The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-30 00:00:00

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THE NATIONAL A.l*.T.. -4,7-943.1,14.4- .11,
LEAGIT- . : _-).:- -:___ '
i4:-.
A numerous meeting of th , Me_ -114 o - ttrAtarys
reform was held last evening 'IL_ / - go,ta'skistbtel,
Fleet-street, for the purpose of -1;444/1 Rg` all Anti-
144re_
Gold Law League.
Shortly after eight o'clock, Mr . BENNOCII, who was
called to the chair, opened the p roceedings in the fol.
lowing terms :—Gentlemen, aft er this meeting was
first announced by public advertisement I certainlv-
determined to attend, but until . la,teibtihe,istaoftrneranionotiniiili .
had no idea that I should be sel, acted to fill the ho-
nourable post to which you have j ust elected me. It
will be my first duty, as far as pos s
order in this large meeting, and, in the next place,• to
obtain for every man, whatever lii.4 sentiments may
be, a full, fair, and impartial hearing. It requires nu
wizard to inform us that these are tirkos of terrible
difficulty—it requires no man to infor:n us that
there is something wrong in cs ur commercial systest a
when we find firm after firm falling to the gloms d
with a tremendous crash. It behoves us as met ~
as citizens, and especially as citizens of Londot i,
the centre of the commercial world, to endeavors, r
to ascertain what the causes 1 nay be, and if pos -
sible, to supply a remedy. I am surrounded by re
number of gentlemen who believe that great difficulty,
danger, and mischief, are to be found in our mone-
tary system, and I will them believe that our present
money system is the root of all this tremendous evil.
—(clear, hear.) Those gentlemen will expound
more clearly than it is possible for me to no the
various principles which they propose to be adop`ari
in order to carry on the great commercial business of
this empire. I believe that the gold standard is an
unjust one. I believe that gold should not have 11 .
fixed value, while everything else is allowed to rises
and fall and find its value according to the general
law of supply and demand, which is the only ratioratt
system, and one which should be applied to gold
as well as to everything else.—(Loud cheers.)
And I find that the abstraction of 5,04,0,00(11.
or 6,000,0001. of gold from this country, to
supply us with food, has been the cau lc
during the past winter of deranging our corno-
mercial transactions, and of lowering the value of ever.) ,
commodity in which we deal. During the last ten
months our funded property has been reduced ten per
cent., or nearly 80,000,0001., and other property
has been depreciated, perhaps, to the extent of
200,000,000/. We cannot but believe that a system
which causes the abstraction of 5,000,0001. to provide
20,000,0001. worth of food, must be bad when at-
tended with such dreadful consequences.—(Cheers-0
One evil is, that discounts rise in order to get the golii
standard back to this country—the screw is put on try
the Bank, discounts become difficult, merchants fail',
manufacturers close their mills, operatives are throw
on the parish, and all are injured to an extent almost
incalculable.—(Hear, hear.) And for what ? B'e-
cause we want 20,000,000/. of fool', 5,000,000/. of
gold are sent out of the country. This seems to be a
terrible consequence of so trifling a matter. Oise
would have thought it more reasonable to hasse
sacrificed 40,000,060/. of positive property than bt a
subjected to the operation of a system by which wae
have lost at least 200,000,0001.—(Hear, hear.) That
loss has been felt by the nation at large, and felt, too,
after a year of the greatest prosperity.—(Hear, hear).
It would seem as if a law were made that, whenever
the nation was on the high road to fortune, some
fiend was to give us a foul stroke, and lay us pro I-
trate on the earth.—(Cheers). Having now passed
through a season of famine, when every facility
should Le aflbrded us to make up our deficiences, we.
find ourselves fettered by a golden chain, and our:
circulation is contracted to an extent equal to ths9
amount of gold leaving the country. That whici
may be regarded as the vital part of the commercial(
principle is taken from us at the very moment when .
we require it the most. The physician who would
bleed his patient at the very time when he was sink-.

ing from lassitude, and required the most nourishment„
would not act more absurdly or injuriously than our
present monetary system.—(Cheers). It seems to
that to make gold the standard of value or the cir-
culating medium, in a great country like this, is wrong
in principle. We have 52,000,000/. of gold circular,
ing in this country. That sum would pay for the labour
ce perwhile k,f 1,000,000 of men, at 20s. per week. The interest of this,.
money (which,
cent., circulating,
to bar
2
amount , w0u1d,605 n
o,ooo° interest)/. That;
at
sum would give perpetual employment to 50,000 men.
—(Hear, hear.) Here is an army that might be
raised up for our internal defence, or the carrying
out of various public improvements, and supported
out of this fund without the loss of a single frthing.
