The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-06-13 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS.

Stn,—Tbe proceedings In Parliament on the Equitable Loan
Bill have now assumed so serious a character, and Involve conse-
quences of such grave importance to the public, that I beg, through
themetlium of your respectable Journal, to submit a few remarks on
the subject, as well to point out the nature and importance of those
consequences. as to place before the country the real state of the
case between the promoters of this measure and their opponents.
It will be unnecessary for me to re-state at length the grounds on
which this company has offered itself to the attention of the public.
They have already been put forward on variant occasions. Suffice
it to say, that the modes by which temporary loans can be obtained.
—the enormous interest charged, and the advantaged daily taken of
the occasional wants of all classes, have rendered the establishment
of sonic association, by which temporary advances may be obtained
on moderate terms, a great drsiderutsmi to a large portion of the
community.
Year after year, for a long period pant, we have heard of the press-
ing wants, not merely of tne poorer classes who pledge from week
to week, but of those who, in better condition, but still distressed,
have sought to relieve their temporary necessities, by raising loans
on pledges more or less ealuable; and year after year we have heard
of the frauds and extortions practised upon those individuals.
A nominal intereest of 16 or 20 per cent, raised (by a variety of
over chages and extortions ; by charging for a week or a day the
interest of &month) to a real interest of 60, 80, and sometimes of
100 per cent., has rendered the system of borrowing money from
Pawnbrokers a source of oppression and misery instead of relief
or advantage to the poor ; in that term I include not merely the
mechanic or artisan who borrows his 10s. or Iffs. from week to
week, but the distressed man, much more elevated in society,
whose frequent embarrassments oblige him toreurt to the Pawn-
broker, and who, in 9 cases out of 10 is unable to redeem the valua-
ble property upon which he has received about a third, or mayhap
• half of ha worth, and who in not one case in five hundred receives
• shilling overplus, when that property is sold. To such persons
(and they form a much greater portion of the community than is
generally imagined) it must be evident that an establishment like
that of the Equitable Loan Bank would be a real bensfai
Thus much for those who borrow from pawnbrokers. But thert
Is another class of borrowers, and *nether class dr lenders in the
community. A very large and respectable, though not very amuena
portion of the traders and manufacturers of the country, have fre-
quent occasion for temporary advances to meet the deficiencies
caused by a small capital, and increased by the failure of a ready
sale for the produce of their industry. Upon this valuable class of
men the most grinding extortion is practised by • set of harpies,
who, as " commission agents," " salesmen," and " jobbers,"
absorb five-sixths of the profits of the distressed mautufacuircr who
has the misfortune to fall into their hands. Evils such as these,
have, in a commercial country like ours, a tendency to produce'
their own remedy, by the necessity they point out of competition in
trade. It was on this principle that the Equitable Loan Company
was established. On this principle the Bill was last year introduc-
ed into Parliament. The Company offered to prove, and did prove,
most incontrovertibly, the great extent of the evils, to which I have
just adverted,* and asserted thtir public utility, on the ground of
the remedy which they offered. On this ground the House of
Commons passed their Bill last year, and the House of Lords re-
cognised its principle so far as to allow it to be read a second time,
and would, there is little doubt, have passed it, had the opponents of
the Bill not succeeded in retarding it by every kind of vexa-
tious oppoeltion in the Committee. This Session again the
House of Commons have sanctioned the Company by their approval
ofa Bill for granting it the. privilege of suing and being sued by its
chief officer (the only privilege which it claims). It is now again
' before the House of Lords, and in what way is it met? Its oppo-
nents having failed to prove that the Company would lead to a run.
nopoly—having failed to rebut the evidence offered of ha general
utility—having been unable to disprove the evidence given of the
gross frauds and extortions practised by some pawnbrokers, cul-
-1 mission agents, jobbers, auctioners, and others, who take advantage
of the distresses of the poor—having failed to do these things,
they have entrenched themselves behind the provisions of the
Bubble Act, and now contend that, according to that Act, the
Equitable Loan Company is illegal, and would confintse to be so,
sent ((Parliament should pass the Bill giving them the privilege of
suing and being sued 111 Now, Sir, admitting (for the sake of
argument) that this company does come within the provisions of
that Act, is it treating them fairly to bring against them an obsolete
law, which has never yet been enforced in (1 believe) even one
instance—an Act which has, by the highest law authority, been
declared to be" toe terribly severe ever to be enforced," and which
is in consequence now about to be repealed s It is not denied that
the Company Mould be legal if the Bubble Act were repealed ;
why then make it an objection at the very moment when it is about
to be erased for ever from the Statute Book ? But on *anther
ground I think this Company is rather harshly dealt with. Why,
I ask, are they to be the only party in whose case the provisions of
an old and absurd law are to be observed Why is this doctrine
now for the first time to be laid down ? The Bubble Act was in
existence eighteen pears ago as much as at present, and yet since
then not fewer than thirty-four Acts have passed the Legislature,
granting to as many Companies Me prieikge of suing and being
sued 11 1 . _ . .

