The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-01 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1, 1851

Butte at the Foreign-office, Lord Gaarinua at
the Board of Trade, Lord CLARENCE Pao= at the
(Ordnance, Lord HowDEN at Madrid, Mr. Fox
MAULS at the War-office, Lord CHARLES RUSSELL
sitting at the bar of the House of COMMIE
as serpent-at-arms; and their was Lord EBRINGTON
conifortab!y placed at the poor law board until hr
oismiseed himself ; all well paid; all looking forward
to promotion and to better pay. Under such circum-
stances, with such arist‘cratie competition before him
—to say nothing of the plebeian pressures behind him
—Lord EBRINGTON hap, there can be no dr übt, acted
very foolishly in jumping out of the regular routine
of public life in this way. For it is, he will now find
out, much easier to get off than on to the line
that carries you to high office; as Mr. HERMES, Lord
MAHON, and a host of others can tell. At all event*
there would have been delicacy and propriety
and consideration for his order in silence. It is not
pleassnt to hear a young whig lord, the heir to a
great title, grumbling at the less of 5001 a-year of the
public money.
Especially, too, whet, in point of fact, there was no-
thing reasonable to g rumble about. For, when the Pfeil-
dent of the Poor Law Board was examined by the
committee which has given Lord EBRINGTON SO
ranch offence, be declined to say that the salary of the
parliamentary secretary of the beard was not too high;
and its reduction to 1,000/. in the next year's estimates
was one of the very few resolutions of the committee on
' which there was entire unanimity. That committee
divided on the question of reducing the Lord Privy
Seal's salary, of ab ilishing the Mastership of the
Mint, of uniting a number of small diplomatic mis-
gots, of lowering the pay of all the judge!, English,
Irish, and Scotch, and of the Macey" in Chancery ;
but differing though they did about nearly every-
thing the. they bud no hesitation in resolving :
. _

To at the salary of the secretaries of the Poor-law Board
be reduced to 1,0001. per annum, to take eff .ct on the cent
vacancy in the case of the perm/neat weretary, dat the
neat vote is the race of the parbemtntery aeactary.—
C./faction pegn and agreed to. _ _ _

Again, to some of their resolutions Lord Jowl
RUSSELL dissents, but to this one he at once ascents.
Here, then, we have-1. The president of the board
refusing to say 1,5001. is not too high a Betsey, 2.
The committee unanimously resolving that it is too
high by 5001. a year: and, 3. the First Lord of the
Treasury concurring and carrying out that opinion.
Yet it is against this consensus of testimony that Lord
EBRINGTON raises his back, and absurdly quarrels,
with his political bread and butter.
With a president of the poor-law board in the
House of Commons, there can be no need of having
one of its secretaries there too. With a president
having a salary of 2,0001. a year, 1,5001. a year each
is obviously disproportiona'e remuneration for two
secretaries. With two assistant secretaries besides,
ands large staff of cite's', a parliamentary secretary
cannot De overworked. Especially, seeing that be-
sides its duties, the ordinary occupations of a mem-
ber of parliament and the management of the sewers
commission, a labour quite enough for any man
by itself, did not overwhelm Lord EBRINOTON.
" But," complains the ncble lord, "Dad I accepted
1,0001. a year, I should have placed the higher on a
lent with lower posts." Nothing of the sort; the
lower posts are well paid, because they are perma-
nently filled ; because beyond them their we ful occu-
pants do not rise. Bat Lord EBRINOTON'S secretary-
ship wee the first step in the great ladder of political
life; be was fairly placed on its ascent; ard be has
Jumped down because of a redaction of salary.
Teat is the simple fact.
The young public man who measures his advarce-
meat by the pay it brings him can have no
very worthy ambition • his superiors can have small
faith in him; his inferiors little respect for Dim.
Lord EBRINOTON might have left greediness to old
Mr. GOULBUILV, who picked up 1,0004 a yen the
other day out of Mother Church, and then taken a
lesson out of Lord ASHLEY'S book : for there is that
noble lord working away like a galley slave at
Owydyr House without any salary from the country.
Lord EBRINGTON well winning a fair reputation:
and he has injured it.

