The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-21 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 21, 1853.

SHREWSBURY and BIRMINGHAM
R Ili.W Xl' COMPANY.—At the ADJOURNED Mr ETLNG
of ,hareholders, he'd at t',e London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, Lon-
don, This Dry, at Twe Ye o'clock, and, by further adjournment at
Three o'clock, the -4crutineer• , Mr. It-bert Scott and Mr. A. K.
Baker, announced the result f the poll to be a very large majority in
f your of the offer of the Great Western Railway Company of 31 Fer
cent and halt profits

Mr Scott stated, that, having ascertained the sentiments of so large
a majority of the Shareholders to be favourable to an alliance with
the Great Western Railway Company, he should henceforth use his
utmost influence and exet tions to secure the passing of an Act of Par-
liament to confirm the agreement with the Great West rn Railway
Company upon the terms now offered— vtz., 31 per cent. and half the
surplus profits.
It was then unanimously resolved,

That the offer made by the Great Western Railway Company of 31
per cent. a❑d half the surplus profits be and it is hereby accepted by
the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Company, and power is
given to the birectors to carry the same into effect.
By order.

THOS. HALL, Secretary.

Wolverhampton, Sept. 20,1853.

ROYAL DANISH RAILWAY- FIRST
SECTION.—SECOND CALL of 31. per Share, making 91.
paio.—Notice is hereby given, that the Second Call of 31. per Share
will he d on the Ist October.

Shareholders will be required to deposit their Certificates of Shares
at the Offices of the Company, 84, King William-street, on or after
the 25th instant, between the hours of ten and two o'clock, when a
Call Letter will be delivered

Upon production of the Bankers' receipt at the Offices of the
Company, the Certificates will be returned, with the Call endorsed
thereon as paid.
Shareholders are reminded that Interest at the rate of 5 per cent.
will be charged on all Calls in arrear after the Ist October.
By order,
C. MOLLER, Secretary.
Dated 9th Sept., 1853.

ALLSOPP'S PALE ALE, in Casks of 18 Gal-
lons, 305.; and in full sized Bottles, Imperial Measure only,
ty wuich the Public gain one-third---
Quart 5................• . • Bs. per dozen.
Pints ..... • • • • •• . • • • • • •• • • •• • • 58. 99
Half-pints ................... ..... 35. „
Supplied, in the highest state of perfection, by
HARRINGTON PARKER,
BEER MERCHANT, 5%, Pall-Mall.

COUGH, CONSUMPTION, SPITTING of
BLOOD, NIGHT SWEAT:, and FEVERS.—lmmediate
relief is effected by PASCOE'S CONCENTRATED COUGH and
CONSUMPTION vIIXTURE, in all affections of the throat, chest,
lui gs, &c. In all cases of cough, hoarseness, wheezing, difficult
breathing, &c., I,owe,er inveterate, this highly successful remedy
will bd found the only medicine upon which entire reliance can be
pla .ed. It is also very valu ible in the febrile affections of children
In all BILIOUS DISORDERS, liver complaints, indigestion in all its
forms, headaches, loss of appetite, &c., PASCOE'S INFALLIBLE
GLOBULES will effect a radical cure, as proved by numberless tes-
timonials. Prepared only by the proprietors, Henry and Co., with-
o,.t whose signature across the Government stamp none is genuine.
To be omit iined through Barclay, :-uttou, Sanger, &c., or any re-
spectable medtci•.e vendor, in bottles at Is. 1%c1., Is. 9d., and 4s. 6d.
each. Wholesale depot, Bohemia-place, Hackney.

♦ NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 20.

The Conflict, 8, screw-corvette, will be taken out to
Stokes Bay again to-morrow, for screw trials, by Lieut.
Clarke, of the Dragon, (First Lieutenant of the Blen-
heim), at 10 a.m. .

