The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-01 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We are heartily tired, and we are sure the
jr refiecting,part of the public must be so, by the
es;- • effkons of nonsense on the endless
and uselegg topic of the " currency." We wish
I people would let the currency alone, and, above
all things, that they would not make of it a prts
Vence for diverting their own attention and that
of Ministers and of Parliament from questions
of real and solid importance, to fight with names,
when they have things enough to contend with.
A clever and ingenious gentleman has written a
letter, with the signature of " M.," wherein he,
by several " sundry kinds of reasons," would
persuade the country that its embarrassments
arise in a great degree—guess from what,
reader—from having the standard of value
" fixed." To remedy this Curious description
of evil, he would have the pound sterling made
to be worth a greater or smaller amount of shil-
lings, according to the rise or fall in the prices
of other articles, or, in his own words, to
fluctuate with the " supply" of money. This of
all currency nostrums we conceive to be the
e plus ultra. The sovereign, then, was to
,ave no determinate value whatever; it was to
vary with every exchange from abroad,—with
every issue of Bank-notes in town or country at
home. Mr. " M." would have more or less
rent paid, according to the variations in the
Gazette value of the King's coin. He would
have all contracts of all descriptions shift from
week to week, in the obligations imposed by
them upon buyer and seller, upon borrower and
lender, according to the currency averages which
would be struck, we take for granted, like those
of corn, and with equally edifying integrity and
precision. Why, the currencyhdoctors have
run stark-staring mad. There must be an end
put to all this despicable trash. Money, if let
alone—that is if knaves and fools be kept from
dabbling with it—money, we say like water,
will find its own level ; aye, and as invariably as
water. It is by quacking with it only that there
ever can be an average excess or an average de-
ficiency of money. When the circulating medium
consists of the precious metals, which is the
common medium of all known communities, an
excessive quantity, and deficient value of money,
evidenced by a rise of prices, will be cured by
the export of the precious metals: a deficient
quantity, and undue fall of prices, will be re-
paired by their import. It is utter idiotism to
talk of an Act of Parliament being made able to
make " money" more abundant or more scarce
than the transactions of England with other
countries admits of, unless by money our cur-
rency doctors mean rags, which have no intrinsic
value whatever. So convinced are we of the
waste of time and words which " currency-mon-
gers" have already entailed upon the public, that
we shall be disposed to make but one answer to
any of their future propositions, viz., fudge,
fudge, fudge.—limes.
On looking into the account of the Debate on
the Bank Restriction Bill in 1797, one is
struck with the want of foresight of the public
men of that day. Mr. Pitt had evidently no idea
of the consequences which would follow from his
measure ; and Messrs. Fox,—Sheridan, and Tier-
ney, did not see that the Minister having once
entered on this desperate course, would be un-
able to retrace his steps. The only speaker
who had a distinct conception of the nature of
the measure was Mr. John Nicholls, who spoke
twice on the question. On the Order of the
Day for going into a Committee on the Bill,
Mr. Nicholls observed, that " the plan seemed
to have in view the converting of the Bank into
a mint for the coining of paper currency ; and if
the Bill remained in its present shape, it would
be impossible to place any limitation to the issue
of notes. At the first establishment of the
Bank, they were restricted in their emission of
notes to the sum owed to them by Government;
afterwards the emission was increased, but
they were forced to. pay their notes in cash,
if cash was demanded. The power of get-
ting cash for the notes no longer existed ;
and in this state of things he knew of
no law by which the Bank could be restrained
from pouring forth bills to the amount of one
bundled millions sterling. He wished the
House to weigh the subject wells The iocreas-
jag issue of paper money would compel the
Government to incur an enormous and ruinous
debt. The sure consequences of a paper cur-
rency would be a debt so enormous that it would
never be removed. A revolution in property
might produce a revolution in Government, and
all those scene; of blood which had disgraced
France." In the Committee, Mr. Nicholls
moved for leave " to bring up a clause for li-
mning the amount of the debts which the Bank
might be allowed to contract during . the conti-
ance of the Bill. He said that antecedent to
the failure of the Bank, there was a natural limi-
tation to the issue of Bank bills, viz.—that if
more were issued than were wanted for the pur-
poses of commercial intercourse, the holders of
the bills would carry them in and demand cash.
The present bill would take away this
natural restriction ; it was, therefore, neces-
sary to substitute some positive restric-
tion. To what sum the Bank should be
restricted he did not himself mean to suggest.
He had left the Hank to be filled up by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer ; and if the sum
which might be suggested by him was not very
much out of proportion, he would acquiesce in
it. If the Bill passed without such restriction,
the Bank would be converted into a mint, which
might coin Bills to any amount." In fact, after
the Restriction Act had passed, the Minister
could never be in any difficulty as to a Loan to
any amount. The Contractors could not be
aware that through the influence of Ministers
they could obtain money fiom the Bank either
on the Discount of Bills or by a pledge of their
Scrip. If the men of the present day be not
models of wisdom, they will at all events hear
comparison with the men of 1797. But the
only use of recurring to the past is to derive in-
struction, for the future. The nation has been
foolishly and inconsiderately plunged into diffi-
culties. It is too late to complain of the evils of
an enormous debt, when the debt is already in-
curred. The question now is, in what manner
the pressure of taxation can be lightened as much
as possible, without a departure from justice ?
At the Cumberland Meeting, Sir James Graham
observed—
" Although he did not like the . military
aspect of the Duke's Government, and very much
disapproved of the late prosecutions of the Press—
(Applause)—still he could never forget the debt
of gratitude this country owed to the Duke for his
noble military achievements ; he could not forget
that he was the conqueror of Napoleon, and the
foremost man of all the world; that prudence, fore-
sight, and decision, had always marked his progress;
and that now, more than ever, were these qualities
requisite to save the country from ruin. He (Sir
J. G.) hoped the Duke would emancipate himself
from those Councillors who were wedded to parti-
cular theories, and revise their monitory measures