THE less the press puts itself forward in its own
character, and on its own behoof, the better. It is
powerful end respected when pleading for others,
when awakening the echo of popular sentiment, or
making itse:f the mouthpiece of popular desires. Bat
like many other icatrumentr, which the people use
and honour in using, they respect it but little for
itself. Ti e general idea is, that pecuniarily it is
right well off, wielding a power which ought to
satisfy it, and holding a position more than its due.
In casting up arceunts with it, therefore, or in listen-
'Mg to its complaiiits, the publics is often a hard and
a supercilious master.
Some sentimental politiciars have, indeed, at time,
taken it into their heads that the press was unfairly
treated. The official whigs, when they succeeded in
emancipating themselves somewhat from the tutelage
of the aristocracy, and when the press helped them in
the struggle w-r., inclined to be grateful. But slue
then there has been a re:apee, and the feeling is that
what was done to popularise the press fell far short of
general expectation. Whil,t the old tory party
retitle' its grudges against those upstart politicises
who infringe upon that m^nopoly of statesmanlike
discussion which they consider the apanage of birth,
the whig party, semi-conservative, do not di,cern any
advantage to the nation or ito themselves in ridding
the press of its fiscal fetters.
We have, therefore, few hopes of any good
to come from agitation or combination smonget
newspapers. They may, indeed, convey informa-
tion to the Cu iNCELLOR of the Exederreen, but it is
only as representing great commercial or gnat po-
pular ieteresta, that they are likely to command the
right hen. gentlrmau'e attention. Fur similar
reasons we cannot but think " taxes on knowledge"
to be an ill chcscn tame; knowledge, especially of the
political kind, is not anything calculated to enlist
the (flats or enthusiasm of our legislators.
Those who invented it quite forgot how strong were
the vested rights of ignorance, and how much of all
that hereditary polile,ans seek to conserve, is built
upon the negation of knowledge. In coming for-
ward, therefore, for relief, we ought prudently to sink
the knowledge and to veil the newspaper, if we are
to obtain any boon from the dominant majority.
It were easy to state the cause of paper,. and to
represent the injustice of taxing that great tnterme-
' diary for the communication of wants, and affections,
and ideas. To say that a nation which has sacrificed
millions for the abolition of the cost of postage, so as
1,, to give to sli men a communication with each other
r on matters that mutually concern them—to say
• that the same government taxes heavily the most
• useful, the most moral, the moat civilising, the most
endearing and improving mode of communication
between mind and mind—literature—is an absurdity
t and a contradiction past belief.

Books, however, ass sentimental wants, and news.
papers are a luxury. Book-makers and booksellers
form co important and wide-spread interest, com-
a menial or electoral. They return no member, and
commend no votes. Amidst the struggles of party,
therefore, they are sure to be overlooked ; and a tax
that affects the landed interest or weighs upon the
civic one, or intt rferes with the trade of oar ports and
the seats of manufactures—them are pot foremost for
repeal. And it is only in the came of a large deficit,
that knowledge or newspaper taxes are flung in
for repeal ea mere secondary sacrifloes—it is only
then that we have the least chance of being rid of
them.

What we ought to have to deal with then, should
not be a surplus of a couple of millions, to be given
inconsiderately to that class or interest which isms:
clamorous, bat such a surplus as a large plan of eco-
ncmy would create, and which ought not to be frit-
tered away by any sensible diminution in the revenue
of direct taxation. The window tax must, of course,
be got rid of. Bata fair re-distribution of the in-
come tax, accompanied by a similar re-adjustment of
land tax and house tax, ought to leave the produce of
direct taxation the same.
Then, indeed, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCITE-
' QUER might lower all those customs duties, the amount
of which increased consumption would make up, and
sweep away those beggarly and disgraceful taxes
upon literature and upon journals and upon adver-
tisemen•e, which ought to be beneath the very dignity
of an opulent and enlightened society like that of
England to impose upon what are, on the whole, the
mast struggling and ill-requited though most useful
interests and profeweone.
If, however, the times are such that we can hope
for no large measures of economy, no mond and

thorough adjustment of direct taxatirs; if Sir
CRADLE/ WOOD shrinks freer; the task of building a
fleancial scheme, and confine. Lis efforts to a mere
patching of the old one, there is still room for doing
away with a portion of those unjust taxes. The
paper duties might at least be reduced one-half, the
advertisement duty two-thirds, in the one case with
little, in the latter with no lose at all, to the revenue.
The stamp duty on newspapers should also be re•
pealed. But there is no use in deceiving the public
in this respect. The repeal of the sta.np duty would
no doubt be accompanied by the impas:tion of an
equivalent postage on newspapers: so that
the country reader, who receives the journal
by post, would not be benefited by the diminu-
tion of price. Newspapers would cost less to the
inhabitants of London only and of those towns
to which they are sent independent of the post-office.
And in these towns, u in the metropolis, the facili-
ties of clubbing for newspapers and obtaining a
reidy access to them is so great, that a penny more or
a penny less is not felt by the majority of readers.
A diminution of the advertisement duty to sixpence
would, however, be an immense boon to the public.
The mechsnic, the domestic, the farmer, the people in
fine, would have the facility of making known their
wants, and of having them supplied. And the mul-
titude of foreigners who are about to crowd here foe
purposes of corioeity, blended with commercial specu-
lation, cou'd make known to the British public their
requirements and their advantages, instead of being
frightened into silence, as they would by the main-
tenarce of the present duty ; and being compelle I to
return home, as bootless and as voiceless as they
came.

