The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-28 00:00:00

,ip,-,7:.-.st.t.:l'sf., '--.1..,':(.iN (Y) N.

CONDUCT OF.THE BANK OF

ENGLAND.

MEETING OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
'ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE: BANK OF

ENGLAND.

MANCHESTER, TH URSDAY .--7 A special general meet-
ing of the Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures was
held this day, " to receive a report from the Board of
Directors on the effects of the administration of the .Bank
of,England upon the .eommereial apd mannfacturipg.in-
terests of the 'country." ' ' .'t

VL
Mr. J. B. SMITH. the Chairman of the toard
rectors, presided. He said 'that, two years ago, the
Chamber had assembled on a similar occasion, to consi-
der the sufferings under which the country was labour-
ing, in edpsequeace of a commercial panic,
,when resolu-
tions were adopted, to the effect that the Chamber were
unable to assign arational cause for the recurrence of such
adversity, in the midst of the blessing of peace, ample her-
vests, and mitigated taxation. The recurrence- of another
period of distress so sonn., after the 'US:. -ltad. naturally
directed the attention of the Board to-the causes of those
irequ( at panics, which, by paralysing trade, and suspend-
ing manufactures, brought distress on 'the whole coin
inunity ; and they were' satisfied that the cause was to
oc fbund in the ruinous management of the currency by
the Bank.. They had, therefore, appointed a. sub-corn-
mitt,:e to investigate the whole subject. Their report
had been frecuently and carefully revised by the Direc-
tors ; the facts might be depended upon, for they had
been rather understated than overstated.

Mr. BOOTHMAN, the Secretary, then read a very
lengthy report. It commenced by a review of the ope-
rations of the Bank from the renewal of the Charter
down to the present time. It noticed in turn the various
steps taken for raising or lowering the rate of interest,
and increasing the quantity of bullion' ; and observed
that it had been stated, on the authority of the Bank
themselves, that a supply of gold could only be pro-
cured from abroad by reducing the value of commodities,
and there was no doubt that the object of the Bank in
these measures was to reduce the value of commod4ties
fully 25 percent. By this means the stock of bullion
was increased from little more than four millions in
June, 1837, to upwards of eight millions in December,
1837 ; and in January, 1808, it was 8,995,0001. The
effect of these proceedings On the manufacturing and
commercial interests was then minutely pointed out ;
the American cotton monopoly was alluded to ; and the
importation of corn consequent on the bad harvest of
1838: In 'April last, it appeared there had been a
diminution in the stock of bullion of 2,763,0001., and
yet the Directors had gone on increasing the amount of
their Bank notes. The last account of bullion showed
that it had fallen still lower,. but without producing any
effect on the foreign exchanges. The report then
directed attention to the losses which these forced con-
tractions and expansions of the currency had in-
flicted on the manufacturing community.- They
calculated that the amount of capital, •flo.ating and
fixed, employed in the: five leading manufactures of
this country, viz , cotton, silk, woollen, linen, and
hardware, wss one hundred millions sterling ; the
amount invested in wholesale houses and others con-
nected with the distribution of the, products of these
manufactures, was twenty-five anions ; and the capital
employed in foreign commerce thirty-five millions ;
being a total of one hundred.and sixty millions. Upon
this amount might be traced-a tangible loss of from 20
to 50. per cent., owing to the proceedings adopted by
the Bank. This sacrifice, a' sacrifice of. forty millions,
had been incurred that the Bank of England might re-
gainpossession of six or seven millions of specie, which
she formerly forced out of the country by an undue
.expansion of the currency. Of this depreciation the
fixed capital employed. in the cotton', manufactures,
and locked up in the shape of buildings, &c., had
been depreciated at least frprn 30 to' 40 per cent.
The fiats in bankruptcy issued in. 1837 amounted to
1,937, while the average of the. previous four years
were but 1,266. The report next noticed the effect 'of'
these measures on the working classes. In 1837 the
sums drawn out of the savings' banks had exceeded those
paid in ; on this subject the inquiries of the Commit-
tee had been extended to Manchester, Birmingham,
Leeds, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Blackburn, Bolton,
&e. Some extracts froM the Annual Report of the
Poor-law. Commissioners for that. year were introduced,
also statements of the relief afforded, in 1837, by dif-
ferent charitable institutions in England, Scotland, and
.Ireland, most of which showed a great increase as coin•
paced with the previous year. Nearly all the reports
of infirmaries and dispensaries bore testimony to the
great increase of disease, and unfortunately the number
of criminals had been multiplied in the same propor-
tion. Similar consequences, the report observed, might
always hp expected to flow from forced contractions of
the currency ; and at present the same thing was
'going on by the and
such being the case,it was
most important to inquire how such baneful fluctuations
might be prevented. That the twenty-six Bank Direc-
tors, whose 4ef s were .veiled even from. their con-
stituents, should Ours decide the fate of all the
capitalists and industrious 4;tisans in the cduntiy,
and that there should be neither apileal tiir re-
medy against their acts, must be regarded as a re-
proach to the age, and totally irreconcilable with ever)
principle of public iustice. The Committee wished
not to calumniate the Bank Directors personally, who
were men of probity and worth ; but the constitution of
the Bank was snob, especially from its want of capital,
that it was impossible for, any body, of men to conduct
its affairs .with benefit to the manufacturing interest.—
APPliftiSe2)
N. P. Perp (the senior eenstable) proposed that
this report be received, with the thanks of the Chamber
to the Directors, and that ft be printed for the use of
the Chamber generally. 'Unless they had a stable cur-
•eriCv. and a more even run of credit, it would be im-
for them to make their calculations, or to carry
"s°11)" Operationi; because it was no longer

