The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-09 00:00:00

an amendment upon die amendment of his Hon. Friend,
but as he had been ieorrned it would be out of order for
him to do so, he should decline pursuine. that course.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
he should occupy the attention of the House but for a very
short period, as it was his intention to confine himself to
the practical question, and not to be led away by the wild
and theoretical speech of the Hon. Gentleman who had just
sat down. He did not know if he might venture to talk
of the Bank of England, which, of the two circumstances
that had occurred in that debate he should most regret,
the attack that had been made against the Bank or the
defence of their conduct by the Honourable Member
who had just sat down. If the Honourable Member for
Birmingham had defended them in their capacity of
bankers, he had brought charges against them in another
capacity. From the Bank Restriction Act down to the
present time, he appeared enraptured with their procedings,
and loved his mistress, not for her beauties, but her defects.
Hear, hoar.) This, however, was not all—he could
assure the House it was not his intention to follow the
Honourable Member through the whole of his remarks,
but lie wished to remove one or two impressions which
had been created by what the Honourable Member
had stated, which, if not contradicted at once in the most
decisive manner, might lead, out of the House, in foreign
countries, to the most extraordinary and extravagant mis-
apprehensions. The Hon. Member for Birmingham had
informed the Governor of the Bank that he had in his pos-
session no less than ten millions of Exchequer bills.—( A
laugh.) Could any one for a moment believe that such
was the fact ? He had also adverted to what he called
putting on the screw, or in other mords the efforts made
by the Bank of England in the face of adverse Ex-
changes. He had stated that the effect of that was to re-
duce the price of wages ; he could not conceive on what
ground the Hon. Member made such an assertion. He
had stated also that if the country adhered to the present
gold standard the effect would be to call upon the country
to perform impossibilities.—( Hear, hear.) Then again, in
part of his defence of the Bank of England, he had taken
upon himself to state that the Bank were not in possession
of one million of sovereigns.—( Hear, hear.) That was
one of the fancies, doubtless, of the Hon. Member.—
( Hear, hear, hear, from Sir J. R. Reid.) Now,
as te the practical part of the case. he should be sorry
if the House or the country thought there was any
indifference on the part of the Government on this
subject. A more important subject than that which
related to the affairs of the Bank of England could not by
any possibility occupy the time of the House. Undoubt-
edly it was somewhat inconsistent with that, that there
should be so thin an attendance of Metnhers and such inat-
tention at the outset of the debate. What was it that
produced that result ? was it because he had overrated the
importance of the subject? no such thing, for it did not
necessarily follow that because the subject was important
that therefore any motion that might be made with respect
to it was one that was to create much interest in the
House. The reason why there had been so thin an attend-
ance was, as he believed, that the great bulk of the Mem-
bers of that House were of opinion that there was no
ground for appointing a Committee on the subject at that
late period of the session. He believed that the mass of
that House were disposed to think that it would
he imprudent to enter into the inquiry at present.
Upon what statements had his Hon. Friend the Member
for Kilkenny grounded the motion—and what was the
motion itself?—(The Right lion. Gentleman here read
the notice of motion. ) The inquiry was, therefore, to
have no limits; the whole transactions of the Bank of
England were to be gone into, involving, as they did, the
whole question of public credit and mercantile affairs for
the last 30 or 40 years ; and then the motion concluded
with a sweeping inquiry into the present constitution of
the Bank of England, and whether, under that
constitution, it ought to have the support of that
House. If ever there was a subject which, if once entered
into. would branch out into a vast variety of topics, it was
the question now brought forward.—( Hear, hear.) What
had the Hon. Member for Kilkenny said in justification
of his motion, why, that he would not call a single wit-
ness before the Committee, but would appeal only to writ-
ten documents, and from them and them alone in fourteen
days he would lay before the House the conclusion to
which it ought to come. It was very easy for the Hon.
Member to say so, but not quite so easy to accomplish.
Did not the Hon, Member know full well that from those
ttolemtielonsewoautlltNihcir conclu-
sionsketohadar:
very documentsexactly th the
manyop
osi Gteenrived, and thus the fourteen days might be extended to ten
times that number ?—( Hear, hear.) Ile should say that,
independent of all other reasons, the impossibility of
bringing an inquiry of this description to any practical
conclusion was of itself a sufficient objection. But he
had still greater objections to the measure. A time
might come, as it had come, in which it
would be necessary when they were about to change the
law with respect to the Bank, that a full and searching
inquiry should be made into the manner in which the Bank
had managed its affairs, and other occasions might arise
when it was expedient to inquire into the general banking
system of the country ; but with respect to the present
proposed inquiry, he thought that discretion and expe-
diency showed clearly that at the present moment, when
Gentlemen knew the exchanges were unfavourable, and
when there was a considerable diminution of the amount
of bullion in the Bank, and when it was known that the
value of money had considerably increased, such an inquiry
would only create a tendency to distrust. He must, there-
fore, on the ground of the state of the country, and of the
other circumstances to which be had already ad-
verted, deprecate this inquiry.—( Hear, hear, hear,)
The lion. Member for Kilkenny would recollect that
when he spoke of an inquiry into the operations of the
Bank last year, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had
consented, provided there was to be no infraction of the
bargain which the Government had made with the Bank,
that inquiry should take place. So far matters rested last
year. But if it were wise and prudent to consent to the
proposition then, it was not equally judicious to assent to
the motion when there was not sufficient time to
complete the inquiry, and when nothing practicable
could be proposed. On these grounds, be should resist the
inquiry. The lion. Member bad also suggested as a fitting
subject of inquiry the general principles of banking, and
such
ether
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the
House when confined to subjects which came legitimately
under their consideration, he feared there were matters of
revenue which could not come advantageously before them ;
and he doubted very much whether that house or the public
would receive such information from the Report of a
Select Committee, as from the writings of men on a sub-
ject which they knew, and giving their opinions calmly
and dispassionately. He would take the question of a
single Bank of issue, and an extension of their paper cur-
rency, as subsidiary to a gold currency. That was one of
the most important points that could engage their atten-
tion.—( Hear, hear.) That was the first point in the pivot
on which the discussion would turn. Now, he would ask
the House whether they and the public were not more
likely to be instructed by the writings of such men as Mr.
