The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-03 00:00:00

LONDON, ritIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 3, 1847.

taro circumstances an over-issue of paper had taken
place, and that on some occasions the Bank of Eng-
land had been on the verge of being unable to comply
with the requisites of the law. The Bill of 1844
had been introduced to bring about a state
of greater safety, at the same time securing
to the country the advantages of leaving as much
paper to perform the offices of gold as could be left
with safety to the system, and with safety to the
country. The Bank was permitted to issue
14,000,0001. of notes, but for every note beyond it
must have gold in their coffers reedy to meet it.
Such were the provisions of the law of 1844. At the
beginning of last autumn the commercial world
was suffering from a panic unequalled in intensity.
The demand for capital was enormous—the demand
of capital for railways in 1841, 1842, and 1843, was
four millions and a half; in 1844, 6,000,0001.; 1845,
it had increased to 14,000,0001. In the first half of
1846, the demand was 9,800,000/. ; up to the second
it was 26,000,000, making 36,000,0001.; and, in 1847,
it was 63,7t7,000, thus doubling the demand for capital
of the preceding year. Where was all this capital to
come from which there was no visible means of sup-
plying? He knew not it he should be told that
there was some inexhaustible mine of wealth, the ac-
cess to which had beeen cut off by Sir U. Peel's
Bill. He believed in no such mine, and it had only
existence in the heated fancies of speculators.
This demand for railways had been aggravated by the
demand for capital to pay for foreign corn. In 1846
this demand amounted to 5,139,000/. In 1847 we
had to pay for foreign corn 14,184,0001. It was
to these great demands uponlour capital that he
attributed the pressure, and that pressure
would have existed whether the Bill of 1844
had existed or not. It, perhaps, had caused the
pressure to be felt somewhat sooner, but he believed
that the value of that Bill had been proved, by
bringing on the pressure gradually, instead of sud-
denly, and thus avoiding a sudden and abrupt
convulsion, which it is the object of all
legislation to obviate. He was not, however,
prepared to say in what manner the existence
of that law may have aggravated the panic,
which was itself a great calamity independently of
the pressure. With respect to the pressure, he did
not think any act of Government could relieve it,
but he thought that the Government might act upon
the panic. The panic induced persons to hoard the
precious metals, which produced great inconvenience,
and he believed that the panic had been greatly miti-
gated by the measures adopted by the Government.
"The effect of the letter of the Prime Minister
to the Bank had been highly satisfactory,
and had restored confidence without any infringe-
ment of the provisions of the Act of 1844. It would
be for their Lordships to determine how far they
would maintain the principle of that Act or how far
they would be inclined to modify its provisions.
The operation of the Act of 1844 would form one
most important subject of inquiry before the pro-
posed Committee. He had in 1844 given a silent
vote in favour of the Bill, because, admitting
the defects of the measure of 1819, he was willing to
give this measure, which professed to remedy those
defects, a fair trial. It had had that trial, and it
would be for the Committee to inquire how the mea-
sure had worked. He was not now going to argue the
question of the Bank Charter Act, but he would say
that that Act might exist for twenty years without
any such occasion again arising. He was not pre-
pared to say that no circumstances could arise in
which it might not be necessary for the Govern-
ment or for Parliament to interfere with the stringent
provisions of the statute. It would be for their Lord-
ships to consider whether, under any circumstances,
they might not retain the operation of the Act itself
and legalize peculiar departures from it. That he
considered was a subject for deliberate consideration ;
but at the same time he felt that he had nothing to
regret in the course that had been pursued, and that
the suspension of the provisions of the Act, or the
authority which had been given for that suspension,
had been attended with the most beneficial results.—
He believed that if any doubt prevailed as to the wis-
41om of the course taken in this matter, there would
be nothing like the unanimity of opinion which had
been exhibited by their Lordships on the subject.
He trusted this view would be confirmed by the Com-
mittee which he proposed, and which being fairly or-
ganised, and consisting as it would of individuals who
had thought much on the subject, would, he was per-
suaded, do much to exchange that species of informa-
tion which was to be acquired on such a sub-
ject. The Bill to which he had alluded was not one
calculated to lead to party discussions. He knew
that sitting as he did on the benches opposite at the
time it was first brought forward, he voted for it. He
did so because he felt convinced of the great danger
of allowing the inconvenience which had so often
been felt from the former mode of conducting the
affairs of the Bank to continue; and when the Go-
vernment of the day came forward with a measure to
prevent the recurrence of the disorders which had
before been experienced, he felt disposed to accept of
their proposal and to give the measure a full and fair
trial. He was sure the Noble Lord opposite (Lord
Stanley) himself, a member of the Government by
which the measure had been introduced, could not
but feel some parental yearning towards his own
offspring, and that notwithstanding all that had passed
since,that time he would not now be found anxious to
attack a measure which he had himself contributed
to bring to life.—(llear, hear.) Having thus briefly
vindicated the course taken by her Majesty's Govern-
ment, he would leave the question in their Lordships'
hands. Hetwould himself have perhaps wished that
this inquiry had taken place at a somewhat later
period, after the immediate tumult of the recent panic
had subsided.—(Hear, hear.) But, at the same time,
he trusted that the effects of the crisis would not last
so long that their Lordships would not be enabled to
give the coolest, as well as the fullest consideration to
the subject of this inquiry. The Noble Marquis
concluded by moving for the appointment of the
Committee in the words of the notice, and resumed
his seat amidst general applause.
