notes, they would have much worse paper in their room. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman says, 4 , let us have a New Company." The country already knew what the Bank of Eng land had done, they knew their conduct up to the present moment ; they well knew that a given quan tity of commerce in time of war must necessarily in crease the quantity of money for carrying it on, on account of the increased price of freight, of insur ance, &c. and again -upon this point Sir Francis Baring was of opinion that the circulating medium must 'consequently be reduced, and that an increased exportation, must be subject to long credits and other circumstances which will naturally affect the state of exchange. But if they were to check the Bank paper, they would check their commerce, their exports, and the rate of exchange. And af ter the evidence before them, he left the Committee to judge whether the circulating medium was in that state which would' allow such a check ; to fetter the issue of Bank paper, would, in his opinion, be a most dangerous experiment. He gave the fullest cre dit to the ability and talent of the Hon. Gentleman ; but from what he had state/ to the Committee, he thought there was conclusive evidence that the Bank of England had nothing to do with the rate of ex change ; but the Committee had come to a Resolu tion directly contrary to evidence, except es to the Continental merchants, and partially as to the opinion of Sir Francis Baring. The Continental merchants had stated that the issue of Bank paper had nothing to do with the rate of exchenge„ hut prevented the rise of it. The gold, to be sure, might have been expor ted, and this against the law ; but if they could not permit the exportation of the gold,the restriction on the Bank paper was of no use. Therefore, he contended, that the evidence was in contradiction to such exten sion ; and by adopting such a measure they would only encourage a system of fraud and perjury. Sir Francis Baring was not for any direct and positive law to com pel the Bank to return to payments in specie ; he thought it a good measure, whenever it could be done with propriety ; and therefore, to pet aside the evi• dente of those Gentlemen who had given such satis factory answers to questions suddenly put to them, was highly unjust, and confirmed him in the opinion that no positive time should be fixed to compel the Bank of England to revert to the issue of specie.— With respect to the publication of his Honourable Friend (Mr. Huskisson) he had the fullest convic tion that his motives were as honourable as he (Mr. Horner) thought them right, but he could not help saying that if would have been much better he never had given these opinions to the public.— He was perfectly persuaded that it was impossible for malice itself to invent or impute any bad motives to him. If a publication of this kind had come from any indifferent hand it might have been otherwise, but his character and experience and his high official situation gave them a weght and consequence which was of a dangerous tendency. In speaking of the Bank of England, he (Mr. H.) said, that it might be that the Bank was wrong in limiting their issue to commercial men. That they might have been indis creet, he admitted, but they never endangered the property of the Public, and by shaking a long-esta blished usage, he thought they would get into diffi culties which would prove insurmountable. He wish ed not to be considered as the advocate of the Bank, but if the Bank Directors could not justify themselves, he would not stand up in that House to defend them. The Bank could not find the specie to pay the de mands upon it ; if they could find it at any expence whatever, he thought they ought to do it. Their profits were large, they ought to do this, and the House ought to assist them ; but they were not told what were the means of procuring it, and his perfect conviction was, that the gold was not to be had in the present state of the country. But it was said, that by sending out the commodities we can spare to Aft ica and America we would procure gold in return, but surely they could not get that without an equiva lent; they could not send more goods than there was a consumption for,and as to procuring specie, it could not be gothere, foreigners bought it up wherever they could find it, at the tate of 14, 15, and 16 per cent. above the current price, and there were Gentlemen iii that House who well knew that their directions to their Brokers was to pay one shilling more than any body else, and to get the gold at any rate ; he there. fore felt the most perfect conviction that the gold was not tobe procured, and,even if it was, the country could not be the better tor it, for if it should be sent to the Mint to be coined, the moment it came into circula tion it would be again melted. The monstrous and tyrannical measures of the Continent were directed against this country in this way ; the object was to destroy the last germ of resistance to that tyranny. If any mischief was to be done to