The Sun. — London, England, 1833-04-24 00:00:00

onsideration the situation he filled, to call upon the House to pledge itself befer going i❑to a Committee of Inquiry. not to lower the standard of value. Colonel DAVIES thought his Noble Friend should first of all accede to the Committee, and then call upon itp- House to pledge itself not to lower the standard. Ile was as much averse from lowering the standard as any man. The order of the day was then read. Mr. M. ATTWOOD was understood to express him self satisfied with the Noble Lord's explanation, as far as he was personally concerned. MONETARY SYSTEM—GENERAL DISTRESS_. ADJOURNED DEBATE. Sir HENRY WILLOUGHBY was happy to hear that it was not regarded as dishonesty to support the mo tion, for he meant to support it. The real question before the House was, whether it was expedient to inquire into the monetary system of the country? The inquiry which he advocated was not an inquiry merely respecting the distress of the country, but an inquirywhether that distres• arose from the monetary system of the country ; and those who supported the motion for inquiry could not be supposed, as a matter of necessity, to oppose the Govern ment in sodoing. The greatest discontent had, undoubtedly arisen from the Government not having taken the subject of the currency more seriously under consideration ; and it was extremely desirable to ascertain whether some method might not be devised for levying the taxes with greater ease, and without causing so much distress to the people. More attention ought to have been paid to the healthy action of the Bank upo❑ the currency of the country. In 1810 that trading Company had avowed that it had made over-issues in discounting good bills ; and in 1819 there was a recorded re-olution of the Bank, that the exchanges had nothing to do with the amount of their circu lation. Fur his ewa part he thought, that inquiry at least was necessary, and that great evil had arisen from not inquiring previously. Tne want of such an inquiry was the reason why the Legislature was justly charged with every blunder respecting the currency that had taken place from 1797 to 1819, during which period the issu ing of paper had been unlimited. In 1797 the first attempt was made to make paper the general medium of exchange ; and in 1819, after the country had become habituated, and had adapted all its money transactions to that system, they had determined to return to a metallic currency, and to say that the ounce of gold should he equivalent to N. 17s. lOid.—a measure by wh.ch every debtor in the kingdom was defrauded. On looking over the vast body of evidence collected by the Committee on the Bank Charter, there was clear proof of the necessity of inquiry. The events of 1825 also afforded very strong arguments for examining to what extent paper money was safe, in the encouragement of which it gave to employ ment. The great question now was, whether it was pos sible to maintain a metallic standard without detriment ? Silver, as a standard, would afford agreater scope to paper money, and would thus enable them to give to the cur rency that sort of expansion which was so exceedingly desirable. The Hon. Member then proceeded to remark upon the injustice which had been done to the landholders by tha change in the currency. He would support the mo tion of the Hon. Member for Whitebaven (Mr.M.Attwood) in so far as regarded an inquiry, but no further. On Sir H. Willoughby sitting down several Members stood up, among whom was Mr. Hume ; but Mr. Clay first caught the eye of the Speaker. Mr. CLAY said that he was happily precluded from going into many of the topics con, ected with this subject in consequence of some of the able statements that had been made in the course of this debate, inure especially m consequence of the able speeches of his Hon. Friend the Member for the city of London, and of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Vice Pi esident of the Beard of Trade, which appeared to him to have completely dis posed of the ass. rtion that a great degree of distress had been occasioned by the measures adopted with respect to the currency. There was, however, an important point which had not received in the course of this discussion that attention which he thought it deserved. They had heard a great deal of vague declamation, but nothing in the shape of argument, from the Hon. Member who had brought forward this motion, and from the Hon. Member who supported it. These Hon. Members had attempted to connect, without bringing forward anything approaching to a logical proof of the accuracy of the inference—they had attempted to connect the tiis tress, if any existed, with the return that bad taken place to cash payments.—(Some cries of " Oh, oh.") They who argued so roust assume that that measure had produced a great contraction of the currency. The Hon. Member, who was very indistinctly heard throughost the whole of his speech, then proceeded to state that the re sumption of cash payments had not contracted the cur rency to the extent which bad been supposed ; but that the utmost extent of the diminution had been but 4 per cent. The distress of the country could not, therefore, be ascribed with fairness to the measure of 1819 ; and it would be the height of folly again to tamper with the monetary standard of the country on the assumption that by so doing distress would be relieved. He contended that even in 1819 the circulation was larger than in any year preceding 1818 ; and in proof of this assertion the Hon. Member referred to a variety of documents re specting the periodical issues from the Bank of England and the country banks, to the state of the exchanges at the time, and, finally, to the evidence before the Committee of Mr. Stokely Rothschild. These being the facts, he coo tinued, what grounds could be shown for entertaining the measure before the House? There could be no doubt that the object of the Hon. Member who bad brought this questio❑ forward was the depreciation of the currency, and he expects d by that means to raise prices. He, however, defied the Hon. Alember to raise the prices of articles exported. We might cheat our own countrymen, but we could not cheat those who would pay no more than the value of the article which they purchased, whatever might be the fictitious price which it obtained in this country. Ile admitted that several great interests of the country were affected by distress at the present moment, but he thought that this distress could be remedied without resorting to a breach of national faith. The country possessed within itself ample means of extricating itself from the temporary diffi culties in which it was placed, but he would not more particularly refer to those means at the present moment. With respect to a silver standard, he certainly had no ob jection to make silver a legal tender at the market price. Mr. WHITMORE believed that no one would hereafter more regret the results of his motion, if it unfortunately succeeded, than the Hon. Gentleman who had proposed it. He boldly declared that it was impossible, contrasting our situation with all relations, to say otherwise than that the country was advancing in prosperity. True, there was a great deal of individual distress, and it was therefore the duty of the Government to try every possible means of re lieving it : but he denied they could have any, the re motest chance of doing it by the means now proposed. These things could only be done, in his opinion, by an in crease of trade—(Hear, hear)—by the destruction of all monopolies—(Hear, hear)—and by giving the fullest ex tension to our commerce.