The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-02-04 00:00:00

t'' THE BRITISH PR'

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been so long open should be healed, and he (Mt. Ilutchineon)
begged to call the attention of his Majesty's Ministers to this
observation tit' the French Monarch, and hoped that eve long they
would conic to the game conclusion with respect to Ireland—tint
the wooed which had been so long open should be heisted. lo con.
elution he was bound to say that he was thankful, as an Irishman:
to his Majesty's Government, for many measures which...bey hell
*opted for the improvement of the state of Ireland, and its burped
.tMst that pert of the Cabinet which was supposed to be in oppotn.
Lion to granting relief, would aot put off the manure until some
great question should sender further delay impossible.
Mr. LOCKHART, in referent* to that part of the Speech
frum the Throne lt allueed to the recant distress, and to the
remedy proposed his Majesty's Ministers, said that he could
not admire the con ed view of the Rank of ct
Eriegletwi in retain-
ing to themselvea radios of sixty-five miles sound London, in
whi was situated such a vast population, end such an immense
tr They heti by this measure eliown an attention their minor
int to when they had a major one before them—that of support.
ing the interests of public credit. How could. they hope to be
secure if other establishments should fall ? lie (Mr. Lockhart)
did not wish to throw a damp upon the public mind on this sub-
ject; but he doubted much If the extension of the number of
partners in a banking concern would add to he stability ; and it wa•
sn extraordinary loin that in the country banks, amounting In
number to near five hundred, few instances would be found of •
partnership comprehending the number allowed by law, and it mast
be inferred front that circumstance 'het the profits would not bear it.
According to the view of the Right llonouruble Gentlemen oppo-
site, the House was to suppose that in the new joint-stock banks
men of capital and property would combine. Ile (Mr. Lockhart)
very much doubted that proposition, foe he could out suppose that
such would be the case, when, front the improvidence of one of
their body, they would be subject to bankruptcy, arrest, and ruin.
Numbers would be no additional security ; public credit was not
supported by numberse.•• Testes pooderenter non remunerattto."
Ile (Mr. Lockhart) would look at the character of the men, and
not at their num'ier. Ile would look at their chaeacter fur honesty,
integrity, knowledge of business and of mankind ; those were the
questions he would put, and those were the description of persons in
whom alone he should have confidence; and he was sure that in
possession of those requisites failure would not take place. It was
those reflections that led him to doubt the efficacy of the remedy.
He could have wished that a plan similar to that pursued in France
had been offered instead of the one now proposed. lie alluded to
common-deed partnerships, by which the parties were not liable fur
a larger sum than that embarked in the concern. lie (Mr. Lock-
hart) regretted very much the absence of an Honourable Member
from the House, hut who had been preemie in the course of the
evening, as he could have given the House some valuable informa-
tion an to these partnerships, he having himself been concerned in
some of them. As to landed property, to which the public were
disposed to look, lie could say that lorded property could not be
brought in aid of present relief, and this would be fully proved by
looking into the law of conveyancing, and the practice of the Courts
of Equity. The Honourable Gentleman said he feared he had
troubled the House too long, but he was anxious to impart such
information as he possessed to the House.
Sir THOMAS LETHBRIDGE rose to express the diffirence of
opinion he felt in respect to that part of his lion. Friend's
(Mr. Lockhart) speech which regarded the joint-stock hank corn.
rides, and to express his dissent front the deductions drawn by
his Hon. Friend. It gave him (Sir T. Lethbridge) great satis-
faction to observe that part of his Majesty's Speech which al-
luded to the late distress; and also that his Majesty's Govern-
ment had met that difficulty In so manly a manner. in regard to
the other parts of the Speech from the Throne, lie would confine
himself to a general expression of approbation, and was glad to
find such a feeling of conciliation both in and out of that House.
Ile (Sir T. Lethbridge) should have abstained from any further
observations, hut for something which had fallen trout his
Hon. Friend the 'Member for Bridgewater. in respect to the
Corn Laws. The question respecting the Corn Laws was ad_
mitred on all hands to be one of the greatest importance, and most
intimately connected with, and allied to, that of the currency; and ,
it was impossible that any alteration of the Corn Laws could take
place in the present unsettled state of the currency. as the question
of currency must form the basis of such an alteration. lie felt
considerable delight in thinking that a great alteration had taken
place in the minds of the manufacturing classes of the empire ;
they looked at it in a different point of view than they did three
years ago. In the county from which lie (Sir T. Lethbridge)
came, there had been some large establishments formed for the
manufacturing of silk, and lie had found that the manufacturers
employed possessed a far more chaste idea on the subject of the
Corn Laws than they had done formerly. They saw clearly the
impropriety of touching. that question, and that they were not
dissatisfied with the existing agricultural prices. They felt that
the present prices were at a medium rate, not so high as they were
two years since, nor so low as they were in the years 1820 and
1821. It now became necessary fur him (Sir T. Lethbridge) to
refer to the distress of the individuals employed in the silk trade ;
and he had to make a most earnest appeal to the Bight Hon.
Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade to pause before
lie carried his plan of extension in this department of the manu-
factures of the country into operation. in a few days he should be
called upon to present to the House many petitions against the
measure, though he had little hopes of success, when lie recol.
lected what hail fallen from the Chancellor of the Exchequer
yesterday, and the sanction and favour with which those views
of commercial policy of the Right Hon. Gentlemen of the Treasury
Bench had been received by Honourable Members on the other side
of the House. He (Sir T. Lethbridge) could not, under such circum.
stances but feel rather startled at his own opinion,when he recollected
the talents of those to whom he stood in opposition on that subject;
to his own mind, however, lie felt convinced of the necessity of
shaping the policy of England by reference to that of other states.
Hi they were newly created, or all beginning de nova, then it
mght be perfectly proper to pursue such a line of conduct ; but in
an ancient State like that of England, it was necessary to proceed
with the greatest caution and circumspection in the alteration of
ancient usage. It was true that other countries were comparatively
ancient, but still it was necessary for commercial gentlemen to
look at all the circumstances, to class them together, and to ask if
it was proper to throw down those ancient barriers in favour of a
new system. The Right Honourable Gentleman would say lie
(Sir Thomas Lethbridge) had overstated the case, but they had
said they would follow that course as far as they could, and that all
principles were to tend to that point; but there was no doubt in the
execution of their project they had found considerable and unex.
petted difficulty. lie should like to know from the Right Ho-
nourable Gentleman, the President of the Boanl of Trade, all that
had past on this subject on his late vied to the continent ; lie had no
doubt it would present a large picture of the difficulty that was
felt on carrying on the system of the extension of the principles
of the commercial regulations, though the blouse were assured it was
WI easily accomplished as possible. Ile was confident that the inten-
tions of the Right Hui. Gentlemen were good, and that it was their
anxious wish to do all for the beat A Right Ilonourable Gentle-
man had said last night, that the-regulation as regarded the silk
trade was not before the (louse, and therefore, he could not give
an opinion, but that he understood the difficulty arose front the market
being overstocked. lie (Sir T. L.) understood from persons con.
nected with the throwing and weaving department that there was
no more material on hand than that required for usual consumption.
He had held a conversation with a master manufacturer in the
trade, and had represented to him the circumstances of the protect-
ing duty of' thirty per cent. The master replied that the protecting
duty was altogether delusive, anti could be evaded at pleasure; that
a manufacturer at Lyons had offered to supply him at ten or fifteen
per cent lower than the nierket price ; and this information was
nom a gentleman of great respectability. He (Sir Thomas Leth-
bridge) had been desired by his constituents to call upon his Ms.
jesty's Ministers, and he had done so; but was anxious that what
lie had said might be taken with allowance ; at the sante time the
information he had submitted eight to he received as information
cooling from those most anxious on a subject of the greatest in.
serest to their affairs. In regard to the banking system, he was
convinced that the proposition of his Majesty's Government for
the establishment of joint-stock companies, auth as those enacted
last session fur Ireland, and as had existed some years in Scotland,
wou.d have the happiest effect, and be of the greatest advantage.
Those countries had suffered little or no panic from the recent state
of the country. Thirty-five years' experience, the Honourable
Gentleman said, had proved to him that the grand question to be
settled was that of the currency; when that was dose, prices would
not fluctuate—not be high at one time nor low as they had been in
1821. lie feared that the issuing of one and two pound
notes would lead to great inconvenience, inasmuch as they
would be paid into the hands of poor people, who would re.
quire immediately to change them, and for which a supply of gold
or silver coin must be supplied. He thought silver would be the
best hate, because if an mane of gold coin took place, and the ex.
change came against England, Beery gold coin would be exported.
The Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to deprecate the project of
withdrawing small mites from circulation ; it was in this currency
that the dealings of the lower classes were carried on, it was in this
they were paid their wages; then what would be their eituati A
under the new measure? It was proposed when the paper was with-
drawn to till up the-vacancy with gold and silver; but the precious
metals were liable to variation, circumstances altered their worth,
and might expose the holders of them to considerable lose. The
lion. Gentleman declined entering any further into details, and
concluded by observing that lie returned his sincere thanks to his
Majesty's Ministers for taking tip the question and giving it a con.
opicuous position. Ile would then say no more at present, panieu.
tarty as die Right Hon. Gentleivan had given notice of bringing
forward his one:mire in a more detailed form. . _

