The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-14 00:00:00

discount houses, declined to comply. Help Could
be got nowhere else, as every one vim poly too
anxious to strengthen his own position', and hence
a stoppage became inevitable. mere eon be no
doubt that these joint-stock failures, the last
in particular, have materially contributed to cause
the recent panic ; but it is not fair to attri-
bute their col apse to the necessarily precarious
nature of financial business generally. Incredibly
gross mismanagement in some cases and mis-
calculation in others rather deserve the blame.
Another cause has been the persistent effort for
a long time past to excite public alarm. Warnings
have been multiplied to such an extent, although
based upon no real grounds whatever, that the
more ignorant portion of the public have gradually
become frightened in earnest. Of course the
joint-stock failures were made the groundwork
for a whole succession of terrifying lectures. A
fall in prices, however small, was magnified into a
panic. It is easy enough to propagate mischief in
this way. Timid holders were thus induced to sell
their shares, and the speculative portion of the
public--persons mostly unconnected with the City,
but dabbling a little on the Stock Exchange—were
acute enough to take advantage of the disturbance,
and stimulate it by ambiguous whispers which they
were accustomed to spread as much as possible
from one broker's office to another. To such a
class of people each successive warning was as amine
of gold. Hence by this sort of conscious or uncon-
scious playing into one another's bands, and with the
assistance of an impending European war, and con-
sequent depreciation in foreign securities, public
confidence began to be seriously shaken. The
banks were sot slow to perceive the signs of the
times, and to call in their reserves to meet the
coming difficulty. At last, pressed upon at all sides,
Ovesszrn, Guarrav, and Co. stopped payment, and
then came the inevitable crash.

01

The distinctive feature of the present crisis
compared with those of 1847 and 1857, has been
clearly recognised by the Government. In
his speech, announcing the relaxation of the
Bank Charter Act, Mr. Gnu:Hero:cc observed
that " the present crisis does not arise from
" any general unsoundness in the condition of our
" commerce, but only from causes of a peculiar
" and specific character." Whether any measures
could be taken for its relief, except one, may be
doubted. But, as that one has been taken, it is
unnecessary to look farther. The suspension of
the Bank Charter Act was the single mea-
sure that could be efficacious, and it has proved
to be so already. An expedient, indeed, waa pro-
posed, much to everybody's astonishment, which
involved nothing leas than a partial suspension of
cash payments. An issue of Bank post bills,
or, in other words, of legal tender,
interest-bearing notes, inconvertible for a
fixed period, was the plan suggested. This is no
new idea. The same scheme was brought for-
ward in 1857, but then it was to be adopted
by private firms, and not by the Bank. While,
however, it is admitted even by the strongest sup-
porters of the Act, that its suspension has stopped
the panic, it is equally averred that the benefit
of its suspension now has been secured by its
maintenance in ordinary times. A very able finan-
cial contemporary acknowledges that the pre-
sent currency system is only adapted for fair
weather, which is tantamount to saying that it is
a capital lifeboat in a calm sea, but good for no-
thing in a storm. The most singular argument,
however, that is brought forward rests in the
assertion that without the restraint imposed upon
the Bank directors by the Act of 1844, they could
never be in a position to meet the altered circum-
stances when a suspension of the Act is vitally
necessary. Surely, if a body of the most emi-
nent commercial men in the kingdom can
be trusted to act after their own discretion
in times of panic, they are, a priori, at least
equally entitled to confidence when there is
nothing to disturb the even current of trade. If
the Bank directors are worthy to be trusted on
occasions of extreme difficulty, why should they
be restrained, as incapable of sober judgment
when there is absolutely nothing to fear ? The
contradiction is obvious. Either the Directors of
the Bank of England are fit for their post, or
not. If they are fit, let their discretion have
fair play ; if they are not, replace them by some-
body else. The present plan assumes that they
are incapable when capacity is moat required, but
capable when capacity is not needed.
The suspension of the Lank Act having allayed
the alarm, the usual assertions follow that the
corrective was not needed at all. Supposing that
nothing had been done, the Bank of England, it
is affirmed, would have been per:ectly !safe. We
do not share this view, and in our dissent we are
supported by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE-
QUER, who, discarding the prejudices of theory,
became by the exercise of his own judgment prac-
tically equal to the occasion. Let us suppose that
no intimation had been given in Parliament of the
relaxation of the Act, and that another day of sus-
pense and terror had followed on Friday. The
result can be easily discerned. Banking credit
being, as Mr. GLADSTONE has remarked, in jeopardy,
there would have been more or leas of a run upon
all the establishments, joint-stock or private,
metropolitan or provincial. In self-defence they
must have refused discounts, and for ,he same
reason must have withdrawn their own de-
posits from the Bank. Carried out to
the end, the result of this unbending in-
fliction of the law would have been the
suspension of payment of the Bank of England.
Bankers withdrawing their deposits, others (for it
would soon be known) doing the like, and mer-
chants applying for legitimate assistance, would be
sufficient to exhaust in a few hours as much as
twice or three times the remainder of the reserve.
We have reason to believe that the CHANCELLOR
of the Excaaorza was chiefly influenced by this
consideration in advising that the Act of 1844
should be suspended at once.
The wild alarm is happily over, but the end of
such a convulsion is not yet. Further disasters,
as we have said, must come, and confidence can
only be gradually restored. The grand object at
such a time should be to discard a selfish policy,
and for each banker and trader to help his cus-
tomer or fellow-trader on a prudent basis, accord-
ing to his means. There is no further necessity
for the craven hoarding of the last two days. The
Bank of England can only lend money on a certain
class of securities ; but under the suspension of the
Act they can now lend upon such securities freely.
Let bankers and money dealers profit by the
relief accorded, borrow upon those securities they
can thus employ at the Bank, and afford the faci-
lities they have been hitherto accustomed to grant
upon those of a secondary character, under pru-
dent restrictions. Thus only can the radical cure
come, unnecessary ruin be averted, and the coun-
try be saved from a serious stoppage of trade, as
well as a state of financial confusion which becomes
a national disgrace.