Lord STANLEY—While there are portions of the
Noble Marquis's speech in which I am disposed alto-
gether to concur, and while I agree with him that this
is not an occasion in which to enter into any extended
discussion of the very large and complicated question,
which is necessarily involved in the motion of the Noble
Marquis, for the appointment of a Committee to inquire
into the causes of the recent commercial distress, and its
connexion with the laws affecting monetary regulations,
I wish I could agree in what the Noble Marquis ap-
pears to anticipate—an almost unanimous feeling on
the part of your Lordships in approbation of the course
taken by her Majesty's Government with regard to this
matter. My concurrence I undoubtedly give, cheerfully
and readily, in the appointment of the Committee. If
an inquiry before a Committee is the only course which
her Majesty's Government are prepared to submit to the
consideration of your Lordships and of Parliament on
this subject, then I think, with all deference for the
other House of Parliament, that such an inquiry should
not be exclusively carried on before the House of
Commons. I think that if an inquiry is to be insti-
tuted by Parliament, it is desirable that such an in-
quiry should be carried on simultaneously by your Lord-
ships' House and by the other House. With this view,
and understanding that it had not been the intention of
her Majesty's Government to propose to your Lordships
the appointment of any committee of the description
which the Noble Marquis now moves for, I felt it to be
my duty, on a former evening, to give notice of my in-
tention to move for the appointment of this committee
for the reasons I state. I wish I could say, which I cannot,
that this, and this alone, was the course which her Majes-
ty's Government were in duty bound to pursue. Among
the causes which were put prominently forward for the
meeting of Parliament—and it was a cause which un-
doubtedly went home to the feelings of every man—l
find that of the commercial distress under which the
country has been suffering—a distress which I cannot
agree with the Noble Marquis in calling recent, but which
I would rather describe in the words of the speech from
the Throne, " the distress that for some time has pre-
vailed among the commercial classes"—(Hear)—when
that cause existed to an extent that, if the Legislature
was to interfere at all, not only justified bat rendered
necessary the calling together of Parliament im-
mediately and without loss of time; and I am sure none
of your Lordships could consider that the inconvenience
of being called together at this unusual period of the
year is not more than the weight of a feather in the
scale while any palliation of the sufferings of the coun-
try may be effected by our prompt interference—(Hear,
hear)—when that distress has, I say, prevailed to a
degree of intensity and magnitude which the Noble
Marquis has very fat. from over-stated (but which I
think he has under-stated in the statement that he has
just made to your Lordships), and when it has been the
cause of Parliament being called together, then I hold
we had a right to expect from her Majesty's Government
that they should at least bo prepared to come forward
with such measures as they think expedient for the pur-
pose, not of removing—for I agree with the Noble
Marquis that that is beyond the power of any Parlia-
ment, or of any legislation—but of palliating the mag-
nitude of that distress which they put forward as the
cause of calling Parliament together at an unusual and
inconvenient period of the year.—(Hear, hear.) We
have sat for fourteen days. It is now precisely
fourteen days since Parliament was called together,
and yet what does the Noble Marquis tell you?
How stood the case ? After sitting fourteen days they
were at length told by the Noble Marquis that, with re-
ference to-the cause of the distress, he was at present
prepared with no observations; that, as to any remedy
or palliative of the distress, neither he nor his colleagues
had any suggestion to make; that they asked the House
to grant them a committee of inquiry for their guidance;
o
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and that as to opinions of their own they had none to
commercial distress of the country he wouldlexpress, and
had, indeed, formed no opinion.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE—Not as to its
influence upon the distress of the past three or four
months.
Lord STANLEY—Why it was precisely that distress
of the last three or four months that had called Parlia-
ment together at this unusually early period, and which
formed eke immediate ocoasioa for the inquiry now
sought,—(Hear, bear) Was it not most strange,

then, that the Government should profess themselves
wholly unprovided with an opinion upon this deeply im-
portant subject, should go into the Committee entirely
uncommitted to any views, and even entirely free, and
with a feeling, as far at least as the Noble Marquis was
concerned, that it would be better to postpone the in •
quiry itself until a much later period?—(Hear, hear.)