this country, let it be the effect of the enemy, and not our owna--let us not destroy our prosperity by our own acts. Upon the whole he saw no practical good could arise from the measure, but much practical mischief, and there fore he opposed the proposition of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman. Mr. THORNTON was of opinion that paper cur. ttncy had a constant tendency to excess. Nothing, he conceived, was more opposite than the comparison which had been instituted bet Ween the present bank ing system and the scheme of Mr. Law ; and this circumstance considered, it was the duty of Parlia ment to see that the Bank should not lend at too low a rate of interest, than which nothing was more calculated to promote a tendency to excess, which, if time permitted, he could prove to the House by the statement of a variety of particulars. The Hon, Member here went into a long description of the banking system in Paris, arguing, by analogy, as to the probable effects of that received in this country. He observed, that there was, indeed, a specific difference between the Bank of England and MO of the coati4 . 0 144 Aig 14 44 Wen 0:4411 THE EVENIN6 S'T.Ali. LONDON. TUESDAY, MAY 7. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Cons. money 651—for account, 65+1 —Reduced 64j 4 per Cent. 7911-5 per Cent. Navy 9614. Ex*beg. par to 3s. prom.—Bonds 238. 24a. pretu. His MAJESTY walked yesterday as usual, before and after dinner, accompanied by General GWYNNE. By a vessel which has arrived at Plymouth from Cadiz, information is received that the expedition of 7000 Spaniards, which sailed from thence on the 15th ultimo, had effected a landing near San Lucar, and were marching for the Guadiana, to co-operate with a division of the British and Portuguese army. A Gentleman who left Bayonne on the 28th ult. states, in addition to the above, that the Spaniards had occupied Figueras, a strong and important for tress in Catalonia, after an obstinate resistance on the part of the French and Italian troops who garrisoned it, and who, to the amount of 3000, had been made prisoners of war. Some private advices from the coast of France also , state, that BONAPARTE had finally determined upon war with Russia, and was about to set out to join the army destined to act against that power. &femme, it was added, was appointed Generalissimo of the armies in the Peninsula ; and this statement derives I some credit from the report of MAssaNA's recal, which has been spoken of at Lisbon. Other letters state, that an universal spirit of dis content prevails amongst the French towards the go. vernment of BONAPAItTE. The bankruptcies, both at Paris, and in other large towns in France, have been very extensive, and, in the large mercantile houses, to a very great amount. This morning a Mail from Cadiz arrived, brought to Falmouth by the Carteret packet, in ten days. The intelligence from the South of Spain is highly grail- fy ing—the French being every where reduced to ex tremities. The Portuguese papers received itsterday, however, contain the latest intelligence on the subject of the operations in the immediate vicinity of Cadiz, as will be seen from the following extracts : " ELTAS, ARRIL 22.—Letters from Algarve positively irate, that the Army of General Buick, which disemlnaked in Aya rnonte and Cartaya, amounted to 12,000 infantry, and GOO horse. Generals Zits as and Aan►lsAGA, are Generals of ditision in this Expedition. " We are assured they will raise the siege of Cadiz, as they are able to reckon upon 10,000 men, ready to act is the com bined movements upun Andalusia. " LISBON, APRIL 27.—Generals Baittatkiaaos and Zavas af4 en gat svyal road ei Srfiltst" . . - with the Government of the country where they were established. These latter issuid their notes on the account of the Government, and without receiving an interest ; but the Swedish Bank was an exception, the Company hid issue their paper at an interest of 5 per cent. which had accordingly become excessive. It was a principle laid down by the celebrated Adam Sthith, correct, he was disposed to think, though he could not acquiesce in all the doctrines of that writer, that if there were a single bank established in a given place, without fear of competition, it might arrange the price of every markew.ble commodity within the 1 sphere of its circulation. He would ask, whether the Bank of England did not, in some measure, resemble such a one in its present state—whether it had not a kind of monopoly of the currency of the metropolis productive of the same effects ? He was ready to admit that some inconvenience would be the result of restoring things to their pristine situation ; but if it were to be maintained, that therefore so desirable an object were to be neglected—that no evil was to be incurred, howsoever great the balance of good might be, he was not sure that it would be at all useful to bring the artillery of ratiocination to bear in such a case.