gain 14 the change proposedvids
*Ow the Wien is liberal, the tortes because ittervill
10 orted to @Kamp the tp&rit of obstinate obstroden
he that of enlightened ecsmervatism and to &dovelike's-
selves to the Wm:tend feeling of England.
The Pod Ma back again upon the memory of Lord

Palmerston, and concludes an article on the Reform Bill
by applying to the deceased Premier the following lines :

..
" Statesman, yet friend of truth, in heart sincere,
Honest in judgment, and in honour clear ;
He served no purpose, gained no private end,
He won all harm, and never lost a friend."

It is said to be the intention of her Majesty to
confer in person the new decoration, called the " Albert
Medal," upon Mr. Samuel Popplestone, who gallantly
saved two lives from the wreck of the Spirit of the Ocean,
off the Start Poiat.

t.y
THU, EXPRESS, MONDAY ElT4i44gtit, MAY 14, 1966.

The Herald says the greet constitutional party in the
House of Commons, including half of those who voted for
ministers the other day, insist upon such a redistribution
of seats as will go towards redressing the unjust balance
between town voters and country voters ; they
will demand an equitable boundary bill, and the
provision by which the freeholders in the towns
are not only allowed to retain their county votes but are
to be reinforced by a horde of leaseholders must be wholly
reversed. If these and • few other of the more flagrant
faults of the present system are straightforwardly recti-
fied ; if the silly and impertinent disfranchisement of
dockyard voters is given up at once ; if certain other
classes of persona—professional men, certificated school-
masters, and persons of all kinds whose position is suffi-
cient evidence of their education and intelligence—be
freely and liberally enfranchised, the constitutional party
will not be found unwilling to aid in carrying through a
Reform Bill. But persistence in the stupid notion that
71. or 61., or pounds of any sort, are the sole evidence of
qualification, is a course which can only land its adherents
in entire discomfiture.

The government, the Telegraph says, stand ready, if
need be, either to accept the decision of the people, or to
fight the question through the present parliament, even if
both houses should sit till Michaelmas. Should they be
forced to the first alternative, public opinion. growing by
indignation and impatience, will insist upon a larger and
bolder measure ; but Lord Russell is willing enough, and
the country is willing enough, to adopt the other course ;
although in that case the whole bill must and will be kept
true to its present character.
The Star contends that the success or defeat of the go-
vernment reform scheme in its integrity depends abso-
lutely upon the conduct of the liberal party. By no pos-
sible effort can the tories alone succeed in defeating it.
But it is quite possible that some effort may be made to
upset the whole scheme by contriving, with the aid of the
malcontent liberals, so to alter the amount of the franchise
in committee as to render the further progress of the
measure impossible. The present scheme, it is said, is to
agree toe 71. franchise if the county franchise is raised to
201.; but to this the government would never accede, and
if the liberals vote together the government will have
large majority, and the bill is certain to peas this session.