It would have been far more satisfactory to their Lord-
ships, and to the country, had the Noble Marquis been
prepared with an opinion one way or the other; at least,
tending one way or the other. For himself, ie (Lord
Stanley) should be sorry to have it understood as his
opinion that the principle of the Bank Charter Act of
1844 had been productive of the recent distress. The
question was, whether during the period of distress the
restrictive clauses of the Act had aggravated the diffi-
culties of the commercial community. This was a point
on which it appeared to him manifest that the Govern
ment ought by this time to have formed an opinion. If
that opinion was that the restrictions of the Act had
not produced this effect then they ought openly and
firmly to have declared their intention to adhere
to the measure as it stands; if, as the course of
their policy would seem to indicate, they thought
that the restrictions were injurious in cases of pres-
sure, than they ought to have stated this opinion, and to
have formed and expressed some intention accordingly.
The Noble Marquis had referred to him as one of the
framers of the Act of 1844. He had ne desire to shrink
from any responsibility attaching to him as a member of
that Government under whose administration that mea-
sure became law, and he would at the same time remind
the Noble Marquis that several members of the present
Government, and among them prominently the present
Chancellor of the Exchequer, then acting as Chairman
of the Committee on Banks of Issue, cordially concurred
in the principle of the measure.—(Hear, hear.) But
consistently with an entire adherence to the principle of
the Act of 1844, as to the accuracy of which inquiry bad
been exhausted, it was open to him to assent to an inquiry
whether the restrictions imposed by the Act were un
wise in themselves, or calculated in any way to fetter the
discretion of the Bank in the exercise of its functions.
This was the point, and the sole point, to which, as he
conceived, the attention of the Committee would be
directed, in reference to the influence of the Bank
Charter of 1844 upon the late crisis. The question
would be whether, with a million in their coffers,
and the expectation of further supplies flowing
in from abroad, the Bank directors were not injuriously
restricted by the Act of 1844 from affording accommo-
dation to commerce.—(Hear, hear.) Upon this point
the Noble Marquis professed himself unprovided with
an opinion, though the letter of October 25 to the Bank
directors would seem to indicate an opinion, and a pretty
decided opinion, to have been formed on the subject by
the Government.—(Hear, hear.) The course directed
by that letter, and which might well have been adopted
earlier—(Hear, hear)—was a distinct violation, a dis-
tinct condemnation, of the Act of 1844, in that feature
of it which had been most insisted upon, but which the
Government had thus declared could not, in their judg-
ment, be maintained in operation under all circum-
stances. The act of the Government, in fact, had re-
moved the very keystone of that beautifully symmetrical
bridge to which Mr. Raikes Currie, in the debate on
the measure, had likened it. He had said just now that
Hon. Gentlemen had underrated the amount of
commercial distress, and that he thought their
earlier interference would have prevented much
difficulty. Ile held in his hand a list of mer-
cantile houses which had actually become insolvent
between July and November. The number amounted to
106. From the list was excluded all houses which had
entered into private compositions with creditors—all
failures on the Stock Exchange, which had been very
numerous—all houses whose accounts were not actually
under inspection—and that included one firm whose lia-
bilities amounted to millions; it also excluded all foreign
houses, and it omitted as insignificant all houses whose
liabilities did not amount to 20,000/. Now what were
the results?

In July there were 2 failures amounting to .£llO,OOO
August ~ 16 /I 2,369,000
September „ 26 6,520,000
October „ 35
" • 6,840,000
In all, from July to the period at which her Majesty's
Government thought fit to interfere, there had been
failures of seventy-nine houses involving liabilities to the
amount of 15,969,0001.—(Hear, hear.) Now, he con-
curred with the Noble Marquis, that it was impossible
for any Legislature or for any Government to have pre-
vented the distresses which had occurred from failures
of agricultural products, or from rash speculation, but
it was impossible but that among the great houses which
had fallen from July to November there must have
been some which a more timely interference would have
saved, and which being saved themselves might have
prevented the ruin of many others dependent upon them.
