The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-28 00:00:00

S N 9 OCTOBER ,28, 1847.

th operative classes thrown out of emplo,Y-'
ment by the stoppage of factories, the sit'4-I
pension of railway works, and similar hindraneeq
of the ordinary course of :business. We are at the
beginning of the cold wintry months, and the pres-
pects of the poor are deteriorating. Employme4,ls,
their great want, and there are public improvements
and great national works projected on which their
labour might be most usefully 'engaged. All might
go on well, but that the money—the mere counter
of value—is short. A huge reality is set on oneside
by a paltry fiction For gold, in its character of
the money of a country like England, can never, be
anything I,ut a fiction—all the gold in Europe not
equalling the amount of money our trading opera'
dons require, and which is continually floating about
in the shape of bills of exchange, acceptances, &e.,
while business and credit are •in what are called,,a
healthy condition. The credit is now locked up;
because the law assumes the existence of a particular
material in quantities which were never khoWn
the world, and legislation is based on the false 'as-
sumption. A species of money which, Arom its ria,
ture, con never be but expensive, is made to govern,
or rather to thwart, the course of transactions reac,h-
ing to a hundred times the amount of its intrinsic value.
This pressure is not over.
,Experienced" observeis
of currency matters think that what ha's already taken
place is as nothing to what ie Coining ; and that' litlt.7
withstanding any temporary pcistponement of the
difficulties they will still survive in the fulness of their
pernicious vigour. Mr.Muntz emphatically, declares-
himself of this opinion ; Messrs. Spooner, Taylor, and
numbers of men whose opinions are very various" on
Ordinary political subjects, are unanimous in attri-
buting the great pressure on all kinds of industry;:to
the 6ystem which the late Sir Robert Peel prophesied
would double his son's fortune, but ruin England.
Still Sir Charles Wood talks of " the worst" having
gone by, arid the Times rages against railways;.be-
' cause they furnish large masses of the people
with a species of employment that enables them to
purchase and pay for substantial food. It is, no
doubt, perfectly true that the progress and extent,
of railway works have stimulated the consurapaan
of food. It is exceedingly probable that the
drain upon gold was thus aggravated. But What
could be more insane, at a season when the manu-
facturing districts present the universal spectacle of
mills closed or closing, and when industry is = lan-
guishing for a field on which to exercise itself,than
to avert the progress of almost the only description of.
out-door work by which the comparatively unskilled
labourer earns a comfortable livelihood. We have not
hesitated to do justice to the prudence and good 'in-
tentions of railway directions in determining on'aome
extensive postponements of their " calls" and pro-
ceedings ; but we confess it is not without despon-
dency we hear of crowds of workmen being ,dis-
missed at a period when it is impossible that they can
find occupation in any other way. Manufactures
cannot absorb them, and we are already pained at
newed and increasing complaints about the burden 'of
poor-rates in districts which were prosperoni and
flourishing a year ago. It is no wonder that Minis-
ters should have thought such frequent Cabinetmeet-
ings necessary of late. Fearful is the responsibility
which these gentlemen have to divide between them..
HER ALD.—No one can deny, that it is a morti-
fying position for a journal, which has been accus-
tomed for 20 years past to think and speak of itself as
" leading" everybody .and everything, to find itself
suddenly left aground, alike by the Government, the
public, and.the, press. Yet how could this be helped ?
It may be very well to praise " Cocker ;" but in truth
it is solely to Cocker that we owe the late death-
wound given to the Peel currency of 1844. No one
can doubt that the London bankers, in their late con-
fabulations with Sir Charles Wood, appealed„ at
every step, to " addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division." The " sum" presented to the Chan-
cellor to be worked out Was doubtless of this kind :
" The reserve or notes in the banking department
are now reduced to 2,630,1151. But this is less than
the Bank itself requires for its own business and the
business of its branches. 4,000,000/., it has been often
stated, is the requisite stock of paper which the Bank
requires for its own use. Hence, when Messrs. Roths-
childs, or Smiths, or Glyns, come to the Bank, and
want 200,000/. or 300,0001. on a deposit of stock or Ex-
chequer-bills, the Bank is compelled to answer, 'We
have no money to spare.' Then these houses return home,
and tell their customers, in their turn, 'We have no
money to spare.' And thus the word is given,