The Sprightly tender, Acting Master George Allen
commanding, left this afternoon for Plymouth, to trans-
fer supernumeraries for the Mediterranean fleet to one
of the ships in Plymouth Sound ordered to that station.
The Dragon, 6, paddle-frigate, fitting out as the
depot ship of the steam reserve at this port, will be
ready for trial at the measured mile about this day
week.

The Barracouta, 6, paddle-sloop, Commander George
Parker, went to Spithead to-day to take in her powder,
&c., prior to proceeding on foreign service.
The Stromboli, 6, paddle-sloop, Commander Hall,
completed the adjustment of her compasses to-day, and
is ready to go to Spithead.
The Encounter, 14, Captain O'Callaghan, is to receive
a new set of rigging.

The Fairy Royal yacht, Master-Commander Welch,
went into the graving slip to-day to unship Scott's

screw.

PLYMOUTH, SEPT. 19.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, after at-
tending divine service in the dockyard chapel yesterday,
left in the afternoon in the Black Eagle steamer for
Falmouth.

The crew of her Majesty's screw steamship St. Jean
d'Acre, 100, Captain the Hon. H. Keppel, were paid
advanced wages to-day, and she is expected to sail to-
morrow for Queenstown.

The frigate Leander, 50, Captain G. St. Vincent
King, was towed to-day by the Avon and Confiance
steam vessels from Hamoaze into the Sound.

The brig Philomel, 8, sailed at 9 this morning for the
coast of Africa.

The Avon steamer returned from Pembroke at 9 p.m.
on Saturday with caulkers, who have finished the Caesar,

WOOLWICH, SEPT. 20.
APPOINTMENTS.
Master John P. P. Warren (1843) to the Leander, 50,
at Devonport.
Surgeon Fysher Negus (1848), to the Stromboli, pad-
dle-wheel steam sloop, at Portsmouth.
Assistant-Surgeon William Patrick (1847), from the
Victory, flag-ship, to the Excellent, gunnery ship, at
Portsmouth.

The Monkey steam vessel went up the river to-day to
Deptford to tow the Sarah, of South Shields, recently
injured by the Vulcan, screw steamship, to Woolwich,
to have old masts and rigging equal to what her own
masts and rigging were previously ; the Admiralty hav-
ing decided that the necessary repairs to the vessel
should be made at this yard, which was agreed to by her
owners.

ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES ADAM, K.C.8.--The remains
of Admiral Sir Charles Adam, late Governor of Green-
wich Hospital, were yesterday borne to the grave by the
sorrowing veterans of that noble institution. The
notices of this gallant officer have hitherto been confined
by our contemporaries to his career in the navy. There
great rewards hold out a stimulus to acts of daring by
men in the prime of life. But in Greenwich Hospital,
to the governorship of which no man attains until the
evening of life, and when a disinclination to exertion
may well be deemed excusable, inward self-satisfaction
is the only reward for a conscientious discharge of the
duties of that post. This satisfaction Sir Charles Adam
ought to have enjoyed in the highest degree, if an
unwearied and persevering endeavour to benefit the
whole establishment could confer it. All guard-duty
by day and night, formerly so harassing to the old
men, has been abolished, and the lodging, clothings
and diet of both pensioners and boys improved. He was
indefatigable in inspecting the wards—no trifling labour
in that extensive and lofty building- mingling with the
pensioners, and addressing them in so kind and affable a.
manner that the most diffident were encouraged to com-
municate their little grievances, which, when able, he at
once redressed. Nor was Sir Charles Adam less actively
interested in the welfare of the schools, and during the
periodical examinations by the Government inspector he
was daily to be seen in the class-room--an intention
most inciting to the masters as well as their scholars.
It is difficult to say in what department of the institution
the decease of Sir Charles will be most deplored, and it
is only to be hoped that this great loss to the establish-
ment may be in some degree alleviated by the appoint-
ment of a worthy successor.
THE RETIRED FLAG OFFICERS OF SEPTEMBER, 1846.
—We believe it was understood at the last re-arrange•
ment of the flag-list, that as the flag officers on reserved
half-pay were to progress in their grades of flag rank,
as they would have taken their turn for promotion if
they had remained on the active list ; so the senior cap-
tains who accepted the retired flag rank under the Order
in Council of 1846, should also advance in their titles
according to their seniority, with those on then active
list. Under these circumstances, then, our pected
and venerable neighbour, Rear-Admiral Wilkes Mau-
rice, the senior of the retired list of admirals becomes
entitled to his promotion to the rank of vice-admiral
without any increase of pay, our gallant friend being
senior as a captain to our esteemed fellow-townsman,
Vice-Admiral Arthur, C. 8., who has attained his pre-
sent rank on the death of Admiral Sir Charles Adam.—
Plymouth, Mail.
FLAG CAPTAIN ON THE BRAZILS STATION.—We hear
that Captain Thomas Harvey (1848) will succeed Capt.
St. Leger Cannon in the Centaur as flag captain to the
commander-in-chief, Rear-Admiral Henderson, C. 8.,
on the south-east coast of America station. Captain
Cannon has invalided.—Plymouth Mail.

