The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1826-03-01 00:00:00

THE BRITISH PRESS it en t will stand at the renewal of its hig h hirTwhhactrouvinn;rjgentlemen who have obtained relief or ed. 10 .111 „' al manly be hireised in its favour. The Bank in short o ° „. haih ni - sort of monied influence over the . whole community ; rhh hht " -- only minor considerations and did not belong to the "I t— n that of the public diatrecs. This distress, he was see 1 1 1--tw had not yet reach:d its crisis; it was mill in. pP.o salt nd semeshing men be done, and this something, the thhmit4 (Hirable Gentleman said , the Bank was willing het h"'", n oo k has a l rea dy done all it could with o ut t u h us tio "- ators t i o n of genera) confidence. Many pry . F- and re their advantage in the increase of money. p r ove its general utility. That measure would r,htwould sot • ihaent to draw not the wealth that was at present hoarded rah: se a o f individuals ; yet it was evident our money had t h coPerg ne Abtrod. There was no foreign loan to carry it away isf" ,:j, and mad practice to hosed up money, but it was g ee 1001 , n of genetal dietrisat ; and all this treasure he, is at hin " -- e ol would come (,rah again with the slighest attempt 1°- Itheonliclence. It was rematkable that in the pante no ne 11 , a rr fe ra a remedy. The Bank would not tiny tnat they adv ised e. no would the Right lion . lientlemar himself say hh ha n t ho good to the extent of three million'. He wished hit h t ha De sk with aomeof the Rank Direst t ors ; some of those, re:ea. e . - t ' ..111113 had known Mr. Pitt, and had taken an interest In ..airee in eider that he might dimwit' with them the merits 11 2:7, - h - c ompared with that of 1793. (Heir.) He was „ I " . ' ; it would be to a man with half the talent, of I " llll ` c ii . ,,a l easy Gentleman to answer his speech thea. tte—agig•litrift—rinmphant refutation' to show faults in detail here f l h ` . ";..:h e e r oving feta this and then that to be wrong ; hot he. ..r not ewe ;he knew he had the somas of the country with that comic:inn he was satisdled. (Hear, hear.) 'fettle, that If the pant* were asked whether they would prefer rroe na„ia o f oink notes, or ewe and a half editions of Excite. eld prefer the latter. He knew the Bank did not whai t'" - h;h o d th t hi s w irien c.o sure. They only submitted, did witnessing 0 . d i mes. around them they could not we ed ng their as. Wire in Some form they were in thising but weave „ li e le st sore that no man living vi ewed the calamities r r ttite thud with sincerer sympathy than the Right Honourable fientlernan (the Chareellor of the Exchequer) t but, howevet the !tight Honourable Gentleman migh t hav e i4 beet w i wi prompted min t cis feeling? , he (Mr. T.) objectet to n e teeing relief , becauty it recognised the eig commends! (forte... aril by means of the Bank sod Government. The measures ultimo! by Mr. Pitt in simil n a ti onsccustances SIM liable to the same objection. He was of those who I Ipot aded up to Mr. Pitt with the unlimited admiration of some ra ople ; he had no wish to cover his faults ; but without avow eg any homey to him. he would !dill say that he was a great son. and a lways ready to embrace the largest views of things (Chterh) He (Mr. T.) fits not a Pittite, but yet he would cite eir sothoritv of th it great Edelman ; though called by some a p silolopeer: by others a Jacobin. lie 'mad gather good principles ed precedents wherever he Mold find them. But to return to the Mom the people were deluded by Government Into a belief of gait boundless protperity. Thilt was the origin of the distrenh ti t now to remedy it, three millions were to go perhaps ti? Artie vise did not deserve It. Without the issue of Exchequer *lls by Combissiimem it would he impossible M select the objects of relief. I 3 use the least discrimination. The present measure was an indiscriminate advance of capital. la the year 1793 security nil been taken on goods, but the g rehu t part of the ad. awes had been granted on the security of other persons. This citcuntoance showed how unfit the Bank were to con. dad a transection of this r.sture. Fie had d oeef and be would repeat it, that he felt no share itt tlprevailing earn Ile believed that it was in sonic degree unreasonable. The Right Hon. Gentleman hall said that he had nothing to do with the distress. lie did not know that when lie introduced the Mend toes. are for the extinction of Mail notes he exposed the community to ill the evils and incenveniencies of a sudden contraction of the currency. Here was an instance of his having something to do with the distress, not merely by withdrawing the curreng, but also by pressing heavily on those who supplied the issue. By chit mdsure lie would, in all probability, bring diadem on a great many individuals, and it "mold be hard to my to a man on the loge of bankruptcy that it was contrary to the principles of Go vernment to give him any assistance. In such a cane it would be ridiculous to talk of principles; expediency alone ought to be con sulted. IThateree 'mail omduce most to the benefit of the cont. moult! would be the hest course to pursue. He wished this mea sure might be reconsidered. not more for its intrinsic importance than I , 'r the lively and sincere interest he took in the character of the R;ght Hon. Gentleman. whose fame might he sullied when the fu t ility of this treasure came to be proved. He believed he had tint omitted any thing, but would briefly recapitulate his reasoning. We had had experience of Exchequer bills issued by Commis. sisters, and found them efficaciowi ; but this new plan has never been tried, it puts the Bank into an extraordinary situation. places in their hands extravagant powers, and at the same time exposes them to great jeopardy, injuring both their civil and commercial character. Many, to be sure, wield be Rind to catch at the oppor tusity, and would avail themselves of an y menu a of raising • sum of money ; but these would not be the worthy objects of relief. It would be well. a: all events, if it were known how the affairs of the Bank stood berme we intimated them with such large powers. Ile knew that the exchanges were in our favour, but this was quite tin. natural, and ought on that account to be regsoled with dstrust. He (Mr. Tierney) brew some men of the greatest respectability in mercantile life, and whose fall he considered inevitable. Ile feared he should see time involved in the dustmen ruin. It was therefore neceleary for die Chancellor of the Exchequer to endeavour to re. inspire the public with confidence, and to declare definitely what =mem' he would adopt in the present emergency. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that no. thing he had hard had induced him to think that the measures pro peed by the Right Honourable Gentleman were entitled to a pre temper ; and he enured the Right Honourable Gentleman if he laid been convinced of their superiority, no fear of any charges or Jr:dna/16one should prevent his adoption of any measures which the public interest required : but the more he considered the measure proposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman, either in relation to the argument" adduced in its support. or to those brought against it, the less was he disposed to think favourably of it. The Right Ilan. Gentleman had stated his sentiments with perfect fairness, and without any mixture of asperity. Ile had spoke n of alliances ia a manner for which they would feel grateful. Bat the Right lion. Gentleman had said that Government might to take a different courts, because they had contributed to the distress. But this if true would only snake It incumbent on Government to seek n remedy. but not to ad mt sonic particular remedy. They ought to be well convinced of the superiority of the rerndies properted before they consented to adopt and apply them. He did that the COULTS'Z which Government had pursued 'for the last three !ears was