throughout the commercial world, No money ! No
money !"The inevitable results must be these : mer-
chants and bankers, possessing 30s. or 40s. for every
pound they owe, in goods or bills, must stop payment,
because they can get no money ! Each successive
crash increases the alarm,—the stoppage of one bank
causes a run upon five others,--the panic hourly
spreads,—and, should the determination of Govern-
ment be, that no relief can be given, there is the
greatest probability of the rapid growth of the public
alarm, and the fall of more local banks, until at last
the people throw themselves simultaneously on the
Bank of England, and in two days empty her coffers,
and put an entire stop to the whole trade and com-
merce of England!" These, we repeat, were the
eh ments of the arithmetical question presented to the
Government by the bankers, on Saturday and Mon-
day last. The precise figures set down it is not for
us to know, nor do they at all affect the general ques-
tion. We repeat the assertion, that the discussion of
Monday, the reasoning employed, and the resolution
finally adopted, were all strictly "according to Cocker."
And had Ministers adopted any other resolution,
they would inevitably have been arraigned in Parlia-
ment for not understanding the ordinary rules of
arithmetic. The one malcontent journal, which ad-
mits that it is, " like a naughty boy, kept in and
tasked, while a holiday is given to the rest,"—ana
which bitterly resolves "to be malignant and pro-
phetic,"—ought to show, to save itself from the " de-
rision" of which it sadly speaks, a very clear and
strong case. For, the unanimous consent of all the
rest of the daily press is not one whit more evident,
than the expression of the public mind, as audible in
every place of commercial resort. Go upon the Ex-
change this afternoon, and ask, among the merchants
of London, " Which of you agrees with the Times
on this currency question ?" and the answer would
be given. amid shouts of laughter, " Why, no one,
assuredly !" Put the matter to the vote, among
commercial men in the City, and Mr. Payne s
chance against Lord John, on the hustings at
Guildhall, would be seen to be brilliant indeed,
compared with the poll in favour of the Times, opi-
nions. For, upon what is the advocate of Sir Robert
Peel and Mr. Jones Loyd prepared to take his stand?
Not upon the mere convertibility of the bank-note
for that point was settled long before 1844. Not
upon the capability of the Bank to pay every one of
its notes in coin ; for that Capability never has ex-
isted, and certainly never will'exist. Where, then;
lay the wondrous merits of the measure of 1844 over
the destruction of which the Times now mourns;
while all the rest of mankind exult ? What wer
its peculiarities, and what were its effects ? It
chief novelty consisted in the profound con
trivance, that whenever, by a bad harvest, o
other cause, the course of trade should carry
5,000,000/. or 10,000,000/. of our metallic currencl
over to the Continent or to America, it should
become the duty of the Bank to double the
calamity, by immediately withdrawing a like
amount of paper from circulation. This operation
has been performed, and British commerce
_h_a,s,;.
nearly sunk under the suicidal experiment. The
would
sluffice ti)
more days there would be less than
T
untry. e choi
carry on the commerce of theory
dofrapianpoefr,oouinntir
aetntiaosncitaribedcsaimdee bevyidseindte tthheatre.nduactafeown
fearedcb
first, and therefore wia
responsibility involved in
ral 'ubilation of " Peel
hear, with delight, the gende
hurrahj l" over which the
Bill is knocked on the.hea
its last two number .
wmaesa,sueirteh.er aGgoevneerrnaml
einto.tppe,tothetaskuerretnhdeerfoeafrtfhplo
Times mourns and grieves
did its value consist? Did 't
eosvoevra.liutasblieostsh?a any
what, then,
preserve to us the most inl,-
do anything to
state of c
tant of all benefits—an equable . u -
por
rency? Did it prevent money from being too cheek)
Notenactedhing f
aslaumrieneunut
themdaenfunschtoumide
1844, and the very next year was signalised by,th t
reasonable But
was
T
glut of fictitious money or credit which producedl
haendschtoeomedewaars atd eavnisoetdheran?d
goodfuror of 1845 wholesome ? Did Sir R. Peel's Ban
Act do anything whatever to abate it? Again
railway plans, and 500 bad ones. Was t
when there was a danger of a scarcity of the circula -
at
the es') kind.ue time,
ing medium—how did this wonderful device operat
As we have already, shown—by increasing, instead
alleviating, the evil! Where, then, 'are we to di •
cover the merits of the plan, over the failure of whi
all sorts of people, except the Times newspaper, 11+
rejoice ? Let that journal, if it can, exhibit and
enumerate them. Or else, let it betake itself to the.
sulks ; eat its leek in sullen silence, and not emulate
the fame of the poor man, who declared that hewas
shut up in Bedlam, because all the world had gone
mad, and had formed a conspiracy against him, out
of revenge for his sanity !

