The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-20 00:00:00

VIN IN JMITION.

THE FUNDING OF EXCHEQUER

BILLS.

(MONDAY.)
ES.—The conversion of Exchequer bills by open subscrip-
tion at the Bank is making very slow progress. There are no
means of being very exact as to the amount, but it is believed that
out of 3,500,0001., about 1,000,0001. has been taken. As the
books continue open for subscriptions till Friday, this may ap-
pear a fair proportion for the time, but in such cases the first
day, and even the first few hours, if the scheme is approved of,
are generally decisive of the fate of the operation. The dis-
couraging symptom in this instance is, that the subscriptions,
so far as they have hitherto gone, have been made al-
most wholly by the jobbers and speculators of the Stock
Exchange, who make certain calculations of the relative value
of Exchequer bills and consols, ace srding to the fluctuations
which take place in the market, and sell on the spot for time
the stock which they expect to obtain by becoming subscribers
to the conversion. A more miserable dependence than this,
for any Government financial operation, can scarcely be ima-
gined, and it was anticipated by the best practical men in the
market, on the appearance of the notice on Saturday, that this
would be the result. If consols be maintained at something
like the last quotations of to. day, the new stock will be taken
off, but otherwise the remainder will be left ou Mr. Spring
Rice's hands.

HERALD —The very blundering mode which the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer has adopted for the purpose of effect-
ing the conversion of the 4,000,000/. of Exchequer bills, to
which we have so often had occasion to refer, has become the
constant theme of conversation in our leading monetary circles.
That, in a financial point of view, the experiment is a decided
failure there can be no doubt whatever. Nevertheless tenders
have been made to-day for portions of the conversion to the
amount of about 300,0001.—a small suns indeed, as compared
with the like transactions of former days. From this circum-
stance the inference may be drawn that the public do not much
relish the propositions put forth by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer. There, however, can be no doubt that the terms of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, even taking the premium
upon Exchequer bills to be merely 17, cannot give a profit that.
would recompense any party for taking the charge of the con-
version, whether the engagement be large or small. Still there
is an impression that the Hebrew party and their general sup-
porters will eventually undertake the greatest portion of the con-
version. A few days will, however, settle that question.

POST.—From the moment the proposition to the moneyed
interest was issued from the Treasury Chambers, the batteries
of the public press were opened upon the Right Hon. Gentle-
man, and the fire has been maintained with little or no inter-
mission ever since. . . . We cannot help thinking there
is much to excite dissatisfaction.

With a funded debt of about 800,000,0001., and an annual
charge thereupon of twenty-nine millions and a quarter ster-
ling, to meet the payment of which the nation is taxed to the
very utmost, even at the end of twenty-five years of uninter-
rupted peace, it is painful to see that a necessity exists for add-
ing still further to the magnitude of those items, and that this
should be done, too, by a Government whose title to the sup-
port of the people is founded to a great extent on their often-
repeated declarations in favour of economy and retrenchment.
As long as the public debt is allowed to remain in the shape
of Exchequer paper merely little attention is paid to its
amount. That amount may change from day to day, or
from week to week, according to the necessities of the Mi-
nister ; but when a part is taken away, and placed upon the
more intelligible footing of a fixed and permanent obligation,
the matter assumes quite another interest. People then
begin to ask themselves and each other if this can be done.
With regard to the present operation of the Chancellor, which
takes place simultaneously with the sacrifice on the part of Go-
vernment of a very large amount of revenue, the legitimacy of
the act may, we conceive, be reasonably questioned.
The scrupulous attention paid by the British nation to their
public liabilities has ever been the admiration of the whole
world ; yet if liabilities, already so onerous, are to be aug-,
mented during a period of peace, it is not difficult to pre.
phesy what must sooner or later be the consequence.

CHRONICLE.--The notable plan of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer for the funding of Exchequer bills appears to get
on but slowly; for only about 900,000/. to 1,100,000/, have
been tendered for to-day, and this may be looked upon as tae-
cream of the business, for if the capitalists and others of Lon-
don do not take it more readily, the people in the country will
not be encouraged to enter the lists. It is of course quite im-I
possible to know what the exact amount is, as every informa-
tion on the subject is refused. It is a matter of surprise indeed
that bidders should have been found for even so much, when,
taking into consideration the state of the weather, which, in
fact, seems as if it were a sort of climax to the other disagree-
able circumstances attending the case, since nothing could tend
more effectually to defeat the intentions of Mr. Spring Rice
than a continuance of rain, and it is to the weather.
that the attention of all parties is now directed. The
chief tenders for the new stock, we understand, have ema-
nated from the Stock Exchange ; but as a depression of per
cent, has taken place in Consols to-day, with only a falling off
of 2s. in Exchequer bills, there necessarily remains only about
Aor 3-16th per cent. profit to be gained by the operation,
and, consequently, there is little probability of any more being
demanded from- that quarter. The tenders from the Stock.
Exchange are of course the very worst description for the
Government to receive, as the stock is immediately sold upon
the market to realise the small advantage which the transaction
offers, and without the slightest idea of investir.g. This,
moreover, cannot go on to any great length, for there is
already an over-abundance of stock and a very great demand
for money, six per cent. having been eagerly given for loans
upon Consols until to-morrow, so that it would be wholly
impracticable to dispose of any great amount, while, of courses
the more stock is brought forward for sale the more its value
will recede, and if it goes back A or * per cent. further, there
would necessarily be a certain loss in the operation. The to-day has occasioned a fall of per cent. in Consols.,'