•

GREECE.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE WAR 'NEWS.
, We extract from the Italian and German journals
the following intelligence relative to the impend-
ing war. The Italia publishes the following from
the frontiers of Venetia :

A squadron of Hula= has arrived at Taschler. Those
inhabitants who are not in a position to supply them-
selves with three months' provisions have been
told to leave, and the provision merchants have been
ordered to reserve their stores for the inhabitants of the
heiress alone. The bridge which crosses the Mindo neer
Peachier is said to be mined. The 8,000 Croats completely
equipped have arrived at Verona. The garrison in that
city is not numerous, but the surrounding localities are so
many camps.
The Persevere/0a of Milan says :

General Cucchlari arrived here from Parma by the fore-
noon train, and started immediately for Cremona. General
Bivel has also arrived here from Florence, and General
Coreale, who commands the Breeden division, has left for
his poet. Prince Umberto was delayed some hours in his
arrival here by the many military trains which are now
running, but on his appearanos he was loudly cheered by
the people.
The Prussian Gazette of May 10 says :
- -

Looking at the military measures taken by Austria and
the States of the Confederation we arrive at the following
results. The Saxon army is on the way to complete mobilisa-
tion. Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Hanover are making pre-
parations for the same purpose. In Austria the mobilisa-
tion of the whole army is nearly completed. Two batta-
lions of the regiment Nobili which were a short
time ago in garrison at Vienna have entered Konig-
grate. The first detachments of the lancer regiments
who are on the march towards Bohemia have arrived at
Joeephstadt. The villages of Oswiecim and Chrranow on
the Galician frontier, have received garrisons, and it is
expected that a concentration of 20,000 troops between
these two points will soon be effected.

The Emperor of Austria has ordered the forma-
tion of a fifth battalion in each of the 80 regiments
of the line, and of a depot detachment for each of
the 32 battalions of Chasseurs. According to the
Neue Freie Psesse, these two corps alone, with the
additions now made, would gave an effective force
of 500,000 fighting men.

(azuria's TriscauxB.)
PRUSSIA.
BERLIN, HAT 14.

Duke William of Mecklenburg has been ap-
pointed commander of the Royal Guards instead of
Duke Augustus of Wurtemberg, who has been re-
lieved of his command.

General von Voigt Rheetz has been appointed
chief of the general staff.

ATHENS, MAT 8.

On account of the probability of war, the King
has deferred his intended journey into the pro-
vinces and returned to this city yesterday evening.

LADIES' UNDRESS.-A BOLD LANCE.

A correspondent of the Morning Post writes:

We are told that two ladies recently appeared at a ball
in Paris with their charms so innocent of ambush tha.
French decency was shocked, and the offenders
were requested to retire. It appears that the cor-
sage, ebbing in obedience to fashion, has become so
shallow that any real connexion with the shoulder
and arm is intolerable. The ladies in question were bold
enough to avow this fact and contented themselves with
signifying the connexion by • couple of narrow tapes. The
result must have been a flesh representation of Mr. Power's
bust of Ceres, if so handsome. It is to be hoped, sir, these
ladies have not fallen in vain, for they have performed areal
public service. They have ascertained the limit of un-
dress, and at Paris. May not our countrywomen now be
safely approached on the subject? Any man standing in
the doorway of a London ball or party (I am bound to say,
though, my rector's wife in the country affords equal
privilege) must consider himself a highly favoured
mortal. His eye surveys such a disclosure of
person that he may imagine himself on the point
of realising that artless period which Alfred
de Musset so plaintively regretted in Rolla.
And the custom is confined neither to age nor circum-
stance. There is perhaps a discernible effort arising
from instinctive delicacy on the part of the youngest
and loveliest, to inhibit the too-intrusive glance ; but while
not only the voluptuousness of Astarte is published,
but the too-generous developments of maternal Juno,
and the severe figure of Diana passes, it would be invidious
of the " lily maid" to attempt, if she dared, to mark her
distinction, though, indeed, if the object of the custom
be to establish a claim to shape, she it is who can
best afford to comply. But the doorway philosopher
is compelled to dismiss this view' the marvellously un-
conscious manner in which the thoroughly good, and-
able, and puny mother of several children will move by
him as if to her bath—not to mention other palpable in-
stances—sufficiently preclude the idea. This is the amazing
and distracting feature. The ladies in Paris, whose
covering was limited to a couple of tapes, may, without
defamation, be supposed to have been adapting their
toilette to the palate of the libertine. There was at least
an explanation, if an immoral one, for their disapparel.
But here the women who instinctively lift their eyes from
men, who arechaate in their ideasand happyin their homes,
are not less ostentatiously bare, nor less liable to the im-
putation of a similar motive. In vain the father may
command, the brother solicit, the husband adjure, and the
lover timidly protest (for a man no sooner cares
for a woman than ho becomes concerned on this
point), the infatuated victim moves, disrobing
in her trance, to the sacrificial altar of fashion.
When we consider who are the priestesses of
this altar we shall cease to wonder at the character of the
present rite. There is perhaps no &adder subject of re-
flection than that of the source from whence our mothers,
wives, sisters, and our idols derive inspiration in the
matter of dress. That ideas emanating from a
combined condition of immorality and effrontery,
from a state essentially requiring all modesty to be aban-
doned and every chaste influence to be expelled with
mockery, should be received with reverence and followed
I with superstition by women fulfilling the highest duties
lof their sex, ie as inexplicable as it is pernicious. But it
is not the less an indisputable fact. The successful
caprice of Mimi Taptape, or of Ilkbd )'t'en fiche, becomes
the very thraldom of our Pamelas and Amebas.

The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort's party at
Badminton during the past week comprised—the Duke of
Newcastle, the Marquis and Marchioness of Hastings, the
Earl and Countess of Westmoreland, the Earl of Wilton,
the Earl of Winchilsea, the Earl of Coventry, the Earl of
Portsmouth, Hon. Henry Forester, Hon. Admiral Rous,
Hon. Colonel Berkeley, Hon. F. Calthorpe, Hon. F.
Curzon, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Colonel Raabe, Colonel
O'Higgins, Captain Little, Captain H. Coventry, Mr.
George Payne, Mr. W. G. Craven, Mr. Ten Broeck, Mr.
Rushout, Mr. H. V. Williamson, Mr. Cecil Martyn, Mr.
R. Graham, Mr. Pryor, and Mr. Baldwin.
The Earl and Countess of Hardwicke entertained
the Earl and Countess Vane, Viscount and Viscountess
Royston, Lord Stanley, M.P., Lord John Hay, M.P., Lady
Bloomfield, Sir Ivor Guest and Miss Guest, Hon. Mr. and
Mrs. Barrington and Miss C. Barrington, at dinner on
Saturday evening, at their residence in Portman-square.

The Dorchester papers describe an affecting scene
at the funeral of Lord and Lady Rivers a few days since.
Among the numerous chief mourners were Earl Granville.
a brother of lady Rivers, and Lady Blanche Pitt, a daughter
of the deceased. Before the Coffins were lowered into the
grave Earl Granville knelt beside the coffin of his sister,
and Lady Blanche Pitt knelt before the coffins of her
parent' in silent prayer. During this 'affecting scene the
solemn funeral service was suspended. Captain Arbuthnot,
the husband of a daughter of Lord and Lady Rivers, who
was struck dead by lightning on her wedding tour in
Switzerland a short time ago, was one of the chief mourners
at the funeral.

On Friday evening, at the weekly meeting of tho
members of this institution, Professor Ansted delivered
a lecture " On the Mud Volcanoes of the Crimea, and
on the relation of these and similar phenomena to
deposits of Petroleum."

Iphigenia in Tauris is to be repeated to-morrow
night at her Majesty's Theatre ; and on Thursday Mdlle.
lima di Monica makes her first appearance for the season.

To-night Madame Villa reappears at Covent
Garden .a Norma, with Madame Leounens-Sherrington as
Adalgiaa and Signor Maeda' MI Poilio. To-morrow
Mdlle. Adelina Patti comes back to us in the character of
Rosins.

Mrs. Reble, widow of the late Rev. John Keble,
died at Brookside, Bournemouth, the same house in which
her late husband died, on Friday afternoon.