The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-25 00:00:00

Extra Parliamentary Utterances,

MR, ADDEPLEY AND VISCOUNT INGESTRE.
The Right Hon. C. B. Adderley and Viscount
Ingestre, the members for North Staffordshire, at-
tended a soiree in aid of the Literary and Mechanics'
Institution at Leek on Friday evening. Lord
Ingestre presided.
In the course of his opening speech the CHAIR-
MAN alluded to the fact of very few members of the
working classes appearing to be among the audience,
which he regretted, because he thought it was of
great importance that mechanics should have the
benefit of institutions of that kind, The great ques-
tion of the present day in regard to such institu-
tions was how to combine instruction weth amuse-
ment. He had the honour to belong to institutions
called clubs, where the members had social inter-
course, the best libraries, and every sort of luxury,
and he thought that kind of institutions should be
extended, so as to become a counter attraction to
the publichouse, and induce the working classes to
avoid publichouses, which he looked upon as grow-
ing evils. He should be the last man in the world
to say that the working man should not have re-
freshment ; he liked a glass of wine himself, and
he did not see why the poor man should not have
his glass of beer; but he should like to see some
means devised by which the workman could spend
his evenings in a rational way, instead of sitting in
a publichouse. He could conceive that men who
had been hard at work all day liked relaxation and
to meet their friends in the evening, and he could
not see why they should not do so, but the great
thing was to teach the mechanic how to indulge in
moderation. When they looked at the extraordi-
nary amount they paid for the punishment of crime
and the maintenance of lunatic asylums, they might
well feel surprised that the country should not take
means to accomplish something in this respect. But
the Chancellor of the Exchequer dared not look at
the question, because he could not see how he
could raise his revenue if he were to dispose of
what proceeded from the sale of alcoholic drinks.
Perhaps that subject he ought not to have touched
upon on such an occasion, but when he came
to a mechanics' institution, and did not see mechanics
there, he could not help thinking that they were
somewhere, and he could readily guess where. His
lordship suggested singing classes, entertainments,
and other modes of recreation as means of making
institutions of that kind attractive to the working
classes, and concluded by calling upon
Mr. ADDERLEY, who, after some remarks on the
position of the institution, said—To an institution
like that what could he say worthy of its accept-
ance ? He certainly was not such a fool as to re-
commend an institution of that sort what it should
do, or to tell it what its purposes were, for they knew
better that he did what it contemplated. It seemed
to him that many distinguished men who were asked
to preside at meetings of mechanics' institutions
wasted a good deal of time in recommending them
to read this or that, to take up with a certain kind
of literature, or to follow certain studies. He often
doubted whether those distinguished advisers had
ever followed those studies themselves. He was
certain if those who were so addressed did their
duty, if they followed an active business which took
up the greater part of their time, they ought not to
have time to carry out such recommendations. At
the same time the practice often enabled them
to hear amusing, clever, agreeable speeches, as, for
example, the speech of the Speaker of the House of
Commons at the Mansfield Mechanic's Institution a
day or two since—a more able, sensible speech than
which, or more fall of the caustic wit which all who
knew the Speaker knew him to possess, he had
never read in his life. But he (Mr. Adderley)
would not attempt to recommend that institution
what its members should read, nor to show whether
any line of study was better than another, An
institution of that sort, springing from the wishes
of the people, was not formed to create a want, but
to supply a want which was felt to exist when it
was started. In a free country like this institutions
did net create wants, but were created by them,
and it was because the middle classes of Leek
some 20 or 30 years ago felt that they required
.an institution which would supply them with the