Tun decision of the French commission against any
modification of the currency, with reference to the
double standard of gold and silver, seems to have
been received in this country with general satisfaction.
When we consider the premises on which they were

required to deliberate, any other determinatient c.uld
not reasonably have been expected; but as our neigh-
bours, habituated to the atmosphere of revolution, are
somewhat bald and reckless in their legislation, and
not a little Quixotic in their fundamental notions of
government, there existed, previously to this wise
and judicious decision, some apprehension of their
designs. And in advocating a change they would
not have been unsupported by some economists of
weight and ability, who see in the negative con-
clusions of the commission, on this point, a step,
that must prove eventually prejudicial to the country,
and in the delay of meeting the question boldly ex-
treme peril to the interests of the community. So WI
from this being true or just, it appears to us, the arose
we consider it, that the appointment of the ocesinia-
lion at that particular juncture was, to say the least
of it, premature ; and it is quite possible, when we
perceive the many false notions that prevail, that
some of the mischief alluded to—the depreciation of
gold and the fall of the exchange—may be attributed
to this cause, by exciting unnecessary fears. We know
that vague apprehensions have a greater influence over
the generality of men than real events; and when
men in high places lend themselves to perpetuate
those fears, it is not surprising if the whole comma
city should be affected by the supposed shadow of a
corning evil. There is abstractedly no great harm in
making inquiry on any subject—a waste of time is
I often the chief sacrifice made—but when a govern-
ment, excited by speculative ideas in its own body, ors
stirred to action by popular clamour, orj seduced by
the wild notions of mere closet-politicians, creates a
commission, then every one wooled( a the cause must
be grave and urgent. In France this seems a simple,
every day affair ; the unstable nature of the govern-
ment renders it ea; unsettled opinions afford it a kind
of justification; whereas, with us the appointment of
a commission is a more solemn matter, not to be
looked for except as the hard-earned result of irrefra-
gable facts and repeated argument. On ques-
tions affecting the currency, as a great commer-
cial nation, we are almost morbidly sensitive.
IWe view change with suspicion, if not abhorrence.
IWe decry every opinion and argument that disturb
existing relations; and prefer enduring present evils
than launch ourselves on the wide sea, hazardous and
conflicting, which the subtle question of the currency
opens up. It is not because we understand the sub-
ject better than our neighbours, or that we proceed on
more scientific principles; but we view everything
with a practical eye; we deal with facts as they
exist, or effect us; we circumscribe our reasoning
within immediate and tangible influences, and rarely
allow ourselves the luxury of speculation. While
other nations are agitated by prospective occurrences,
the tide of which is yet distant, if ever to be felt at
all, we calmly fold our arms in phlegmatic indifference,
and think it time enough to act and reason when the
prophecy is realized.
Some French writers on the currency, otherwise
men of talent acd discrimination, having very clear
and accurate ideas on the nature and proper functions
of money, seem to overlook the fact that in the revo-
lution in monetary affairs, which they contemplate as
a probable event, their silver currency would suffer
a more severe ordeal than their gold standard. The
proportion of silver coin in Franco is perhaps ten to
twelve times greater than that of gold; and a con-
siderable change of relative values would equally affect
bith nvtale. While gold fell in the market value,
etch holder of a 20 franc piece would lose by the
depreciation, that is, the coin would command fewer
commodities; but, on the other hand, if silver bullion
were to rise much above the rate at which the francs
are made, the silver currency, it appears to us,
would rise in the same proportion. tor, let it be
borne in mind, as a French writer observes, that
a franc is not an ideal thing, or possessing
only on ?view de convention : it is a piece of metal
or merchandise whose value is determined by analo-
gous laws to those which determine the value of iron
or copper. It is a disc of silver of a certain weight,
absolutely and rigorously fixed by law, composed ofl
so many grains of pure silver and so many grains of
copper. It is not, therefore, a representative sign,
like the convention most: of Germany ; but, while
it serves as a measure of value, it also possesses a mar-
ketable value or price independently of its functions
as a medium of exchange. It may be considered
merchandise, stamped by public authority, as a gua-
rantee of its weight and quality.
It has been asserted, on questionable grounds,
that the French double standard of gold and silver
was founded on the fallacious belief that
there was something fixed acd determinate in the
relation of the two metals; and that they would re-
main always interchangeable one with another in
the same proportions—a 20 franc gold piece for 20
silver francs; and 20 silver francs for a gold piece.
This fallacious ides, maintained by financiers, when
ignorance prevailed universally of the laws which
regulate the relative values of the precious metals, is
one reason alleged for a change in the gold currency
of France; but it is obvious that the standard of
value, in whichever metal, must have originally been
determined in relation to the proportions of the two
metals, as in some measure determining the rate at
which the coins should be made. Permanence of

