The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We have copied from our respected Contemporary,
the Courier, on article on the important question of
Banking Affairs, and the present condition of the
Money Market. The difficulties and dangers de-
scribed by our Contemporary are truly of such impor-
tance, that they must fill every thinking man with
apprehension. What is the remedy for this appalling
danger, suggested by our Contemporary ? It says—
" Nations are, in such matters, slow and reluctant
learners ; and much suffering must, we apprehend, be en-
dured, before the issue of paper be confined to one body.
A great deal might, however, be done indirectly to bring
about this desirable consummation. Were Government to
order that none but Bank of England notes should be re-
ceived in payment of taxes, it would
wo
do much to discou-
rage the issue of country paper ;andi t
respects, a proper measure, inasmuch as t is necessary to
secure the public against loss."
It would seem that our Contemporary thinks the evil
is to be corrected by the Bank of England being the
one body to which the issue of paper should be con-
fided. We should indeed be alarmed if we could believe
it possible that such a result would follow the present
financial crisis. To entrust a power of this description
to a body of merchants responsible only to their cs:-
proprietors, and whose first duty is to make good divi-
dends, is an idea which, we trust, will never be se-
riously entertained by Government or Parliament.
Can any sane man be of opinion that the former
history of the Bank of England and the conduct of
its directors furnish a security for the safe exercise in
future of an uncontrolled power over the whole paper
.
issues of country ? Nay, with all the experience
of former mistakes and dangers to guide the manage-
ment of the Bank of England, what evidence is there
now of their having contracted the issues of paper when
their excess first became apparent by the exportation
of gold? If this exportation began at the time when
Portuguese and Spanish loans were negotiated, what
evidence have we that the Bank then instantly com-
menced the process of contraction ? Surely it ought
to be the first to watch the foreign exchanges, and to
hoist the signal of alarm. Was that the case ? When
Parliament meets this subject must be thoroughly in-
vestigated. The returns which will then be required
will show when the excess of paper issues became ap-
parent to the Directors of the Bank of England
and to the Government, by the export of gold, and
whether all those preventive and precautionary
measures were taken by the Bank, in conjunction
with the Government, which the public interests
claimed, and which the public had a right to expect
from men of prudence and knowledge. Parliament will
also inquire into the value of the present system of
publishing the statement of the liabilities and assets of
the Bank. We were told during the discussions on
the renewal of the Charter, that the present publicity
was to secure us against a recurrence of the evils en-
dured in 1825. Has it done so ? Is it a publicity
calculated to promote a habit of inquiry, and thereby to
instruct and inform the public, and warn them of ap-
proaching danger ; or is it not rather a publicity calcu-
lated only to benefit a limited number of individuals, and
to tell the mass of merchants and manufacturers in what
manner they have been ruined or crippled, after
the evil is done, and when it is impossible for
them to avail themselves of the knowledge for any
useful purpose ? We admit, with our worthy Con-
-4 temporary, the existence of a state of rottenness preg-
nant with extreme, danger in the present paper
system of the country ; but we should view with
increased alarm any plan for making the Bank of
England the sole irresponsible issuers of paper.
What reflecting man can venture to say that it would
permanently give the required security against excess
of issues ? And what friend of the liberal institutions
of the country would not in such a course of proceed-
ing be deeply apprehensive of the great and manifold
evils which uncontrolled influence would give to the
directors of so mighty a machine, exercising its agency
in every part of the kingdom ? In making these ob-
servations our only object is to guard the public against
hasty conclusions in reference to this important sub-
ject. We do not deny the evils of the present system
of paper issues by joint-stock banks, or mean to con-
tend that it is not capable of great improvement ; but
we deprecate the idea of looking to the Bank of Eng-
land as the only substitute. We wish to see a rigid
inquiry instituted by Parliament, accompanied by the
production of ample documentary information. The
public will then have better grounds than it now pos-
sesses for forming a sound judgment, both as to the
causes of the present evils, and the manner in which
their recurrence may for the future be best guarded
against.—Morning Chronicle.
One of the most amusing specimens of the " lie lu-
dicrous" which we have lately witnessed, is the nega-
tion, on the part of the Tories, that their proceedings
ore at all influenced by a desire to possess themselves
of office. The falsehood of this negation is so univer
sally obvious that it deceives no one, and is, therefore,
more calculated to excite derision than indignation. It
is like the Nolo Episcopari of those diffident and vera-
cious divines who, in accepting their spiritual charge,
solemnly repudiate the influence of mundane conside-
rations, but at the same time suffer themselves to be
persuaded to accept the emoluments of the diocese
purely from a love of the Church. This species of de-
ception is so old and well understood, that we are sur-
prised such skilful tricksters as the Tories should ex-
pose themselves to the contempt and laughter of at-
tempting its repetition. l-low strikingly has our great
dramatist, who unveiled the mysteries of the human
heart in its best as in its worst varieties, pourtrayed
this kind of duplicity when he represented the san-
guinary and ambitious Richard refusing to accept
the crown, for possession of which he had perpe-
trated the blackest crimes, and professing to take it
only in compliance with the public solicitations. The
" Great Captain" has also given a memorable illustra-
tion of this affected aversion to power, when previously
to his first Administration lie declared in the House
of Lords that it would be madness in him to aspire
to the Premiership, for which he had no desire nor
ambition ; nor did he, as he declared, possess the abi-
lity to discharge the high and important duties
.of the
office, even if his inclinations prompted him to its ac-
ceptance. Yet, before the lapse of a few days after
this declaration, we found the modest and unambitious
Duke flinging off his assumed indifference of office,
and acting with all his natural daring as chief of the
British Ministry I Of a similar character are all the
present declarations of the Tories, that office is no
temptation to them, when it in fact constitutes the
first end and aim of all their exertions. Who can
keep his gravity, on reading the assertion of the
Standard, that—" No man can say of the Conser
vatives—

Theirs is a vulgar party race,
Struggling, by dark intrigue, for place." "
These lines appear to have been written- expressly for
the Tories, though their veracious advocate so forcibly
disclaims their application. For what but the posses-
sion of office do the Tories so unceasingly struggle ?
For what but the possession of office did a Tory
Ca-
binet pass Catholic emancipation ? Why did almost
all the Tories profess themselves Reformers when Sir
Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington last usurped
the Administration ? Was it on account of an aver-
sion to office, that—after denouncing the Reform Act
as containing the elements of national ruin—they
offered themselves as Ministers to carry its principles
into effect. The only point on which all Tories
it
taries
agreed is to get into power by any contrivance—
on this principle only that they are urited. Their cant
about the Monarchy, the Church, and the House of
Lords, is sheer pretence to enlist antiquated preju-
dice. These institutions are valued by the Tories
only as a means of maintaining their own
ascendancy ; and of the truth of this there needs
no stronger proof than the fact of their perilling the
safety of the Monarchy, Church, and House of Lords,
rather than yield to the people the rights from which
they have so long and so unjustly excluded them. In
support of these institutions, they boast of being
united; but, as we have already stated, the desire of
place is their only bond of union. The are even more
divided in opinion than the Reformers, but they have
more discretion to conceal their individual differences.
Some, such as Newcastle, Winchilsea, &c., will
hear of no compromise nor surrender, but propose to
die in their last ditch. Others, like the Duke of Wel-
lington, perceiving, the futility and folly of attempting
to resist the national will, would concede to Re-
form just so much as would appease popular feeling,