—(Hear, hear, hear.) It was true there were other great causes tending to the depression of prices, but he denied that they were attributable to the currency. On the point of the power of production, he would venture to state, on the highest authority, that in all quarters there was a decided increase. He would refer to a letter—the author of which he was not exactly at liberty to mention—which stated that the old mines were as good as ever, and the new ones were excellent in their produce. Their present produce was, per year—gold, 720,000 ; silver, 650,000. The mines of South Caro lina and of Mexico were very productive, and those of Brazil had increased 300,0001. in value. He opposed the motion in a very few words, because there was no occa sion fur his going at length into it. Mr. FRIER - knew, from his own experience, that the manufacturers were greatly distressed, and that they had not the means of paying what would procure a sufficiency of food for those employed by them. He granted that the price of iron had risen, but certainly to nothing like what could be called a remunerating price. Let them account fur the factory system. Now would there be such an outcry for the Factory Bill, if intense distress did not prevail? One-half of the children of Manchester, let it be recollected, were employed in these factories. Then as to agriculture, were not the farmers distressed ? Were not farms—were not parishes untenanted ? (Hear, hear, and No, no.) Let them go to Thames-street, the seat of foreign commerce—the mart of trade. See the depression there. How would they account for that ? (A laugh.) Well then, as this Right Hon. Secretary— this one-eyed politician—this wonderful political eco nomist denied this distress, he called upon him fur the proof of it. O r h ow would he prove the prosperity ? Was it because the servants of Gov e rnm e nt were we ll and regularly paid—that his own salary was always forth. coming—that they must take for granted the country was well doing ? or that the army and navy did not suffer in their emoluments—(A laugh)—that because those men who did not, or those who would not fight, and still were regularly paid, evils were not hourly accumulating? Did the fundholders prove the prosp erit y of the nation? They were entitled to their debt- - to e v e r y farthing of it.-- (Hear, hear.) But who were to pay it ?—(Loud laughter.) He said the labourers ought to pay a debt to the land which the land itself had incurred.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) They had exacted their bond—they bad bad their " pound of flesh," and would suffer deservedly for it. He wished to have inquiry, but be was no advo cate for a false and fictitious currency. Bat wbat cartd th e Government about these matters, as long as the taxes were paid, and the budget full. Who felt, or thought. or took care of the people ? He spoke for all.—(Laughter.) What was the case of the great distress now existing Not the currency, but restricted trade and monopolies— (Hear)—and the unequal pressure of the national obliga til,DB caused the di s t ress o f t h e people. H e maintained that the farmer had been injured by Peel's Robbery Bill—(0h !)—yes, he would call it Peel's Robbery Bill. Monopoly was a great curse to the country. We ought to break up the monopoly of the timber trade—(Question)-- we ought to break up the monopoly of the sugar trade— (Question)—and till that was done no good would be done. Indeed he believed that the monopolists were a set of humbugs altogether.—(Loud laughter, and then cries of " Question.") He said the corn laws should be repealed.--- (Question, question.) He recommended them not to resist too long. Entertaining, as be did, the strongest opinion as to the necessity of repealing the corn tax, he should wish to see the resolution proposed by the lion. Member for Whitehaven altered, so that for " monetary system," should be inserted " corn laws," and the inquiry should be how far the corn laws had injured the agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial interests of the country. Mr. CAYLEY said the Hon. Member said that the landlords were now about to suffer for their conduct. They were suffering, and their distress was the cause of the distress of the countty. If there was a decrease in the price of corn, would that tenant the parishes that were said to be untenanted ? No such thing. When the landed interest was depressed, all other inte rests suffered, for all depended more or less on its prospe rity. This might easily be proved. In 1817 and in 1819, wheat was 809. or 90s. a quarter, and the country was then in a great state of prosperity.—(Hear.) But when, in 1816, there was a great fall in the price ot corn, the manufacturers were in a state far from flourish. ing. In IS2O, 1821, and 1822, when corn was 504., 405., and 375. the quarter, were the manufacturers then fl iurishing ?—(Hear.) Then came the Act proposed b y the late Lord Londonderry, which was like a 1/. note Act, and that Act had the effect of increasing the price of corn from its then low state to 64s a quarter; Lod then was heard from the Chncellor of the Exchequer ot that day that the country had never known such a state of prosperity ; so that it was evident the country stood no chance of enjoying prosperity from a decrease in the price of corn. The evils of the country seemed to him mainly to depend on the state of the currency. It was known that the portion of precious metals that used to go to the East did not now go there, so that the supply of Europe re mained much the same as it was many years ago. One Hon. Member had said that prices did not depend on the circulating medium. He (Mr. Cayley) asserted that, cateris paribus, they did. He might possibly disagree. with the Hon. Member for Whitehaven upon the question of the currency, but that was not the reason why he should oppose the motion altogether. Nor did he think that the Noble Lord was right in saying he should not object to the Committee, but that the question of the currency must be carefully excluded from its discussion. It was almost the same as if, upon a question as to the existence of an impure atmosphere, he at ould say, " I will allow you to determine whether it is impure, and how its im purity may be remedied, provided that you carefully ex clude from your consideration all questions about the introduction of oxygen gas"—(Hear and a laugh)—or it was as if the Noble Lord should meet with a starving begg ir upon his domains, and should take that beggar into his kitchen, and show him the smoking viands prepared for the table, and after having thus exhibited to him what would cure his distress and starvation, should yet deny him the use of them as a remedy.—(Hear.) The con duct of the Noble Lord reminded him of a matter that be might properly mention. In the time of the American war, it was a great question whether knobs or points were the best conductors of electricity. The knobs were taken rip by the people of this country, but the points were the favourites of the immortal Franklin. The King, George 111, sent a message to the then president of the Royal Society, desiring him to settle the question at once in favour of the knobs. The president answered, very properly, that the laws of nature would not obey the mandate even of a King ; and so he (Mr. Cayley) said with respect to the laws of commerce and of currency.