. .
Sir, many of those Companies (and I object it not as a ground
of censure to them) have stood in a situation exactly similar to'
that in which the Equitable Loan Company is now placed.
Their shares have been transferable—have been bought and sold
be/bre their Bill was brought in, or kfure any trust deed was signed.
M'by was not the Bubble Act applied to such Bills ? and why is
this case to be the only one to which it is to be made applicable?
I will admit that if this Company should be likely to be in-
jurious
to the community. or if it could not be proved to be bene-
ficial, It would not be unfair to be get rid of it by the Bubble Act
or any other legal objection ; but when the public utility of the
Company has been proved, when it has even been admitted by some
of those who oppose it (on the ground of its assumed illegality),
I do think it is rather hard to make a technical objection an instru-
ment of its defeat. Why not, I ask, place it in the situation in
which Parliament has plated other Companies.
It has been stated, that even the present Bill would not make the
Company legal. Then, Sir, I say (with an possible deference for
those who exercise the functions of Legislators) that it is the duty
of Parliament to give us assistance and remove legal objections
from measures which it is proved would be for the benefit of rite
public i and that the! who have weight and influence In our public
Councils will employ both much more advantageously for the coun-
try in obviating the difficulties which such measures may encounter,
than in hunting after legal obstacles to impede their progress. I
say, Sir, that the proposition of the Equitable Loan Company is
• It was proved before the Lords' Committee last year, that for
one house in business loans to the amount of 60,00 W. were raised
from Pawnbrokers, in the course of a few years, at the rate of 201. in
'some eases, and in nb ease at less than ltd. per cent. I It can be
proved that there are seventeen million pledges taken annually in
the metropolis I

a most reasonable one, and deserve. setklus attention, They say,
" Give us an opportunity of proving thatpur plan would be a public
benefit. If we fail in that, reject our MR altogether; but if we
prove it beyond possibility of denial, then we submit, that it la the
duty of Parliament to mist us by removing any legal difficulties by
which we may be opposed." Can any thing be more fair or just ?
Now what say the opponents of the Bill to this? They say—
`• Supposing you could prove yourselves useful to the greatest ex-
tent, still, unless you satisfy us that you are a legal Company, we
cannot sanction ynu, because we will not allow you to do good by
illegal means." Really, Sir, this is a little too bad in these en.
lightened ti:nes. I repeat again and again, if the Company can
benefit the public, the obstacles opposed to them ought to be re-
moved.

But, Sir, I say, as an act of common justice to the individuals
who have embarked their property in this Company,. Parliament is
bound to pass the Bill now before them, because it has itself en-
couraged such speculations. It has already given its sanction to
thirty. four Acts. giving the power of suing and being sued to
thirty-four Companies, many of them constituted u this Is. It it
be urged that the parties embarked in this undertaking hate acted
with their eyes open, and were bound to know that a law existed
which they were violating, whet they formed themselves Prft, this
Company t and that as long as that law existed they could not
be considered legal; I 'newer, that they have acted with their eyes
open, and that same openness of the eyes enabled them to see
Parliament, year after year. during a course of eighteen
.years,
pawing Bills, giving to Companies placed in the same=cum-
atancel the vety privilege for which they now seek. They have
been enabled to perceive, that during all that long period, and for
neetlt a century before, Parliament has not, in any one case, al-
lowed the Bubble Act to be an objection to the passing of such
Bilk What wisdom or foresight, merely human, could anticipate
that, having gone to an immense expense in carrying their Bill
through the other (louse, expecting that that would be done in
their instance which had been done in so many others, they should
be met at the threshold of the House of Lords with that absurd
and obsolete Statute, the Bubble Act? I say then, Sir, that Par.
liament has encomaged such speculations, by what it has already
done, and that it is Ntistice to the parties now before them, to
fuse them thet winCtion which they have been led to expect by the
course adopted by the House in other cages.
But it is said that " Parliament has been earprisa into the
passing of those Acts"!--Surprised into them ! ! Why, Sir, if
the remark came from some raw and unfledged Senator of another
House, it might excite a godd-natured smile at his inexperience;
but from the grave and venerable quarter from which it is said to
have proceeded, it calls up *more serious emotions. '" Surprised
into them !" If only one Act of the kind had been passed the
excuse of " surprise" might have some Weight ; for I will admit,
that die most watchful guardian of our laws cannot at all time.
prevent some irregular little Act of Pasliament from insinuating itself
amongst our statutes ; hut when I find that there are thirty-fuer
such Acts extending over a period of 18 year'', I must pause before
I admit that excuse to be valid. If, however, I am to admit that
Parliament, u a body, has been surprised thirty-four times in 18
years, what am 1 to think of the vigilance of those leal sentinels
whom the Crown has appoin'ed. and the public so ms dhcently pays
for watching over the laws? I contend, Sir, that in whatever way
we view the passing of those thirty-four Acts, whether Parliament
has been surprised into them, or whether they have been the result
of its most deliberate judgment, they were sufficient to hold out
encouragement to future Companies to claim similar privileges,
and therefore that all the Companies now applying (whose utility
can be proved) should receive every facility and eacouragement
in their progress through Parliament, to which they have been in-
duced to come by the conduct of the Ligislature itself.
I have hitherto viewed the new objections on the subject of the
Bubble Act, as far as the Equitsile Loan Company only was
concerned. Allow me now to Ray a fe* words on their probable
effect upon other public Companies.
Annexed is a list of the thirty-four Companies which have re-
ceived the privilege of suing and being sued. A Noble and
Learned Lord has said, that if the Equitable Loan Company be
not now legal, it would not become so, by sit Act granting it that
privilege. Suppose then, this Bill be rejected on account of its al.
leged illegality, what will be the situation of those thirty-four
Companies in which British capital to the amount of nearly fifty
millions has been embarked? If the Equitable Loan Company is
illegal, so are the most of those, for they have been established
equally in violation of the provisions of the Bubble Act. Will any
Noble and Learned bord now contend, that all these Companies
are to be considered illegal? If he does, then I conte, 1, that the
immense property embarked in them, and the extensive interests,
which may be involved in such of them as are Insurance Coin.
panics, require that some legislative provision should be io me-
diately made to render them legal. The consequences of leaving
them in their present condition are too dreadful to be contemplated
with any thing like calmness. At all events, it behoves those con-
cerned to bestir themselves in time. The same construction of law
on which the Equitable Loan Bill is opposed. must involve thou.
sands in ruin. AN OBSERVER.
London, June 11, 1825.