news of the day, the literature in which they took
pleasure, and means of social and intellectual en-
joyment that that institution was formed, and not to
recommend them to read or what to study. So
-,7itia all such institutions. The education of the
country followed the wants of the country, and no
amount of grants made by Parliament or of societies
formed for educational purposes would ever educate
the country, but when the appetite of the people
turned towards higher education higher education
would follow. It was the increase of skill in manu-
feciure and in art that was educating the people of
this country. As science advanced with civilisation
everybody saw that they could not take their part
in life without a certain amount of skill, and that
made everybody seek the skill without which they
could not gain a livelihood. What mechanics' in-
stitutions really exemplified was the co-operative
principle in the country. This seemed a simple
thing to say, but co-operation was one of the most
important facts existing in this country. The prin-
ciple of co-operation which was illustrated in insti-
tions of that kind was being applied to all classes,
and was giving the lower classes the enjoyment of
many things which up to this time nothing but
capital could command, They saw this principle
carried cut everywhere—in the London clubs—
those great palaces in Pall-mall, where all the
luxuries of a prince might be enjoyed by an ensign
in a marching regiment—and in Lancashire, which
possessed the most vigorous and intelligent of our
population ; and it was the co-operative principle
which had made them what they were, which had
made them a credit to the country during a crisis
of two years which might have ended in disaster,
but had only furnished an illustration of their
vigour, of the sympathy of class with class, and of
the vitality of the whole nation. (Applause.)
What wonders they now heard from Rochdale !
Had anybody present read the late accounts of the
co-operative stores at Rochdale ? He confessed
they had astonished and deeply interested him,
and he knew nothing at that moment more
interesting, more important, more remarkable, or
more characteristic of the genius of the country, or
more hopeful for the prosperity of the country
than that wonderful co-operate spirit festered in
Rochdale. The lower classes of operatives com-
menced a few years ago and put by their pennies
each week, and now one association alone had a
capital of upwards of £lOO,OOO ; and by that means
what had they done ! They had given to the ope-
ratives of the lower classes the means of enjoy-
ment of all kinds which capital alone could com-
mand. In doing this they had not only advanced
themselves, but they had rendered a great essential
eervico to the country, by diminishing the gap which
existed between the poorer and the richer and more
luxurious classes, and which was dangerous when-
ever it did exist to an extreme—whenever one part
of the community was supplied with luxuries and
the other with perhaps not even the common neces-
series of life. There were two important features
in this system—they had turned among themselves
habits of debt to habits of saving and thrift, and
had raised themselves and their families in their
own and the public estimation—(applause)--they
had changed want into plenty, and—it was not too
much to say--scanty food and clothing into suffi-
ciency and comfort, and, what was still more re-
markable, they had ale) provided by the same prin-
ciple for the education of their children and their
own intellectual and social culture. (Applause.)
*Mechanics' instieutions were nothing more than that
principle of co-operation applied to their literary
wants and their social and intellectual enjoyments.
In that way they were of the most essential impor-
tance, and if it was important that there should be
no gap betweea one class and another in physical
enjoyment and comfort, how much more important
was it that there should be no gap between them
intellectually. If one class followed the progres-
sive mind of the country and another class was un-
able to follow- it, what a dangerous gap would be
growing up between them. The spirit of concord
and agreement between people was that they
should think alike, but if one-half of the country
thought one way and the other half another, if
one half was able to think and the other unable
to think and ignorant, there 111:17.3t be