—(Hear, hear.) To refuse any alteration of the present system amounted to saying that an unreformed Parliament bad a right to pass monetary laws, but that a reformed Parliament hid no right to alter them. Suppose a man was to forge a will, and so get possession of some property, would it be right to say that b cause he had held that property for 15 years, the rightful owner should not be allowed to put in his claim to it, or if he was let into possession of half of it, would it be right for him to refuse to pay half the burdens upon that property ? He directed the attention of the House to the divisions on the subject, or on matter connected with it, since 1822, in cluding the motions of Mr. Western, Mr. Davenport, and lastly, the recent proposition of the Hon. Member for Birmingham, and contended that the result of these debates showed an impression on the minds of the repre sentatives of the people, that distress had materially in creased. He also noticed the gradual augmentation of crime and the number of convictions during the last thirty years, together with the larger amount of poor-rates paid now than at any former period. It wa impossible to follow the Hon. Member through any of these details, in consequence of the indistinct manner in which they reached the gallery. We understood him to say, that since the passing of Peel's Bill, in some situations the amount of poor.rates had quadrupled. Emigr rtion to Canada during the same period had increased 40 per cent. Ile referred to sonic documents on the talsle, moved for by one of the Honourable Members for Liverpool, in order to establish the fact, that of late years the number of poor Irish passed to their own country had been beyond all former precedent. Having read come details respecting the increased number of insolvents since 1814, he proceeded to the point of the circulation of Bank of England notes at various periods, and to their effect upon the prices of different commodities; in illus tration he read several extracts from the evidence given by Mr. Palmer, Mr. Norman, Mr. Ward, Mr. Rothschild, and others, before the Committee on the Bank Charter, contending, upon their authorities, that it was expedient that the amount of issues should be augmented. He in sisted that the distress of 1815 and 1816 was attributable to the diminution of the circulating medium ; and that the restoration of prosperity was owing chiefly, if not solely, to the adoption of a contrary system, to the extent of more than five millions. lie applied precisely the same remarks to the distresses of 1822, which was followed, in 1823 and 1821, by a contrasted degree of prosperity, owing to the same cause. Quitting details, into which we cannot pretend to enter, for the reason already stated, the Hon. Gentleman remarked, that this was no party. but a great national question ; and the point to be decided was, whether, it being within the power of Parliament to relieve distress, it would have the honesty and the de : ruination to exercise its power ?—(Cries of " Hear, .ear.") He alluded to the condition of the children in ractories—to the Whitefootism to which Ireland had seen reduced—and to the nearly equally wretched con dition of England—adding, that it would be well for this country if ere long the Monarchy were not brought down to the level of a Republic.—(Cheers.) The remedy for existing evils was an elevation of prices, and he argued that this object could be attained with little or no injury to any class.—(Hear.) His object was to increase prices—(Cheers)—he avowed it, and referred the House to 1817 and 1818, when every branch of trade, and every condition of society were in prosperity, without the slightest complaint from what had been called the fixed annuitants. At the same time be acknowledged that he was by no means an advocate for the principle of free trade, and least of all for free trade in paper. It was his solemn conviction, that if relief were granted in the way proposed, a child by a silken cord might guide the vast machine of Government. If relief were retused, not an angel from Heaven could govern the helm of State. He caled upon Ministers to grant now what they still had the power to concede, but which they might soon be with out the means either of giving or refusing ; it would be too late to comply when the flood-gates had been burst, and when all was involved in a wide deluge of dismay, ruin, and revolution.—(Hear.) Mr. A. BARING began by assuring the House that be had no intention of occupying them at much length, or of entering into any very minute details on the very ire. portant subject with which they were then engaged. Without further preface, he should come at once to the question before them, and that was whether or not the House was prepared to sanction an arbitrary departure from the acknowledged measure of value. Parliament was at that moment occupied with a question, in reference to which there was not a man in the country possessed of any property, or expecting any, or, lie might say, con nected with persons of property, who was not on the tiptoe of expectation as to what might be the decision of the reformed House of Commons upon that all-important question. They were, as he said, all on tiptoe to see if the wisdom of a reformed Parliament was likely to bear those beautiful fruits which some politicians anticipated troua its labours ; and which, if borne according to those expectations, would, he hesitated not to say, lead to a system of government fit only for savages in the darkest state of intellect, and in the utmost degree removed from civilization, or any of its concomitants. It had been said by a ll t h e supporters of the motion, that anintense pressure weighed d own the energies of the Dation...that every interest, from one end to the other of the country, was labouring, but labouring in vain, to rid itself from the overpowering burden, by which it was almost crushed into the earth. Now, in his judgment, if that pressure did exist to the extent affirmed, he shou'd be glad to see it made out, how it did happen that such a pressure should at all justify the proposed de parture from the present standard of value. Not that he admitted for a moment, that even if such a proposition were established beyond al! possibility of controversy, it would by any means prove a remedy for the distress of which they had heard eo many and such loud complaints. It could not, of course, be lost sight of, that the country was in a most artificial state as respected existing contracts with each other, and with almost all the nations of the world. With the variety of the complaints of those in terests before his eyes, he confessed it did surprise him not a little, that any man out of Bedlam should dream cf proposing anything so preposterous, and at the same time so unjust, as that which had given rise to the present dis cussion. his surprise, he acknowledged, was somewhat lessened when he recollected that to talent, and even genius, were often allied that peculiar intellectual conformation which was frequently subject to aberrations that could be accounted for upon no admitted principle.—(A lau g h ) He begged to be understood as not intending the slightest personal disrespect to the Honourable Member for White haven ; on the contrary, he felt as every one must feel, that that Honourable Gentleman could only be ac tuated by the best and most honest intentions, and if, in the course of the observations which I.e felt it his duty to make, any harsh expression might escape him, he begged once for all to assure the Hon. Member that at all times he gave him the fullest credit for sincerity and good faith; and he folly believed that the Hon. Member far White haven entertained his opinions as conscientiously, and gave expression to them with as much truth as he hinneelt Ot the proposition upon which the house was then called upon to pronounce a decision, he might truly say that nothing like it was ever proposed before. The Hon. Mover of that motion might, witnout much impropriety, have his services transferred to the Sublime Porte. He would make an excellent minister for the Grand Sultan at Constantinople, and the proposal which he had just made was one which would answer exceedingly well fiat a Turkish budget—(Great laughter) —one of the most prominent features of the system of government pursued in Turkey was the frequent changes made in the measure of value. A French gentleman had recently pub. lashed in an almanack the number of changes made in the value of the Turkish piastre, from the reign of Mahomet the First to the present time. He should not trouble the House with many of the changes, but he could not help observing that they were not only annual in their occurrence, but in some instances semi-annual. In the years 1823 and 1827, the value was twice changed, and the variations ranged within three shillinge and three pence. As to the changes in the standard of value, of which he had been speaking, their mischief was understood and appreciated in every country, the least ad vanced in the science of political economy. The Tuiks themselves had now their eyes open in more senses than one.