—(Hear, hear.) He had stated the liabilities of those
which had failed. That was but a small part, however,
of the distress which the panic had occasioned. Their
Lordships knew the loss of those which had gone, but
they knew nothing of the losses of houses that still stood,
the extent of whose difficulties made it in many cases
doubtful from day to day whether they could carry on
their business, though it was certain that whether they
carried it on or no, so immense a contraction of all their
transactions must take place as greatly to cripple any of
the firms with which they had connexion. And here he
must observe that her Majesty's Government thought
right upon the present occasion to use the word "recent,"
as applicable to the commercial distress. Now, the us(
of that word implied that the distress had passed by, and
though the Bank of England might be in a better con-
dition than it was, yet so far from the distress having
passed by, he should be glad to find himself mistaken in
his apprehension that the worst and severest pressure
was yet to c'me. As yet they had no accounts from
India of a date subsequent to the arrival of the news of
the great metropolitan failures ; and if he was
to believe all the accounts he heard, three
months would not elapse without accounts from Calcutta
of great embarrassments and disasters, occasioned by
the receipt of the intelligence. From this time to
January, too, the merchants of London and of Manchester
would be receiving back from India bills drawn upon th e
houses in England that had failed. The effects of the
panic, moreover, had as yet scarcely reached the smaller
merchant, the retail tradesman, and still less the la-
bourer dependent on those whose capital was now so
greatly diminished. It was his fear that they would
soon find a large proportion of these thrown out of em-
ployment, in which case great and increasing distress
was to be feared. The Noble Marquis had said that the
inquiry into which he invited them to enter would be a
narrow one. Narrow I what, when all these points were
to be inquired into ; when the subject was the effect of
the recent commercial panic—the part which the Bank
Charter Act had had in bringing it about—the influences
of railway speculation and of overtrading—the conduct
of the Bank—the results of a free trade policy I Narrow
Why, if this inquiry was narrow, he should wish to know
what the Noble Marquis would consider extensive ? So
far from the inquiry being narrow, it was his opinion
that, however long the crisis might last, however
protracted it might still prove, yet that it would be
over long before this Committee would be in a position
to make a report or even to offer a suggestion. From
the tone of the Noble Marquis, indeed, he was almost
led to infer that as far as the Government were con-
cerned the report of the Committee would be a very
unimportant one. They would state that they had been
sorry to hear of the magnitude of the distress and of its
wide-spread ramifications, but that nothing, in their
opinion, would have prevented the infliction of a bad
harvest or the ill effects of over-trading, and that as for
the Act of 1844, nothing had been proved against it.
That appeared, as far as the Government went, to be
likely to be the result of their Committee of Inquiry.
One word before ho sat down as to a matter requiring
explanation. The Noble Marquis had said, in the course
of the evening, that no legislation could make up for
the loss in the supply of the agricultural produce of the
country, which had led to the necessity of importing
foreign corn. IT
—e (Lord Stanley) concurred in that
opinion. An importation of foreign corn to the value of
33 millions, for the purpose of making good the supply
which had failed us in our own production, was a loss of
national capital which could not fail to cause us great
embarrassment. But the Noble Marquis misunderstood
him, if he supposed that he (Lord Stanley) attributed
to free trade the large importation in corn which had
taken place during the last two years. On the con-
trary, ho had said that whether they had free trade or
not the importation must have taken place ; but the
argument he maintained was this, that whereas those
who advocated free trade predicted from the importation
a large export of manufactures and consequent great
national prosperity, he maintained that these effects had
arisen without reference to free trade. The Noble Mar-
quis said that Parliament could not guard against the
effects of speculation. He (Lord Stanley) granted that;
but, speaking of corn, let him ask by whose act and en-
couragement was it that the speculation in corn was
Majesty's Government, he must
excited ?e,
notOf
clear. They
erMaj
say, were held out to our merchants
and shipowners that, let them search all the world
through, they would not find corn enough for the people
of England—and that if they could find corn enough
they would not be able to find freights to bring it
Why, they bad absolutely
here. suspended the
navigation laws in order to tempt
e—in order to ink all the world to
this rash and dan-
gerous our shores laden with grain of every
their
e vesselse speculation"—in l a t i
sendgerout sh
species. Why, was it not too much to turn round on us
after this, and say that it is impossible to guard against
improvident
speculations ?—(Opposition cheers.) But
he need trespass on their patience no further. Her
Majesty's Government had thought it right that this
important question should be thrown loosely ma the
Legislature as a matter for Parliamentary inquiry. He
(Lord Stanley) thought it was their duty rather to have
propos d e to Parliament a remedy for these evils. They
had, however, shrunk from any such course. Having
done so, they must, of coarse, take the consequences.
He (Lord Stanley) gave no notice now, but the Govern-
ment having announced that the appointment of the
Committee was the only mea'ure they were prepared to
propose to Parliament on this all-important question,
they must not be surprised if from other quarters, lot
pledged or bound by ties of official duty, they found
some practical measures suggested calculated more di-
rectly to meet the difficulties of the emergency. (The
Noble Lord resumed his seat amidst much Opposition
cheering.)
