The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 19, 1857•

1220

of commerce approaches the conditioniwe have
sketched, and there is not enough to sustain
the credit or general trust which really effects
the great mass of transactions.
Now, in what form does this show itself in
the commercial world? How has it shown
itself at the present crisis ? Chiefly in the
large increase of open credit-bills—in other
words, those bills of exchange which, instead
of exchanging goods, exchange only credit.
Foreign bills of exchange, which really repre-
sent a transfer of goods, carry, or may carry, their
own security with them. The bill of lading
or other documents which give a title to the
possession of the goods accompany it ; or,
even if they do not, the real payment in goods
of the acceptor is, of course, so much in favour
of his being able to pay the next endorser,
and so forth, through all the hands it may
pass into before being paid off. But if a mer-
chant has sunk a great deal of his floating
capital—say, in advances to the producer, to
help him through difficulties, as is so common
with sugar crops in the West Indies, and with
indigo crops in the East—or, still worse, in
purely speculative purchases of commodities
on the chance of a rise in price, he will neces-
sarily be obliged to increase his floating capi-
tal by bills which do not represent goods,
but are only accommodation paper. His
capital, in either of the eases we suppose, is
no longer capital—it is not available as mer-
cantile capital for promoting the transfer of
goods, but is looked up, waiting, in the one
case, for the ripening crops, in the other case
for the rise in prices ; and therefore it is not
part of the merchant's assets for the regular
constantly-pressing demands of his business.
Instead of being employed in sending goods
to and fro, he has sunk his capital in other
ways, and yet he cannot retrench his proper
mercantile business, and needs as much as
ever for it. The discounts he receives on
goods, therefore, are not sufficient, if there be
either loss or fear of loss, to carry on his
bnsiness ; and besides these real bills of ex-
change, he is obliged to draw on his
reputation for capital, by getting assist-
ance from other houses in what are
called fictitious bills of exchange, which,
if they be discounted by any banker,
are simply personal loans from the banker
on the personal security of the houses
named in the bill. The rapid increase
of this sort of bill always indicates a very un-
sound state of trade. It indicates that the
merchant has either lost, or locked up in an
unavailable form, capital which should always
be strictly floating; otherwise, the discounts
be receives on actual imports of goods would
be ample to enable him, with his own capital,
to carry on his business. We have seen that in
an absolutely safe and cautious system of
trade, if such a thing be conceivable, the credit
represented by discounts on the value of
goods alone would be sufficient to effect all
the exchanges, and, therefore, when you add
to these a merchant's own floating capital,
there ought, if that be adequate, to be more
than enough.
Since 1847 many of the banks have made a
strong effort to keep down these foreign open
credit bills, refusing to discount except ou the
production of the bills of lading or other docu-
ments by which real bills are accompanied ;
and in all the localities where this practice
has been, even to a considerable extent, carried
out, the trade is still sound. In Calcutta, for
example, we believe that, entirely owing to
this practice, speculative advances to producers
and speculative buying has been effectually
discouraged, and the present crisis has told
very little in consequence on its commerce. On
the other hand, the trade with China has been
very unsound, because this practice of discount-
ing freely open credit hills hay. been common,
and in consequence the merchants have been
encouraged to sink their capital in advances
to producers, and otherwise, relying on their
personal credit to fill up the gap. Of course
their personal credit is worth nothing in a
. time of crisis, and the sunk capital is not forth-
coming. The same bad custom has unforta-
nately been prevalent in the American trade ;
and many of the late failures in connection
with German houses have originated also in the
same bad practice. Merchants are only too
easily tempted to invest floating capital really

needed for mercantile purposes in an unavail-
able form, if they can rely on such a substitute
for it as accommodation paper proves,
except in a time of crisis ; and when this is so,
a very little genuine loss will bring on a crisis,
because none of the floating capital that is
alone available to meet such loss is really
forthcoming. If the Government think that
they can control these commercial crises at
all by any Government action, we would re-
commend them to turn to causes affecting
those crises somewhat more deeply than the
question of circulation. An act restricting
the discount of foreign bills of exchange, ex-
cept when accompanied by the documents
giving tho title to the goods received, would
be at least as wise as, though perhaps not
more wise than, the Bank Charter Act
of 1844.

