Star. — London, England, 1826-05-27 00:00:00

~" V Mr. GRAffok N also presented a Petition from the blanufao. turers and Weavers of the City and Liberties of Dublin, pray's,' that Plidiament would makesome provision for the Poor in that City, as there was at present no provision made (or them on the principle of the Poor Laws of England.—This Petition was ordertd, as well as the former, to be printed. Mr. T. WILSON presented a Petition from the Society of Ship Owners of the Port of London, praying the Legislature would take measures to pro tect them from the consequences of the late enact meats relative to reciprocity in Navigation.—Ordered to be printed. Lord A. 111 IL presented a Petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Belfast, praying that no immediate alteration might take place by law in the Batter Trade.—Laid no the table. General HART presented a Petition from certain Freeholders and others, in the County of llcumegal, complaining that the Grand Jury Rates were usually assessed and leVied by persons altogether, or for the Most part, unacquainted with the localities of the county where as s essed. COLONEL BRADLEY. Mr. HUME said, he held in his hand the Petition of C , lone! 13rad1ey, which had been alteied and amended according to the suggestion of som: Hon. Members in that House, and now contained nothing inconsistent with the usage of the Ccitnmons House of Parliament. He recapitulated the facts already detailed to the Public on a former occasion in the Parliamentary de bates, ai to Colonel 13radley being in command as a military officer, serving with his regime& at the settle ment of Honduras, on the Spanish main; that whilst so there Colonel Arthur, though on half pay, and enjoying a civil situation in the Colony, assumed the command to which he could not conceive he was en:itled, and had accordingly stsperseded him in that command ; that Colonel Arthur had assumed a special commission to take on himself the command, which he had re used to spew when called on ; that subsequently, by the order of Government, he was suspended for having thus done his duty, and finally compelled to leave the service, only being allowed to sell two of his commissions, which two he had purchased. He referred to the correspondence' of Colonel Arthur, to prove that he felt himself in an awkward situation in the Colony, the rank of Command ant not being altogether acquiesced in by the Colonists.' Under these circumstances, the Petitioner contended Col. Arthur could have no right, by the regulations of the army, to assume an authority over him, er have allow. ances, such as he was at present allowed. The Peti tioner had been eighteen years in service on this station (namely, the %Vest Indies,) which, according to a regu lation that two years should be equal to three on any Other station, would have entitled the Petitioner to sell all his commissions, as he was more than twenty years in the service; that he bad been put to the expense of 14004 in endeavouring to obtain redress for the injury he had sustained by being forced to quit the service - and had besides been confined :Ste days by order of Colonel Arthur, whenlse had resumed the command. The lion: Member said he sincerely hoped that some Member in a future House of Parliament would take notice of the subject, and obtain redress fur the injuries this very ill used indivi dual had sustained in consequence of the objectionable and oppres sive line of conduct pursued by the Noble Lord, or rather his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief. The Petitioner earnestly en treated the House to interfere and save him from the ruin which bad fallen or. an active and meritorious °dicer. He concluded by moving that the Petition be read. Lord PALMERSTON believed the House had on a former occasion heard too much of this subject to render it necessary he should again tire them by refuting the arguments and allegations of the Hon. Member, or the Petitioner himself. A certain great character of anticitiltv had, it is :aid, the art of transmuting every thing he touched to precious metals. The Hon. Mem ber in like manner affected every thing he touched with mistakes and blunders. Has whole statement was.a series of errors. The commission under which Cul. Arthur had been questioned in a Court of Law, proved that this Petitioner had been guilty of a gross derel ction of duty in displacing his superior. Could the Commander in Chief have abstained from displacing him? Or was he harshly tteated *hen he was allowed to sell out more of his commissions thao he actually had bought? The regulation as to service in the West Indies, in the rela tive o' three to two compared with service in other places, had no reference to officers but to the time of service by common soldiers. The term, therefore, of eighteen years service there could not in this