Mr. HUME rose merely in order, before the separation of the
House, to make some observations on what had fallen from the
Hon. Bart. whose speech exceeded in inconsistency any thing he
ever heard. The lion. Gent. had said that the question of
Corn Laws was closely allied with that of the currency. lie might
as well have said that the clingier of the East India Comnany was
related to the currency. The Hon. Gent. could not believe that
the people were generally averse to corn laws, or that they prefer-
red paying one shilling than only sixpence fora loaf. He wished
the Hon. Bart. would call to mind what had been said to him In a
public address at Manchester in favour of the corn laws or that he
would recollect the period so.en he himself evinced •the greatest
anxiety to make the alteration proposed. Prices of agricultural
produce were then low, but now when they are high the Hon.
Burt. evinces an equal degree of anxiety that they should remain
FO, nor is he to be blamed in obeying the dictates of his interest.
It is the public that pays in every instance of monopoly. The
public pays the East India Company, the public pays the flank,
and in like manner it will pay the landholders among other moor.
polists, unless the corn laws be revised. With respect to the silk
trade the lion. Gent. applied to it the principle that it was impos.
slide to carry on trayle without competition—from competition trade
has nothing to fear, but owes to it MLitt' energy. lie hail taken
cure to consult some of the most eminent manufamirers in this

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