BAENSTAPLE
corrupt BRIBERY
practices
whichC o mNt 1 shSai Ov
have
.
p—revThaileed ah t inquiryt
into e
election for the borough at Barnstaple, terminated on Sa-
turday, after a protracted sitting of 16 days. There
has been a good deal of bribery proved on the part of the
the
agents of the Tory candidates at the last election, and the
last few days have been occupied by the Court in examin-
ing a number of witnesses who had received 6/. a-piece for
their votes. The inquiry has also been distinguished by
some shameful instances of perjury, and an incident of a
very painful nature. It was elicited that a family of the
name of Gaydon, numbering 12 voters, had received 6/.
each for their votes. One of them, a respectable silver-
smith, at first denied strongly, on oath, but afterwards,
on his brother being sent for from London to confront
him, he was constrained to admit it. One•of the Gay-
dons, a mason, aged 80, attempted to commit suicide on
Friday. The old man was afraid of being summoned
before the commissioners, as his name was on the list as
one who had received a bribe. He had denied that he
had accepted money for his vote as alleged before the
committee of the House of Commons, and when he
heard that he was to be called up before the commis-
sioners he cut his throat, but fortunately it was dis-
covered in time to avert an immediately fatal result to
his rash action, and it is hoped that he will ultimately
recover. There were several instances of shameful per-
jury, and the revelations were altogether of a most dis-
tressing and disgusting nature.
THE GREAT BRITAIN.—A letter has reached us dated
St. Vincent, August 24, signed by Mr. Henry Davie s,
on behalf of the passengers to Australia by the Great
Britain, in which they express their entire satisfaction
with the attention of Captain Matthews and his officers
to the comforts of the passengers, and with the quality
and quantity of the provisions. The writer also praises
the arrangements made by Messrs. Gibbs Bright, and
Co. for the Eagle line of packets to Australia.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL AT GREENOCK.