on any , -
merchant what was the state of
a calculation with t
Pl to be the state of money
the market, but what. was us_ Y-
credit.—(Hear, hear.) So king, .:y the large fluctua
tions continued, which they had eiperteNed during
the last two or three years, it was imposslhin to Ix.:
gulate prices. At one time a large mass of Money
was afloat in the market; credit was exceedingly cheap.
the most ignorant and reckless people, who kn 4
nothing about egrerperee, entered into It—he
had heard of footmen, tailors, on 4 mon of even a lower
stamp, catering into large specul4tiooS i t F4.,mmerci,tl
minerprise, and carrying on business to foreign Merkets,
They glutted those markets, mitred themselves, and
probably the money lent them was.lost "; at the same
time they ruiried•the ealtulaticg'and prudent merchant,
and destroyed his market. There was one thing of
wialel; they must all be convinced, thet pur enanufac-
tprosh4 keep driven in a great :measure froro the mere
keis of Europe. There ought to be a stable system fPr
every thing they did. AAA ought to be the character
of so institution having the thole of the currency,. But
the Bank had ocposite interests to prPteete-eit had to
protect the interests of its proprietors. The whelp
duty of the Directi,rs wag that of making a dividend to
the proprietors, and yet Iln,et wore entrusted with the
cherge of the currency. how 4,0,1 tri'f.) duties were
quite at variatlet...4 Hear, hear.) lie recolleggil that
en ''one_ occasion. the proprietors were called 0.,
gether, the Pirectors eineogneed their intention of
raising the discounts, and ;dig announeetpetit was re-
eeived with loud' cheers by the proprietors i $OOO Pl►-
SerAret4Saii were made and the cheeri were roPeeted a,c,o
drowne4 spore phservations. Those ettecn Atii,,kt
weli for theenuMePte log they would ultimately
collected,-:rd would bring ape,e,Let tleeided move against
this establishment ley 11e great ,cocorpe,e44) part of the
kingdom. That eitablishßeot had originally ,coNitropeged
with an inherent vice ; it had been cet,nrneeccd for the
p,u,i-poart of co-operating with the Goverment. !t was
impossible that such an institution.,should go on, In
thi; ease the an W 4 been made entirely a tool in the
hands of Gayer:meet
,aeql Nvi.eitelid they d 6? At this
moment we were etendiog in alioAtiiep the !pest unintel-
-4,-Thie and incongruous the.t.sould poSsjhlY l e ißitgriiiPft
While .dray were only able to get p,er peps., onpoyern,
ment secnOtie,e, mercantile discounts we:a from 7 to p.
'This remarks le ,eir,etimstance ought to sink deeoy into
the heart pf overt' Pmon 4epatile, in the first place, they
had to egrry roir? Wsiness at ,an,i4cl.cac#4. disadvant ; for
this heavy charge of 6. pr 7 per ,cent. !,ta4 k^ be de-
ducted ; they only got the oat amount, apd
acquiring eame little property I.3rehe labour et yeere,
wiiza they came to invest it they eoutel A* get above 3
per cent. fpr it. Ple believed he had said What W9n4l
induce them to receiyo tybe report, which contained
mass of information. At prgi.s,e4iiL was not intended to
taco remedial measures into copetiel,eratkee.
The ppROUGiinEEVE (Mr. J. 4tootiq opr44lly
seconded the re elution. In the first place, lie vyiAl3.l
to inquire if the resplution passed two years ago, U;
'whichq the Chairman had Welded, was at a public meet•
iugrpF pply at a meeting of the Board
he did not know of it, becaus
• The et-swelpN :--At a public meeting.
Mr. BeologP ;firrY
he could basic found 04 1141 reason of the distress at
that time, for he had felt it tki.eo I.nd ever since. H
seen in business more than • tiiirty vgu'!, and his
workpeo
.
'Le bed never been obliged to go on the peel;!;
all till 1809%
The report was a most'weadilful (loch
ment ; they
had heard}, reasoning price's about it
he would now give thern
sono wept melancholy facts
W,onid first speak of his hoietc thP goutitr
"cle: t", )835, his bad debts amongst dratierg
watt 0,00/. t.tfs.s in 1836 (when the panic .begun}
they were 4,980/. Hs.
-n J 837, they were 9,4,90/,
—(Hear, bear, hear)---,hemg tiiree times the amount
of 1835, Independently of gig pipptry trade,
lie ;:ad made bad debts amongst the. merol4o4 Of I'hic•
country to the amount of 80,000/. Or 90,000/, that
;Identical year, I§l7 ; those, many had- gone into tuP
Gazelle, and he weep.' O toe meeting to judge what
•kiad of dividend they would reak,e, :eulan ,y with
oet,a
lawsuit. or two. He would now give' 44 • idea of
, th cerresimmience he had in I 837.; heel nningwl4
foreign trade. On s.itg 27th of March he had written
to. Singapore, requesting Aikiii,tioih.p.they Could buy pro-
tinte et, such low prices as the.oo44o?g'fipm this side
showed %% id leave a margin pfat:least per Fat the
,returns should be .reed,e le hills. [Mr. krooks then.irade
extracts from letters from Aoypitlbdies; Constanti-

