The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-06 00:00:00

11 ii1..1 Sp N, LON pQ Nt TURN DA Y ..Ir, V.ON IN rii N' 0-v gm Jl. 6,6, 1865.

not receive the sanction or support of any right-
minded or honourable man—no matter whether
he be arrayed under the same standard with the
" Hards" or " Softs," Whigs or Democrats,
Temperance or Anti-Liquor-Law men, or Know-
fNothings. The proceedings of Mr. CUSHING xnust
be equally objectionable to the true-hearted men
of all sides, and wo may well leave him to the
retributive justice that must await him at the
hands of his own countrymen.

The Chamber of Commerce at Liverpool has
spoken clearly and intelligibly in reference to the
all-important question of the Currency. Its mem-
bers, sound practical men of business, have seen
the serious injury inflicted on their own interests,
in oommon with that of the entire community, by
the very impolitic and inequitable restrictions
imposed by the Act of 1844 ; and as the time
when its provisions must again be considered by
the Legislature is rapidly approaching, they have
very judiciously "ventilated" the question, so
that it may be fairly and correctly brought under
public notice.
The Council of the Chamber, in answer to the
numerously signed requisition presented to them,
pointed out one very important failure in the
act. They show clearly and distinctly that al-
though the convertibility of the note be main-
tained, the reserve of notes may be completely

exhausted, and that the claims of the depositors
are totally disregarded ; that the issue department
may still retain a large stock of bullion, while
the Bank itself was wholly unable to satisfy the
claims of those having legitimate demands on its
assets.

They truly state that "in the event of such
an assumed contingency the Bank of England,
under the provisions of the Act of 1844, is
powerless to afford any facilities to the commer-
cial world, and that (although the originating
causes be not precisely parallel) the same calami-
tous crisis as that of 1847 may again be wit-
nessed !"

They might have gone much further. They
might have stated that in such an event, and
should the Government interference be desired,
the convertibility of the notes should inevitably
fail. For let us suppose that the Bank, through
the insufficiency of the reserve of notes, was com-
pelled to dishonour the cheques of its customers !
That such an event was possible is established by
the testimony of Mr. JONES LLOYD (now Lord
OVERSTONZ) himself, who stated before the Corn
mittee on the commercial crisis of 1847, " that the
Bank was only saved from suspension by the
Government letter of the 25th October." Such an
emergency may again arrive, and then, we repeat,
what would become of the much-vaunted converti-
bility of the bank note ?

There would, of course, on the first stoppage of
payment, be a regular closing of the concern.
Notes would no longer be payable at the Bank
premises, although they might be forced as " legal
tenders" throughout the country. Supposing that
there were at the time of stoppage eight millions
of bullion in the bank coffers. But under the act
there would be twenty-two millions of notes in
circulation, towards which there would be 4-11ths,
or about 7s. 3d. in the pound. But would not
the depositors have an irresistible claim to par-
ticipate in the assets ? Most unquestionably they
would so, and the dividend might thus be dimin-
t.
fished to something less than ss. in the pound on
all its liabilities.

The natural conclusion is, that inasmuch as
the security of the deposits may be greatly en-
dangered by a rigid adherence to the provisions
of the act, and as the notes must share the same
fate as the deposits, the convertibility of the
notes is really greatly hazarded by the very en-
actments intended to secure it against any
and every risk ! This is a strictly logical con-
clusion ; and we defy any bullionist to impeach
the accuracy of the premises.
It is, in fact, a repetition of the old myth, of
which varieties are to be found in every land,
almost in every district, that the dreaded evil is
produced by the very means adopted to counter-
act it. We leave the bullionists "to crack this
nut," requesting an answer to the simple and in-
telligible interrogatory, What would be the effect
on the currency of the inability of the Bank of
Eugland to satisfy the demands of depositors ?