( Prom the Times.)
• Great men are never so great as in the holydays.
Either they are sent for fifteen hundred miles from
Rome, or five hundred miles from the Highlands ;
or the quiet little nook in which they try to hide
I themselves becomes thefocus of a million wondering
eyes, and every town within 50 miles insists on feting
and addressing them. The good people of Greenock
have succeeded in drawing Lord John Russell, and
obtaining a good sight of the man whose speeches
they have read, whose life they admire, and whom
most of them have hitherto been left to imagine as
well as they can. A prima donna was once seized
in transitu by the population of a small city, and
compelled to sing her best songs with what grace
she could ; and Lord John Russell has literally
said his last things and shown his best points to
the people of Greenock. For a compendium of
his life and his policy in one brief performance,
really it was a very good exhibition. Conversant
as we are with Lord John Russell's strong points,
we really don't know one that he omitted or failed
to do justice to ; so, his spectators and hearers on
this interesting occasion may congratulate them-
selves on having seen the whole man, the great
orator and political chief in all his phases,
as Parliamentary,
municipal, commercial, and
general Reformer, and now leading the re-
presentatives of a free people and a great nation.
When a man has been before the world a whole
generation, and introduced important bills into
Parliament before half his present audience were
born, what can he say that shall be really new, or
even peculiarly appropriate to the occasion ? Hap-
pily, the ever-varying situation of affairs always
leaves some room for novelty. There is always
something new, even if it be only an old thing in a
new guise. The sun is never in exactly the same
place in the skies that he has been in before since
the creation of the world ; and so it happens,
for-
tunately, or unfortunately in some respects, that
Lord John Russell could never have said before,
with equal propriety, what he said on Monday,
from the platform of the Mid-Church at Greenock,
to a large congregation of Provosts, Sheriffs,
Baillies, Councillors, Water-trustees, Town-clerks,
Procurators, Chamberlains, and well-dressed gen-
tlemen and ladies.

Perhaps the peculiarities of the present state of
affairs may be summed up in three heads—the
approach of a new measure of Parliamentary Re-
form ; the necessity of a good many social and
material reforms, rendered more imperative just
now by the rapid increase and crowding of our
great cities ; and the still ugly look of affairs in
Eastern Europe. Lord John Russell has addressed
himself to all these points with so much of his cha-
racteristic simplicity, clearness, and strength, that,
even while we feel a shade of difference, we cannot
help admiring. With regard to the first, Lord
John betrays all his old paternal affection for
his Reform Act, and his unwillingness to see it
supplanted by a more vigorous measure or one con-
taining any new principle. He takes care to bring
out in full light the work of the last twenty
years—that is of the Reformed Parliament ; its
very great but quiet improvements, its increasing
triumph over party, the growing agreement of
public men, and the security which seems to be
obtained that no measure necessary for the public
welfare can now be successfully resisted. This
seems as much as to say, " Here is a legislative or-
gan sufficient for the purpose ; it has given you all
you want, and continues to do so, with ever-
increasing honesty and certainty ; it reflects the
people, and so long as they are true to themselves it
will be true to them." Are we far wrong in see-
ing through this a slight natural yearning for the
admirable status quo of our constitution ? Does
not Lord John feel that affection for the present
House of Commons, with all its faults, which
prompts a natural parent to resent the interference
of a neighbour in the education and even the ne-
cessary correction of his offspring ? No father, no
mother, ever yet tolerated the hand of the
stranger on her child. Casually, and by the way,
Lord John says it—but backhanders are always
the strongest blows—" It would be difficult, per-
haps, to find a time in the history of any country
when so many measures of importance have been
obtained, without convulsion and without revolu-
tion, as have been obtained and established in this
country since 1833." Who does not see the pater-
nal hand in this epitaph over the future grave of
the Reformed House of Commons ?
But then comes the timely admission that there
is a world of reforms still to be done. The diffi-
culty is skilfully brought in as itself a result and
proof of the success which has attended recent le-
gislation :—" Unfortunately, the very increase of
civilisation the very gathering together of popu-
lations, which are the proofs of industry, of com-
merce, of flourishing manufactures, and increased
trade these things bring with them attendant
evils." Here are masses of deep ignorance in
crowded dwellings that neither the light of the sun
nor that of the heaven above seems to penetrate,
neither sweet air nor wholesome knowledge to per-
vade. Air, health, schools, and other wants of the
many, are now occupying the same place as objects
of patriotism that constitutional reform did in the
last generation. They seem rather tame stuff to
the men who have listened to Fox, to Erskine, to
Romilly, or even to the northern Gamaliel, at
whose feet Lord John Russell learnt his first les-
sons. But, as the Nimrods of other days would
now have to content themselves with very small
game, so our great reformers must condescend to
clean and to scour, to open windows, to " teach
the young idea to shoot," and busy them-
selves in alternately wielding the besom and the
pen. But here again comes another difficulty.
We are a free people, a constitutional people, with
a fancy for local management, and a jealousy of
centralisation. Many an Irishman would rather
die in dirt and tobacco than live in clean linen and
whitewash. That is our case. We would rather
go on as we now do, with stupid and obstinate
parish vestries which we never go near, and with
our courts full of cholera and juvenile pickpockets,
than submit to official pedagogues and sanitary re-
formers. An Emperor might level our rookeries
and our understandings with streets and new roads
to knowledge ; but in England we choose to do
these things ourselves, at our own leisure, and are
not over-anxious to do them at all. So they seem