LIST OF ALI. THE COMPANIES WHICH HAVE ONT•TVED ACTS
TO SUE AND SE SUED SINCE THE TEAR, 1798.
47 (leo. 3. c. 30. The Globe Insurance Company.
47 Geo. 3. c. Si. The Albion Fire and Life Assurance Com-
pany.
41 Geo. 3. e. 32. The London Life Assurance Company.
47 (leo. 3. c. 33. The Pelican Life Assurance Company.
47 (leo. 3. c. 34. The Provident Institution.
49 Geo. 3. c. 1112. The Royal Exchange Company.
60 Geo. 3. e. 90. The Birmingham Fire Insurance Company.
50 Geo. 3. c. 89. The Birmingham Life Insurance Company.
53 Geo. 3. c. 206. The Hope Insurance Company.
53 Geo. 3. c. 207. The Eagle Insurance Company.
53 Geo. 3. e. 211. The Marine Insurance Company, Dublin.
83 Geo. 3. c. 212. The Phonic Assurance Company, London.
53 Geo. 3. c. 216. The Norwich Union Life Assurance Company.
5.3 Geo. 3. c. 216. The Norwich Union Fire Insurance Company.
54 Geo. 3. e. 8. The Sun Life Assurance Company.
54 Geo. 3. c. 9. The Sun Fire Office.
54 Geo. 3. 010. West of England Fire and Life Association.
54 Geo. 3. c.ll. County Fire Office.
54 Geo. 3. c. 12. The Imperial Insurance Company.
54 Gm. 3. c. 46. The Birmingham Mining and Copper Com-
pany.
54 Geo. 3. c. 79. The Atlas Insurance Company.
64 Geo. 3. c. 107. The Commercial Rooms Company, Bristol.
54 Geo. 3. c. 178. The British Fire Insurance Company.
64 Geo. 3. c. 179. The Westminster Society for Insuring Lives.
53 Geo. 3. c. 46. The Union Fire and Life Assurance Company.
1 and 2 Geo. 4. c. 66. The Proprietors of the Commercial Build-
ings, Belfast.
6 Geo. 4. c. 71. The Australian Company, Edinburgh.
5 Geo. 4. e. 80. The Kent Fire Insurance Company.
5 Geo. 4.e. 137. The Alliance Fire and Life Assurance Com-
pany.
IS Geo 4.c. 153. The British Annuity Company.
5 Geo. 4. c. . The Patriotic Assurance Company, Ireland.
Geo. 4. c. 157. The Irish liming Company.
b GPO. 4. c. 158. The Mining Company of Ireland.
6 Geo. 4. c. 160. The St. Patrick's Assurance Company. Ireland.
AN OBSERVER.

PORTSMVUTII, JUNE 10.
Lord Combermere is arrived here, and proceeding to India. He
proceeds tomorrow in the Thalia Indiaman.
Iklajor-fieneral Sir E. Illakeney is also arrived to take leave of
his late regiment, ;the 7th Furlleers, who (=balk next week for
Corfu.

Thursday, arrived the Maria transport, Parker, from the Medi-
terranean, having on board the baggage of the Marquis of
Hastings.
The Revenge, Cambrian, and Media, were at Malta.
The Naiad, Sybille, Hind, and Wearle, at Corfu.
The Seringapatam, Algarine, and Alacrity, were cruixinT.
The Tribune had arrived at Gibraltar from Lisbon on the 10th
ult., and was expected to embark Lord Chatham and suite on
the 20th ; consequently they may be hourly expected at this port.
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