Earl GREY commenced by replying to the Noble
Lord's inquiry, " Why, if the Government had no mea-
sure to propose, they had thought it necessary to call
the Parliament together?" If the Noble Lord had con-
sulted her Majesty's Speech at the commencement of the
session he would have found in it that the Government,
though they saw no remedy that they could advanta
geously suggest, still had ample reasons for summoning
the Parliament. The suffering
had proceeded from
measures over which they had no control, and the con-
• h it was utterly impossible for them to
sequences of which
But
avert. the Government bad taken a measure which
might have led to a
violation of the law, and no Go-
vernment had any right to take a measure of that kind
without giving Parliament the earliest opportunity cf

expressing its judgment. No Act of indemnity, indeed,
was necessary, but such measures as the Government
itpaight necessary to be introduced not only were pre-
pared, but they absolutely had already submitted
himselfthem rigtoPhatrliament. If the Noble L )rd was
as to the causes of commercial
distress, it was clear there was no measure
more important as a means of preventing the
continuance of the distress than some Bill which
postponed for a season all demands consequent upon
railway transactions. The Government had submitted
to Parliament a Bill with that very view, and had pro-
posed to go as far as it was possible to go consistently
with justice and a respect for existing contracts. But
the Noble Lord complained that no opinion had been
expressed by the Government relative to the Act of
1844. That accusation was surely hardly well deserved.
The Noble Marquis (Lansdowne) had said distinctly
that, in his opinion, the distress was not attributable to
the Act of 1844, and in that view he (Earl Grey) was
glad to find that the Noble Lord opposite entirely con .
curred with him. The Government were not, of course.
prepared to maintain that the existing arrangements
under the Act of 1844 were perfect; but when the Noble
Lord said that that Act must be faulty because Govern-
ment had permitted its infringement, he (Earl Grey)
was at once prepared to express his dissent from any
such view. As had been well said in 1844, whilst it
might be difficult to define where they might depart
from the principle established by the Act, yet, extra-
ordinary circumstances might arise from time to time
which would be best dealt with at the discretion
ef Government. He (Earl Grey), too, dissented from
the view of the Noble Lord that the adoption of the
Government measure of relief at all necessarily implied
that it should have been done earlier. On the contrary.
he (Earl Grey) thought that it should be deferred until
the last moment. The Noble Lord referred to the list of
failures. No one lamented them more than he did. The
calamities were, no doubt, very sad, and almost unpa-
ralleled. But, at the same time, it was the opinion of the
Committee that the houses which had failed, whether
from imprudence or misfortune, were not really solvent;
that assistance might have maietained them for a time,
but that ultimately the failure was inevitable. That
was the state of things in the earlier period of the panic.
At the end of October, however, all accounts showed
that though these failures had not then extended to sol-
vent houses, yet that these would fail if some measures
were not taken by the Government. The panic was then
so serious that many were unable to realise money to
meet their immediate demands. There was a desire
among the bankers and the public to retain the money
they happened to possess, and to get in all their
outstanding debts. It was obvious that the whole
system of our commercial distress proceeded in an
assumption that there would be no simultaneous call for
money. There was such a call. The Government
were told that if an assurance were given that money
might be had even at a very high rate of interest, that
would bring into circulation money that had formerly
been withheld. Such an opinion was expressed to the
Government from quarters deserving the highest consi-
deration; the Government believed it to be well founded;
they acted upon it, and he (Earl Grey) must say that
he thought the result proved that they had not been
mistaken. The Noble Lord said that this was a ques•
tion they ought not to turn loose for the consideration of
a Committee, but that, on the contrary, they ought to
nave made some definite proposal with respect to the Act
of 1844. Certainly, if the Government had believed
that any alteration of the Act of 1844 was calculated to
check the commercial distress, he (Earl Grey) agreed
that they ought to have done something ; but their
opinion was the reverse; their opinion was, that though
that Act might require alteration in some parts, yet
that its main principles are undoubtedly sound, and
that to teach the commercial community to look
for relief to what was called " relaxation of the
currency," would be to teach them in fact to look to a
deception. It was not to devise any remedy of that
kind that the Government now asked for the appoint-
ment of a Committee. What they desired was to see if
the Act of 1844 was in its details susceptible of improve-
ment. One set of persons contended that the Govern-
ment under that Act ought to be invested with a greater
amount of discretion. Others thought that the prin-
ciple of the Act was not carried sufficiently far, and
that too much power was still left in the hands of the
Bank of England. It was only fitting that Parliament
should appoint a Committee to consider these and such
like propositions. The Noble Lord intimated an opi-
nion that the commercial distress of the country had
not passed by. He (Earl Grey) wished he could take
a different view. He was bound, however, to admit
that it seemed to him that of the many causes pro-
ductive of distress there were several still in opera-
tion, and that they must look forward to still
further depression. But, however gloomy the im-
mediate appearances might be, there was nothing in
the state of the country which ought to discourage
us, or cause us to fear that at some earlier or more re-
mote period the country would not, by its inherent
vigour and energy, emerge from all its difficulties, and
rise to prosperity even greater than before.—(Cheers.)