value is what constitutes the precious metals standards
of value. If they fluctuated in price as much as other
things, they would become useless for that purpose.
They have been chosen as measures of value
not bemuse they are beyond fluctuations in price, or
that human laws, as is sometimes thought, can con-
trol them, regulate them, and fix their value—but
because they are of all commodities the least variable.
That is all that human sagacity and foresight can
command. Nothing can, therefore, be mare certain
than that a depreciation of gold and an appreciation of
silver would follow a supply of gold beyond the
wants of mankind. And upon this principle may be
explained the monetary affairs recently witnessed in
France, though not exactly arising from a super-
abundant supply of gold. Gold has sot gone to
France, it appears, because it commanded there, seen
article of merchandise, so much higher& priceas to make
the simple transaction of exchange a profitable one. The
transaction is more circuitous and complicated ; and
it is singular in this, that while our sovereigns are at
a considerable discount, as foreign coin, bringing
therefore a low price, yet the state of matters is such
u to cause them to be exported in large quantities.
The reasons of this anomaly may be thus explained.
The law of France constitutes both gold and silver
standards of value, and legal tenders to any amount ;
the sane law decrees that a 20 franc gold piece is ofl
the game exchangeable value as 20 laver frame, and
vice eeria. Bat it is manifon, if gold bullion be
depreciated in relation to silver, it will be more pro-
fitable to pay in film, or in gold pieces tepcseeating

silver coin. The price of silver has risen in France
as elsewhere ; and gold has fallen. Bat the law
in spite of this circumstance, commands filet
20 francs in silver should be exchanged for
one 20 franc gold piece ; that 1,000 gold pieces,
it paid away, repre-ent the equivalent of 20,000
francs. Hence our sovereigns, which are actually at
la discount, ea will be the cue with alltireign coin or
bullion, are converted at the Mint into gold pieces,
and these gold pieces immediately command the value
of silver in francs ; and if silver be at a premium of 3
per cent., that profit will be gained, less any brueage
for the coinage. If this version be correct, as we be-
lieve it to be, we may reasonably question the power
of the Bark of England to affect the exchange, as
respects France, by simply raising the rate of die-
°cunt. It is an extraordinary case, and cannot, bat
in ignorance, be met by ordinary measures. As soon
might we expect the rate of discount to bring down
the market price of silver, whose appreciation has
arisen from causes quite different from the plentiful-
ness or scarcity of money.
Whether we should congratulate ourselves on the
superiority of our own currency over that of France,
we cannot pretend to say ; but there is this marked
difference between the two, that while the French
possess two standards, so called, we have but one—our
silver currency, though coined of a particular stand-
ard, in quality, partaking of the nature of valeur de
concenti n, carrying on it a seignorage of 10 per cent.
when silver is worth be. an ounce. At the present
time the silver coins of France may be considered
merchandise, liable to be melted down or exported;
but silver bullion must rise above 6s. 6d. an ounce
before our token coinage could be effected by external
causes. So long, therefore, shall our sovereign be
convertible into 20 shillings, whether the price of gold
depreciate or not; and this depreciation might go on
so insensibly as not to be recognised by the great
body of the community. Each sovereign would
as heretofore interchange for 205., and every holder
would imagine be had, 'n hie pocket the same value;
but then it is certain the sovereign would command
less value in relation to other things. Light sove-
reigns afford a cue of depreciation, not the sume bat
analogous to the effect of a fall in the price of gold.
The holder suffers the loss ; and so would it be in the
other case contemplated. The crown, in consideration
of the heavy seignorage on silver coin, guarantees an
exchange of new coin for old, piece for piece, not
weight for weight ; but in respect of the standard of
value, the crown guarantees nut! ing, assumes no re-
sponsibility beyond the validity of the coin; and the
public, therefore, as individuals would lose indi-
vidually by any deprecation of the gold coin. Silver
is the coinage of the QUIEN ; gold of the public.
The apparent effect of a fall in the price of gold to
England would be this : an ounce of gold would still
be coined at the rate of 775. 100. an ounce ; i. e. a
certain weight of gold bullion would be converted
into so many piece. as now; bat these gold pieces
would be to the holder of less value than before, be-
cause they would command less value in relation to
silver and all other things. Each holder so far
suffering a loss, it follows that the country as a whole
would suffer the whole loss between the value of
the currency now, as estimated, and the lesser value
hereafter.

It has been calculated, how near to the truth we
cannot aver, that prices rose above 400 per cent. after
the discovery of America, in consequence of the fall in
the value of the precious metals; and from this we
may judge of the natural law how far the abundance or
scarcity of gold and silver has a direct and imme-
diate influence, as measures of value, on the price of
all commodities.