The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-04 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1354.

Once more we must earnestly and emphatically
press upon the attention of the Government, more
especially of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as
the Minister within whose department the matter
peculiarly falls, the propriety, nay, more, the im-
perative necessity, of taking the Currency Question
into serious consideration, before irreparable
damage is inflicted on the trade and commerce of
the country by the exportation of bullion that
must necessarily follow the formal declaration of
war against Russia. Already the stream of bul-
lion is flowing steadily to the continent ; and un-
less the country is prepared to witness a suc-
cession of calamities iner© serious even than
those that occurred in the memorable year 1.847,
we must take measures either to turn the
tide, or to be enabled to disregard the con-
stant ebbing of the precious metals, by obtain-
ing an adequate and efficientsubstitute for a large
proportion of the sums now in use for the trans-
actions of every-day life. It will also be indis-
Pensable to devise measures of such a character
that they may, at the same time, prevent the
AUTOCRAT from obtaining the means of protract-
ing the insanecontest on which he, influenced by
cupidity,
and is entering ; and, on the other
hand,
, lance enable us to supply our faithful allies,
and Turkey with the pecuniary aid that
not
may be of '
can,
suchsmvoirata eliati,mportance to both. We
at
afford more decisive evi-
dence of our sincerity to the cause in which we
have deliberately embarked than by rendering
thatancet assitostan ouce which will be second only in im-
porr
paysical co-operation. If we are
prepared to be prodigal of the blood of our gal-
lant seamen and soldiers, if We are prepared to
encounter the d
angers of ,c
flood and field," we
should not be stingy of our treasures, or Un-
willing to hazard our bullion.

Now- if we attempt to check the exportation
of bullion by inducing, as
of yore, the Bank
Directors to apply " the screw" in the most strin-
gent manner, there will not merely be au enor-
mous and unnecessary amount of domestic misery
produced thereby, but we shall find ourselves to-
tally unable to afford the much-required pecuniary
assistance to those arranged on the same
aide, and fighting under the same standard as
ourselves, while the adversary, who can afford
at least to promise more highly, will bear away
the prize. So long as the Bank Charter Act of
1844 remains in operation, the highest bidder,
by even a single farthing, will be preferred. Our
tgoneyocracy would not know, or seek to know,

the application of the funds which they supplied.
Provided the interest was high, and the security
satisfactory, that is all they care for; and if they
get a half per cent. additional sufficiently gua-
ranteed they would advance funds for the revival
of the horrible traffic in human flesh, or even for
the subjugation of their native land. If we wanted
an illustration of this deplorable laxity of prin-
ciple on the part of our leading capitalists,
we need only point to the high quotations of
Russian stock during the entire summer, when
the security of the CZAR was more valued than
that of Great Britain, and there were eager buyers
of the stock which should have been tabooed and
avoided as an unclean thing. The parties guilty
of this gross dereliction of duty have, we rejoice
to say, suffered severely for their conduct. But
the fall has been occasioned, not by any degree of
patriotism inducing the jobbers to abstain from
dealing iu the stock, but simply because serious
doubts are entertained with respect to the readi-
ness and ability of NICHOLAS to pay the divi-
dends.

As the first mode of retaining or bringing back
our bullion would be so manifestly ineffectual,
while the very attempt would occasion such
serious mischief to our domestic trade and manu-
factures, we must necessarily resort to the only
other alternative, the providing "an efficient and
adequate substitute for a large proportion of the
coin now in use for the transactions of every-day
life ;" and the best mode of effecting this desidera-
tum is the great problem which Mr. GLADSTONE
is at this moment imperatively required to solve,
the simple issue of a sufficient number of 1/.
notes, by which the sovereigns now circulating
may be made available for supporting the expenses
of the war aad supplying the wants of our allies.
Almost all writers on currency—bullionists as well as
anti-bullionis-3—concurin representing theamount
of sovereigns in the hands of the public at from
40,000,0001, to 50,000,0001., and we have rea-
son to believe that the amount is by no means
overrated. An issue of 11. notes, in which the
people had confidence, would completely super-
sede at least three-fourths of that amount—the
notes issued without expense taking the place of
the coin no longer required for daily use. The
wear and tear, as well as the interest of the
money, would thus be saved, and the extra
estimates provided for without a shilling ad-
ditional expenditure to the country. But the di-
rect saving would be utterly insignificant in
comparison to the indirect benefits that would flow
from its adoption. When the representative and
measure of value was not wanting, and due facili-
ties for monetary accommodation were afforded,
the industry of the country would flourish, and
provide the means for carrying on the war vigor-
ously and energetically. How different would it
be from the pecuniary paralysis produced by " the
screw." Let our monetary reformers ponder
these things in their minds, and, if Mr. GLAD-
STONE should neglect this all-important matter in
his financial statement, be prepared with search-
ing interrogatories, to elicit information as to the
time when, and the circumstances under which, he
will be prepared to bring forward a measure cal-
culated to prevent the destructive consequences of
a continued drain of bullion from the country.