instance be eked out to twenty years service, or entitle him to the favour alluded to. The whole had been the result of a very flagrant breach of military duty on the part of Colonel Bradley. The relinquishment of military rank which would have disqualified Colonel Arthur from recliring the allow ances in this case must be a resignation, which had not taken place in the case of Colonel Arthur. Colonel Arthur held a civil appoint ment and a military commission together, and this had never been denied, but independently of that he had received a special authority to assume the military command. The Petition was laid on the table. - Mr. HUME wished to ask whether Colonel Arthur, being on half pay, would be considered a military man, or would be liable to 'be triad by a Court Martial? According to the precedent of the case of officers tiled in 1749, he certainly could not, or would not, be amenable to the jurisdiction of such a Court. Mr. S. RICE brought up the Report of the Committee on the Irish Butter Trade. A Return wa► ordered of all British Merchandize and Manufac tures exported to the British West India Islands for the last year. On the motion of Mr. ABEILCROMST, a variety of Bankruptcy Re turns were ordered. Mr. IIOBHOUSE presented a Petition from an Individoal in Westminster, praying for a rcpeal of the Window Tax ; and another from Elizabeth; Denton, complaining of the cruel treatment of her infant child in the Lunatic Asyllutu.--Both were laid on the table. Mr. SYKES presented a Petition from the Met.- chants and Shippers of Hull, complaining of the dangers to be apprehended frcun the late regulations and alterations made in the Navigation Laws of 1111 S csruntry. The Petitioners viewed with deep t incern the fact, that in 1822, the tonnage of tour months in the trade of the Port of Hull was in proportion of 32,000 tons of British shipping, and but 24,000 tons of Foreign s whilst in the corresponding months of the last year, since the Bill was beginning to be felt in its operation, there was but 10,000 terns British, 17,000 Foreign, making a total balance against the present year of 15,000 tons. In timber, F.weigturs must have always the preference.— Thoogh formerly a frit lid to the reciprocity Navigation Laws, cer tain he was, that rules; something were done to remedy the evil complained of, the carrying trade must fall into the hands of foreigners, to the prejudice and ruin of the British shipping interest. It was a subject which required the gravest attention, both on the yarn of the Legislature, and those Members of his Majesty's Go. ver 00000 ent charged with the protection of our shipping interest. He moved the Petition shouW be read. Mr. ROBERTSON acquiesced in the statement of the lion. Mover, 'and regretted to say, that in proportion as the foreign carry ing trade to this country encreased, our own carrying trade declined. The Petition was read and ordered to be printed. Mr. VESET FITZGERALD presented a Petition from cer tain Freeholders in the County Clare, praying for an Act to autho rize the circulation of notes under five pounds in Ireland.—Laid on t►e table. Mr. NY I L M 01% HORTON moved for copies of all applications eceived at the Colonial Office from persons desirous of Emigrating ler the last three years. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER presented the Sixth Report of the Commissioners for Building new Churches. On the motion for the committing of the American Annuity En t Bent Mr. DEN N AN objected to the Bill being allowed to go through more stages than one in that ev►ning. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL urged the departure from the practice of the Blouse in ordinary cases trots the over-ruling ACCti sity for dispatch in this instance. The Bill went through a Committee, and was mil a third time sad pawl A Copy was ordered of the Correspondence between the Co!u nisi Office, and the Governors of our Foreign Colonies,on the sub led of Orders in tvncil respectioithe Salver Currency issue!tin the several Colonies 0) supply a dkulatlng maim there. .. 'MISERY. Lord 401-IN RUSSELL prefaced his Retolutiona on the subleit et Bribery and Corruption with a short enquiry Into the alleged existence of bribery and corruption in that. liouseb The notoriety of bribes to voters was such that one of the Standing Orders of the House went to correct the vicious habit. The Noble Lord re stated the nature of his resolutions and the manner in which they were intended to meet the evil complained of. The Noble Lord then moved his first resolution to effect, that in all cases when it was affirmed that bribery and corruption existed in any Borough or place, and the allegations are sufficiently specific, in twenty days afterwards the Petition shall he heard, after due notice to all concerned, and affixing such notice on the town hall, or nearest parish church. Mr. WYNN did not object to the principle of the Resolution, but contended that there existed•a sufficient number of legislative enactments to attain the ends of the Noble Lord's Resolutions.