the printipal cause of the shock to credit, and of our thonnerrid difficulties ; the Right Hon. Gentleman charged Go. vernment wish a certain act, and like all who united with him in dust charge. he forgot the history of the period when that act ea accomplished. When he blamed Government for the re: duet;rn of the four per cents. which he described as a dark rid aecret transaction, he forgot that the reduction of the three and live per cents. took effect long _before any one of those an a to which he now pointedly micribed the subsequent distress. But yet in the report of the committee of 1817. that particular mea sure was urged and recommended as an object of the greatest im pedance. as one to which the attention of Parliament was strongly called, and as ems ailculeted to give great relief to the country, by dimirishing, pro tool°. the charges that were impaired upon the people by the national debt. It was, therefore, not very sum posing that, enforced as this particular measure was, the Govern ment should, when the state of the funds in 11132 afforded a fa y iurabie opportunity of saving, by means of the reduction of the I per cents. to the 3A, a sum of no less than 140,0001. follow the measure which had been re much approved of in a former instance; nor was it fair to charge the Government under these eircion ratites with having acted improperly in allowing themselves, when finding the funds in this state. to do so in order to reduce the bur. dens of the country. Many of the acts charged upon the Govern ment were subsequent to the reduction of the interest on money. Theipasaing of the one and two pound notes A et. and the arrange ments with respect to the ttalthpah pensions. were both subsequent to :he fall of interest ; therefore it was impossible to charge upon lfme measures any share in producing the deterioration of the value of money. He mtiahtleny thatGeremnient ever did join by any pro des with the Bank of England so as to raise the price of the funds, in order to reduce the Interest of money. He certainly thought that if eith:r the Bank or the Government had ever endeavoured to produce that effect, it would have been a fraud upon those persona . win bed money to lay out in the p urc hase of stock. But one pro of that the Government certainly stied in adoptiwg that measure with I perfeet fairness., and did it bums .0% and not with a view to effect' timobject audited to them, he should remind the Right Hon. Gentleman and the House that at the commencement of the session of 1 R 2 4. (which by the by was rather before what had happened in the coatuty, and to which the distress might be properly attributed) —ia the commencement of dirt session, and when lie stated that it was the intendon of Government to prop the reduction of site 4 her cents.. it was proposed to han in this Howie by several Ho. noun:hie Members first of all—to do what ? Why, to begin by a reelection of interest en Excheq uer e replied %0. not be fair to the holders of those bills to do any such thin:: he considered that a reduction on those bills must necea ah' f. wow in due comae the operation of the measure he pro. but he thought it would hare been a most scandalous at ' 'tan . at fraud to reduce the hills which had been porehaud upon the mole of Government. lie therefore met that proposal with a (lam negative ; considering that to effect the object by a natural cau-se of everts could not have been in any degree objectionable, whilst it would be manifestly unjust to do so by any artificial means. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Tierney) said he thought is v-ntild be a good plan to follow the course which was pursued in 1793; and in stating this he used a strong expression, which to his Ithe Chancellor of the Exchequer's) mind if properly applied, Aided as powerful a reason as any that could be offered why that plan should not be adopted. The Right Hon. Gent. had talked of it as being an established practice. If it ever 'throad be an P anblialied practice, then indeed world the Government be extesed to all those formidable consequences which be (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was now so anxious to avoid. If ever it should be. c one an established practice fur the Government of the country to lie converted into a great banket and a great pawnbroker, it would bong upon the country the consequences that must flow from that cue of things, by which persons would be taught not to depend upon themselves, on their own exertions, or on their own prudence, but to rely upon unnatural and artificial causes. If the Govern ment were to yield to the present appeal. it would become there hfter rot an exception but a rule of their practice. In the first place, however, hs should deny that the case of 1793 was so pre. early similar to this present eri.is as the Right on. Gentleman seethed to think. The Right Hon. Gentleman attributed no int. portance at all to the aspect of affliirs between the summer of 1792 and the spring of 1793. But between those periods the most es sential change in the position of the country took place. In the summer of 1792 there was an universal impression that if ever there existed a period in which it was probable this country would remain in a state of peace it was at that period ; but what happened ? In the catty part of the year 1793 a sudden war broke out in Europe, unitise circumstances of quite a peculiar character t the power of France suddenly acquired a habitude which no person conceived to be possible ; which every man in Europe, 51r. Burke himself among the rest, looked upon as a phy sical unmetaibility. and which produced consequences that ulti mately involved this country in hostilities, which wets totally un like in their nature to any in which this country had ever previously been engaged. And though it was true that that prosperity of the county, which every body flattered themselves would be Terme tient, had attained a height that would perhaps have led to the usual consequences of over-much trading ; even if the war had not broken forth, yet it was certain that the war accelerated the dis unities that follesed ; therefore there was an extraneous cause in the state of the Government. and not a natural cause, which pro diked that event; and as that extraneous cause was hot the result of the conduct of Individuate eng aged In trade, it might be 03f1111. dered to produce a case in which it was lit and proper for Govern. ment to interfere. The case of 1811 had been referred to. There again, though both in the nature and intensity of the distress it might be similar to the; which now prevailed, yet then the country was in a state of war, and in that and every other repent the two cases were as unlike each other as they could possibly be. The dimes" of that period arose out of the peculiar over-trading in one particular branch, which peculiar branch was drugged. as it were, 1 by the peculiar circumstances in which the war stood t because by the anti-commercial decrees of Bonaparte, aided if they pleased by the retaliatory aem of this country, all the ordinary intercourse be twenn England and the other parts of Europe was entirely de. etroyed. It was therefore natural, arid in the dtdinary course of things to be adopted, that persons thus debarred from the usual avenues of commerce should avail themselves of the sudden opening that about that period was afforded with the nen States of Saudi America. The dtstresees therefore arose out of extraneous causes, and were referrable exclusively to the peculiar circuinstanees in which the country stood with regard to the war. Neither of the cases therefore which had been quoted could, in his opinion, be assimilated to that which now prevailed. That very circumstance was an additional reason for his thinking that if Government were now to yield, they should be following one bad precedent and set ting another 1 they would be entangling themselves in a snare from which they, suited never escape until ttey were