Various causes had been adverted to for the distress,
but amongst others the Noble Lord had omitted to men
lion the high expenditure, arising from a high price of
provisions, which had affected every family, from the
highest to the lowest, in the land, during the past
twelve months. When they remembered that for some
time last season wheat was at 80s., 905., 100 s., and even
120 s. per quarter, they might find some ground for con-
sidering that an important element of the distress had
been omitted from the Noble Lord's catalogue. When
they considered how this had added to the expenditure
of every family in the country, and especially of the
working classes, and the enormous drain from railway
and other causes, they would not feel surprised at diffi
cu!ties which had been experienced. But they had just
had a good harvest, and it blessed with a recurrence of
favourable seasons, the greatest of all drains, that arising
from a scarcity of corn, would be at an end. And although
railways undoubtedly formed a great drain at that
moment, yet it must be remembered that when con-
structed they would add incalculably to the national
wealth. On this account, and having regard to the
improved prospects as regarded the supply of cotton
from America, he thought that at no distant day this
country would again attain her wonted prosperity. His
Noble Friend said that the expense of the last year, and
the distress occasioned by the largo imports of corn,
went far to strengthen the arguments of those who had
been opposed to the repeal of the corn-laws. Now, he
must say that his (Earl Grey's) opinion was precisely
the reverse. He could not conceive a combination of
circumstances which would more completely confirm the
soundness of all the arguments of those who had advo-
cated a free importation of foreign corn. In the first
place, he would ask their Lordships to consider what
must have been the sufferings of the population if this
importation had not taken place?—(Hear, hear.) As
it was, they knew that the sufferings endured by
the working classes, in the months of June and July,
were of the severest description ; but it was nothing
but the free importation of corn which prevented those
sufferings from proceeding to the extent of starvation.
—(Hear, hear.) If, when the neighbouring countries
of Europe were suffering, equally with our own, and
when, instead of exporting corn for us, they were
bidding against us in the markets of the world, we had
been left to the former law, under which a heavy forfeit
was imposed on the merchant who went to the most dis-
tant market for cargoes, starvation would have been
experienced amongst no small proportion of the popula
tion.—(Hear' hear.) His Noble Friend then went on to
say that it bad formerly been asserted that if they im-
ported large quantities of corn there would be a large
increase in the exports to pay for it. It was perfectly
true that the exports had fallen off: a fact easily ac-
counted for by the diversion of a large portion of the
capital of this country to railways, by the deficiency in
the cotton crop, and by various other causes. In point
of fact, however, in the case of those countries from
which the largest supplies of corn were obtained, there
had been an increase in the amount of exports.—(Hear,
hear.) In the three-quarters ending October, 1646,
the exports to America amounted to 4,050,0001;
while, within the same period in 1847, they
amounted to 6,291,0004—(11ear, hear.) But, beyond
that, it was notorious that one effect of the large de-
mands of corn from Americahad been to increase the con-
sumption of British manufactured goods in the United
States to an extent which could hardly have been ex-
pected. The American farmers, making increased pro-
fits, had increased their expenditure, and a considerable
portion of the increase had been applied in the purchase
of British manufactures. A similar result had been
witaessed in the Turkish empire and in Brazil, in the
latter case owing, of course, to the increased import of
sugar. It must not be forgotten. when this question was
under consideration, that a large proportion of our ex-
ports was necessarily affected by the distress which pre-
vailed in Europe generally.—(Hear, hear.) The popu-
lation of the countries with which we principally dealt
was almost as severely affected by the high price of food
as our own; it was impossible that the inhabitants of
Holland, Germany. and France, who were paying extra-
vagant prices for their food, could consume the cus-
tomary amount of British manufactures? He (Earl
Grey) was not aware that those speculations were inor-
dinate---(Hear, hear)—he very much doubted whether
they had exceeded what prudence required. No doubt
some individuals had incurred heavy losses ; but for
the interest of the country the importations had
not been excessive. For some weeks before the
harvest the weather was fine to a degree which was
almost unexampled ; and the harvest, which every one
thought would be made, proved, on the contrary, early.
Had the harvest been three or four weeks later than
usual, there would not have been a single grain of corn
in the country to spare.—(Hear, hear.) He believed
that, as a whole, the operations of the British merchants
in the corn trade, during the last year, were marked by
a degree of foresight, which was not less remarkable
than the energy and activity displayed in them—an
energy and an activity which, under Providence, had
been the means of saving the country from the horrors
of famine, and which showed with how much justice her
Majesty's Government had, in the early part of last ses-
sion, refused to interfere with the enterprise of the pri-
vate n triafdethr by
e cornsending speculation ships
hadAm America
an
foinrocrdorinna. te',l3huet
might stillthorn
. contendAi t
hthatattht
Choy had
G ov Government ewn
at
shtao askdnot ariaencou-
raged
ca owusl d aanndy onee dot
established by the Act of
went to suspend the naivBi4g6a;tiaound-
that both those suspensions were necessary? lle, for
been
ned
ttootapirl oypuons e
wort whath thToefy theirh ad
if
fregarded the question before the House,
posit
on doneel ,t
ion.fetlthey
A thatws
utlhdey havehad
he thought, for the reasons stated by his Noble Friend
near him, it was highly proper that the House should
appoint the proposed Committee.