— . 1 he present moment, besides, was nut the most judichius for intro ducing the Noble Lord's measures. • Mr. W. SMITH supported the Resolution. Lord J. RUSSELL would press his Resolution, and leave it to the Right Hon. Gentleman to apply it to any partitular case in the next Parliament, in which be (LordJ.Russell) was nut sine of a seat. Mr. WYNN moved the previous questim. Mr. Secretary PEEL thought the subject very important, and ought not to be precipitately adopted by the House for the purpose of furtheling the Noble Lord's particular views, lie did not object to the pyinciple of the Resolution, but objected to its being cursorily adopted, without proper deliberate discussion, at the end of the Ses sion.. It should be embodied in a Bill; and if the Noble Lord would present it in that form next Session to the house, it should meet with his (Mr. Peel's) most favourable consideration. Mr. WARR E supported the Resolution. Mr. WYNN reiterated his objections. Lord MILTON ttkought that the subject embraced hi his Nobte Mend's Resolution niost impoitant, and merited the support of the House. Mr. LOCKHART thought the provisions of the resolution not sufficiently severe. Mr. BROUGHAM said, the Resolution might, perhaps, have. been made more general, but it was salutary so far as it went. He agreed with the Hon: Member for Yorkshire in the necessity of pressing this question to a division, It would do great good at the next election to have the opinion of the House tken decisively expressed upon it. They were now at a delicate crisis—Corrup tion was beginning to lay its plans; and he conjured all Honourable Gentlemen, for their own sakes (a powerful argument) to vote fir the Resolution. Mr. HUME instanced one place where each voter had been in the habit of receiving St. fir his vote for the last 25 years. Mr. H. GURNEY would vote for the previous question.— (Hear !)—He believed no Member sat in that House who could be returned without paying his expenses fat meal and malt.—(Cries of " No, no!") Alderman WOOD disclaimed, for his own part, this imputation. lle never had paid a shilling to a voter, even for coach hire or a bowl of punch. Serjeant ()snow and Sir R. Wu.son also repelled the general charge of the Hort. Member. Sir M. W. RIDLEY said, if Gentlemen were anxious to din. prove the truth of that allegation, they might do so by a very simple • made--let them vote for the Resolution.-z-( Hear !) General GASCOYG NE said he would do so.—(Hear!) Lord JOHN RUSSELL could not go to a division without thanking the Honourable Member who had supplied so strong an argument in support of the Motion. He mentioned the case of Westminster as an exception to the general practice. The sub stance of his resolutions had been before the House during the whole of the Session in the shape of a Bill. But he had had no opportunity of bringing it forward. Mr. H. GURNEY explained. Mr. GRENFELL supported the Resolution. The House then divided on the first Resolution, when there appeared to be-- For the Resolution . . • • 60: Against it • • 02, .• • • When the Sres,inta gate the casting vow favour of the Resolution. The Second Resolution, to the effect that thelrnti of the that ten contained in the said Petidor. should be ,reforred to a Select Committee of thirteen Members, to be chosen by lot, and of two Members to be chosen by the House. and that they shall 'report their opinion, toge th er with the evidence, to the House, was then put and car ried without a division. Lord JOHN RUSSELL had on a former occasion presented a Petition from a Gentleman of the name of Day, which alleged that by a clause in a Marriage Settlement the seats for a certain Borough were to be always sold, and that this clause had been compile& with at every successive election from 1799, the date of the settle ment, to 1819. He had not then moved that the Petition be printed, having some doubts as to the facts. These having been removed, he should now move that the Petition be printed —Ord: _ _ Sir JOHN MAXWELL rose to present a Petithn from cer tain poor persons of Balkershaw, in the county of Renfrew, pray ing for a grant of money to enable them to emigtate. Before he brought up the Petition, he begged to ask the Right lion. Secretary whether it was in the contemplation of Government to grant relief from the public purse to the distressed portion of the community, and also whether they had any plan to promote emigration ? Mr. Secretary PEEL—In reply to the first question, could only repeat the answer made the other night, by his Right Hon. Friend. to a similar question. With respect to the second question of the Hon. Member, he could only say, that a Committee bad been sit ting on the subject, whose report had been juit laid on the table. He had not yet bad the opportunity of directing his particular attention to that Report.