The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-24 00:00:00

tt.
THE
.EXPRESS, MONDAY EVltttiNG, SEPTEMBER 24, 1866.

sterling. No one seems i have thought for a
reet
moment that the positio
sU s ' the Neared Bank
could be endange converilldig of its
notes was not pert or t iik might be com-
pelled to refuse all assistance to the trading coin-
.munitir. The case was far different here. Instead
of people hastening to deposit money with the
Bank, they borrowed as much as they could get,
and persisted in hoarding notes and gold, although
ready to admit in a general sense the folly of the
practice. Whilst the so-called protective rate of
10 per cent. was maintained, the applications for
disoonnt at the Bank were numerous and Incessant.
Directly the protection is abandoned and the rate
falls to 5 per cent., the discount business dwindles
to nothing. At the Bank of France, on the other
hand, as long as distrust prevailed there was little i
demand for money ; now that confidence is re-
newed,
the revival in trade is indicated by the in-
creased requirements for discounts.
As far as this country is concerned there ap-
pears little reason to hope that commerce will for
the next few months be as prosperous as in
ordinary times. The internal demand for
goods must necessarily be affected by the
contingency of a partially deficient harvest
following close upon the cattle plague.
Secondly, the condition of labour is by no means
satisfactory. All over the country we hear of
strikes and lockouts in many branches of trade,
and without giving an opinion for or against either
masters or workmen there can be no question the.
these various movements materially impair the
purchasing power of the nation. In some districts,
Cornwall in particular, an important industrial in-
terest has from the pressure of the times been
almost annihilated. From this and other causes

The Telegraph professes to be able to state that there is
no truth in the report that the Holy Father has beau
offered an asylum In Malta, or that he has any intention of
leering Rome.

emigration has deprived us of many workmen be-
longing to the moat valuable section of the com-
munity. As times improve the void will be gra-
dually replaced, but kg the moment the loss will
be no leas felt. Abroad, prospects are not much
brighter. A deficiency, not only in the harvest,
but, equally important, the vintage, will
affect our newly-created trade with France.
Germany and Italy are, in consequence
of the late war, not so materially prosperous as to
require increased supplies of our goods. Turkey
and Egypt are more or less directly hampered with
the ever-reviving Eastern question, and the former
especially has at least one insurrection on her
hands, and the not remote prospect of many more.
Our exports to that quarter are thus nut likely to
materially augment. As regards the United
States, the sudden revival in the commerce of the
two countries on the cessation of the war just a
year ago, has subsided into its ordinary channels.
We may fairly count upon deriving a good profit
from our general business with America, provided
always that the present difference& should not
ripen into a renewal of civil war. Turning to
other transatlantic countries, the prospect is not
very inviting. Mexico is disturbed by a revolu-
tion ; Brazil and her allies by an apparently
interminable war ; Chili and Peru by the
ap-
prehension of renewed attacks from Spain ; and
the other South American States by their normal
condition of chronic disorder. Altogether, if
trade is maintained at its present point, we shall
have abundant reason for congratulation.
Leaving aside the possibility of a large export
of specie for corn, which has already been show n
to be extremely unlikely, the supply of capital in
England promises to be in excess of the demand.
The downward movement in the rate of discount
may have been arrested for the time, but it is
sure to recur within a longer or shorter interval.
The sure reaction from 10 per cent. has been only
half accomplished, and it becomes merely a ques-
tion of time wben it will be completed. Accord-
ing to all appearances the rate of discount will
be down to four or three per cent., perhaps, before
Vie end of the year. To judge by previous expe-
rience a long period of stagnation in trade will
follow, uncheckered by any sort of enter-
prise. Speculation, however, is not subject to
rules. A high rate of discount affects only
traders, and the great mass of persona em-
barking in a speculative mania are not so
much drawn from that class as from the middle
classes generally. The events of the present year
will prove, however, an effectual safeguard against
a movement of this sort. Companies winding up,
heavy calls, or, at the best, a serious depreciation
in the price of shares, convey a better lesson than
could be inculcated by hundreds of moralists.
After the exciting times that we have lately
gone through, a period of quiet will not be unac-
ceptable. It will, at all events, give an oppor-
tunity for calmly considering the effect of the cur-
rency laws in bringing about the crisis, and their
influence in weakening British credit abroad. It
is greatly to be regretted that both the late and
the present Government have equally neglected to
institute the commission of inquiry which is so
much needed, and might with considerable advan-
tage be sitting now. The question, however, is
only deferred until the meeting of Parliament,
when there can be no doubt the who'e subject will
by the unanimous voice of the nation have to be
thoroughly examined.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THIS DAY.)

LATEST INTELLIGENI

give than. The flews then *eased' to trace the gentian
of them two appal/. forces in recant official uttemswes rely I ____
five 4,the Antibes legion, anipointeant that thislatter bay /mg EROANISATION OF THE FRENCH
ligairelinge wwwld be wholly midge to lave the temporal` . -.. , ARMY.
pffiGer if the population organised: * new municipal go- The French journals have repeatedly' of late
vemment in a pacific way. The 1,t05 men could not at 1
..,.,
the
tame time do duty at Rome and at Viterbo, at Cititas ' 'erred to e letter of the Emperor Napoleon to the
Castellani, Paleatrina, and all the other scattered com. , Minister of War on the reorganiaation of the French
munlties of the papal territory. And upon the movement ' army. According to the Libor) tin letter will ap-
drawing near to the walls of the city, and keeping within : pear very shortly in the Moniteur, and will treat
the bounds of order and nominal allegiance, could they even 1 the
prevent its gaining groandwithin the walls of the city itself I problem which consists in having "the least
number of soldiers in time of peace, and the
and proceeding to the peaceful constitution of municipal
authorities and the secularization of the govei oment in the 1 greatest number in time of war." The Emperor
very sight of the Vatican ? The Italians have a talent for contemplates the organisation of a military
pacific revolutions, and the Roman committee are too wary force which will bear the title of Garde Nationale
to amid a sure chance by any violent outbreak, The de- Mobile, and which will be composed of upwards a
mention of the Papal throne has been the gradual but de- a million of armed men. The existing law of
liberate work of the Emperor Napoleon, and all other in- recruiting will be maintained, but the period of
thence will be as unavailing to ward off the final caner
military service will be reduced from seven to six
iraphe as it was to avert the preparatory blow of Bologna
and esetelfidardo. The Pope may be off to Malta, he years. No exemption will be allowed for the new
may apply for hospitality to Spain, to Austria, to reserve distinguished by the name of the Garde
England, or AMericp, ; but he will only "go farther and Nationale Mobile, and which will include all
fare worse." . Frenchmen, to the number of three millions,

between twenty and thirty years of age,
minus the 600,000 soldierifroan the six oontingents,
and minus the 600,000 or 700,000 infirm and de-
formed persona who are obliged to be exempted
from all military service, which, will reduce the
number to 1,700,000 Frenchmen of from 20 to 30
years of age m the whole number available. The
Garden Nationaux Mobiles will be commanded by
officer of the army, and the recruit. will be taken
to the depots of the regimerrsi of the line. These
National Guards will be drilled during a certain
number of days every year at the principal places
of the canton or department. Such are, according
to the Liberte, the bases pointed out in the imperial
letter for the future organisation of the French
army ; forming a compromise between the system
actually in force and the Prussian system.