likely to wait the leisure of the next generation.
Lord John Russell, however, hopes otherwise. He
sets all this down as the work of the Legislature ;
perhaps with the thought in his own breast that
the House of Commons would do much more
wisely to attend to these matters, instead of
troubling itself with a suicidal attempt at self-re-
generation.
Then comes the third topic of the day, to which
Lord John alludes quietly, cautiously, and yet
boldly. We are a great nation, and profess to
stand our ground against all the world. But that
boast is hollow and armament is wasted if we
allow our opinion and our friendship to go for nothing
in the general affairs of the world. Important as
domestic questions may be, "it is also to be con-
sidered," says Lord John, "and I trust we shall
none of us forget, that this country holds an im-
portant position among the nations of the world.
It is not once but many times she has stood for-
ward to resist oppression, to maintain the indepen-
dence of weaker nations, to preserve to the general
family of nations that freedom, that power of go-
verning themselves, of which others have sought
to deprive them. I trust that character will not
be forgotten, will not be abandoned by a nation
which is now stronger in means, which is more
populous, more wealthy than she has been at any
former period." In this manly and becoming strain
his lordship continued, with ever-increasing ap-
plause as he went on ; so that we are to conclude
the good citizens of Greenock are quite prepared,
if necessary, to incur the risks of war for the cause
of justice and their country's honour. Altogether
Lord John Russell has turned to very good ac-
count the civilities of his northern friends. It is
not impossible that from the banks of the Clyde a
few salutary thoughts may reach the more magni-
ficent quays of the Neva, and be all the more im-
pressive for not being wrapt up in the sacred lan-
guage of diplomacy. Or, even if the Minister's
words should be set down as a matter of course,
not so will the energetic response of the assembled
citizens.

MR. CHARLES DICKENS.—This popular novelist, in a
letter to the Times, dated Boulogne, Sept. 18th, says :
" I observe two statements from a country paper, copied
into your columns of Saturday last, and therefore made
important. They represent me as having availed myself
of the experiences of that excellent police-officer, Mr.
Inspector Field, in Bleak, House, and also as having un-
dertaken to write the said excellent officer's biography.
Allow me to assure you that, amid all the news in the
Times, I found nothing more entirely and completely
new to me than these two pieces of intelligence."
DIVISIONS OF THE 110IISE.—From one of Mr. Brother-
ton's returns, just printed, it appears that the number
of divisions on public bills in the last session was 179
before.midnight, and 61 after ; and that 17 divisions took
place on private bills before midnight. The total num-
ber of divisions in the session of 1852.3 was 251.

OUR COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS.