—( Heir, hear.) He felt that there was nothing which could shake the position which he had taken up, that if the requisitions of the Hon. Mover were complied with, they would still not relieve the distresses of the country, or prove any remedy for the pecuniary embarrass ment which was said to exist. However adverse to the views of the Hon. Member for 'W hitebaven, he was not prepared to deny that the settlement effected by the restora tion of the metallic standard was a settlement in all re spects fair at the time; but that was a totally different question from that of disturbing that sett'ernent now that it hail endured and bad been operating for so many years. At the same time, without going anything near the length of the proposition then before them, he should have no objection to an inquiry into the state of our cir culating medium at the present moment, with a view to such improvement as might be eff,cted without disturbing con tracts at present in force. He should not then enter into the question of the precious metals, as substances exclusively to be used as a measure of value. It was not at that time of day necessary for him to discuss such a question. The pre cious metals had been so long and so invariably used as the standard of value, that it would be almost superfluous for him to enlarge upon such a subject. 'those metals had from the earliest period been in universal use. The Hon. Gentleman, in support of this position, referred to the patriarchial ages, and proceeded thence downwards to the present day, contending that none but a few savages on the coast of Africa, who used shells as a circulating medium, there was no people in any part of the known world who had any other measure of value than the precious metals. Before the House could come to such a vote as that which the Hon. Member for Whitehaven required, they must brow away all the experience of ages, and all that for the purpose of acquiescing in the motion of the Hon. Member, who, after all, did not precisely tell them what he wanted. In his humble apprehension, the House could never, con sistently with common sense, or common justice, pro nounce a decision in favour of a paper currency of any other deecription than one convertible on demand—all beyond that was vague, indefinite, and unsatisfactory ; all paper currency, not convertible, must depend upon the discretion or the credit of the parties issuing such paper. he was aware it would be asked, had they not in this country great prosperity at the time there was a large issue of paper ? But he would answer that observation by saying, that at the time re ferred to, great elements contributed to the formation of that prosperity so much vaunted ; at that period England had a monopoly of the sea. When the French thought that they were blockading England, they were merely blockading the sea, and excluding all the countries of the continent from the " highway of nations." Then let it not be forgotten, that at the period in question this coun try was enjoying a false and temporary prosperity, but it was not the less striking and forcible in its effects. England at that time was living upon loans—she was then borrowing per annum at the rate of 20, 30, and in one year, he believed, to the extent of even 40 millions. The effect of such a state of things need scarcely be enlarged upon. Suppose now in Norfolk, or any other county of England, there were three gentlemen, each having 10,000/. per annum; and suppose they resolved to raise money upon mortgage to the uttermost farthing that their estates were worth, and having done so, were resolved to spend all the money in three or four years, was there any man living who doubted that they would produce great prosperity and an affluence of wealth in their neigh bourhood ? The case he had been supposing was pre cisely analogous to the case of Eneland during the war_. the people of England were living upon their capital. The gentlemen who might spend the produce of their mortgagee in four or five years, would at the end of that period pro bably find themselves in the poor-house, and at the end of the war the people of England would have found them selves in a poor-house, had there been one large enough to have received them. To this hour the country was suffering and groaning under the immoral habits which were engendered during the profusion of the war, and the extravagance to which it gave rise. —(Hear, hear.) In the well-known report of the Bullion Committee, he raight safely say that he concurred generally in its prernie see, but dissented from its conclusion. In the year 1810, in the midst of a war, and at a time when the most un natural stimulus was given to our monetary system, when we were proceeding, 89 the sailors would say, " with all our king kites aloft," it was absurd to talk of arresting the progress of the country in the state in which it then was, and to that hour he could not help wonder ing that such men as Mr. Herries and Mr. Iluskisson could have thought such a measure at that time practicable.—(Hear, hear.) For his part, though agree ing in all of that report excepting its conclusion, he could not bring himself to do otherwise than vote against it, unless, indeed, like the honourable Member for Middlesex, he could think one way and vote another. In addition to voting against that, he also voted egainst the celebrated motion of Mr. Vausittart—indeed, that was a motion of which every man was ashamed who had voted in its favour. The Hon. 'Wernher them after referring to the authority of Mr. H. Thornton in support of the views which he bad taken of the question before the House, proceeded to say that he admitted that it was a grave undertaking to return to cash payments, but that had been accomplished much to the honour of the country, and to its reputation for good faith; but the abandonment of that system was a question essentially different. He was always for having justice done to every party, and when the depreciation took place, he said that the philo sophers were wrong. From his own experience, he knew that they Were wrong, and he shrunk from what they ad vocated. He knew that the moment :a sound principle was departed from, it would entail ruin upon this coun try; that it would weave a web in which they would be entangled, and cause difficulties that no sagacity could over come. Gentlemen should consider that theyhad heard enough from the Hon. Member for Whitehaven, and from his Hon. Relative, to prove that the former wanted to plunge them on a strong sea, and that he was not the best pilot in the world to weather such a storm. If they voted fear his motion, it would be considering him a safe pilot—it would be en listing themselves under his banner—the fatal conse quences of having done so they would perceive the very morning atter. Besides, the principle of honour was in volved in the question, and the Members of that House would not sanction anything like trick; and if by any chance they should so far forget themselves as to do so, they should take good heed that they were not led into a matte from which they would find it impossible to escape. Now, taking a narrower View of the question, and setting aside general and national interests, he would advise Hon Gentlemen to look to their own interests, and to those Of their constituents. For himself be would say, that he had received a large number of letters from his constituents, earnestly requesting him not to vote for the present mo tion—the consequences of which they stated would be most detrimental to them. They besides entreated hie not to listen in any way to the ignorant propounders of currency-doctrines, where proposed system could only be the result of their ignorance of the subject. Now let them consider how the effects of the present (notion would operate on the interests of country gentlemen. Their prosperity, waether right or wrong, depended en a monopoly of corn, and that it should be pro tected. If by a depreciation of the currency the pound was reduced to 10s., it would bring the protection of 60,. aaloveed to corn down to 30.. When the money standard was reduced in that ratio, corn would come down in reality to 305., though its nominal price should be 605., and this would be the result of the alteration at present sought for.