etrangled in its folds. He was Mg putting as hypothetical rase, but if it should be thought fit fo follow this course now, it would have been but fair,' and mere common justice, to have done exactly the seine wheel, some lbw years ago, the agricultural distresses prevailed. (Hear, hear.) Sonic persons indeed thought at the time that Government I ought to have adopted such a measure, and a great many proposi- 1 dons were brought forward to that effect. But they were not re- i ceived, because the Government did not deem it advisable to gram the relief required. The pmpositione. however, were rejected, not merely on the ground of the difEculty of execution, but on the ground of principle. But both on tho ground of principle and of , common justice, the agriculturists had equally as s trong claims as I, any that were now set up; and he sho uld therefore like to know, if Government were now to yield, whether they could by any possi bility refuse to grant a similar relief - if ever thereafter the agricul. tUfildi should be labouring under the pressure of distress ? Other propositions had been also made, to which the Government would have been justified In acceding as notch as to this. With legard to Ireland, an lion.slember had, daring the extraordinary distresses of that country, proposed that GOvernment should advance a mil. lion of money for its relief, to be employed in the cultivation of the bogs of Ireland, and which might have been, for aught he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) knew, immediately beneficial to that country ; but if it bad been gra;tted, it would, in his opi nion, have led to a precedent which he should have been sorry to hare seen brought forward on the present occasion ; and he thought the Government, therefore, did moat wisely . in reject.. ins tt. The House supported him in his opposition to the meastirt, agreeing, however, to the great distress that existed—end great it was—for Ireland had just escaped from a state of famine in which thduunds and thousands had perished ; all pound banks were failing, and everything in the condition of that duntry, added to as it *as by its political diffitulties, tended to aggravate the vrretchednela of its people, and yet it was not thought prudent by this House to adopt the proposed relief ; and that upon the very same printiple Which he now urged, namely, that it was unwise, dangerous, and contrary to all precedent, to erect the Government of the country Into a great Minket and a great pawnbroker. But that was not the only ease where such an application had been re sisted. Every botij knew the great distress that was stated to pre vail in 1E22 in the West Indies. Ile had no reason to suppose that the representation then made in that House was not perfectly well founded in all its degrees, and particularly in the alleged amuses of that distress; which it was remarkable was iden tically the rime with that which had produced the existing Crisis. And what was that cause? Why, it was this—want of confidence between man and man, so that the planter could not avail himself of his property, and eery th'sg was so deranged that it produced an anomalous state of soot which was indeed so far a political cause. It was dlattnctly Ala. that these things I were partly the result of the acts of that House, and that the Hero-' lutions which were agreed to by Parliament in 1823, upon the sub ject of West India slavery, contributed to prodbee that very stag nation, that very want of trade, that ('try ruin—all that misery which followed those proceedings. These reasons were all as. ' signed for the ewtta the colonies then endured, and as gowned. ' k.... the relief being granted. But what did the Government feel it their duty to do? They felt it their duty to Say to them as they now said to the people of England—et di e think if we lend you five millions of money in Excbequerbilis we may be certainly giving you relief; hut we shall be at the same time setting a bad pre. cedent, and from which he shall never be able to get Government free, if that erroneous precedent be adopted." Erroneous it was, for everybody admitted it; for even the Right lion. Gentleman himself (Mr. Tierney) had said that it was bad per se, but that it was a case of absolute necessity and that the peculiar character of the case demanded it. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) could not deny that there was some force in this :tegument. But no situation required of a Government greater tinnaess and,deter mination than those very cases of imperious necessity. If Mi nisters were not at such times to shut their ears as much u they could to that appeal of an overruling necessity, they , would be led by the feelings to which their nature might prompt taem to pursue measures prejudicial to the general interests of the country. He for one could not answer for the result if they were too facile to any such appeals. Suppose they had lent the four millions to the agri. culturists in 1 0 2 ; euppose they had lent one million in 1823 for the distresses pf Ireland t suppose they had lent five millions in 1824 for the relief of the West India Colonies ; and suppose they were called upon to rote there Exchequer bills, without haying the precedent of 1793, but with the precedents of 1822,1823, and 11:24, k would then have appeared that Government would have been called upon, in the course of four yearn, to advance no less a sum than 13 millions in Exchequer bills for the relief of the country. Would any body say that this would not have been a dangerous ptecedent, and that it was not a misfortune that the original piece dent in 1793 was ever adopted ? But then it was stated that the present case was peculiar in its nature. Every case, whenever it occurred, was always represented to be one that required to be treated in a peculiar way. It we. always stated to be An exception to all other cases i the better feelings of men were appealed to to take this course, and it was placing persona in a very pithiful situation to decide between their inclinations and their duty. If Government had yielded on the former occasions they must inevit ably have yielded now ; and, if they yielded to the appeal 'ow, be knew no ease when the country should experience • the least difficulty, where Government, if called upon, could refuse the relief requited. The Right Honourable Gentleman said that he did not deny altogether the furze of his (the, Caar.cellor of the Exchequer's) objection ; but then. said he, what the Govern ment proposed to do was the same thing, only in a worse way. Now he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) confessed he could not conceive it to be the same thing, that Government, which hadanot the power to lentl money, and ought not to have that power—he could not conceireit to be the genie thing, that that Government s hould pass a law to give them that power; or that the Bank of Enema, which poisoned the power of lending money from Its first establishment, lout which power was an inherent part of its charter, should be left to exercise that power and to make the ad vances requOed. The very absence of power on the part of the Go verment wai an indication that it was no:one in the exercise of which the Government would be properly or salutarily employed; while the very possession of the power by the Bunk was an indication at least diet Parlirrnent thought that the power was one whkh it Was prudent and proper that the Bank ought to exercise. Now he would not say that the Bank ought, la CAUFC it possessed such a power, to go about aid exercise it in its ordinary concerns ; but he, on the other hand, never could admit that if such a state of things arose as existed at thus moment, it would be improper for the Bank to exercise it, although it might not be prudent for them to do so as a matter of course. He would particubcy allude to their can. . duct in December last, and say that they acted then with great prudence. although it was not within their