A remarkable epitome of the results of the last
Census of Great Britain—that of 1851—has re-
cently evidenced in a really surprising manner the
skill and industry of Mr. EDWARD CHESHIRE, a
Fellow of the Statistical Society, and one of the
Secretaries of the Statistical Section of the British
Association. Within the compass of an octavo
pamphlet,* containing scarcely fifty pages of letter-
press, are here compressed together the more
valuable results of that extraordinary Census, the
returns of which originally extended over some
forty thousand volumes in manuscript. Assuredly
a wonderful indication of adroitness in condensa-
tion. So notable, in fact, do we conceive
this abridgment to be, that we are de-
sirous of thus pointedly directing the general
attention of the community to Mr. CHESHIRE'S
eminently judicious and meritorious publi-
cation. We are the more anxious to com-
mend it to the especial notice of the more intelli-
gent observers of the age, because we are satisfied
that much information of importance may be
readily obtained by them from its searching and
lucidly-arranged analysis of our aggregate popu-
lation. The principal portion, or body of the
pamphlet, will be found to have been ingeniously
portioned out in nine sections : the first relating
to the immediate objects of the Census, and descrip-
tive of the precise character of the machinery-
employed in the accumulation of its widely-scat-
tered and manifold particulars. Peculiar refer-
ence is had in the second to the general distribu-
tion of the Population. Section the third specifies
the Law of Population, Families and Houses
are enumerated in the fourth while the
fifth has relation to towns, with particu-
lar allusion, of course, to the wonders re-
vealed by the Census of the metropolis, indicating
its vast and marvellously multiplied population.
In the sixth section are considered the density and
proximity of the population. In the seventh we
have the whole British archiplago considered, as
it were piecemeal—the various islands forming the
group trailing off in succession, appearing " small by
degrees and beautifully less" as they are " told
off" one by one—Great Britain, Ireland, Anglesey,
Jersey, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, Guern-
sey, Lewis, Skye, Shetland, Orkney, Islay, Bute,
Mull; Arran. The eighth section, let us add, is
is very far from being the least interesting—hav-
ing regard to the rather complex subject of terri-
torial subdivisions—shires, hundreds, tythings,
burghs, boroughs, dioceses, deaneries, archdeacon-
ries. The only remaining section, the ninth,
generalises the results of the whole census of
our population. It must be remarked, in tes-
timony of the value of the paper here
commended to the attention of the multitude, that
it was deemed not unworthy of being read by its
compiler, on the Bth of last September, before
the statistical section of the British' Association
for the Advancement of Science—the much-con-
temned, but admirably useful, because ever enter-
prising and intelligent, British Association. Al-
ready we observe that the pamphlet has passed
through several editions in rapid succession—the
one under notice having been carefully revised, and
accompanied by an appendix comprising a vast
amount of important and curious information. An
appendix, by the way, extending over no less than
twenty-three elaborate tables altogether.
Glancing even cursorilythroughthese pages, it is
impossible not to have one's attention arrested by
their surprising intimations. For example—that
the aggregate population of Great Britain in 1851,
numbering altogether 21,121,967, displays such
a remarkable balance of numbers in the two sexes,
namely 10,386,048 males and 10,735,919 females.
That between 1801 and 1851—within the limits
of just half a century—the whole population has
been more than doubled ! The census returns of
1801 giving 10,917,433, and those of 1851, as
we have just remarked, 21,121,967 as the last
aggregate. That the number of inhabited houses
in Great Britain, during the same interval, has
been nearly trebled ! The total number in 1801
being 1,870,476, and in 1851, actually 3,648,347.
That according to the last Census there are as
many as 2,017 public institutions—such as
Barracks, Asylums, Prisons, Hospitals, and Work-
houses—giving shelter to 295,856 individuals.
That the enormous increase in the amount of the
aggregate population already mentioned—an in-
crease which has given an addition within the last
ten years of actually 2,300,000—has been simul-
taneously going on (remember that !) with an
immense amount of immigration. Adventurers,
of late years especially, flocking wholesale
from the mother country, southwards and
westwards, here 'to America,' there to Aus-
tralia. Notwithstanding which, as we
have seen, within fifty years no less than
tea millions have been added to the popu-
lation. Before closing our reference to this re-
markable pamphlet we would especially call
the attention of the public to two important

- •
* "The Results of the Census of Great Britain in
1851, with a description of the Machinery and Processes
employed to obtain the Dignity. Also, an Appendix.
By Edward Cheshire. Sixth thousand. (Reviled).
London ; Parker and Son. 1853.