—The Petition was then laid on the table and ordered to be printed. SCOTCH BANKS. On the mntinn, that the Report of the Committee Scotch and, Irish Banking, inlaid on the table, Mr. TIERNEY adverted to the recommendation of his Majesty's Speech to put the Currency upon a better footing, and recapitulated the various proceedings which had been adopted in pursuance of that recommendation. They proceeded with great vigour at first, with a vigour even beyond the law. They soon, however, began to relax. The Bank of England was to have the power of issuing one and two-pound notes till the latter part of the year, and he had no doubt that they would exercise it as extensively as possible. They legislated for England, and indeed outrun in action the speed of legislation, all without inquiry. They went on very well in the progress of the Bill till they came to Scotland : of Ireland he would not speak, as nothing had been determined. But with respect to Scotland the case was very different. He believed that since the tebellion of 1745, there was never such a combustion in Scotland. Nothing could equal the firmness of Scotch Members in support of the Bill at first, but their firmness in opposition to it afterwards-- when it touched themselves. He wished he had eloquence to describe the commotion that was created in Scotland, for it was a übjectof eloquence. As it was, lie would only refer for a description of it to the writings of the Great Unknown. In one of his poems there was a part under the title of the Gathering, in which every man through. out the country was brought, on a signal given, to his post in half an hour. Such was precisely the case in the present instance. The warmest language had been employed, and even menaces had not been spared.— (Some Hon. Member h.re made an observation, and there aro e a low I cry of Hear, hear.)—lt was, he knew, far from the disposition of his Hon. Friend to interrupt any body, and particularly in anger, but he would tell him what he meant by menace. Something had been . said about the Scottish claymore; this certainly sounded rather alarming to the ear of an Englishman, who very seldom saw such a thing except at the play.— The situation of Scotland % , 11S now very different from what it bad been ; great wealth had poured into Vie country from India and elsewhere. The sys tem of cash credit, • n a hich so much stress had been laid in the Committee, was not peculiar to Scotland. The Right Hon. Gentleman enlarged much on the injustice • and partiality of ntaki.ig a distineti.in between England and Scotland. The report would produce a new dis cussion of the whole Lurttncy question, which he had flattered iiintst-lt was at an end. It was a manifesto in .lavt-u: of paper aga . nst gold, and as circumstances • war* lik e ly tq operate in its fareur it lir turn the current- of - popularityain favour of paper. e expressed his terror of a systeatia: inconvertible paper ,currency. He had rejected all new-fashioned theories, and ttoi furmly adhered to gold, or paper convertible into gold at the pleasure of the holder. The Right Honourable Gentleman contended, that the sanction given by the Report to the Scotch system would- 1- ad to a dan gerous attachment to its principles, and then to place the currency of the country upeti a metallic basis would be utterly impossible. Under such circum stances, how should we be able to meet France with her sound metallic currency, in case of any rupture with that country ? He complained that Lord Liverpool had not obtained sufficient information upon this sub ject before he brought forward his measures, and then have stood 'to them. Give him a Government who would first mature their measures, and be satisfied of their propriety, and then abide by their fate; he should then know what it was he was called upon to support, and be able to satisfy his own mind of its claim thereto He pet fectly concurred with Lnrd Liverpool in the de sign of establishing Banking Companies; but now the Bill for effecting it had passed, it was found tittetly im possible that any Joint Stock Banking C in?any could be formed under it. The Bill was row a month old; and those who brought it in had been holding meetings to discover by what means it could be evaded. He under itood that such a discovery had at last been made, 'and that the Banks were to be established under an evasion of the Act He had been induced to make these ob servations with a 'new of justifying himself for giving his support to the early measures of the Government on this important subject. nom their declarations, and the principles which they professed, he never expected to see such a Report as this receive their