ordinary rules The Bank were liberal thee, not according to the customary I Tart ice of dealing, but they word out of their way to give assistance in the exigency of the period. But was :Ito besaid that there was any thing wrong—that there was any absurdity or any inconsistency that deserved blame, if, under peculiar circumstances, they had remote to this extraor dinary power ? Certainly not; and that the Bank had the power to act as they did, we' as clear to his mind as it was obscure to die mind of the Right Hen. Gentleman. But with teemed to Exche quer bills he Mould like to ask one question. Suppose the Go. Tegument were to grant them, would the Batik have Beehive to do with theni? (Hear, hear.) Had they nothing to do with the ad vance made in 1793? Did not the Bank cash those bills? It was assumed thatliedn. Gentlemen the li em ank an w h a a s had argued e concerned it dinwtouhehttrannosith be necessary y e for the Bank to do so, because the inane of Exchequer bills would bring out money for other parties. That might be am or it might not. But if it should not, then the Bank must great the accommodation. The Bight Honourable Gentleman had no eight to assume that the Bank would do so, but alien he considered the measure of Government he did not assume that the lending money by the Rank would notalways be the fact. • the Right Honourable Gentlema n h ad (the Chancellor of the E U a tight to assume that he :chequer) was right in assuming the averse, and he were to cash these Ex chequercalled would say th a t i t t h e B an k bills, they might b e stances when it would be inc ons istent upon to do it under circum stance wit htheir ' own interests. But if the Bank granted these issues,they would do so in the full knowledge of every circumstance th a t , a situation to feel every vibration thtough and influenced all of that golden chain that ran acted on their own resroasib i li ty , classes of solely. When the Bank , and upim their own tint if what they could do with 'safety, they would have it in their power to make the issues consistently with their own intercom But if Parliament were to grint Exchequer bills, to be iseited by tleim tniessioners unacquainted with the circumstances that influenced the money market. dime Commissioners might be pouring out the bilk at the very 'eminent when the state of the market was against them. and which the Bank of England must cash. (Hear.) Thus the liatik iiiig'it be plared in a state of danger any jeopardy greater than by any other cause. That suppose the Bank were to may they would not cash thee Exchequer bill.? Suppose they were to at lege that as they did not know by what principles the Commie shiners might be guided in the issues they made, they would therefore not cash them all? Chat would he the effect of that conduct? If they would not cloth them, he apprehended persons would much rather have Bank notes than a parcel of Exchequer bills. And the effect would he that if those bills were not taken pp by somebody, either by the Bank of England or by private bankers, the market would be overlaid by Exchequer bills, which would necessarily have the tendency to produce a depreciation in their value. IF this result were to ha p pen, he should like to know 'how the revenue would be affected ? Because if by the over-issue of Exchequer bills they were brought down to a discount, a m edium was then immediately given to persons who held them to pay them into the revenue ; the consequence of which would be, that the revenue would experience a defalcation, and they must come at last to the Bank. (Hear.) The effect of all this might be, that Go. vernment must stand still, of they must make those very issues which the House muethnve seen had already heen productive of so much inconvenience; and that a further issue could only increase the magnitude of the evil. Unless, therefore, the Bank wee in some way or the other, mote or lees, a party to this business, it was utterly implausible that relief could be given.• When the Right Hon. Gent. alluded to the secrecy requisite he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was at first somewhat struck. But certainly when he came to discus's with persons who were very ready to receive assistance he found none of that excessivedelicacy which had beenso much spoken of. He discovered that when persons saw that the crisis had affected all alike,because nobody would lend ; and that they were not peculiar in their situation, they considered it to be no discredit to them to go anywhere to get money on goods which the formerley obtained on credit. They said, ' we are not insolvent, it is not mere credit that we ask, it is something 'substantial that we propose us a secu rity, and something on which credit may be well founded." lie could not for the life of him conceive what could induce anybody to he afraid to take that coulee, and so far ask relief. Surely one great proof that they were, sound and solvent would be to go with confidence, produce their goods, and ask fur this assistance ilt the face of slaa. Widen the Right Honourable Gentleman talked of 'secrecy(' he (the Chancellor of the Er chegerter) really imaginal, sous'eltaw est the other• it hag been matte a part of the course in cases of velief by Parliament. He looked at the Report+ and at the Acts of Parliament. and he found there was en oath of secrecy on entering Into office, but not one word of secrecy in any other respect. But what was the objection urged upon the ground of secrecy ? That it was very desirible, but not at all agreeable to merchants to gn before the Bank of Eng land to lay before them their a ffa ir s. But who were the persons I appointetlas Commissioners to issue Exchequer bills ? With the exception of Lord Sheffield and Grey Cooper, the whole of the sixteen persons appointed on the Commitment were merchants of the City of London, and one of them was a Bank Director. He could not conceive why it should be assumed as a matter of course that the Bank Directors were to avail themselves on this occasion of the opportunity such applications would give them to make all I sorts of sinister rumours calculated to prejudice the characters of I I those who applied them, seeing that the very Same individuals I were those to whom the issuing of Exchequer bills were intrusted. I unless it could be shown that as Commissioaers they felt them selves bound to refrain from the least obasTiation upon what came before them, while as Bank Diresaore they would in- I dulge in all the tittle tattle of idle and miedtievosis gossip. Ile I believed that they would be Mterly above such an imputation. He should be glad to know h ow it happened that persons went to the Bank for Resistances now ? For though it was with the bills of outer people, yet they endorsed them. and she B ank necessaril y looked into the security offered; and were bound to see whether they were such as they could trust. Whether therefore the money was to be advanced on goods or Bills of Ekchange, It was the seme thing ; and there appeared to ba. no more danger to character in discussing the credit and responsibility of the party in the one case than in the other. The argument therefore founded upon the necessity of secrecy was one which was of no weight whatever. Now, the Right Hon. Gentleman had said that Government were still more bound to take this course of giving relief because of the measures of relief which has been introduced by them at the corn. mencement of the session, and which the Right Honourable Gen tleman hail declared had met with his strenuoue support; but 'laid he the measures have imposed upon Government an additional duty, because they had been productive of the evils that este: But in answer to this statement, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) begged to say that before Parliament met, so long ago, indeed, as the month of December last, this proposi tion was made to the Government, and at a time when Exchequer bills were at has. per cent. discount. He, for