The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-12 00:00:00

BULLION.

It is understood that the Bank Dirtetors are not at all
shaken by the renrnstrances of the leading city merchants
against their newly adopted practice in bullion transactions,
and that they intend to- persevere in the same - course.
The vari.aus forms of excuse, however; offered for them
out of doors, and among their own friends, would seem
to inlimate that they are by no means easy under the at-
taea which has been made upon therm They tvill soon
d;scover, we apprehend, to their cost, that a great public
duty, that of fairness and impartiality in all theirdual_
ings, is not to be fulfilled by any shuffling or evasion, They
have now to deal with a different set of men, and under very
different circumstances from those in which they usually
meet their own proprietors, and the soundness of their case
must eventually be brouglat to the test. One reason alleged in
justification of their lia'ce rule was, that as the Bank were by far-
the largest purchasers for gold, often the only buyer at the
fimed price of 31. 17s. 9d. the ounce standard, the broker's
duties are sufficently remunerated by a commirsion of one-
eighth per cent.; -but the principal charge, as before stated
referred to the transactions in silver bullion only, and in re-
spect to this the case is altogether different. The Panic
are but occasionally the buyers, and on the average ao not
purchase above one-sixth of the amount imported. But the,
merchants who have signed the late address I,erfectly un-
derstand the meaning of the measure. :laving observed
that business to some extent was pawing into other chan-
nels, they bold for th' future the premium of per cent.
in the sales made to themselves in order to monopolize and
control the whole market. This the merchants believe to
be injurious lo them, and they seek to prevent it. Their
cause is so clear and just that they must ultimately succeed.
In er,nnexion with this subject may be mentioned a
diffico,aty of another kind into which the Bank have got
thrraigh a deviation from one of their own rules in regard
to gold bullion, hitherto held to be inviolate, and under
circumstances which give some consistency to a charge
which has been founded on it against
.the directors; of a
preference to certain members of their own body over
other importers. The directors, it. seems, were under con-
tract with an individual, whose profession is that of as-
saying, melting, and refining gold, to take no bullion but
that which passed throogh his hands, but it happening to
suit the convenienc,..; of the directors of the Imperial Bra-
zilian Mining i;ompany, one of whom is also a director of the
Bank of England, that an exception to this rule should be
granted in favour of another respectable melter and refiner
of gold, on his obtaining the stamp of the Royal Mint to his
ingots, h was, to that extent, dispensed with. The only
parties, however, who have hitherto employed the latter-to
melt and refine their gold have been the Imperial Brazilian
Alining Co., and this Company's gold, so melted and stamped,
has always been purchased by the Bang. Another Com-
pany, also carrying on mining operations in Brazil, having
accidentally heard of this practice, adopted it, and offered
the gold so refined and stamped to the Bank. The gold
was rejected. The directors, it seems, only intended to
give this facility to one Company, and that a body in which
one of their own members takes a prominent part. This is
a more perplexing case for them, if possible, than that of
the commission on bullion. Having deviated from a rule
in favour of a particular party, to the prejudice of an indi-
vidraal with whom they had contracted for the careful exe-
cration of all business of that description, they find that
others who have made the discovery seek to share the same
advantages. They can bring proof that the Bank directors
have so acted with others. Their difficulty tlven is, how to
make a distinction between the two cases, so as to reject
consistently the latter claim. The golr!., mean time, the
fineness of which is not disputed, li'as in the Bullion-office,
where it was left for inspection ; ihe Bank refuse to pur-
chase, the seller will not take it back, and demands his
money. The attention of all who know the facts, and
they are not a few, is, fixed on the Bank, waiting the re-
sult.--Times.