The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-04 00:00:00

THE CURRENCY QUESTION.

AN attempt was made on Thursday in the House
of Commons to force the Government into a consider-
ation of the important question of the conditions upon
which the Bank of England holds its charter ; but,
unfortunately, the subject was taken up by a party no-
torious for its extreme views on the question of Cur-
rency, and the ministers, consequently, received that
support which, under other circumstances, they would
not have obtained. What other result, however, could
have been expected from a motion which was advo-
cated by the mover and seconder from totally opposite
motives, and which presented, therefore, no tangible
point of union. The members at large were evidently
afraid of entering into a discussion which promised
no result but long and unintelligible speeches upon the
driest subject imaginable ; and that members were only
too glad to escape from a difficulty which they knew
not how to meet, was shown in the course pursued by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who waited until the
debate was nearly concluded, and then, taking his tone
from the other speakers, opposed the motion. It was
not, therefore, at all surprising that the majority was
adverse ; and so, through the indiscreet zeal of the
members for Birmingham, the mercantile interest has
been deprived of a redress which they had a right to
expect. Much ingenuity was needlessly exercised in
attempts to explain the difference between money and
capital, and much contrariety of opinion existed, as
whether the question were one of mere speculative
philosophy or pure science, so that country gentlemen
were bewildered with a controversy from which they
anticipated no satisfactory conclusion. Whilst some
members contended that all paper issues should be
founded on a metallic basis, they were met in vain by
the assertion that the object was not accomplished by
the present law, inasmuch as there was the limit of
£14,000,000 which was fixed without any reference to
actual or probable circulation, but solely because it was
the amount of debt due from the Government to the
Bank.

The real question at issue, as far as the mercantile
interest is concerned, is that, owing to restrictions
rendered only necessary by the requirements of the
law, the rate of interest is increased, and that where
the amount of capital is fully equal to commercial
necessities, a scarcity is artificially produced, because
a law which might have been applicable to the circum-
stances of 1844 is perseveringly adhered to in 1856,
although our exports have since doubled in amount, and
the want of a circulating medium for internal traffic
has correspondingly increased. There was no neces-
sity to excite any alarm about the inconvenience of
discussing such a question, or the fear of undoing a
system which, it was alleged, had worked satisfactorily.
All that was wanted was an extension, not an abroga-
tion of the system ; and this might be accomplished by
raising the limit of paper issues, irrespective of the
stock of bullion, to an amount more nearly approach-
ing the average amount of circulation.

A SEAMAN'S WAGES CASE.-Mr. Mansfield was occupied
for several hours on Saturday in hearing a claim for seaman's
wages, preferred by a seaman named Macrea, against Messrs.
Henry Moore and Co., the owners of the ship Clangregor.
The plaintiff was an able-bodied seaman on board the ship
Clangregor, and he claimed from the defendants £36 17s. 4d.,
for the run from Calcutta to Liverpool. The claim was
resisted on the ground that the plaintiff and the other seamen
had been disobedient, particularly on the night of the 6th
of February, the night before the Clangregor went ashore in
Bootle Bay. On the night in question the plaintiff, it was
alleged, refused with the others to lower the topgallant yards,
by which, in the opinion of a pilot, the ship was lost. Ulti-
mately, Mr. Mansfield gave a verdict for the defendants, and
several other cases similar to Macrea.'s were, in consequence,
not heard.

LOCAL WAR ITEms.—Be the result of the diplomatic
deliberations in Paris what it may, the Admiralty officials
here are as busy as if peace were a word completely unknown
to our language. There are at present in Liverpool no less
than 20,000 tons of steam transport shipping, and all the
vessels:comprised in this amount are nearly ready for dispatch
to the seat of war. The Sarah Sands will sail to-morrow, for
the Crimea, with artillery remounts, stores and horses. On
the 10th instant, the Resolute will sail for Malta, Constanti-
nople, Scutari, and the Crimea, with artillery remounts,
Turkish Irregular Cavalry, men of the Royal marines, Medical-
staff, Land Transport Corps, and officers of the 77th, 82nd,
13th, 50th, and 88th Regiments. The Oneida will take
ammunition, reserve, and a large quantity of stores from Cork.
The Jura, which will follow about the 18th instant, will take
to the Crimea 250 men and 250 horses of a royal battery, and
a quantity of stores. The remainder of the steamers in port
—the Emperor, Bahiana, Kangaroo, and Chersonese—are in a
forward state. A large number of naval volunteers were sent
up from here to London on Friday night. We may here
state that Mr. Beneste, the intelligent and active chief clerk
of Captain Bevis, will generally forward by the transports
sailing from this port any small parcels or packages persons
may wish to send to their friends at the seat of war.