himself, thought it was a strange proposition, and Government told the applicants then what they had told them since, that how. ever his Majesty's Ministers regretted their distresses they did not feel themselves justified in granting the mode of relief proposed. But Government was not indifferent to the distresses of the country. Was it because they set themselves decidedly against what they considered to be a very bad exatnple that they were to be r ep roached with want of feeling 1 Because. they endeavoured to see whether or not there was no other mode of granting relief were they to be wseweed esSasestisieesowe." Moelaliareerssited. the diastaes* of the country. Ile admitted the ens and aso admitted that it must be met with the beet mode of cell that ceuld be devised. They were then to choose between two modes—the one that was dan. gerous, and ought seldom, if ever, to be resorted to, namely, the issuing Exchequer bills; or the other, loans by the B ank of Enz. , ' land ' which was, in fact , no other than the executing a fu nction which b oL lz it th i a h t a p t a po rti . cu er lat ou b g od h y , t h w at b i eathreig e h n t e to ap e r x l e t r ed cise t . o : H ati e d th th er e e t fo ;w re . vernment took upon themselves to propose it to theßank, not be. cause they had any authority to do so, but becausse they felt that there existed such a state of things in which such a course ought to be taken. He never pretended to say that Goverhment would stand upon their importance and their dignity, And do nothing at all ; but they said they had to decide whether they would do what was required of them or not; and after giving the question the consideration it demanded, it was his conviction that it was the duty of Government to leave it undone ; and Government were not to be found fault with because they preferred a course which was safer- easier, and more natural than that which is lees easy, lees na ttiest, and pregnant with danger of the worst kind. The Right Hon. Gentleman complained that his Majesty's Ministers had used no lan guage of a cheenng nature. If they had indulged in such •strain they would have been charged with drawing a picture that was untrue; and he thought Ministers would have been treated with a much more severe attack than that which the Right Hon. Gentleman had treated them now; and it would have been with perfect justice, for it would have had a prejudicial tendency to have made light of the distresses that prevailed. He confessed he was disposed to urge all the difficulties tinder which the country laboured, the more be cause he felt it to be indispensably necessary to show from whence the greatness of those difficulties had resulted. It was the duty of M I. nisiers to impress upon the House the nature of the difficulties they hail to remove and to avoid the recurrence of them. But unquestion ably he concurred entirely with what had been 'said by the Rt. Hon re- Gentleman with respect to the real energy, powee, 311(1 internal sources of this country. Ile felt convinced that lifter a little while the pristine vigour, and although the leaveaand branches had been shaken in the storm, still the root was deeply fixed in a fertile soil, and the springtide of returning prosperity would again bring forth its bloom in all its wonted freshness. (Cheers.) lie war not one of thoee who looked at the present state of things with an eye of despondency. He was convinced that if they took their MC3. sures with wisdom and with a prospectiveview, they would weather the storm ; anti though they might have to regret the force of the distress that had been sustained in many pars of the kingdom, still they would not have to reproach themselves for having ne glected to give the best consideration as to the measures that were calculated to lewd relief to the distresses into which the country had unhappily been thrown. (Cheers.) Mr. A. lIARING rose, taut in consequence of the noise in the gallery, occasioned by person , ' letting their seats, several of tire lion. Gentleman's host sentences were entirely lost. When we heard him the Hon. Gentleman wrupleserving uin that alnstthoughnter the Chancellor of the Exchequ e r had ben argg agai the i ference of Government wit h the distresses of the cuuntry et the . y conclusion of the Right light Her: Gent to all those objections. (Hear, hear.) For the I , , , Hon. Gentleman's speech was nn gnawer had informed the House that night that his Mujeety s Ministers The Right lion. Gentleman hid w w tha in t ter it fweretaaltso. wtialeettarriyheer.) a month since lie hd been Fussed by the merchants of London to grant relief, and f lir t refusal upon ' hided d Hon. Gentleman had stated that hire had at lengt e a r, ,an had refusal was given at the Treasury but now , after all, the Right interfered to obtain the relief requd. (Hear, h t e hear, front the Chancellor of the Exchequer.) Ile only spoke , ih D irect ors r t one o wom of the Bank and with other per dot Infin i ti s h could not see the wanted the relief for themselves, but that ey , Right lion. Gentleman had la communicateiuenes w a lt w l the f to his Majesty's Ministers, and Gentleman to represent the distres s Government however, hod persisted in their grant some relief. tae country placed in such a situation without begging the Right Hon. i hail now been done had been refusal till to-night. If to say that the Honourable avoided. He slid not _mean Wil son ) had intimidated the Member for London (dßa ni it granting relief, but it done two or three weeks swgo, muc h nn i t i h is in tr g ess of wo a u n ld v h ave k been ii lt in itht lion. Gentleman had Goverenment. but until ir g nment doing what was asked, but in ended at last not in rimer the Bank Directors had day after day Z u l . k e e n froa to l .n 3 ig i h ia t is i t n e de ra.etlili!ltithbaectnthilge hoeing the Bank to do wiiat .aialt. They knew perfectly well that begged to be excused from was a l owtat o bjectionable, and they begged the precedent with them to that preeedent on record, and PO beaCtiClai to the country. With t.er which,n ie nt whento .i "ta non-interfsrence of Government on regard to the objection 'inconvenience of setting a precedent, he th e use occasions, and the e t;atattonent Imo the precedent of Mr. w sold remark, that t ie those matters was great. The intensity P.tt, whose authority 2 w as greater, probably, than any and what was there in the present one h at e ta ve pted ne , o urse it out of the course of precedents ? c tee which should ta e i to be laid upon the fact that in the of the e e eap,retesettilltatdeitsateterasket i4ed ; So one stress indeed ace -tent case, for what hail been the great netivere the result of the conduct of the Go: under which the country laboured in difficulty ? The diffieu ay 1 things'• was the want of the circulating t tat extraordinary state. e a r want of confidence. Many persons, hay. mediem of the countryilso .., e o w e t h e iatrtnceanstes. B t h u e t dot:twee:li t fail nor w.mt of antrey. One-fourth ine plenty of [lnaba° , of the currency was put out of circulation; and then what did Parliament do the first thing after it met ? It produced a measure that went to knock an the head a great portion of what little cutrency remained. Two or three years ago an Act was parsed to keep this trash in circulation, and but now a new light had broken in upon the country, and this (rah must no longer exist. And Jilt was done in the very midst of the distress occasioned by the want of money ! Was not that interference by Government anti by Parliament ? But all this was mere peevinli and puerile complaint. The question not whether it would he an interference with trade, but whether it would be a benefit to the country. The Mi nisters said it would indeed do good, but it would be setting • bod example. His own conviction was, that it was an example eittremely rare to he followed, that nothing but a case of great - difficulty would justify Government to adopt it, and that many examples had unfortunately been set Mt which would be more honourable in the breach than in the observance. Cases of particular distress might be left to the friends and neighbours of the parties ; it was only in cases of a general an extraordinary na ture to which such a relief as was asked was to be applied. The case of 1793 was one founded in perfect good sense and sound discretion. Each case must be taken upon its own grounds. It was admitted on all hands that the interference of Government may be useful on particular occasions, anal If it could ever he use fully applied it was in the present woe:. In fact an issue of Exche quer bills by the if lovernment was exactly what was wanted. It would act as a medium, and produce confidetme between indivi duals possessed of snlid property. The Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) said that Exchequer bills would come back to the Bank, but that he denied. 