— The objection of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that I the Bank would find a difficult y of p rocuring gold in i T H TORBAY; MAY S. sufficient quantity if the res triction were removed, pro- 1 his day ar rivedis Maiesty's schooner MULLETT f h r ved too much if it proved a n y thing. It might be true ! mouth with stores for the Signal 1).-;st at Berryhead. f rom . Pl. that gold was enhanc ed in price all over the world, as Hi, Majesty's 0 - 12 ARIL r Kits* , Capt. CO/Its , Wit the vil:;n el; the East India ships, wind bound. IbltrigMor war arrived Y he : e . this morrin* tram had been stated; but if that were the case, yet we were to consider whether the increase had not taken place The SaArtowt P a in a greater ratio in our own ; and it we found that ! Lisbon. b s . he has been seven days on her passage, and Curs— it was dearer here by twenty per cent. than paper, it , was our duty not to permit it still further to increase.. qwuiethntefie s i . olp F n io t t lte zo of fr a i r a e t c e e a n n t d d a at c e o . She s. led in company The arguments we would advance against a change which have stood up Channel g for Portsn n i v ou oy th l ' i t g l h i t t A hP°:'". C CliAl E., would otherwise be every day gaining an addition of Is guns, and the Mt; ta.s . r schooner, sailed 1 • • la st right for l'ortr strength, and if it were allowed the evil must be con- ' mouth, wit h a l ike( of light transports under their convoy fron t (siderect as altogether irretrievable. It was for the this and s PY'orrttliale.—Trther are e Goi.dirrtiitsned it t o take reinforcements to Spain c b rig . o f war is still waiting bet consideration cf Parliament whether they would main- for the Messenger who •isto go out in her, with dispatches le.: taro a standard, or whether, in order to keep up prices ' Calz —Wind N.W. at home, she would suffer an unlimited augments- I and A b— led the Cecilia was lost yesterday near this port, drowned the Master, his wite and child, and four of the crew wve tion of the circulating medium ? There was no ° rowned ; only two seamen were saved. Arrive.' the Span' I brig prospect of peace, that therefore was not an event, Esperanza, after being taken by the Admiral Martin Fren c h to which we should look as the termination of an vat,,er, and retaken by hie Majesty's ship Su es NON. Thessiirs,i evol which bad no necessary connection with it.— DION has also detained the American brig ltose In Bloom, trnco, We should set about the work immediately ;—it oatYv°eZra.re 'f o r JeArdnaral and an privateer had taken the brig English brig float R . iis Lit.eiro.— should he prosecuted with caution and temper, but The cosis;al4l . gu sey n:b a ri n. . L has sent in; French brig, name un. also with earnestness. Was it acting like persons pos- known. sessed of common sense to leave every thing to chance, and not stretch forth a hand to preserve ourselves from the ruin that seemed to approach us ? As far as law was connected with the question, he would rather have left it to the management of persons more capa ble than himself ; but there was one circumstance so obvious as to strike the least observant--how far were the penalties to extend by which we were to curb a traffic so difficult to be detected. It was likely to become every day an object of greater temptation, so long as the gains were slight. The penalty might be an equal proportion, but paper might and would under the present system be so depreciated, that in dividuals possessing property of a certain description could preserve themselves from ruin only by resort ing to it, and it was dreadful to contemplate the ex tent of punishment to which it might be uecessary to have recourse. He could not, with sufficient earnest ness, exhort the House to embark in this work while it was yet time. If he might borrow an illustration used by Mr. Berke, on a similar occasion, 6, if light were not admitted through appropriate apertures into an edifice, it would force its way through chinks and crevices." Mr. VANSITTAP.T rose amid a general cry of Adjourn ! upon which Mr. WHARTON moved that the debate should be postponed till to-morrow, and that the Committee ask leave to sit again. The House having . resumed, the Chairman report. ed progress, and obtained leave for the Committee to sit again to-morrow.—Adjourned at half past One. THE ARMY. Thursday one Officer and upwards of MO cf the West Norfolk Militia, quartered at Yarmouth, vuluu teereal into the 54th Regiment of Foot. Yesterday the Judge-Advocate, Sir Davis) BAIRD, General FINCH, and several Officers of di,tinction, assembled at ten o'clock in the morning, at ChAwe College, in order to proceed on the trial of Colonel Jorixs•ros ; but there not being present a sufficient number of Members to constitute a Court, they ad ' journed- tritiPthis morning, at ten o'clock. The following General Orders were issued by Lord WELLINGTON, during the late pursuit of MAshRNA: " Adjutant-General's O cr, Lo sa, March 16. " The Commander of the Forces return; hi, 'thanks to Ge neral, Staff Officers, and Troops; for their cx.rl;cnt conduct in t:.e operation of the Izst ten days against rite enemy. He requests the Commanding Officers of the 43d, 52d, and 95th Reginirr..s to name a Serjeart of each Regiment, to be recommended for promorloti to au Ensigncy, a., a reitissen of the partir.Le appear tion of the Centirtander of the Fen:: of the cocchc.t cf thcce gra Pe. &emu." NiIV4L INTELLIGENCE. • PORTSMOUTH, MAY 6. Arrived his Majesty's ships Cu aIIAWIEE and AcuATrs from a anise, and several transports from Lisburn.