•• • ,
nople, and other plaCes, all illustrative' of a
.simila, • state
of thingq He had only known, of this macaw ten
days ago, but he immediately got hiS clerk to make out
a few states dents,' for he-determined to' ineet'this ( lose.
le held in his ItAd a tableof the produce which he had
sold in 1837, which contained, amongst others, the . fol-
lowing items :
Pro !uce.
Pla-A.s. .1 Cost. Loss. IPeromt

Si napore

Vida
Canton
Tetna
Bombay
Trieste.:
Calcutta
Bombay
Tetna

Antimony ore
Ditto
Silk
Nitrate of Soda
Gum and Wool
Oil
Silk
General Cargo
Nitrate of Soda
Ditto ...
General Cargo
Silk
Sugar
Cotton Bahia
General Cargo Penang
Cotton Bombay • ...
Silk .. !Canton ...
Cfssia Lignea , Singapore ..
Col ton 'Alexandria ..
'Canton
N.lrate of Soda ..
T,..
C.oton !Bahia .....
~-ate of Soda Tetna •
, •on (Bahia ...
•,tto
:,itto
1' ,er

;to
Ito

~.11

518
4,3611
2,739
735

580,
2,719
6,355
2,923
2,341

Bombay
Calcutta

428
2,198'

489

302
22,173 j

800
772
4,798
2,950
3,214
:718
2,021
1,379 i

791
1,419;