A FRAIL PROPHET.—WiIIiam Smith, the Mormnn
patriarch, has been some time since suspended, pending
a trial on a charge of ;gross immorality.—Burritei
Christian Citizen.

[PRICE SD.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
' • • • CITY, WEDNESDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The English Funds opened this morning
at the doing prices of yesterday,. butt the tendency
of the day's business has been towards reaction. The
first quotation of Consols for money was 83i, from
which 'various 'fluctuations took -place until they
reached 82, speculative sales beink the chief cause of
the decline. • From this point, however,. they "reco-
covered to 821 to at which they:nlosed. For the
account .Consols began at 832, declined. to 823, and
closed at 82i to 83. After regular hours some trans-
actions took place, and the price was about a quarter
per cent. better.
In the Stock Exchange money was easy this after-
noon for short loans, at 6 per cent. .The applications
at the. Bank of England were not • numerous., The
rate of discount out of doors for three months' paper
is from 9 to 10 per cent.
A further arrival of gold took place at the 'Bank
6-day, to the extent of upwards of 100,0001. : The
chief proportion came from Russia.
The . failure of Messrs. J. P. Howard .and Co.,
colonial brokers, was announced this,morning; The
liabilities of the firm are stated at 75,0001., ofwhica
5,0001. is upon acceptances. It is said that the as-
Sets consist chiefly of produce, and that-they amount
'fitlileait to 100,000/. Commitments' in connexion
with Lyall, Brothers, and Co. are repreiented fo have
been the: cause of the present suspension, an un-
covered balance being due from that Arm to Howard
and Co. to the amount of 15,0001. or 20,0001. , •
The Liverpool letters state the satisfaction experi-
enced at -the suspension of the Bank Charter Act,
but there is already a cry for "more" in the way of
relief, as the present rate of discount is very unpopu-
lar. That enough has been done already, however,
to give confidence to holders of raw material and
produce generally is quite perceptible. " After all,"
Says one writer, "what does an additional 1 per cent.
or so for a few m(Nnths signify to those who want to
escape the necessity of forced sales ? They will soon
get more than that by the rise in their goods." At
the same time, even some of those who rejoice at the
immediate improvement in ',their position have dis-
agreeable misgivings regarding the future. "We
expect things," it is said, "to go on improving now
for a few weeks, at all events ; but we can hardly
help questioning whether this relaxation will not
Work more harm than good in the end." "If pro-
duce rises moderately," it is judiciously added, " we
think prudent people will sell off."
Several failures are announced from Leghorn and
Genoa. At Leghorn four houses have stopped, the
parties being Morpurgo and Tedeschi, J. L.Valentine,
D. Guttiers Pegra, and L. Arbib and Co., the liabili-
ties of the two former being rather considerable. At
Genoa, G. Calcagno, amoney-changer, is said to have
absconded, and severa 1 parties are sufferers by him.
The house of E. Alessio and Co., in the grain trade,
has stopped. Its concerns are extensive, and a com-
position has been made of 35 per cent. Fratelli
Barabino have resolved to wind up. At Trieste it is
said some loss will be sustained by the failure of Ven-
tura of Venice, but that it will fall upon parties who
are able to bear it. Ventura, it is believed, will pay
in full, or very near it.
The Bankers' Magazine furnishes the returns
of Circulation of the Private and Joint-Stock
Banks in England and Wales for the four weeks
ending the 18th •and 25th of September and the 2d
and 9th inst., and gives the following as the weekly
average circulation of those banks during the past
month, viz.:—
Private banks •••
Joint-stock banks ...

£4,341,530
3,107,294

Average weekly circulation £7,448,824
On a comparison of the above with the returns
for the month ending the 11th of September, it
shows :
An increase in the notes of the pri-
vate banks of
An increase in the notes of the joint-
stock-banks of

153,010

Total increase on the month £318,766
And as compared with the corresponding period of
ast year, viz., the 10th of October, 1846, it shows
A decrease in the notes of the pri-
vate banks of
A decrease in the notes of the joint-
stock banks of

181,757

Total decrease on the year ... £507,092
The following appears to bete state of the circu
ation with reference to the d issues :
The private banks are btrlow their fixed
issue
The joint-stock banks are below their
fixed issue .

