The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-21 00:00:00

that seemed to render the traditional policy of the
empire impracticable for many years to come.
' They must receive still more bitter lessons before

the growing intelligence of the country than by main-
taining an obstinate resistance against all improvement.
The whole object of " Mercator's" letter is to divert.
the attention of the public from practical truthsto abstract
theories, which he well knows are always more difficult of i
refutation. We do not intend to bee thwn
dra from th
course we have marked out by any h artifices I
, howe -
ever skilfully the temptation may be p "Mercator"
resented to us.
We shall be perfectly satisfied in tying down
to his "promise to pay," if that is the basis upon which F thankful for any cause that may avert what we
he would raise his superstructure of paper currency .;
but let us have no shuffling about it—let us have th a
cannot help thinking would prove alike disastrous
security equal to the promise, and if that cannot be fu 1- and disreputable for the country.
filled it is high time that we should set about the dis-
covery of a more rational system.

" the pear is ripe," and any peace that promises
• to be durable and permanent, can be concluded.
We accept the conclusion with gratitude, truly

More than a week since, in our impression of
the 13th instant, we said "Mr. SALT is not the
man to be put down by sneers and sickly attempts
at wit !" Our columns this day supply abundant
corroboration of the assertion. Two letters from
Mr. SALT will be found, in addition to the admi-
rable one which has called forth the ponderous aim
at wit of the bullionist organ, and which we re-
peat this day, as it cannot be too strongly im-
pressed on the minds, not only of Monetary
Reformers, but of every disinterested and unpre-
judiced man throughout the length and breadth of
the land. Mr. SALT has fairly grappled with the
Leviathan, and has, so far as the space at his dis-
posal would permit, given a masterly exposition
of the all-important subject. He has exhibited
far more searching interrogatories to the mouth-
piece of the " JONES LOYD" school than the
stereotyped ones, " What is a pound ?" or what is
the meaning of the words " I promise to pay!"
To these questions he has required "a clear,
fair, and specific answer, and not merely wit or
literary banter !" How that demand has been
complied with will be seen from the article of the
Times, which we place in juxtaposition with the
letters to which it purports to reply. The con-
ditions of the discussion are therefore before the
public. The issue is fairly raised, and there can
be but little doubt or difficulty as to the nature
of the verdict that must be returned.

Just published, in Bvo., price to the Trade 55.,
FOURTEENTH and FIFTEENTH ANNU. AL
REPORTS of the REGISTRAR-GENERAL of RIR'
DEATHS, and MARRIAGES, in ENGLAND.
- - - - •

London : Published for H. M. Stationery Office by
Messrs. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.

Of whom the previoug REPORTS (from the FIRST to the
THIRTEENTH incia9ive) may still be had.

Some six or seven weeks since, the Times
thought differently on the meaning of the words
" I promise to pay." On the 26th October last,
in speaking of " the paper circulation of the coun-
try," it said, " Supposing this circulation to be
required solely for internal commerce, no neces-
sity could exist for gold being held against any
portion of it. A deposit of Government Stock,
or the fact of its being receivable for duties,
would at all times keep it from fluctuation in
value !" Here, then, is the answer supplied by
itself to its later challenge as to " the formula for
the Bank note, or legal tender money." Mr.
SALT, in conamon with every Monetary Reformer,
does not require or suppose that "the legal tender
money" shall be available for foreign trade save
to this extent, that the possessor of it can always
obtain bullion at its fair market value, proper-
tiosed to the demand and supply thereof, with
which to liquidate any obligations which he
may have contracted to the merchants of
other countries. With similar instruments,
not only was that bullion obtained from
179 i to 1819, or rather to 1822, but the
expenses of the most onerous war in which the
nation was ever engaged, were sustained until the
contest was carried to a triumphant conclusion.
The power of carrying on our foreign trade, and
that under the most unfavourable circumstances,
has, therefore, borne the test of a quarter of a
century's experience, and, after passing trium-
phantly through so stringent an ordeal, cannot
now be impugned. We want "legal tender
money," or rather the measure and representa-
tive of value, solely for domestic purposes ; or,
to adopt the ipsissima verbs of the Times, " for
internal commerce !" "No necessity can, there-
fore, exist for gold being held against any portion
of it !"

This is the legitimate, the irresistible con
elusion which the bullionist champion draws
from the premises laid down by itself,
and supplies the answer to its sneers
about " the fortunate possessor who is to be
a always eating his cake, and nevertheless having
it. The man who is so happy as to receive such
a note cannot spend it one day on a dinner, the
next day on a coat, the next day in wages, the
next day in paying an old debt," and find it there
still. Should he venture on such an experiment,
he will not, after the first trial, be much tor-
mented with any questions respecting its conver-
tibility, or whether so many golden sovereigns
can be obtained in exchange. All his right, title,
interest, and possession therein will have de-
parted at once and for ever. It may have pro-
vided him with a dinner. The next owner can
obtain a coat, and the tailor pay wages therewith ;
but a single owner can only put it to a single use.
It will, in fact, discharge exactly the same functions
as a Bank of England note of similar amount,
save that it will only be cancelled when it has
found its way back to the Exchequer in payment
of duties or taxes. Supposing that the amount
of the National Revenue be taken at sixty-five
millions per annum, there will be a constant
weekly demand for these notes or legal tender
money to the extent of one million and a quarter.
They will then be cancelled, and others issued to
a similar amount under the authority of Par-
liament. The wants and exigencies of the
nation will thus be supplied, and there
wilt be no want of an adequate circu-
lating medium, maintaining its fair average
value; " the life-blood of industry " will be sup-
plied, but the fever heat of wild and rash specu-
lation and the languid pulse of monetary inaction
will alike be averted.

The legal tender money proposed by the Mone-
tary Reformers will be far better than a note
merely based on a deposit of Government Stock.
The entice wealth of the nation will afford the
guarantee for its value. h will possess a double
guarantee, that whiehrenders Consols an unques-
tionable security, and that which makes Expolltaneiqueedr,
Bills valuable ; for, as we have already explained,
it will virtually be neither more nor less than an
" Exchequer Bill" of convenient amount, ao asto meet the purposes of every-day life. Give us
truly national notes of 11., 21., and 31. each, and
the great desideratum will be accomplished, for
there can be no run upon a National Note, which
is the present bugbear with Bankers.

H Lord JOHN RUSSELL be right the Crown and
the House of Lords and all our aristocratical in-
stitutions are seriously menaced. The most pre-
cious parts of our constitution, those which exist
for the welfare of the few and the fleecing of the
many, depend on the maintenance of Church
Rates ; and Church Rates depend on the fickle
and misguided multitude ; and the multitude is
everywhere beating down this main prop of all
that Whigs hold sacred. All over the country,
as we learn from the provincial press, Church
Rates are either defeated in the face of parsons,
squires, magistrates, and the wealthy shop-
keepers and cotton-spinners who live in suburbs ;
or they are carried here and there by victories
more damaging to the conquerors than to the
conquered. The last battle of this kind has just
been fought at Hackney. Here those whom
Lord JOHN RUSSELL regards as the upholders of
our " glorious constitution" were thoroughly
threshed. They were beaten by a majority of
two tc one. We may imagine the dismay at
Chesham-place !

This victory of tile anarchists and revolutionists,