'the bankers of Lon don and the mottled people have now as much money as on any former occasions. Every prudent man of businee% bed abundance of money. If it were not impertinent to speak a himself he had twice as much money as on ordinary occasion , . But there was no necessity for this money now. Exchequer bills were that siecies of security which capitalists would be justified in taking. The& was more gold and more Bank notes in the country than had esed to been for a longtime ; hut seeing dint Governmeht 4site not disp assist any one, and attributing that indisposition, on the part of Go vernment hi a panic, of which none knew the fetndation, it induced every monied man to take care of himself. The peopneed remedy of an issue Of Exchequer bids was, in his opinipm peculiarly adapted to meet the present emergency. But the Goyernment be pre ferred the Hank interference , althoug h the Bank begged to ex cused when its interference was called for. Now if . there was danger in either of the proposed remedies, what danger could be so great as forting the Bank to extend its Issues. The Whitt lion. Secretary for Foreign Affairs said that nothin g should induce hi o tosonsent to a suspension of cash payments, yet there was no ob jection to throw err attetitimeol burden of three roil/Lions upop the Bank without asking whether it was able to bear it. Ile did not I mean to say that the Bank was in any danger, or that it would be endangered by the proposed measure ; for the state of the exchanges ' would warrant the Bank in taking any reasonable latitude ; but if there was danger any where it was with the Bank. Until the 1 present occasion he had never I'nown that the Bank was empowered by its charter to lend money on goods. It could not be said that such a proceeding was ever intended. The true construction of what was termed " the permissive power" was, that if the Bank should take goods as a security for bad debts, they might have 1 1 power to sell those goods. This was clearly the meaning if the permissive clause. At all events the power now proposed to be exercised was of a most dangerot e character. ("leer.) Parliament could not set such a precedent upon light ground.; but, the mo ment the precedent was established of the Bank's lending upon goods, there Was an end to the real banking business. Idstead of establishing a pound principle of banking. Ministers were doing the greatest possible injury to the banking business, by ac ceding to the measure hinted at. He thought if something had them done earlier too, it would 'have been much better, and that less would have been necessary. The merchants had been held at arm's length, and were refused communion with' and assistance from Government in a manner the most unprece dented. As to what had fallen from die Right flonourable Gen tlemen (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), with respect to the merchant and factor law, the operation of which it was Intended to accelerate, it was a matter of serious consideration. When that law was first proposed, the Lord Chancellor yielded to it, as he did to everything new, with great reluctance, only because it was novel. At length, however, the Bill passed, and the Chancellor then had a clause added, postponing its operation. He said that the old English commercial laws had been so long in operation that foreigners were acquainted with them, but that they could not be expected to be acquainted with the new law. Therefore, said he. give sufficient notice, that persons consigning goods may know that those to whom they consigned had the power of mortgaging their property. The object of the new Bill was, that evidence of property should be evidence of title to enable the holder to transfer or borrow upon his goods. For the reason stated by the Lord Chancellor, the operation of the measure was delayed until Octo ber, and whether that reason was sufficient or not. he (llr. Baring) would not say, but at least It was an honest reason, aid he did not know whether it would now be honest to alter that arrangement by shortening the time. He did not know whether it would not be breaking faith the foreigner. The former issues of Exchequer Bilis were under the old system of law ; money was then lent on property, and not a sixpence was lost ; and the question now was, I whether it would not be better to run the chance of losing a little than prematurely to alter the law. As to secrecy, it was a ME ter of the first necessity. The Report of the Commiseioners in 17ffd showed that they thought the strictest secrecy necessary. It was ture, however, that persona in all parts of the country would have opened their, affairs with more confidence to Parliamentary Commissionersthan to the Bank; he did not mean to the Bank Directors, as gentlemen, but as a public body. In conclusion, he was glad that something was done, but he would say lie thought Government had ungraciously retarded, and by delay diminished, the value of what had been done, and were now putting the relief they heal reluctantly granted into the most objectionable shape in which it was possible it could come. Lord A LTHORP did not look much to precedent in a case like the present. It was a case of great distress, and the only question was, whether the Government ought or ought not to step forward with relief. He approved of the measures of Government for altering the currency, but thought they ought first to have relieved the dis tress, and then to have brought forward some permanent remedy to fervent its recurrence. An unusual measure was required, and the only question was, what that unusual measure ought to be. The measure of issuing Exchequer billy hal been tried with suc cess. The measure with the Bank was a new experiment, the suc cess of which must be doubtful. Mr. T. WILSON said that, for the sake of the Bank and of the country, he wished to have rite question fully discussed ; but in his own justification he thought it necessary to say a few words. Every one had a right to choose between two extremes, but the Government hail a right to show some reason for its preference of one of the remedies now proposed. It' much time was allowed to slip, no good whatever could be effected by either meosure. He understood it had been held out that accommodation for tiro or three months would be sufficient but he was confident, no man of business had given such an answer. (Hear.) The commercial com munities of Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow would never col sitter an accommodation for two or three months sufficient. As to the general question Whether the relief could be afforded by the Government or the Bauk, it should be considered that If the system was once acceded to, of the Bank lending on goods, the Bank would be exposed to assaults from month to month, and from year to year, upon every occasion of temporary distress, whereas the Government could only come forward in a season of national distress like the present. In case of national distress, the Government, be thought, ! was the best. The Bank OILS now