sanction. He could offer no motion, as the Report was not before the House. a My only object," said the Right Honourable Gentleman, 61 was to set myself right with the country —li6eravi animam means—and having done so, I shall detain the House no longer." Lord Liverpool was a man for whom he entertained great personal reipeet ' and he only wished that he possessed better nerves, and not so much raihneis. Mr. Secretary PEEL said, that as Chairman of the Committee upon whose report the Right Honourable Gentleman had animadverted, he rose to vindicate the concldsions to which the Committee had come, arid to reply to the charges preferred against his colleague, Lord Liverpool, and the rest of the Government. And first, in respect to the conclusions of the report, it did appear to him to be a most singular proceeding on the part of the Right Hon. Gentleman to make them the subject of such remarks when the report was not before the House, and it was impossible that any judgment could be formed of its merits. He requested the House to suspend that judgment until they had an oppor tunity of reading the report, and said that he had never sat in a Committee more determined to do its duty ac cording to the evidence laid before it. The Right Hon. .Gentleman had said that the adoption of the Report was departure from the principles and the declarations of the Crovernments, asserted in the early part of the S ion. This he denied.' And he would ask the Right Hod. Gentleman when any declaration bad been made by the Government which said that the measure to come into operation in this country, io the year 1829, should- he mended to 'Scotland? This in- , consistency and contempt of principle so loudly com plained of by the Right Honourable Gentleman, would be neither mere nor less than a return to the systeto which existed up to the year 1797. From the i year 1777, the issuing of notes below the sum of 51. , was prohibited by law ; and for a century before that there had been practically no small notes in circulation in this country. But during the whole of that period, , concurrently with our own metallic circulation, Scotland , had small notes and nothing else. Up to this Session of Parliament, no one had ever proposed that the sys- , tem of banking in Scotland should be done away. In 1810 a Committee was appointed, at the instance of Mr. Horner, to inquire into the expediency of a resump tion of cash payments. That Committee sat for many months, examined evidence, and made an able Report, the conclusion of whichwas,that in two yens there should I be a resumption of Cash Payments. But the Report never suggested that the same measure should be ex tended to Scotland. The Committee of 1819 in the same manner made a Report, in which they recommended the same measure, but without extending it to Scotland. This Committee took evidence of the existence of the 'Scotch small notes, but did not think it necessary for their principle to interfere. Here, then, were the facts of the practice of a century, and of two Committees 1 sitting upon the subject of the Currency, and not deem- I ing it necessary to interfere. Then let him ask the Right ' Hon. Gentleman upon what public declaration of the Government it appeared that they had, at any time, made up their minds to such an interference. He would repeat that his impression was in favour of extending our own system ap Scotland, but as there had been no inquiry upon the subject in reference to Scot land, his feeling was, that they should not proceed until they had enqtaire'd. The Right Hon. Secretary then contended that the letter of Lord Liverpool did not bear the construction put upon it by the Right Hon. Gentle man. To him it appeared to prove a directly contrary opinion, and that his Lordship had never made any such declaration as that attributed to him in the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech. He had said that Lord Livet pool ought to have made up his mind and supported the measure without enquiry. But this had not always 'been the conduct of the Right Hon: Gentleman: When in 1818, Lord Liverpool, through the then Chancellor 'of the Exchequer, Mr. Vansittatt, came down to the House with a proposition for requiring additional secu rity from country bankers, the Right Hon; Gentleman turned round and said that Mr. Pitt himself in the zenith of his power would not have dared to bring in such a B 11 wit! out previous inquiry: But now, when Lord Liverpool, following the advice of the Right Hon. Gentleman, had proceeded by inquiry, then he turned round and said, a Bring down your measures and lay them upon the table, that I may know what it is I am called upon to support." The Committee h 'd been fairly constituted, and other Members he had readily added to it, upon the recommendation of those who complained that the interest of the bankers of Scotland