—(Hear, bear.) The Hon. Member for Wolverhampton had contended that the 60s. might be advanced to 120 s. ; he would not fight that battle with the Hon. Member, as most likely he would not come out of it with flying colours, but he would seriously advise country gentlemen to leave the 60s. alone. Few were aware how extensively this proposed alteration in the cur rency would operate : it would operate on the constitution of the country; for by it your ten pounder, who had a right to vote, would become all at once a live pounder. --(Hear, and a laugh.) That was an observation he had made when the Reform Bill was under discussion, and it wts one of the reasons why he objected to a money qua lification, and why he said that it was most absurd to put the franchise on the value of money. The Noble Lord opposite, when he was building his constitution, did not think much about money ; but when ho was legis lating upon the church, he took good care that. tithes should not be paid for in money, but by a corn rent.—(Hear, hear.) This corn tent was introduced, he supposed, to protect the clergy.—(A laugh.) He would now take the liberty of stating to the House to what ex• tent he would go upon the subject under consideration. If any motion on the subject had been made by any sober man—(A laugh)—he meant to say, that if any proposition of a more sober description had been made—one that would show to the country where they were about to go, and where they intended to stop—he should have enlisted himself in the Committee of Inquiry, to see whether some regulations of the currency might not take place, in order to give greater facility to the business of the country. But to any tnotma for an alteration of the currency, which would tend to lower its value, he positively demurred ; and he thought that all such inquiries as the present one asked for, ought not to be made in times of uncertainty. However, he would state to what extent a judicious altsra• tion in the currency might be made. According to his view, two alterations might be made ; yet he would listen to whatever suggestions might be made by a Committee. The first alteration would be to make bank notes a legal tender to distant country bankers. This would have the effect of obviating the disasters that generally followed a run on the bank. The distresses of the Bank of England might be caused by two things—first, by a run upon it, or a general call for money; and secondly, by draft., for the purpose of balancing exchanges. The one frequently acted upon the other, and the result was the worst of all evils— a general panie.—(Hear, hear.) The drafts, for the purpose of balancing foreign exchanges, the Bank might meet, and the country was so fit safe under the present system, for one or two millions would set right balances of that description. The action of the other on the Bank was worse, and could not be easily met. He would make a short statement of the difficulties of 1825. There was then a run on the Bank, which was caused by nitinerous failures in the metropolis and throughout the country. General doubt and distress prevailed, and the Rink was drained for goad. Everybody wished to he paid in that metal, and a country banker—a banker at Nor wich—told him at that period that he could not sleep quiet at night in his bed, unless he had obtained a sovereign for every one pound note he had in the house. The con sequence of all this was, that the Bank of England was neatly emptied, and would have stopped payment were it not for a mere accident. No precaution that could be adopted under the present system could secure the Bank from dilemmas of this latter description. The banker of Norwich would have slept quietly if Bank of England notes were made a legal tender in the country. Let Bank of England notes become a legal tender to country barkers and the Bank will lie relieved from the danger he men tioned. The relief from that danger would be the benefit derived from this proposition of his. The second object tie would endeavour to promote, in a Committee of inquiry upon this subject, would undoubtedly be that silver should become, as well as gold, a legal tender—(Hear, hear) — for he held that money, having its foundation in two metals, would vary less with re.pect to comrnodiries ; and that, consequently, it was bad to force the Bank to confine itself to one metsl. Making silver a legal tender would facilitate the operations of the Bank ; and it was not only his own opinion, but that of Mr. Gallatin, that silver was one of the best circulating mediums that could be employed between different countries. If ever the subject was submitted to inquiry—and he thought that the time was not far distant when it would—(Hear) —he would be prepared, without much difficulty, to show the advantages that would arise from a silver currency. That was the principal currency of Holland, of France, and of almost every part of the world he was acquainted with. There wis scarcely a country were silver was not only the circulating medium, but where gold was not objected to. In the Netherlands, there were circulating ten millions of gold and four millions of silver. There was a premium upon the latter; and it was considered cheaper to pay in gold than in silver. In France, for several years, the premium in favour of gold had not been more than one-eighth per cent. ; and it had only in creased in consequence of our demand for gold, and would in course decrease if this country adopted a silver cur rency. He had stated this on a former occasion ; the Bank, and other persons connected with banking, were then opposed to such an ;opinion ; but he knew that many of them were at present in favour of that opinion. A silver currency would not only benefit this country, bat would benefit mankind, as it wou d be the means of connecting foreign countries more closely. Those were the two points that be held it most important the House should pronounce upon, and not upon the question whether the standard of value should he departed from. His proposal would not he to lower that standard, but to put it on two legs instead of one.—(Hear, hear.) If the public excitement on the deeper question then before them could be got rid of—and that excitement might be done away with by the vote of that night—then would it be safe to look to the two points he mentioned, and see whether or not a mate rial facility might be given to the circulating medium of the country. When those two points were settled, be should not object to inquire whether from their operation it would not be safe to come to an issue of 1/. notes.