Lord BROUGHAM said that, although the question
of free trade might be excluded from that discussion, it
could not be shut out from the deliberations of the Com-
mrstgahreoi ls y_
ea
be priot
ptwneoteasryeowdd hurl
ipci
neee hqdc
uu.
iltrahytTei yoht
nhe
sew
inquiry
wholeci arhbygo
huuweat
osdut
ooadnb asawopl also el nddmt
bisliorea
cie I lel
oast ° the

portion of the capital of the country, and the evils of
which might justly be imputed, in a great degree, to
the Legislature itself. He would much rather provide
for the present than scan the past; yet he could not help
saying that if there were any parties in the Legis-
lature whose consciences were free from blame upon
that question, it was the Noble Duke then sitting at
the table (the Duke of Wellington), and himself
(Lord Brougham). Another subject which would be
taken up was that of the usury laws, the state of
which was very injurious to the landed interest, in
consequence of the partial repeal of some enact-
ments and the retention of others. Unless some-
thing were speedily done to improve those laws there
was the prospect, if not of great agricultural distress,
at least of landowners' embarrassment,. There would,
in fact, be so many subjects introduced into the inquiry,
that having been delayed so long he thought it should be
delayed still longer. It was not likely that any measure,
founded on the report of the Committee, could be framed
and introduced before Easter. Why, it would be im-
possible to keep out of view even the question of a
metallic currency. There were many persons who
thought that it was not Sir Robert Peel's Bill of 1844,
but his Bill of 1819, which was chargeable with all the
distress of the country.—(A Noble Lord cried " Hear,
hear.") The Noble Lord who thus responded himself
afforded an illustration of what he was saying. He con-
gratulated the House upon the absence of party feeling
on this question; and as regarded the commercial pres-
sure, although the worst might be over, yet ho thought
the evil was by no means at an end.
The Duke of GRAFTON was of opinion that the
only hope for the country lay in an enlargement of the
currency.
Lord ASHBURTON hoped in the other House of
Parliament, where subjects of this kind more properly
came under discussion, some proposition would be made
for a direct interference with that Act which was sup- I
posed to have operated so very injuriously. The Noble
Earl opposite (Earl Grey) had referred to the subject of
the corn-laws, and there seemed to exist some mis-
taken impression in his mind as to what had been said by
a Noble Friend near him (Lord Stanley) on a former
occasion on that subject.—(Hear, hear.) Nobody, he be-
lieved, had said that the corn-laws were the cause of the
present distress, but the state of the importation of corn
had certainly a great deal to do with it, though not to
the extent supposed, for he did not believe the doctrine
that, because a certain quantity of corn had been im-
ported within the last eighteen months, that therefore
the capital of the country had been taken for that pur-
pose; he meant that capital of the country the abstrac-
tion of which was said to be one of the difficulties
under which they at present labour.—(Hear, hear.)
He would remind their Lordships that one of
the great objections to the late sliding scale
was the fluctuation of the price.—(Hear.) They
might mitigate that fluctuation by supporting their
own agriculture, and taking care that a large portion of
the corn consumed was of their own production, and if
they wanted to derive any lesson from the past year
more impressive than another, let them reflect upon the
consequences of their lowering their own agricultural
production, always supposing the change of the law had
a tendency of that kind. He did not think that that
subject would have been so strongly pressed upon their
attention by the Noble Earl (judging from his general
acuteness in debate), if he had had anything of con-
sequence to present to their Lordships on the subject
under deliberation. If he had any forcible arguments to
urge lon that subject) he would not have gone into a
plausible discussion on the operation of the corn-laws.