Loyd, Mr. Palmer, Colonel Torrent, and Mr. Gooch,
than from the Report of a Select Committee of that
House ?—( Hear, hear.) He did not quarrel with the
present discussion, although he complained of it as inter-
fering with the other business before the House. There were
many observations throWn cut which might ke beneficial
to himself and the Bank, but he still contended that these
were not matters to discuss before a Select Committee,—
( Hear, hear.) One suggestion, which appeared to him of
sonic importance, and which he was satisfied had not
escaped the attention of the Bank Directors, was the sepa-
ration of the Bank's transactions as regarded its issues and
discounts.--( Hear, hear.) He did not think, however,
that the solution of that question would be much assisted
by the deliberations of a Committee. Another point was
the system adopted by the 13ank of France ; but was: it
likely, at so advanced a period of the Session as the month
of July, they would be able to look into the question with
a view to any practical results. He had also referred to
the permanency of the Direction of that establishment.
He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was a friend to de-
mocratic institutions in connection with the monarchical
system ; but it was a question with him whether the con-
stant vicissitudes of the officers of that establishment was
advantageous to the Bank, or tended to the sta-
bility of the whole corporation. The principle of
the French Bank appeared to him a better one
than that adopted in England; but that was only a proof
that a difference of opinion existed upon the subject. Other
Gentlemen might think the continued changes and the
popular mode of election a great benefit, but the question
was one clearly beyond the decision of a Committee. He
had endeavoured to show that there were reasons why the
Committed should not be granted ; but there were a few
incidental matters to which allusion had been made. The
lion. Memberfor Birmingham, in defending the Bank, bad
dealt out an unsparing measure pf censure on some who
had been connected with the finances of the country. lie
did not stand there to vindicate them ; but he would say a
word as to the principles involved in the Hon. Member's
statement, which could not be too strongly disclaimed on
their parts. lie had said that Lord Grenville, in the most
cruel and hard-hearted manner, had said he would
not interfere with the Bank ; and the same charge was
brought agoinst Mr. Huskisson. Why, if there was one
duty more
than another which the Government had to
fulfil it was that of non-interference.—( Hear, hear.) If
the Bank thought that whenever they were in a difficulty
or in danger, the Government was bound to rescue them,
and to come down with a Bank Restriction Act, and if Mr.
Huskisson and Lord Grenville were to be reproved for
not having taken that course, he
must say that the Hon.
Member understood the duty of a Government very diffe-
rently from him (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), and
held out a principle which he should be sorry to recommend.
Another point to which the lion. Member for Coventry
had alluded was one upon which he would say a word for
the purpose of undeceiving him. The lion. Member said
it was the duty of the House and the Government to do
away with the savings banks, because the principle had
been in some cases misapplied, and parties for whom it was
not intended had availed themselves of the protection and
advantages these banks afforded. Now, although that
might be the case the limitation in the amount of the de.
posit showed that the evil could not his very extensive,
and lie held in his hand a return taken from the last column
of the Statistical Tables, by which it appeared that the
number of depositors in England altogether were 506,273
persons, and of that immense number only 2,900 persons
had deposits ever '..200/. it was quite clear, therefore, that
the fraud, if any were practised, prevailed to a very small
extent. At that hour of the evening he would not occupy
the attention of the House further. One word as to the
West India loan before lie sat down. It was true the
ciiscoL:cts had been paid much earlier than he (the Chan-
cellar of the 'k.l4nP,4-04srts had anticipated ; but when Hon.
Members complained f that, tbq enoeld Lave the oucl-
nets to recollect that the law compelfed him tornake the
loan. When the opportunity was afforded him, with re-
speq, remainin five millions of the loan, he had
created t.ti transferred it to the parties,
Pg it Was requira4, apt
„ -rlj,4Cripre nrinciple had
been applied to the fifteenthd'
embarrassment that resulted would have been obviated
—there would have been no disturbance in the
circulation, or the money market, and all would have gone
03 as quietly with the 15 millions, as it had done with