pushed into a corner, and the Government stood upon high grounds. They would not dee viate front the principles which they had laid down. Though the distress was not local, and confined to any particular interest or soy particular part of the country, yet he understood the Right Hon. Secretary Fur Foreign Affairs ( Mr. Canning) to say, that if the gene timents of the commercial community and of the country were con trary to this, they ought not to be acceded to. lie must rny, that in tits opinion the servants of the Crown ought rather to listen to the petitions of the country than to consult their private opinions. He thought the trading, the shipping , and commercial interests ' had been neglected, and were treated with a levity which was not I becoming nor deserved. The Government had much better have left themselves at liberty to accede to whatever measures the exi gency of the time required than to have pertinaciously adhered to a course of policy which, at one period, they thought fit to adopt. Under all the circumstances the House had better pause before they brought the Bank into a situation in which it would be exposed to assaults from month to month anti from year to year. ATT WOOD said that if the House considered the pewees from whence the petitions and applications came, they must be convinced that the whole commercial interest was in a state of distress and emergency which threatened its total prostration. It was required that the channels of commercial circulation should be opened, that the communication which was now choked up should be made free; and the only question was, whether it was the peculiar province of Government to open the channels and remove the obstructions. The commercial community wanted means of communication which did not exist. To the measure of issuing Exchequer bills there seemed no material objection. It was proposed, upon die high authority of Mr. Pitt, and had been found productive of no inconvenience. Yet this relief was refused iu a season of peculiar distress, and burdened as the country was with a heavy debt. In his o : onion the advancing of money by the Bank was a much more objectionable measure • for should any inconvenience arise from the Bank issues, the Government could not turn round and blame the Bank fur the consequenzes of a measure which was evid,mtly forced upon them. The Right Hon. Secretary for Foreign Affitirs, when speaking of the Bank Restriction Act, said that was one of the measures in which Mr. Pitt was obscured. Mr. Burke also approved of that measure, though he disapproved of the issue of H. notes ; so that that Right Hon. Gentleman must also have been in an eclipse. In fart Mr. d'itt'o measure was the necessary consequence of the state in which he hail placed the country. When the Bank coffers were emptied, the restriction bill passed as matter of course. That ne cessity would be produced if the Bank was urged on to make advances which it was not diepsed to make. The Honourable Secretary (Mr. Canning), whilst he said he never would consent to the re-enactment of the Bank Restriction Act, was taking measures which would lead to that as matter of course. lie wished to know why the Government could not give effect to the measure of relief by Exchequer bills ? He wanted to know what price we were to pay for the menettre relative to the currency ? lie had heard enough of its advantages-en Wan said to be calculated to prevent those ruinous fiuctuationa to which the country was peculiarly sub ject ; but he wanted to know the evil as well as the good qualVies of the Bill. He had no hesitation in expressing his cotiviction, that the reluction of the notes of the Bank , forced on the Bank by the neceisily of pitying in gold, had led to the present panic, and to the present unprecedented want of confidence amongst com mercial men. Mr. Peter Mom, and Mr. Whitmore rose at the sante moment; the Cornier Hon.. Gentlenum gate way. Mr. WHlT:tiff/RE said that in his opinion the measures Pcir posed by 31 inietver were the Irma under all the erten - ounces of the country. They were, best adapted to meet the present distress. Ile was convinced that the rename of an issue by the Bank would be equally beneficial ,with an inglit of Exchequer bills by the Go vernment, and would teed in a greater degree to restore that con fidence which war so desirable. He agreed that there was consi derable inconvenience and danger in fouling the issues of the Bank, and that it required all the intuition or the Government sod the Bank Directors to prevent the contequentes which may_reeult from forced issues. The Honourable Mymbee for London (Mr. Wilsons had found fault with Ministers fee taking a line of policy and ad. hering strictly to itr but he (Mr. \l'hitrriore) thought the :Mi nisters did right to stake Meitteputation and their ploces,by perse vering in the line of policy WI& they had once adopted. (Hear). With respect to the observations of the Hon. 3lember forCallington (Mr. Attwood), he implored the Howe not to minor a measure, the effect of which woojd be an aberration. from: principle and a virtual act of national fotaktuptcy. Ile hoped, therefore. that the House would pause Iselbee they permed a course which circum stances of the greatest difficulty alone could justify. lie called upon them to pursue an open, honest line of conduct, and not one which was calculi ett to undermine the credit of the cauntey. AC the same time it was his whit that the House should consider the ' circumstances of difficulty in which the country wee placed. Com , menial affairs were in 11 slate of the greatest confusioo, and credit wu destroyed, 140 that it became an incumbent duty capon the re presentatives of the nation to weigh well before they came to a decision the measure which was proposed for their consideration. He could for his own part honestly declare that he had no con. nation with the administration of the country. but lie felt that the. measures which had hitherto beet proposed by his Majesty's 31i .nisters were an well cakolated to benefit the nation, to well cal culated to enable the errantry, to struggle through its distresses, and to replace itself once : more in a state of great prosperity, that he called upon the House, end updn the country not to withdraw from them their confidence?--not to withdraw from them that sup port which they hitherto cfforded them, and he had no doubt but they would hereafter ceneeetulate . themselves that they had not abandoned them in their It was net his intention to. occupy more of the time of the House than to cleave that he en tirely approyed of the count of the proceeding adopted by his 31a jetty's 31imsters—(Cheers.). M r. ATT Wet) D explaintel. Mr. PETER 3100 RE attributed the distresses of the country to the vicious system of calumny, falsehood, and general atrocity pitesued at the Stock Exchange. (Lttnghter.) The real question was what was tribe done with the Stock Exchange. (Great laughter.) . It was a pandemonium of falsehood and vice. overbearing every transaction of Government as well as of private life. To be a hmker on the S,oclt Exchange a man Must have certain Introduc tions, otherwise he was turned oat, kicked out, and thumped out. Wrest laughter.) . He believeAthe Lord Mayor had the power of checking the nuisance, as Sir Pjcliard Bitnie had the power of putting down similar houses In FA-mall. He might be tatted how it was to be got ricl of ? To 1 4 1:!ch he would reply, " make; me Lord Mayor, and I will engage tc rid you of it in 24 hours."