310,983

Total under the fixed issue .. £968,897
The return of the Abingdon bank of Messrs. Knapp
and Co. being omitted in the Gazette of the 19th
inst., the return for the preceding week has been taken
as the amount of their notes in circulation in making
up the above summary.
CHRONICLE.—The fluctuations which almost
inevitably succeed a sudden advance in prices have not
failed to be experienced on this occasion in the City.
The rise in Consols, which was at one time nearly 5
per cent., offered a great temptation to ifibse whose
principle is to make a small but certain profit in their
speculations. The consequence has been a decline in
the value of Public Securities, followed by a corre-
sponding depression in the rates of Railway Shares.
But so far as these changes are concerned, they have
little or no importance, compared with the effect
which the wise and comprehensive measure of Lord
John Russell has produced. It is all very well to talk
of the country as an improvident gentleman., whose
means have been pledged beyond the proper extent,
and whose castles, dogs, and privy purse make de-
mands on him beyond his power of meeting. If at the
bottom the estate be sound, and if at the moment of
difficulty the want of confidence in his creditors be the
great cause of embarrassment, surely the wise course
would be to maintain the credit and prevent the worst
consequences, which all would allow his folly had
called down upon his head.
The country, no doubt, has spent, and is spending,
a vast deal too much money upon its railroads. But
either by the loss of its own vital power, or by legis-
lative enactments anticipating that loss, this drain
must subside. Already we see the amount of calls
for the ensuing month reduced upwards of fifty per
cent. upon those of the preceding account, and the
partial abandonment of works, in all parts of the
country, proves beyond a question that the evil will,
to a certain extent, be cured by its own severity.
Granting, however—as, indeed, is most true--that we
have squandered a vast deal too much money on this
one item of our disloursements, and add to
cannot
ewsseuere on
conceive why on these accounts the pr. _
or
on pi-movie,
general trade should be aggravated
lvency gravely pro-
forced expenditure last spring for food,
mercantile firms of undoubted so .
n expiation of
posed as a sacrifice to be offered. up
tia
ken of the late
our disasters or distress. The view
commercial affairs by the Premier has
position of
he whole banking and mercan-
tilebeen appreciated by t
community as both statesmanlike and sound. It
professed no end to which the most ardent admirer of
the late Bank Act could object. The doubts and fears
of the monied interest had grown into a panic, and with
the fear of the capitalist it is utterly vain to reason. Each
small proprietor throughout the kingdom hugged his
notes to his heart, and felt the safer in their possession.
still
Every man in trade drew in his resources, and forti-
fied his position to the best of his power ; all, both
high and low, great and small, removing the notes
from circulation, and thus creating the very cause of
their distrust. The position of the Bank became
serious—rumours of a decreasing reserve were whis-
pered about—the whole pressure of commercial wants
was thrown upon it, and at last it was clear to the
most steadfast of the Bank Act supporters, that no
legislative measure can control the fears da people,
and that the credit of the nation must be the means
used for its assistance. The credit of the nation has
been employed, and what is the result? That the
veeffectacines
to unlock
Bank has been overpowered, by the demands 'Made
upon it for accommodation. The Bank has been sub-
ject to no pressure, and the general opinion is that
not one note will be required from its coffers beyond
the amount authorised by the Act of Sir Robert Peel.
nd iron safes, has been, a a as s, a
nd with
yet, to remove
the :usitively, in tin
beet pressure
of
those
fer
advances,
largevprobability, a reduction, before many weeks are
The
boxeso
in all
l sums into the usual channels of trade will come,
theof discounts,
capital
in other
t rate
of money.
POST.—It appears that the present rate of interest
for advances on stock, at the Bank of England, is 8
per cent. for a period of not less than fourteen days,
and not exceeding six
weeks.
leading joint-stock
establishments in the City allow-
ing as much as 7 per cent
*on deposits, and requiring
for the discount
of bills of exchange from 8 to 12
per cent. per annum. The st • ringency of the money
market has, therefore, it will be perceive • d
, not yet
been greatly mitigated.
In the Foreign Stock Market there was no improve-
ment as regards demand, and prices are by no means
better, but rather the contrary. The competition
which the Bank have entered into with the public for
_ _