Canton

6981
1,90'
3,913

£2211 42

171 33
1,234 i 3o
,5461 20
1110, 20

123; 22

681
999
2,830
25,954

23
2;882 421
'654i 22
(0.9, 22i
144 231
608 311
212 24
163, 33

. 6861 23
1351 40
7,367 33
322 40
248 32
1,275 24
919 311
J-1769 24
.349 48i
692 33i
679 48•
4341 55
743 52
267 39
'503 26
1,178 30
210 31
301 30
954 33
15,148 58

ar, hear.) Now, in 1836 and 1837 he had .lost no
I than 120,0001. clear away, with the cotton trade,
• ;hipping trade, and the spinning trade, z. e. the flax
• ; away-it had gone, and he might get it back as
, --tultl,--(Applause.) What he had now to state
• very remarkable. He had been in business thirty-
' yearsiast August, and never last any money in Ida
except at two particular periods; 'or he could not
stood it long.- The first was ,in. 1825 and 1826,
1' , second in 1836 and 1837.—(Hear, hear.) And
t was a very marvellous .thing, he 'had always got
• re -money after a panic than ever he had got in any
oCier;year. . That proved what a melancholy thing a
p oic was—crew many, were absolutely ruined, mid how
many were frightened out of the market, and dared not
start again, for it- was few that had spirit to start again ;
. for if they had the money they would keep it in their pock-
ets. The Bank of England was no more to be depended
upon than a will o'the wisp; they could make no-calculation
for whatever they did abroad ; property might go down
30 or 35 per .cent. In March, .1856, he had bought
27-inch printing. cloths at 9s. 6d., but in August, 1837,
they were down, to 6s. 6d., thing a reduction of 31i
per cent. That was a reduction of which no calculation
could he made by'any one ; and if he had been in full
work, which was not the case, it would have made a
difference of 9001. a -Week to him. In December, 1838,
when things were rising again, he had bought cloth at
Bs. 60., being an advance of 25 per cent. on what he
had bought-in 1837. This was all the doing of the
Bank of England ; no calculation could have foreseen it.
Mr. COBDEN—What is the present value of 27-inch
printing cloths ?
Mr. BROOKS bought at about Gs. Bd. or Gs. 9d.
Mr. COBDEN—That is very important, it illustrates
the evil again. •
Mr. Bnootts continued—The tea included in the list
which he had read, on Which he had suffered a loss of
58 per cent., was the same as some which had been sold
by a friend of his in the beginning of 1836, and which
subsequently went down 58 per cent. ;. he had thought
that be would not sell it then, and he kept it till the
panic began. Whose fault was that, but that of the
Bank of England ? He hoped other gentlemen would
come forward and show their accounts ; lie thought his
friend Mr. Gardiner looked very serious.
. Mr. R. GARDINER said it was not hisintention to say
anything about his losses ; it was. not his intention to
follow Mr. Brooks. They bad heard of his losses, but they
saw him in health and strength ; but the Sufferings of the
poor in 1837 were a lusuiy, comparatively. speaking, to
what they were at present. In 1857 ,provisions were
abundant, and comparatively low ; now all establishments
were standing, and people were thrown qut of' work one
half fbr the other. . There Were thousands. and tens of
thousands unemployed at present, and how they existed
he could not tell. There yds an awful. responsibility.
There was blood resting somewhere. Many establish-
ments had stopped, one in the
.neighbourhood of Bolton,
by which 1,400 or 1,500 people were not reduced to
one or two days, but stopped altogether. How were
these people to live without resources ? • One time,
money absolutely could not be disposed of at per
cent.. ; and a gentleman, who had been receiving 3 per
cent., hut WhoSe interest had been reduced to 31 per
cent., had told. him that, he must leave
_the country to
seek another
.investment; stating that a friend of his ,
had been advan6rig money on American bonds, and
for which he got 6 per cent. ; but he had no faith in
those securities. Another person, finding money so
plentiful that he could get no interest for it, said he
would set to and build a mill (he knew a person who
had built three) ; he put in the gearing and the steam
power, and let it, by which he could get 71- per cent.
Tt.is was an unnatural state of things. Many peo-
ple had had their intcrest reduced so low, that
they were compelled to seek other means as an invest-
ment ; the result was the most disastrous consequences,
as they had found. Last year, when the cotton 'crop
was coming round, the most experienced merchants had
been deceived to the extent of 2d. or 3d. a pound.
Mr. WILLIAM WNEILD said, that' a subject of
greater importance could not engage the attention of the