would not be properly represented. The feeliqg of • Scotland was universally in favour of the existing sys ' tem ; but that he confessed he should have disregarded, if upon examination he had found that the general interests of the country called for a change. But what were the facts? First, the system had existed in the best times of the English currency, without inconve nience. Then, he was asked by the people of Scotland, Why will yrar disturb us, and make us adopt your system, when o e have not felt from our own the inconveniences of which . you have complained ?".a. , He had the greatest reriect for the Hagfish country Pbankers as a class, and thought they ha] done much eyes to the fact, that individuals had abused the pre sent system in a degree for which the affairs of Scotland afforded no parallel. This was proved by the returns, which showed that since the year 1816 there h id been only one failure of a Scotch Wok, while in the same period in England there had been 158. The Re• port provided that the introduction of Scotch paper money into this country should be prevented by-the passing a law which rendered it penal. If this law should Gil in its effect, then the question of assimilating the systems would.be necessarily reconsidered. It ap peared upon their evidence that if the one pound paper circulation was prohibited, the Scotch Banks would be obliged to give up their Branch Banks in the High lands, to the great inconvenience of the population.— There was one important peculiarity in the ca e •.1 Seer land to ,which he could flat shut his eyes—he meant the amount of circulation. In 1819, the circulation of England was about forty millions of Bank of England and Country Bank Paper ; of this 23 or 24 millions consisted of small notes. During the debates of the present Session, the amount of small paper had been calculated at about six or seven millions. Whin be compared this with the amount of small pi?er circtila tion in Scotland, he saw that alaw to prohibit it alto gether might produce consequences ti e extent of *hich could not be foreseen. The total amount of the Scotch circulation was about 3,300,0901. and dr that upwards of 2,000,0001. was in paper money below the •alue of 51. He must say, that whatever might haV€ beet! his Impteision at tut, When he heard these facts he was afiald to destroy to large II portion of the circulation of that country, further trial had been made of iti compatibility with our own iy;.. tem. The conClusion; therefore, to which be came was this : —he was not enamoured of the Scotch system, but under such circumstances he thought it prOdent to give it another trial. The respect which he entertained for the opinion of the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite (Mr. Tierney) made him sorry that the report met his disapproval; but either as Chairman of the Committee, or as a Minister. he could assert; that to no act df duty which k• had been called upon to perform, did he look back with greater satisfaction. Mr. ABERCROMBY said, that he went into the Committee with the opinion that one system for Eng land, and another for Scotland, was an absurdity. rite objection he had now to make to this Report was, that every one of its positions went to confirm that opinion, except its conclusion. No one had ever ventured to assert, either before the Committee or in that House, that the cash credits in Scotland would be destroyed by' the destruction of the one pound notes. He thought the measure recommended by the Report was most unfair and Unjust, as giving an undue advantage to the. Scotch banker Which those of England did not possess, and still more unfair and unjust to the principles which the Government had professed. The Right Hon: Gentlenian had said that only one bank had failed in Scotland, and that no calamities had fallen upon that country under the present system. Buethe Right for. Gentleman forgot to state the difference in the law which gave the Scotch banks so much greater security. This very circumstance required that there should be a power of controul exercised over the issues of those banks, because by ao over issue they had the power of inflicting greater . hardships upon the poor man, by increasing the price of the necessary articles of life, thaw if by a sudden failure he lost his one pond note altogether. The law to prevent tfie inttoductitiri ' of the Scotch notes into England would be the most odious and detestable law ever made. They took an imaginary border, which, so help him GOD, lie had often passed without knowing it ; and if a note legally • issued on the one side were carried on the other without any immoral intention, the party was to be expo;4.l to the penalty of the law. Unless the Committee had come to a more decided opinion, they ought not to have made such a report. An argument was put into the hands of