The unsettled state of the Russo-Turkish ques-
tion, the known failure of the crops, the continuous
fall in the funds, and the weekly drain of gold from
the cellars of the Bank of England, are the absorb-
ing topics of conversation in commercial circles.
Notwithstanding the enormous supplies of gold
from Gilifornia and Australia, whose nines were
unknown in 1846, our present metallic assets only
exceed those of that year by the paltry sum of
147,2201., for on the 12th September, 1846, the
Bank held 16,353,846/., and on last Saturday
16,500,0681. The drain has continued without in-
termission since the 2d of July, the average weekly
decrease being 216,5221., the aggregate during that
period amounting to 2,165,221!. Hence the rise
in the rate of discounts, and as no immediate cessa -
tion in the efflux is expected, it is highly probable
that the rate will be still further increased. Whe-
ther we are to have a renewal of the disasters of
1847, or are fated to escape the desolating scourge
of panic, we venture not to predict ; but it may be
well to remind our readers that in that most cala-
mitous year from 250 to 300 millions were sacrificed
in order to recover from foreigners some four mil-
lions of sovers which had been exported. This was
the practical result of our monetary legislation, and
that legislation still remains in full force.

The active circulation of Bank notes at the last
return was 22,465,945 ; in other words, these notes
were in the hands of the public, and to that
amount the public were creditors of the Bank.
Now what bad the Bank in gold to redeem these
promises to pay on demand ? Just 16,162,6401. ;
the deficiency therefore was 6,303,3051., so that
of the theory propounded by the bullionists,
on which the Act of 1844 is based, were ho-
nestly acted'upon, the Bank-would at this moment'
be insolvent, since it could not redeem its promises
in the precious metal. When Sir Robert Peel in-
troduced this measure he made the following re-
marks :--'• The whole foundation of my measure
rests on the assumption that, according to practice,
according to law, according to the ancient mone-
tary policy of this country, the meaning of a pound
is neither more nor less than a certain quantity of
gold, with a mark upon it to determine its weight
and fineness ; and that the engagement to pay a
pound means nothing, and can mean nothing else,
than to pay to the holder on demand, when he de-
mands it, a definite quantity of the precious metals."
In the terms of this definition it is clear that the
Bank is now insolvent ; but Sir Robert Peel dis-
carded his own definition when he began to legis-
late. It so happened that the
.country owed the
Bank of England eleven millions of permanent
debt, and always required advances to the extent
of three millions on Exchequer bills, so that the
permanent and floating debt amounted to fourteen
millions. Now against that amount the Bank is
allowed by the Act of 1844 to issue notes without
any metallic basis whatever ; it is only when that
sum is exceeded that it is bound to hold bullion in
its cellars. The whole scheme is composite andl
contradictory ; it asserts a principle only to violate
it, and repudiates in practice what it affirms in
theory. If the Legislature had not intended to mys-
tify the subject, it ought to have decreed that the
inconvertible notes should have on their face some
distinctive mark, so that the public might know that
promises to pay on fourteen millions of notes were
mere moonshine. The rule laid down by Lord Over-
stone. that the notes are to contract or expand as bul-
lion leaves or enters the coffers of the Bank would be
rational if the whole circulation were based on the
theory ; but it is absolutely absurd in a mixed
currency partly convertible and partly inconver-
tible.

The ruled laid down by the Bank itself for raising
and lowering discounts is not based on national
policy, but is determined altogether by the pecu-
niary interests of that establishment. In the Lords'
Report on Commercial Distress, referring to the
panic of 1847, it is stated that the earlier practice
of the Bank of England had been to discount at a
rate nearly fixed and uniform. From 1704 to the
16th May, 1839, this rate never exceeded five, nor
was less than four, per cent. In the pressure of
1839, the rate was raised for some months to six
per cent., but it was reduced to five per cent. in
January, 1840, and remained at four to five per
cent., as before, till after passing the 7th and Bth
Vict. cap. 32, which is the Bank Charter Act of
1844. During this long period the object was to
ensure steadiness in the value of money, and avoid
violent fluctuations. Now this rule was abandoned
after the monetary legislation of 1844, and the fol-
lowing explanation, given by the Governor of the
Bank, is printed in the Lords' Report :

" In regulating the rate of interest we look, of course,
to the state of the reserve. We are either to increase
or diminish the amount of the reserve, as may be re-
quired, by raising or lowering the rate of interest, or by
the sale or purchase of securities. Supposing the de-
mand upon the Bank, for instance, was considerable,
and more than the Bank were able to afford, it would
be necessary to put up the rate of interest. On the
-other hand, if the reserve of the Bank was increasing,
and it was not thought advisable to purchase securities,
naturally the rate would be put down. The putting up
or the lowering the rate would be guided by the state
of the reserve, reference being had to the rate of interest
in the market."