—Sailed hi. Nl,jest)'s ship VENGLUK, 11AWF11, 501.111 A, Menu SA, and NALCISiUS or a Cruise. r DEAL, MAY 6. Sailed the whole of tke outward-bound, under conv:.y of :he ZErttra sloop of war; SAN Dosencc•, Mmttir.o', Be 310 AD, BILLONA, VALIANT, and Arrive for oft Flushing. Wind E. SHEERNESS, MAY C. Arrived the !Avatar from the Northward.—Gone out of hatbour the Dtri-NDER.—Came into harbour the it - avEN.— The Qu ZEN CLIAKLUTTZ last night broke her mooring arras is Shrernesa harbour, the wind blowing hard, anti drifted OR 114011; but was got off iirtlie nett tide. The MINERVA frigate a tiled yesterday from Parts. mouth, with Mr. Fo.rEiton board, for America. A cartel from Morlaix has arrived at Dartmouth, having on board Mr. Small, an American Messenger, with dispatches front the American Charge d'Affaires at Paris, to Mr. PINCKNEY. The Essex was ready to sail from Cowes opt Saturday, and only waited ler A fair wind, which she would have yesterday morning, and would no doubt avail herself of. Mr. SMITH, however, taking the chance of the Essex being det t.:.. cd, intended to set off last night to Cowes, with 1.112 dispatches. Vice-Admiral MURRAY is appointed to the C.: Naval Command at Yarmouth. The Portuguese Government has, by a recent IX. tree, doubled the pay of the Honottralile Adniir..l -BaurcELEv, and Captain Sir THOMAS HARDY; ti.; former of whom holds the rank of Command.. r-i• • Chief, and the latter of a Chief of Divisioa, in ti.:.: Royal Armada. EAST INDIES. —Accounts have been received cf a very extraordinary conspiracy at Bombay. Mr. Os. Boaxt, sub-Treasurer of the Settlement, sus•ecOng the native Clerks in the Treasury of malversation, gave notice, that on a particular day he would inves. agate their accounts, andexpect to tind their balances accurate. The clerks, tistive Indians, borrowed the necess:ry sums of the money changers to in“he their balances compteat while passim ' elimination, and engaged to return the sums, su borrowed, c, day, they having rot the least doubt 'hat these su,us wcuid I , a again entrusted to their custody. But Mr. Osborne, Gil tie& ; the balances accurate, clapped locks upon the whole of di: tr...• sure every night, thus its effect keeping it in hie possess:dn. i The native clerks a,stonished and driven to despair, tlwir ran being inevitable, formed a conspir;:cy against the life of A1r.0.- iborne. They were betrayed, apprehended, and carried lie:,,r, the Snperintendant of Police, who dismissed them on the grc,.l.! ;of want of sufficient evid.nce. But, they were apprthc!..::4 I again, committed, tried, and convicted. 'I hey now complained of Mr. Briscoe, the Superintenc:ar.! at Police, for having failed to protect them agreeably to their cl,:::- tation, and tact came out which occasioned Ow app resin: trial, and conviction of the Superintendart of Pvlice, f.:t c . :- ruptly favouring the escape of the Native Clerks. The RICORDZIt pronounced sentence as follows, on the greet thief criminal, .—that you be imprisoned for five years is ;:•:, prison of Bomisay, that you be placed once a year in the pli.ty, that you be twice publicly whipped through the Bazar •,ntarki'. that you be fined ten thousand rupees each, and impriseneJ LI the fine is paid. The lire punishment of whipping W4l icil•c:c4 next day, ha presence of twenty or thirty thousand spectators. The trial of C. J. Briscoe, Esq. in India, wil.::. lasted three days, excited a considerable sensatir . He was indicted for corruptly and wiifully ceu , p'• with others, to obstruct and impede the cours,!cf .., Lice, by preventing the trial of certain conspirea 1, • murder Mr. Osborne. The Jury lound him T .. 1:, but most strongly recommended him to mei c. A blse and cruel occurrence which took pla,-.:. a ftw days :ince at Newrrar ket, is the suf j ect of gene: .1. r.'l. versation and surprise among the treepienters ; : .: e Turf. Several horses were entered for the Claret StakJi, and, as usual, were taken out in the morning r r!.1::-.• day) for excr,:icu. They all drank, as ue nat r. stand, at one watering-trough. Some time :!!:er had been watered, six of them were observe : tc 5.,,.• ger, and then to roll about in the greate'.:: .1•,-, , r: . The horses poisoned were Lord Fot,Ev's P,..,, , ,c: , and Spaniard ; Lord Ii!NNAIRD'S Dant.y ; ;'',!. S. ,• wELL'a Reveille and Crlebs ; and Sir FRAM( 6 7..0 • 131511% colt, by Eagle. The last nurse i, dead. , .:.; poison was arsenic A reward of 500 g.ii::e•ts i..t been offered by the Jockey Club. • LONIX)N Ptirited and publi,hed by LEV %T, !;:r • ; .‘• °Mu' No. J r Carey.nreet ; RIO at the etticeiTtEr7l:iil; I ~ 1 ~ ~, t I 4, V or I ... .1 7