Here is a fund from which we might educate our
people. Yet we prefer using a legal tender, that ors
which so much labour has been expended, when at
symbol which would cost little or nothing, issueeil
under the authority of the State, and bearing the,
signature of the Sovereign, would answer pur pur-
pose. What we want is a symbol to represent labour.
There is no occasion to have labour to represent
labour.—(Hear, hear.) That would be a waste of the
amount 01 the first labour.— (Hear.) One of the first
principles laid down by this proposed league or con-
federation is, that the highest possible price, with
the tantion value added, will be obtained for
every product in the empire, while, at the sane
time the foreigner coming into competition with the'
native producer, will only obtain an equal price in
the current money of the realm. If he wishes to take
this money to his own country, he will receive the'
gold value of that note, or symbol, whatever that may
be. Sui pose the value of an article is 205., or sdw ts.
of gold, that, by taxation, as has been well said ,by
one gentleman present, may be increased to 305.; butt
the foreigner who wishes to convert a note of that
value into gold will only get 5 dwts.; the difference •
will represent the cost added to production by taxa-
tion. By this means the native producer would be
able to compete successfully with the foreigner.--
(Hear, hear.) The Chairman concluded by calling
on Mr. Stodhart to move the first resolution.
Mr. CAPPP, the Secretary, informed the meeting
that there was a series of five resolutions which it
would be necessary to put together to the meeting.
The resolutions were as follow.
1. " That the legal tender currency or money of
the realm ought to consist of Exchequer notes of the
value of one pound and upwards; such notes to be
issued with the consent of Parliament in discharge
of the current obligations of the State to an amount
not exceeding in the course of the year the annual
taxation of the country ; the fractional parts of the
pound being represented as at present by silver and
copper coins.
2. " That as gold is a commodity, and is so con-
sidered in our present monetary system, the sove-
reign
being deprived of its character
itits of a legal tender
if it lose any portion of its legal we. g ht, proper
that it should be treated as a commodity, and be
allowed to rise or fall in price as the law o _ supply
.and demand may require, in the legal tender cur-
rency or money of the realm.
3. " That for the convenience of the public a
bullion office be established at the Mint or the Bank,
for the deposit of gold and silver bullion, iu return
for which the par:ies shall receive bullion-notes re-
for of such deposit at the rate of
presenting the ye
:3/. 17s. 100. per ounce for gold, and ss. per ounce
fur silver, which notes will sell at a higher or lower
price as
the bullion which they represent rises or falls
in the markets.
4. " That the system of money would enable us to
sell our goods in foreign countries at theirvi oluordest afford
at ht i
omme -
tallic value, while, at the same
e,
iptric'es eo much
cease
to our productive se
ders currency country
of the as
would return them that peculiar toted= which en-
hances the cost of their productions, thereby giving
increased facilities
to the extension of our foreign
trade without subjecting our agricultural, manufac-
turing: or trading population to a ruinous competi-
tion with others of their own class in comparatively
untaxed countries.
5. " That in order to carry these measures into
effect, a society be formed, to be called ' The Anti-
Gold Law League,' whose province it shall be to
take such steps as may be necessary to bring the
same before Parliament, and to diffuse useful infor-
mation on the subject by means of lectures, &c.,
throughout the country, and that an annual subscrip-
tion of 105. shall constitute the payer thereof a mem-
ber of this League, and shall entitle him to a copy of
each of its publications."
Mr. STODHART moved that the resolutions be
adopted.
Mr. FAIRISAIRNE seconded the motion.
Mr. JONATHAN DUNCAN then came forward loci
addressed the meeting as follows:—Air. Chairman
and Gentlemen, it devolves upon me to enter more
extensively into the system which we propose to ad-
vocate, and I feel it extremely essential to call upon
you for your indulgence while attempting to throw
light upon a subject so much darkened by our oppo-
nents.—(Hear, hear.) We are obnoxious to charges
of a very grave and serious character. We have
been designated as currency-mongers and currency
doctors. Some think us almost lunatics, whilst others
who charge us with attempting to put fictitious money
into circulation under the name of flimsies or kites,
represent us as attempting to perpetrate a fraud on
the people of England. Now, it is against those
charges that in the first place 1 wish to vindicate
ourselves. if you only give us credit for ordinary
common sense, do you think that we should be so
silly as to waste our time in attempting to palm upon
the public a fiction for a ? (hear, hear.) Do
you think that we so little compreheiel the native
good sense of Englishmen as to imegiee that we could
succeed in so perilous and so stupid a course ? But,
gentlemen, I will endeavour to explain to you, first
of all, what we mean by money, and 1 hope to convince
you that money made of paper is as solid a security as
money made of gold • and uti:ess I can establish
that point, I feel that I have H pretensions to your
support.—(Hear.) I distinguish money from cur•
rency fundamentally in this respect; that money is
a legal tender, while currency is not a legal