— (Loud cries of " Hear, bear.") He did not mean to pledge himself to an issue of 11. notes, but he saw no reason why, under the additional securities be pointed our, it might not be resorted to. Should those securities become sufficient, he thought, and it bad always been his opinion, that a 1/. note circulation was most use ful in facilitating business. There were, to be sure, two objections to it. He meant the increased temp tation to forgery, and the uncertainty of those poor people who had small sums in the country banks. However, he contended that in many places a small ' circulation would be most useful, particularly among farmers, and in small towns in agricultural districts. It was not correct to state that manufacturers were much distressed, but it was true that great distress pre vailed among the agricuburists—that larmers' capitals were much reduced. In small agricultural towns the dis tress sometimes proceeded from a want of small circula tion, to enable the farmer to transact business with greater facility with the small tradesmen of country towns. That a more extended circulating medium would do them greed was not only his opinion, but it trees also that of his constituents. After these statements, it might be plausibly asked of him why he objected to go into the Com mittee of Inquiry now asked for ? His reason was, that he objected to go into such a Committee with a man who clearly wanted a complete subversion of the standard of value of the country —(Loud cries of " Hear.") That Hon. Member had drawn up resolutions in the way all those who intend to catch flies draw up resolutions, for he could turn round if t h ey were not agree d to, and say, " What! you won't g o i nto an i nqu i ry about t t 0 1 the o distress in to an of in the inquiry country?" on ttrhye present ?" It n t vi s a uki si e m c p t impossible the lefor li h o i n m Member, for he could not separate his avowed opinions from any measures he proposed, no matter how they were coloured or concealed. He might as well go into an inquiry about the distress of Ireland with the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin, who would state, and no doubt from conviction, that the union of the two countries was the cause of that distress, and that separa tion was the only remedy. Or be might as well go into a Committee of Inquiry on the distress of the country with that great philosopher, Mr. Owen, always supposing that one of the fruits of reform was the return of that philoso pher to their Honourable House, who of course, would make, on the subject of that general distress, a flaming speech on the community of goods, wives, and everything else—(Laughter) —and who would attribute the dis tress to something Wrong in the social system... Front these remarks it would be readily seen that he could not consent to the motion of the Hon. Member for White haven. He would conclude by stating that it was his in tention to support the amendment of the Noble Lord ; begging the House, however, not to suppose that he was opposed to any alterations in the currency that would do good to the country, but that his opposition to the origin al motion proceeded from his conviction that it tended to destroy the national standard of value.—(Hear.) Sir R. PEEL said, that though he agreed in some of the observations of the Hon. Member who spoke last, and should vote on the same side with that Hon, Member, yet there were some arguments made use of by him in the latter pirt of his. speech which excited consi !erable doubt and apprehension in his (Sir R. Peel's) mind, and which re quired to be in some measure qualified. His Hon. Friend first said, that he was prepared to adhere to the present standard, but yet that he was willing to have a Select Com mittee to inquire into two material component parts of that standard--first, with reference to the re-issue of one and two-pound notes ; and, secondly, as to the union of silver with gold. This would be a leading cause to th it state dexcitement and suspense which the Hon. Menat er mentioned as one of his main objections to the very same thing. He (Sir Robert Peel) would unhesitatingly pre dict what, in his decided opinion, would be the conse quence of this re-issue. He felt that the inevitable con sequences would be that the gold circulation would entirely disappear—(Hear, hear)—and he was prepared to prove this position by the consequence attending similar re-issues in other countries. In Scotland it had destroyed the circulation of coin. In Ireland, and in America, similar results had been produced. In fact this system would be an encouragement to the country bankers to prevent the issue of coin, for the paper circulation would be a much cheaper one ; but the mischief would be, that there was herein no security for the excess of this paper circulation. They could not take all the landed and funded property, and say it should be the guarantee for this excess. The re-issue of one and two pound notes might perhaps produce the direct interest of all parties—it might and would lead to an increase of prices—a fictitious stimulus to trade—but how long would this last ? Not more than a few months ; but at the end of these two or three months the gold in the country would not be adequate to supply the demand, and then would ensue the sudden contraction of all banks, and circulation, and this would be followed by that stagnation of all commerce and trade, which nothing hut a metallic currency can prevent. The re-issue of one and two pound notes from a bank would infallitify cause the stoppage of that bank. If country bankers were allowed to offer bank notes instead of coin, it would b e impossible to limit this to the country bankers. But sup posing the mu demanded were 4/. 10s., surely the hanker would have to pay this in gold. The appointment of this Select Committee would lead to most injurious conse• quences. Referring to the Bill of 1619, the Right Hon. Baronet said, that so great was the interest he felt on this subject, and so important did he consider it that it should be fully discussed, that, tired and annoyed as he feared the House must be with the discussion of a question so dry and tiresome in most of its features, he must entreat their indulgence for a short time. He could not allow this Bill to be branded as the foundation of injustice and injury without vindicating it from these aspersions. He denied those propositions ; and here he must observe, that in his observations on this subject, he utterly rejected the vile personal motives and considerations which had been im puted to hint elsewhere. He wished to God such asser tions were made face to face to him in that House, instead of being made before an irritable and iufl onmable body of people. An Hon. Member had most considerately removed the blame, as he called it, of this Bill from off his (Sir R. Peel's) shoulders on to those of Lord Liverpoel. He could not allow this to pass over ; for the Bill of 1819, he (Sir R. Peel) had himself brought in, from his firm conviction, that unless the paper circulation rested on the base of metallic circulation, there would be no security for anything.