— (Immense laughter)—He should consider that the House did not do its duty unless it put a atop to the gambling upon the Stock Exchange. Mr. ELLICE replied. He said that, in the year 1822 Lord Cat. tleresgh had carried a mersure through the House for the purpose of relieving the then embarrassroents of the country, by adding four millions to its circulating medium and this measure it was that led to the subsequent reduction of the interest upon the public securities. The great object at present be attained was a restore lion of confidence, and that, he contentleti, could be better elected by an issue of Exchequer bills than by. any Getter means; because an increase of circulating medium must have the effect of raising prices. He regretted the measure whichisart been adopted, for he lied hoped theta wholesome disagreement had taken place between the Bank and the Government. Ile regretted that the Bank should have consented to become an instrument in the hands of Ministers, to carry a half measure into operation whieh could be produrive of no good effect. If the connexion between them was dissolved. and if Government ient their Eechequer bills at once into the money market, whefe the Bank might go and perches' so as to re gulate the exchanges, he would venture to predict that they wookl see no renewal of such circumstances as had so recently spread Con. sternation throughout the country. The question was then put and agreed to without a division. PROMISSORY SMA Id. NOTE BILL, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER mewed the bring, ing up of the Report of the Committee upon the Promissory Small Note Bill. Mr. JOHN SMITH rose, but from the low tone of voice in which he spike, we could only hear an occasional observation. lie had, he said, heard various charges alleged against the country bankers. In the first place that they had, encouraged the specu lations to which so large a portion of the distresses of the country had been attributed by an extensive its-rue of their paper—in the next place the. were charged with occasioning the distresses of the nation by plying off their paper too rap , dly. These were heavy charges ‘ however inconsistent, but in audition to these the Hon. Member for Aberdeen, (Mr. Hume) on the previous evening pro posed a clauM to compel them to pay their paper within a week, under penalty of a distress warrant. All this was exceedingly unfair, because it was calculated to throw discredit upon the count try bankers, who had, in his opinion, rendered an essential service to the country. If he were asked who was the author of the letter which had occasioned so nrneh =Vermilion, be wowldmeply, that though he might not he able to say who did write it, yet ea could say who did not write it. He would my that it bore internal evidence that it was not the composition of the Right Honourable Gentleman the Secretary foe Foreign A glair( ; neither did he con ceive that it could be the, production of the Right Honourable Gentleman Who was at the head of the Board of Trade. • There was perhaps of late years no subject which could he so accurately decided upon es the internal evidence of enmpoeition, and from that species of evidence More he would affirm, and lie believed the House would agree with him in the opinion, that it was not the production of any of the Right Hononrable Gentlemen opposite to him. lie wished to make an observation in reply to what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Callington (3lr. Attwood) as to the clause which obliges persons issuing notes to make them payable at the place from whence they are issued. He believed that all country notes were made payable it the place horn whence they were issued, although many of the Midland • counties might have made them Payable in London Aso. If such were not the case, he could assure the theme that he heartily re joiced that an Issue of that description was to be put aiaind to. He was of opinion that the mature ought not to be put fntnoperation until next July ; indeed the proper course to have pursued world have been to have brought the matter before the House in a different manner altogether—the whole subject should have undergone the investigation of is Committee, and the result might have been tae formation of a measure free from the clijections which caused the present Bill to he opposed in almost every stage. Mr. ATTWOOD, in explanation, stated some insainces in which country notes were payable only in London. Alderman HEYGATE said that his observations on the pre. ceding evening had been misunderstood. It had been Stated that he said that the country bankers were satisfied with the measure. . whereas that which he did say was; that they did not wish to throw any obstructions in its way. Mr. FYSII E PA I, MER took that opporturd y of expressing his thorough dissent from the measure before the !louse. He was no advocate for high prices, for lie knew that the manufacturer ut this country could not compete in the fereign market unless corn was moderately low. But Were Ministers resorted to a month*: currency, and to principles of tree trade, they should place a check upon the boundless extravagance which characterise d the manage. ment of the affairs of the country. (Hear, hear.) If the country was to pay the interest of the debt., the moat rigid economy ought to be adopted. (Hear, hear.) He thought also the public creditor ought to be contented to be paid in t h e same currency in which lie had advanced his money ; far it was somewhat hard that that which was lent when a guinea was worth Ms. slibilldite repaid in MI when the value of the guinea was 'only 21a. * Ult was however to be done, it could only be effected by adopting a system of the closest economy. The Report was then brought up. -Upon the question that it be now read— The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that be wished to introduce two clauses which would slightly alter the hilt in two particulars: one was to expunge the penalty clausal, or rise ther those clauses which gave a rower to a justice of the peace to levy summarily, and in lieu of that to leave them to the usual course of proceeding at the Stamp-office. The other alteration was, that draughts under st. might not be precluded from being given by the operation of the law. Mr. JOHN SMITH explained. Mr. HUME wished to call the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) to a cilium to which he had alluded on the previous evening. He desired to know if them could be any objection to requiring an account from every ba iker of the amount of his issues, so us to be mailed to ascertain k amount of the total circulation of the country. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that it cm. taiAly was a matter worthy of serious consideration, and would be mutt advisable if it could be done without occasioning s diaclueure of the private affairs of the bankers. If any means could be de vised to obtain so desirable an end, he should be happy to attend to them, and in the mean time would give the euhloct every consi deration, and endeavour to gain information as far as he was able. Sir M. W. RIDLEY said that he wished to have the authority of the Right lion. Gentleman who had just resumed his seat, to contradict an opinion that was very generally prevalen . .. It was supposed that that Bill was to prohibit altogether the issuing of one and two pound notes, in consequence of which scarcely any body would take them. In order to put an end to all suspense upon the subject, he hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman would just say a word to ea the ni ott r right. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that be had no hesitation in complying with the request of the Hon. Gentle man. The Bill most decidedly meant to effect the ultimate ex tinction of small notes; but it was in contemplathm to effect that object by gradually withdrawing them from circulation during the next three years. The Bill expressly authorised their circulation during that poiod„ anti if under any other impression the baokers" had withdrawn their raper, or if persons applied to have gold foe it, he could only say dot airy laboured under a complete miscon ception as to the tenderev of the Bill. Mr. GURNEY wished to know if draughts under 5/. payable to bearer were to he considered as illegal. Mr. MARTIN said a few words, which were inaudible in the gallery. l e as ATTORNEY-GENERAL raid that, ty the 13th of