It is evident that such a system is hostile to the
best interests of commerce, as the whole trade of
the country is made subordinate to the profits of a
privileged corporation. By raising or lowering
discounts at its caprice, the Bank can lower or
raise prices generally, and thus derange the whole
business of the country, just as it may operate on
the dividends of its own shareholders. Now it
transpired in evidence before the Lords' Committee
that during the railway mania the Bank invested
2,481,0001. in railway securities ; and when the
Governor and Deputy-Governor were asked by the
Committee what, in their judgment, were the
causes of the distress, they answered, " One of the
causes of it is, that many of those parties have been
dealing in railway shares. The capital which they
ought to have kept in their business they have put
out in expectation of realising at a profit, but rail-
way shares have become nearly unsaleable, and
their capital has been locked up." So here we
find the Bank assisting to create the very mischief
of which the Governors afterwards complained. So
long as they made a profit for their establishment
they encouraged the speculation ; but when the
profit ceased, they turned round and set up a
lachrymose whine about overtrading.
The Bank has avowed that the state of the re-
serve determines their conduct in fixing the rate
of discount. The management therefore is based
on selfishness. When the reserve is large, it dis-
counts freely even at 2 per cent., and thus en-
courages traders to extend their business. An
abundance of money raises prices, merchants be-
come enterprising, and both profits and wages are
remunerating. The condition of all classes is im-
proved, and the population is loyal and orderly.
This is a state of things that wisdom would per-
petuate ; but it is always of short duration, for,
with rising prices, a newireloement
t isin introducg
ed
which
actuced
which prevents the Bank
on the reserve policy. Foreignem crson then begin to
take gold in payment of what is due to them in-
stead of manufactures, and the Bank puts on the
screw. As in the first case it lowered discounts to
employ its reserve at a profit, so now it raises dis-
counts to check the escape of its bullion. Thus
the Bank causes prosperity or adversity at its plea-
sure, and the whole trading community are at the
mercy of the establishment. Now we are very far
from saying that the Bank is wholly or solely to
blame for these commercial derangements ; for the
Bank itself is coerced by the stringency of the act
of 1844, and may be bankrupt with millions in its
coffers—a fact that would be incredible had it not
been proved in evidence. This is owing to the
separation between the Issue and Banking De-
partments. For instance, in October, 1847, when
the panic was at its height, the Bank had only
1,600,0001. in the banking department to meet its
liabilities, while the total deposits were 14,500,000/.,
the deposits of the London bankers being more
than 2,000,0001. at that time. The Governor was
asked, in reference to these facts, " if anybody had
called upon you for anything beyond that million
and a half, you must have stopped payment ?"
" Yes we must." " Nevertheless," added the
Governor, "we should have had 8,500,000/. in
our vaults." We have little evidence here of Par-
liamentary wisdom, for the Bank was solvent in
one room and insolvent in another in the same
building. Nothing saved it from destruction but
the Treasury Minute, which suspended the Act of
so
Parliament that had caused all the mischief.
Now in reference to our commercial prospects
our r
gold
far as they are affected by the contraction of the
currency and the rise ino dfiosrceoiugnntesr,sthtaiskeimp
important
question
hoods arises—Why
oi d n
payment of the commodi-
tiesinste
a d o
f o
ur g
they sell to us ? Of course this is not done
there must be a strong motive for
ictapiu
;rthiciostsly ;
then is the point to be explained, for it
involves the best interests of all who live on
wages and profits.
It is easy to distinguish between the intrinsic
value of commodities and their taxation value.
to the labour ex-
The former is strictly limited