turb3nce and revolution, and nothing short
of one or the other in the presence of such a
gap. It was the very use of the co-operative system
which brought the means of the middle classes to
supply the literary requirements of the age. That
there was an appetite throughout the country for
literature—and for pure literature—no one could
doubt. They saw it at every railway station. Those
railway bookstalls were not supplied with libraries
of indecent and corrupt literature, such as were to
be seen in other c3untries, and he would venture to
say there was not a single volume at any railway
bookstall in the country which a lady need be
ashamed to have in her hand. (Hear, hear.) This
showed that there was a large demand for healthy
literature throughout the country, and it was a
hopeful sign of the age. (Applause.) The right
hon. gentleman went on to refer to local topics,
with which he concluded his address.

The Cotton Supply and the Means of Paying

for it.

(From the Money Market Review.)
On the 28th of November last we offered some
remarks on the cotton supply of 1864, and the

question of the means of paying for it. As time
advances we see more clearly that the difficulties in
the money settlement for the supply of cotton to

be imported this year will be serious, and that we
by no means overstated the derangement which that
settlement will probably exercise in our money
market for some time to come. We may divide this

question into three parts :-
1. The payments for cotton to cotton producing
countries nearest to England.
2. The payments for cotton to countries east of
the Cape of Good Hope:
3. The French payments for cotton in 1864.
To understand the true bearing of the question
before us we must remember that, although the
Bank of England may influence to a considerable
extent the operations of the commercial public in
local business—where the probable extent of the de-

mand for money to carry it out is pretty accurately

known before the public became involved in money

obligations—it has no power to put an end to, or
check in any way, contracts actually made in
foreign countries by our merchants for produce re-
quired in England. The Bank does not hear of
such obligations or know their extent until the

time arrives when the merchants, either at home or
abroad, are called on to make good their contracts
by receiving such produce and paying for it. All
the Bank of England can do at this point is to act

n strict accordance with the spirit of its charter

and, if gold be withdrawn, meet the drain by rais-
ing the rate of discount. But this proceeding will
not put an end to the difficulty ; the merchant must
. _

still fulfil his contract, although his means of doing
so are grievously contracted by the opposing infla-

ence of the Bank action.

With regard to payments to cotton-producing
countries nearest to England, the sudden advance
which occurred some weeks back in the Bank of
England rate of discount induced a pause in the
outflow of money remittances. The firms engaged
in these operations in London hoped that, as the
general business of the country is sound, and capital
abundant for all the ordinary transactions of com-
merce, the course adopted by the Bank of England
would attract gold into its coffers, so that by wait-
ing a few weeks they would be enabled to procure
at cheaper rates the bullion they required. But
this suspension for a time does not involve the can-
celment of the cotton purchases, but only a short
delay in forwarding the funds. We must still
expect an outflow of bullion to meet these obliga-
tions, and even within the last two or three days
the value of money has been affected by them.

With regard to the payment fcr cotton produced
east of the Cape of Good Hope, on the 28th of
November we expressed an anticipation that a heavy
demand for bullion from this country would be expe-
rienced, but up to that date the premonitory indica-

tions of a rise in the rates of exchange in India had
not commenced. Now we hear that such a change
in the value of money, and in the rates of exchange
at which bills on England are offered, has taken
place, as to make us imagine that the houses inte-
rested in the export of cotton from India have
been taken by surprise ; and we are prepared to
hear of a marked derangement of the In-
diln commercial system until the pressure
shall be relieved by time, and by the settlement
of this year's cotton exports. We fear that those
who have calculated that the full vzlne of all the
goods exported from this country, either in hand in
India or on the way out, will be applicable for the
payment of Indian cotton, will be disappointed to a
considerable extent. The native population of India,
as a whole, are poor, and cannot purchase a much
larger value of goods this year than last. The dif-
ference of price, therefore, in our last year's exports
of goods must of itself tend to diminish largely the
extent of consumption ; and if to this be superadded
the check involved in the rate of money being 20
per cent. in India, it is easy to imagine how cautious
the native speculators who buy from the European
importer must become, and how greatly reduced will
be the extent of their operations until the derange-
ment subsides. The stocks of our goods in first
hands will probably increase ; the native holders in
the bazaars will get rid of their purchases at a dis-
count, throwing supplies into the markets of the
interior at low prices; and a stop will very likely
be put to the usual course of business until the dis-
turbing causes disappear.
It is stated that considerable remittances of gold
from Australia to India are in progress, and also
large shipments of sugar from Mauritius. Gold from
Australia will be immediately available to clear out
cotton from India by the purchase of bills ; but the
sugar must first be sold, and this may not be accom-
plished quickly. If we place these supplies as a set-
off against the smaller sales of European imports
into India for some months to come, we shall pro-
bably not be far wrong.
The question, however, of paramount importance
yet to be defined is the quantity of cotton which
India will export during the present year. A million
of bales of 300ibs. each for all India may be settled
for without serious pressure ; but if the quantity
exceed that figure we must be prepared for serious
difficulties in the money settlement, and more espe-
cially should the supply extend to the large quan-
tity which some of the estimates make it.
With regard to the third part of the subject—the
French payments for cotton in 1864—we believe
that much of the gold taken from this country for
France has been for this purpose ; and as the public
are perfectly alive to the close connection which
exists between the withdrawals of gold from the
Bank of England and those from the Bank of France,
we ne'd not say more than that English merchants
speculating ih cotton can draw no comfort from this
quarter, for there is certainly no amelioration in the
bullion difficulty as connected with France.

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