practical men, when they said that their principles were unanswerable, but yet unsuited to the circumstances of the country. The real question was, whether Minshers should retrace their steps with regard to England, or whether they should put the currency of Scotland and of this country en the same footing. Mr. J. P. GRANT denied that there existed any analogy be tween the banking systems of Ragland and Scotland ; for a metallic currency was the original one of the former, and not of the latter. Besides the notes of the latter were payable in ten days in London, and there only occurred two failures, and a loss of 36,0001. to the country, within the last few years. Those who deposited their money in the Scotch banks bad had four per cent. interest for it. while the bankers had been ooe-half per cent. gainers. All the political economists, from Adam Smith downwards, approved of the system of banking in Scotland; a system se far from being changed, ought if possible to be extended to England. Captain GORDON thoughts properly regulated paper currency the best for England as well as Scotland, where it Was found td confer general benefit, and afforded universal satisfaction. Sir RIDLEY, on the part of the Country Bankers, chal. lenged inquiry, and he saw a o reason why they should shrink from it. He considered them to have been must unfairly treated ; and the letter which the Right Honourable 6en:'e•nan rippu,ite. and the Noble Lord at the Head of the Treasury; sent to the Bank Directors, (though, he was sure, they did not so design ir), produced more mischief in the country than all the failures which had previously occurred. Nothing could be commended is the system of Scotland, which was not equally applicable to any well conducted banking house in the country. Ile agreed with an Ron. Gentleman who had spoken, that a paper currency convertible into gold was the best and safest circulation which could be em ployed. Ile felt a degree of jealousy at the idea that Scotland must go on at the expense of F.nglami ; and he conceived it would be better if they wete to proceed together and 60 the same principle. He would take occasion to move; in the course of the night, that the Howie tizeuld, at an tidy period of the next Session, direct its attention td the state of the Currency in England and Scotland, iu order Mks as imitation in both countries. The Right Han. Gentle.: man who had gained so much credit by ameliorating the Criminal Cede, would not be able by any possible 'ocotillo to prevent tee circulation of Scotch notes in Prrygland. Previoas to the year 1797 no leas than sixty or seventy Ihousand pounds of those notes were disseminated through England, and much more bad been current since by the exertions of Scotch Bankers' Agents. Bankers might indeed be prevented front re-issuing; but no penal law; however excessive, could reach those, who, travelling into the north of Eng land. brought &oteh paper in their pockets: It wail very unfair to involve English bankers in the odium of rejecting those notes, when presented by their customers ; and any of the Hon. MNnbets for Scotland, parsing through Newcastle, would think hint very unac commodating, indeed; if be refused to supply them with the circu lating medium of London, in exchange for their Scotch paper--(•A laugh).—lf he had the honour of a seat next Session, he would take care to record on the Journals of the House the illiberality with which the Country Bankers had been treated. Mr. H. GURNEY said be was not a palter/fist of the Scotch system. He thought, though cash accounts had a tendency to cause over-issues, the exchanges with London corrected it. He drought an Inquiry should be instituted into the system of the currency. Tuts , were at. present purchasing gold at so high a ewe that it cost Bog !ante/se-half more than its nominal value. The distress and stag nation of commerce which occurred in the year )819 Weser V. duced by excessive circulation and over-speculation, from wisidt they had not yet reentered. He thought that some means should be dodged to mitigate the distress of the country, either by intro ducing silver into the standard coin of the country, or a privileged paper currency similar so that of the Bank of England. Mr. ROBERTSON said, a currency ea a metallic basis was the only security for the country. Mr. 'l'. WILSON said he Was averse to any restrictions being placed on England, while Scotland was exempted, convinced that such a line of conduct would be injurious. Mr. Alderman II EY G ATE said much injustice might have been avoided by an earlier inquiry. If security had been requirol from the country beakers, it would have placed the busking systeat here on as good a footing as that of Scotland: Tim Report oft Committee he considered a sound and wise Report, fir it held :5.1 a gold currency was not absolutely necessary. t - I