—(Hear, hear.) An Hon. Member, last night, informed the House, that this Bill had been passed on the strength of a speech, described by him as containing no matter in it whatever, but as resembling the harp of Orpheus. Yet the fact was, that the subject hail been under discussion for several years before 1819, and several Committees bad sat on it. As to the Hon. Member's similitude, he (Sir R. Peel) must say, he did not think Orpheus would have chosen such a dry question as the bullion question for his lyre—(A laugh) —nor, if he had, would he have " deluded" the Members of the city, and softened the flinty hearts of the Bank Directors,— (Renewed laughter.) In 1819, five years had elapsed since the general peace, medial! this time had the question been discussed. Nay, so early as 1810, Mr. Vansittart had moved, that from that period the Bank should make its paymeots in cash, for good reasons then given. From the year 1614 the Bank restrictions had been from time to time enforced, and the Bank itself bad, in 1816-17, con fessed its liability to make payments in gold by the issue of that coin to the amount of seven millions. The mea sure he bad brought forward in 1819 was, as he had thus shown, by no means so unheard of a measure as it had been represented ; he disclaimed none of the responsi bility of this measure; but in the whole course of the proceeding no direct opposition to his proposal had been successfully made. The then Member for Coventry bad made a counter-proposition, which was rejected almost unanimously, while his (Sir R. Peel's) measure passed. The only amendments had been one made in this House, and the other in the Upper House by Lord Holland : the former proposing that cash payments should be resumed in 1822 instead of 1823, as he (Sir R. Peel) had sug gested; and Lord Holland proposing that the change of currency should come into effect. in 1820. Parliament had thus really made themselves responsible for this Act, whatever responsibility there might be. For his part, he wholly denied that this Act had been the cause of the prevalent distress. There certainly was a great depression of prices, and considerable distress; but to attribute these results to the Bill of 1819 was a gross fallacy. They might say that Mr. Ricardo was wrong; but they were ten times mere wrong who attributed the distresses to this change of currency. The great pressure felt by the country, so far from being laid to the charge of the Bill of 1819, ought to be a warning and a lesson to the people not to return to the abominable depreciation caused by the paper system. The fact was that the present pressure was the reeult of re-action : it was not the effect of the change of currency. People seemed to think that by a return to paper money they would enjoy the same apparent prosperity as at the time of the war; but if any man thought that prices could be kept up as high now as during that period, he would find himself extremely mistaken.—(Hear, hear.) During this long war, extending from 1793 to 1815, there had been an inconvertible paper circulation, and all this time England had the supplying of all Europe. While this state of things lasted it was all very well, but it was mon strous to suppose that the return of peace would not also bring about a great change of circumstances. His Hon. Friend seemed to rely upon the evidence of Mr. Thornton, who stated that prices had risen 50 per cent. under a paper circulation ; but the House must recollect that this evidence was given in 1811, when the war was at its height. Now things were quite altered. There was much said about distress; but bad they never beard of distress existing before Isl 9 ? In 1793 was there no dis tress? Did not one hundred bankers fail that year, not. withstanding that there was a paper currency ? In 1797, was there no distress under the same circumstances? In 1810 was there none? At the time of this 50 per cenn increase of prices talked of by Mr. Thornton, was there not a decrease of 50, 60, and 70 per cent. in the agricul tural districts ? These facts showed that there was no infallible defence against calamity, let the currency be what it may. In 1816 there was also severe distress._ bankers failing to a great extent, though the Bank had not diminished its issue. He would show from the au thority of the same men who now wished to alter our con tracts, that these contracts had not been made only since the year 1819. The present proposition could only lead to a mere vague inquiry, without producing any practical results, except, indeed, a depreciation of prices. The effect would be, that every man who bad mate a contract for the last 33 years, as he would show, would have that contract disturbed, though it had been made under an improved currency—or at least ninety-nine out of a hundred would. The first witness he should call into the box would be the Hon. Member for Whitehaven himself, and he would make him demonstrate that the value of the currency was improved previous to the year 1819; and that he was, in fact, going to alter a standard improved long before that year. In May, 1817, moneyyea rs before had doubled two years before the Bill was even brought in, the Hon. Member wrote a letter to Mr. Vansittart describing th e in lBl9, m o l n v e h t i tt e r h y he stateof showed the country t h t the within the five years beginning from 1812 up to 1817 The Hon. Gentleman then went on to s a y th at forty aval for talus s o i f x thousand nailers were literally perishing of hunger, or dying of the u nwholesomeness of the food which they used. lie said that previous to 1818 the landlords had received no rent for four years, and if they had derived any income at all from their lands during that period, it must have been drawn from the capital of the farmers, not from the profit from the land ; and that the consequence was, that those who had converted their property into money before that period had actually doubled their ca pital. Now he (Sir B. Peel) contended that the whole of the Hon. Gentleman's argument proved, if it proved anything, that the currency had been in a gradual state not' tbe of improvement since 1812, and it was 0 _ 0 , fans fair to say that the measure of 18 1 131 ,. ) I cause of the increase in its value.—(Hea r ; se to would now draw the attention f th r_ remedy proposed by the Honourable Gen •d ter stating the depressed state of the lano e i o ftp and that the produce would n ot repay th . c . t f l ijo ssi labour, he proposed, in order to remove tila t 4 ,o l , state of things, that a part of the permanent st!',ll, be converted into a floating debt, and that b :. Rills to the amount of 100,000,000/0 abnaide_balibl which shou'd bear no interest, and that no i , astl:_" , made further than would balance the rate of .e c or 'ib t h i , profits —(Hear, hear.) He then went on to ° state of the country as being as if an invadiOg s ot s j i passed through it ; and he concluded by sal ..hee' was the state of the country since the perio bullion report was given in 1810. All thi ;go: s P re ig i from natural causes, the currency had heel inioy, value for the last 23 years.—(An Host. 3 f exc nie t( i ! . attempted to address the House, but be tve g .) loud cries of " Order," and ultimately sat doll , I te , f ; o Right Hon. Baronet went on. He would now s lB 4 , effect this state of the country had upon the , ep s Bank of England paper during those years, an, f,, e frs beg the House to remember that at that perioo,lioti CV allowed to issue 1/. and 21. notes. The nae s oo l,i 1808 were 16 600,000/. ; in 1809, 16,5 4 r %)/ 1 ' 1810, 178840,000/. ; in 1811, 20,800,0001, ;.1: 23,000,000/. ; in 1813, 23,532 0001.; lio 21,000,000/. ; in 1815, 27,000,001. ; It 26,573,0001.; and in 1817, 27,0000 01 'J o coincident with these issu e s that that deprer:iyi• place of which the Hon. Gentleman gave so I lb _ t ibiet seription ; and did it not prove that an matle; per money was no guarantee against distress b i e ( sir Committee were unfortunately appointed, and .., 00 1J,, ° 1 Peel) were a member of it, the first thing lie — de' was, that he admitted the distress in the countrYtb-doce the depression was proved, but he would ask i f ge ill l! be so absurd as to ascribe that distress to the cliabn'oo''' state of the currency. He would tell the me ° „ e OO O 1/ ` to in°cesniubf:et: Committee that they could not give in a rere d er e!: ion subject until they had first philosophically ee O "borl, c...nsequence of the monopoly which this countil f t lie had of manufactures, the effect of the late war' ° a tol l ! strictions on the importation of foreign corn, ° P ee tic re P y datw o htillohn t usashe