MR. HOPE'S BISHOPS AND LORD
SHAFT ESB U RY'S FRIARS.
IF wo were asked to take our choice between
Mr. BERESFORD HOPE'S proposal for the
remedy of spiritual destitution and Lord
SHAFTESBURY'S coming Bill, on the ground of
which was the less violation of the parochial
system, we should unhesitatingly select the
former. It seems to be imagined that the
revolutionary character of a measure depends
entirely on its magnitude; and that Mr.
BERESFORD HOPE is the most dangerous
reformer of the two, because his reform is
based upon a principle, and would accomplish
its end thoroughly.
The establishment of such an imperium in
imperio within the Church as Lord SaarrEs-
BURY is desirous of adopting may or not be
only " a slight modification of the existing
system ;" but it contains within itself the
germ of a complete revolution—the trans-
ference of spiritual teaching from the regular
clergy to a class of vagrant gospellers, who
should own no authority but that of some
self-constituted head, at present represented
by Lord ShaFrEseuaY.
Now, whatever the objections to Mr. BERES.
min HorE's proposition, it is at least in con-
formity with the essentials of the Church, and
is not, under the guise of increased efficiency,
aiming a secret blow at any particular doc-
trines. It is this which in our eyes consti-
tutes a broad and fundamental distinction
between the two proposals. The one seeks
to tamper with the foundations of the Church
on the plea of widening the superstructure—
the other would proceed by the slower but
surer method of deepening and extending
the foundations before any other work were
attempted.
But though we infinitely prefer Mr. HOPE'S
new bishops to Lord SHAFTESBURY'S new friars,
yet we do not think the former gentleman has
devised a very happy mode of superseding
Lord SHAFTESBURY'S measure. The latter has
this very great advantage on its side ; that it
can be clone at once, that the consent of
the clergy is not required to it; and that from
its simplicity it will impose on many persons
who have not reflected on its ultimate ten-
dencies. Now, the tedious, and comprehen-
sive, and deep-cutting reform put forth by
Mr. HOPE is no match for its more popular,
plausible, and expeditious rival. And the
worst is that a handle is so easily afforded to
the enemies by propositions of this nature.
" if that is all you can give us in exchange for
" Lord SHAFTESBURY'S method of belief," they
may well say, " we cannot afford to wait for it.
" What you say may be all very true, but
" it is only one addit►onal instance of the
" thoroughly unpractical character of the
" school you belong to. The Church was made
" for man, and not man for the Church ; and
" while your scheme is ripening millions of
" souls may be lost."
We fear that more harm than good is effected
by these isolated expressions of opinion. The
Church should reserve herself for united
efforts. Such propositions as that of Mr.
HOPE do but stimulate hostility, and exeite
premature discussion, without strengthening
the cause. Although, therefore, we do full
justice to his sincerity, his zeal, and his

eloquence, we are on the whole sorry that the
letter has been published.
We adhere to our own opinion that the sub-
division of parishes is the soundest and most
practical remedy within our reach. We see
no valid reason for supposing we should
thereby create a race of impoverished incutn-
beuts. Many of our urban livings are exceed-
ingly wealthy, and could easily bear distribu-
tion. And who can doubt that a clergyman
would rather surrender a third of his income
than be perpetually thwarted and insulted by
the intrusion of an itinerant preacher ?
The character of the English clergy is in
some respects not unfairly sketched by the
leading journal in an article on Mr. HOPE'S
letter. It is strange the writer should not see
how completely that character must unfit them
fur the acceptance of the peculiar class of
auxiliaries whom the Times has undertaken to
advocate.

jortign cf,orrtsgoubturt.

PARIS, Dec. 17.
THE Danubian question is once more on the tapis,
and several German papers argue the subjects in a
tone the most serious. The point now under discus-
ston is, whether the Porte is entitled to the suzerainty
or sovereignty of the provinces ? The Treaty of Paris
acknowledges the suzerainty of the Porte, but not its
sovereignty. After all, in considering the Danubian
question, the most essential point to be remembered
is the Atticle 425 of the organic regulations of the
Principalities, which in so many words acknowledges
the Union of Moldavia and Wallachia. That this
union has never been zarried out depended on cir-
cumstances beyond the control of all the interested
parties, but the Article 425 of the organic statutes
still exists. I spoke of this important arti.:le in my
letter of the 2(lth of November. Since thin it has
attracted the attention of the Court of Vienna, and
the different journals in the inter!st of that power
have been instructed to give the following reason for
not carrying out its principle. It is, that the consti-
tution given to the Principalities in 1829 was the
work of Russia, and that it bears the signatures of
Minziaki and Kisseleff ; so that, in point of fact, the
Reunions are now to be punished because the Rus-
sians succeeded in dragging From the Porte a reluc-
tant signature to au equitable constitution ! Count
Bitol and Lord Clarendon must really be hard
pressed for sound objections to the union of these
provinces. The German papers, I see, also state
that the Porte, after much labour, has brought
forth a new constitution for the provinces. The
Porte has not even prepared a constitution for
the provinces, and for this simple reason,—that
the future government of those provinces is in the
hands of the Paris Congress, and not in the power
of any clique at Constantinople.
M. de Lessep's Suez Canal scheme appears likely
to excite as much division in the different European
Cabinets as the question of the Danubiat, provinces.
Austria, which at one time was most favourable to the
scheme, now in order to please Lord Palmerston, and
without declaring decidedly against it, treats the pro-
position with true Austro-diplomatic tact. M. de Buol
says that beyond all doubt the canal would be most
advanttigeous to the commerce of Europe in general
and Austria in particular ; but grave political
questions are involved in the measure, and that
much time will be required to examine the question
fond. Lord Strattord has lett Constantinople.
Previous to his departure his Excellency obtained a
promise that nothing shJuld be dune in the canal
affair until his return. The Porte assumes to be
very angry with the English Government for having
taken possession of the Island of Perim, and is
reported to have addressed serious remonstrances
against the annexation. All this, as the French
say, Est une petite comedic Bien jouee."
We have had some discussions both in the salons
and the journals as to the constitutional opposition
of M. Emile de Cirirarrlin iu the Courrier de Paris.
ou ay rely upon it the Emperor does nt in the
leastm object to a fair constitutional oppositioon. 00
the contrary, he rather courts it, come from what-
ever quarter it may, for he is determined to carry out
the great fundamental principles of 1789.
The financial crisis throughout France, although
still existing, seems greatly on the decline. Belore.
twenty-four hours have passed the Bank rate of
discount will be reduced to six per cent., and that
will greatly assist commeice.
The health' of the Emperor and Empress is most
excellent. This moining his Majesty lets Palls for
St. Germains, on a hunting excursion. Ile was
accompanied by Count Walewski.