commercial 'world. The return to a gold currency in
1819 or 1820, had produced from 1815 to 1823 a con-
stant and steady decline in the prices of almost every
article.—( Hear, hear.) During the last two or- three,
years effects had been experienced similar to what were
felt in time of war, and naturally made men look about.
them 'to find cut the cause. 'That cause was assigned
in the-report that had been read. Now, if in 1836
moriey had been. so abundantly plentiful, that men had
been literally compelled to commence speculations,
duearnents being, held out to them, and, if, in a few brief
eriontlis.every species of supply or support was cut off,
certainly atone or other of those periods there was a
flit porhaps at hoth.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Brooks
1d a his In'sgcs ; fortunately for him, there was a
1114andstenTd e• margin—not ao with many other individuals.
Ho bad accidentally-, met an individual in the street,
whom he bad 1,;:lown many years, and were he to men-
tion his pantie, every one in the roam would concur as
to the steadiness with which he had conducted his busi-
nes;, the Aippcp of anything like a speculative charac-
ter ; and he stared that, two or three Months ago, he
had every reason to WIWI) that PO WaS worth 60,0001.;
now, when all his engagements were paid, ho should not
11;1vp A shilling left.—( Hear.) There were. scores and
hundr4ds of instairs of this cause producing these dis-
astrous conseqqeni:e4 ip every OM pf tbc. Community,
down to the working Men, wile, in many ems, had no
~-sources left. Surely it became an important question
For iiiaa wHereantile. world, how these evils were to be reme-
died'. a the fault 4e with the Bank of England, let it be
remedied ; 'hp, for one„,fid not stip that blame was:to
.7,t,tached to them. They had a twofold eharaptec
te porferm Ctoz- were not amenal4le tq the community,
ik • • •
4,0 ,to the s..arpowera ; tiOr J 1444141. PiPllns! Was fA
get tke he#t dividend they could:. • But Ile did blame
the Legislature..-..,(year,' hear.) It was quite time
this question should be taken up 140 gravcli Oeillgeds
A.E tn the remedy, all sound judging men ere totally
an,
.euprqy at igru with the Bank of England, and
tbat was a atrong gronud why they f9r
u.rmiry.
nr. Niiiirro,:wpirr4 could not agree with Mr.
Gardiner in suppeng thp.t the Bank Of Unglond would
reform itself. It was a strange fact, .but one that was
nnonestioned, that the Bank always made. the largest
profits 0101.113 e country was suffering the severest dis-
tress. I-le believed there was not an economist of any
feppte, net nnly in this kingdom, but in any civilised'
country; of lurope, that did not denounce as bad,
and reprobate as pernicious, the principle on which
the Bank of England condueted its affairs. In 1812
Ow flank was not in the habit of looking either at
the pric of gold or the state of the exchanges, and
he believed eVerY iPflividucl in• the' kingdom, except
(hose connected with the Bank of England, as Direc-
tors:, fir In any ether way interestedly connected, knew
tliet it was imliepeosable for their establishment to keep
.. close and attentive revved to .the state of bullion and
; ij;e state of the exchanges ; yet the Bank, on the in-'
~,qty 1r 1.512, stated distinctly that they never looked
at the ?ripe current or the Exchange List.---(
Hear,
In tile last §..?qien pf Parliament, Mr. Hume
l made a motion for .an inquiry into the Bank. He
~liuttleworth) happened to hear the debate pa
‘", it oo64sion, an,: more full, able, arid incontrovertible
-‘,lternents could not he ; but (and this showed
.s little attention paid by slip p 0414.. COI§ important
bieet) the House during his speepir was 4ltimt empty;
.to 4 man times might have been counted ont-,54;p0..

tags *To ni4t fventy pfmons orernt, The
'Ater was very OPP di4p9sed of. Neither the Bank
..r the Government. would do anything to correct the
ils under which they all suffered so dreadfully, unless
IP4Pofrftmuity at large should move.

Mr, H, 4s4WOATff Mr. R. COBDEN, and Mr. S.
, rowis, also spoke in favour of the motion, which was
i.,en put, and carried unanimously.
Thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the meeting
,oparated.

url
RING ROBBERY.--Last week, as Mr.
Bolton,"wlid is .an extensivt corn dealer in Birmingham,
anti who regularly attends Coventry and Warwick mar-
iAs; wig Vaving Coventry, a little after six &clock in
ii4eyening, a 4 Wfl. walking to the railway station for
theo~ng p'!4iriOngilapti oig train, he
was knocked dowti and %.Yf) Vrtic,l
were` In company with .n renia :Rey pi4pl9pd 14irp
J 70./.., consisting of-, a 501. bill, some Coventri puttst