h tdi e yiwpdi r nheheigaoilo t oiiru o twenu,:i p vo topics. He would tell them that these 'r e ' t ill tli' eld nird stl isyluekot, it w r it strongly gdy,ree of threahhem lut u rtireolep p siidi o s antew n letlda,,,iffeiik t :epe h eerneecc e taoot: q cntoote u tsnna c e iahnti, s ttri, t iyhinds i , eiosfttaianhhedcksad,aettded,ra,narttwtuyaeooap, lhoooltia:hottrthetglitterbbeeodteetigc:tceotoilot of S a t awinw t b h aeol e errn:o r tven i o v noo a l:yr l i r lul y erotndf o h f a:ntot o ah t ne l Ft i uiu e rrf r raanneate c ute o tt:ie u iene n sitG t ri r no i eano e rt s :t , :oan w nt eath coleS e e pe ro it' Could Emland hope that it could maintain, factures ? He would ask the House i state of the manufactures of those countries W l ' - lbeP e , pare them with their state at theclose of the S V O " cause of the depreciation of prices was, that surances, &c. had fallen. What was the call'", s' lowness in the price of our cotton manufactere9oncle it not that the staple commodity of throe se 3n n tscte,' , had fallen ? And, if it had fallen, could the w a° d er°, lo , pe to get the same price for the manufactuteo, Pt; which he formerly got when the raw matesi al , e re tl times its present price ?—(Cheers.) Then daps the improvements in machinery, and the incte a "os cation of steam. Surely these bad some effect belt' depression in the price of manufactures---( Ffri a r i r er' , And was there no cause f r the depression -0e since the war ? Could any landlord expect the lose now that he received during the war, when p r Itirs t t so high that touch bad land was brought into e ° in order to meet the demand ? Ought they not° e ir° what effect the increased importation of farm P r.(j A Li t e ° s; Ireland had upon the prices in this country, 0 %00 0 , tain the effect of the poor laws, and of the adin l " to tc,.. of those poor laws? All these were most inir r 0 0 " siderations in order to come to a right conclusteli.. t itl; subject; and it would be necessary for tberr, men, philosophically to consider them, e° 4 0 9 4 them their due weight. Yet the ffon• to le for Whitehaven would attribute the distress e ri v o9.; the operation of the change in the currency ip 104 (Hear, hear.) Another:Hon. Member not ordi o ofs, many ingenious arguments to prove that 60.4 was the cause of all our domestic distreg7j:ptf, also attributed to it the fall of the Bourbon t a i n ir d cw e e t , at b e e d c,u r s h e at th L e o s u ta is ni ti r l d il pofnotwheocinctrzeietdarya sytegebolo4 Engl tied had been changed iulBl9.—( Hear, and 1 °7,0, r r 'idt t d:o A t a r uu3 o e o t rti oj ecrs t ' d ' o gi cor, :',, : : It had been stated, too, that the Irish disturba o to Ibp caused by the same measure, and that previou s /4 1 0 0 there had been no disturbances in that country. ell point. (4 : (Sir R. Peel) wish e d t o exam i ne th a t t .- oslt e .s ! Member had stated that c r i me i n I re l a nd had jo, r er proportion t o th e di s t ress . H e h a d no t, ha w % that if they were to restor e p a p er money th c "; d would be diminished. He (Si r R. Peel) a dgl' ai te tli d#: crime had increased, but h e did no t on that acc4" o ppe i, the inference drawn by the H on . M e mber. t that in 1811 the number of committals had b ee ,i in 1813, 7,164; in 1815, 7,818 ; an d in 1 8 ' 3 Nov, by the Hon. Geotlernan's statement, thu dd :10 , 11 . 0 been two prosperous years during that period, a p an d, ito the ' , resent time—namely 1818 and 1825; dim io' I , arguments were true, crime ought to hav e , IS 1 o i ota i htr, ; led : eiprnirngo committalsnsl,p t ise l t t i2r o iis s ot e y,nei s l t ew e t,x a h4ec r eor s ee . opet; B onT: n u , tu;t l :l 3 ,i o issn w i2nllsvs s e: v rhi i , ve t es s h,y t ehit h n, iahgetrehi they le a e s c y: f t itevr e::rofei t g i 3 O: sl in of all. Then. in drawing a picture of the sta i k e T : to !i0 (which he described as being equally applie' t be P e w land) he said that the cattle were banished fr 0 0,4 ac the plough stood still, the land wa s u n cultiva t ' 'oh ° be ; nure was bought, that universal distr e ss r evs t ish,,, el ,ol that agriculture was ruined. The q u e s tion wasp" t he "01 these facts were so : the question was, whet her ed o. of the application of capital was to be attrili ti ise P ° ,lo disturbances or to the measure of 1819? ge Member said they were applic a bl e t o the ch an r s currency. That he (Sir R. Peel) denied., he ett!A ij i , when there was plenty of paper money, it had " nt isu' As ; necessary to pass the Insurrection Act, and it c °° s oo t farce till 1810, and in 1814 it bad again to co o g c l e h t e s l h w B a . e d r were been n o e 1 8 . b e u e f s o p a r e t e t:r d i b i e t u n; ;(1 03 ::: stand previous to tb 3 ", p t for the cattle had b i e eli o dss iir s Baronet lun then read a sta tei 7 ti°' qtcfcn a Tf darthu n utliocohela d ammuttrennueb i bgtßit t itieeeehitri sicyhgaviei quantity, fifd s tauTted honi the i hHdbxe n tb9eieeol,ceedn f ßneu o ntti n.shr r hai gr c teenauae e tipbel t aoya i tg B wHr w ae odr i n neu e .aa , ltth a tie n nh i ,ritpechareesepesqer present n a t i n d t t te i ihnra t e y ..e I ported from Ireland, from 1810 to 1826, t o !,,, t bet i s'il e of sC p of Trade had very truly said, that it ought to be the distress was universal, and not confined t o bad t i t' instances or particular districts. N o w, 'fbeod done by the supporters of the present inquiry: od d / confined themselves entirely t o p ar t i cular i° r te ° e places. One Hon. Memb e r had cited W ee d 0 0 namely, Oldham, Macclesfield, and Whitby, Les that they were fair criteria of th e w hole king" - o'i t 'rte"l selection was admirable, and was on a footieg g e, , i' whole of the arguments brought by those se h . ° O S ( iY I the same side of the qu est i on . Oldham, i, -sebl known, had been o ne o f th e p r i nc ipal ate'," fell'ot hand-loom weavers, who had suffered most bad the introduction of machinery. Macclesso4e4,,,, fered from the same cause; for that town Wi t , ose b ' equal capital with M anc h es t er t o invest o sse i ti d a t and improvements, it could not compete with l t be h t ' e frl . tures. So far then three instances could not i i i geol formins; a criterion of the state of the country d 6 Then as to Whitby, it was well known , 50 1 , even at the time when a representative had b ee ( fietit' o it,tl it, that it was in a decline from local causee.'" , the at a laugh.) The argument, therefore, drawn Iron , eo rer . r p e o n in cy t, , h r o o w .l e d ve h r a , v w e a u s p — on w ation of these three places—allof which had been.u,;orror The .wear front local causes—was a complete fallacy. —(Hear)—and he said that his convictiortiat,e2 0f .i would ruin them.—(Cheers.) The depreseu 1 3 0 0le g e t h t the stateeffc effect currency world raise the price of every con fe before it would affect the rate of wages. He Gad th`jo, conviction, at the period when he recnim m . e h n e Clist r cio sumption of cash payments, that much ot re st 1 1 the working classes was to be attlibuted to _h .i i cer ,.) their wages in a depreciated c urrency.- -- ( u t se , d currency had endeavoured to e nlist the I°bou cool ot t It on their side, and he aduaitted that if they b their assistance they should have an excellentally' rtehteu M I a i t ) : u a wri Pi t0)3 1;,. those cia ese ". tte P ot (Sir R. Peel) appealed confidently to , re cta o e knew that those who laboured for a return t .og do , " the currency, and that they should maintain toe. plat 01 Yalu w or e y r of wages in money of the present standardbtained quite sure that the labouring classes o t t , the comforts of life on the wages they ob 9 cool° fie& told them it was their interest to resist all eleP Le 01, the present monetary system than they or former period.....—(Hear, bear, bear.) A In ~u i