—(Hear, hear.) The great importation of corn had
certainly affected the balance of trade, it had rendered
necessary the exportation of a quantity of specie, and
it had caused the reduction of the amount of
specie in the Bank, and had tended to produce
' that restriction which was the main cause of their
difficulties. The Noble Earl opposite had said
that the Act of 1844 was not the cause of them, but he
(Lord Ashburton) would say that the Act of 1144 had
I aggravated other circumstances.—(Hear, hear.) Those
circumstances, which without the Act of 1844 would not
present any difficulties, were transformed into difficulties
by that Act.—(Hear, hear.) Reference had been made
I to the difficulties which had been occasioned by the
'con-
struction of railways, but he (Lord Ashburton) would
' ask, had not Parliament been mimed of the danger
arising from them?—(Hear.) It did not become him
(Lord Ashburton) perhaps to say so, but he would re-
mind them that their Lordships did not attend to the
warnings which he (Lord Ashburton) had given them
on the subject.—(Hear, hear.) He had pressed those
warnings upon their Lordships, and upon a Committee
of their Lordships' House, and had likewise urged them
on the consideration of the Earl of Dalhousie. That
Noble Lord was as strongly impressed with a sense of
those difficulties as he (Lord Ashburton) was, and when
they went into Committee he prepared a scale of those
different projects for railroads for the express pur-
pose of limiting the total amount. It was con-
sidered by them that to engage in undertakings beyond
the power of the country to effect was objectionable, and
though it might be urged that they were profitable to
the country, inasmuch as they absorbed a great deal of
labour, they should recollect that the most useful enter-
prises, if carried on with insufficient means, must fail, as
they had seen them fail on the present occasion.—(Hear,
hear.) He did not know enough of the details of the
West India houses to say whether they had been ad-
vancing too liberally or extensively in the course of their
business, but they had been utterly destroyed by their
Act of Parliament.—(Hear, hear,) It was not true to
say this was the work of Providence; a great portion of
it was the work of their own hands. It was considered
that a very great cause of these commercial difficulties
arose from overtrading, and it was conceived that some of
the India houses had overtraded. Certain houses in this
country sent out their manufactures to India, and a largo
portion of the trade was carried on on credit. He believed,
in fact, that a great deal too much of it had been carried
on on credit. But that was no new system; it was not
the system of last year, or the year before last, but the
trade was going on for twenty years exactly in the same
way. The persons engaged in that trade were told all
at once that no credit was to be given to them, and those
persons were thrown upon their backs ; but it was no
improvidence that had caused them to become embar-
rassed ; they had carried on that trade for a long time,
but the altered state of the money laws had rendered it
impossible fur them to continue it.—(Hear, hear.)
He apprehended that the commercial character of the
country was injured from one end of the globe to the
other, whereas in former times it was looked upon
throughout the world as the greatest. To show the
evil effeota resulting from it, he begged to read a few
lines from a circular which happened to fall into his
hands, and which came from a house in New Orleans.
It was dated the ;6th November, and hero was what was
stated in this printed circular :—" The continued disas-
trous advices from England, and the discredit thrown
on the English people, have almost suspended opera-
tions with Great Britain." Undoubtedly their Lord-
ships could not help that, but it was for their Lord-
ships to consider whether these misfortunes had arisen
from their interference. He conceived it was proved
beyond possibility of contradiction that they may
have arisen from the operations of the Bank of
England, and these operations arose from the restric-
tions they had put upon it by the Act of 1844. He
would remind ther Lordships that there had been a
considerable importation of corn to France, but yet
there had been no destruction of commercial credit in
that country. The Bank of France had not refused to
perform the ordinary operations of business, or taken it
into their heads to refuse that accommodation which in
other times they had given. When they were reduced so
lowas not to have scarcely two millions in their coffers, they
went on giving the usual credit to the ordinary trade of
the country. The Bank of France, with those means
at their disposal, caused no disturbance of the general
credit of the country, and he understood that through-
out France the general commercial interests of
the country were going on as usuaL (Hear,
hear.) The Government had put upon the Bank
of England the necessity of laying on 8 per cent.,
and that proceeding seemed to him to be most ab-
surd. The Government, in giving that instruction,
must be totally ignorant of the nature of the trade
that was carried oa. A merchant of Birmingham had
mentioned to him a fact which would show the
effect of that measure. He said he had a very valuable
order to execute, and went to a banker to obtain assist-
ance in the usual way to enable him to do it. The
banker said yes to his application, but added, " the Bank
of England discount at eight per cent., and I must have
seven per cent." The merchant replied that that would
bo more than ho should make by the order.—(Hear,
hear.) He (Lord Ashburton) considered that they should
suspend this Act, and then consider what other form of
restriction they should adopt. In former times, with five
or six millions in the Bank, they entertained no appre-
hension, and freely assisted the commerce of the country;
but recently, with eight millions in their hands, they
were afraid to do so, and did not assist the commerce of
the country. But of what were they afraid ? They
were afraid of violating the Act of Parliament. He had
recently a letter from a banker in the country, who told
him they were rising up their interest to nine per cent.
He held that to be destructive of the industry of the
country. He thought that it could not move under such
a rate of discount, and that it was a mistaken mode of
getting out of their embarrassments. The Bank ofEng;
Eng-
land was at liberty to issue a certain amountof no
to
te
without question, and so many ore
the amount of bullion in the Bank.m
according/ he n there
was a diminution of coin one would think
there should be an additional circulation ofpass cramped
paper. But
no, on the contrary, when the circulation
by a reduction of coin, there was at the same time a di-
minution of paper. As to the general question he was
aand carefully
very well satisfied that it. sonuoguhl dt
proceeding
inquired into, for the tn hat such
would very probably e attended with beneficial results.
The first thing, however, that the Committee would
have to do, was to dispose of the Act of 1844.—(Hear.)
It had got a fair trial and was found defective.
The Earl of EGLINTON was well aware the inquiry
about to be instituted must of necessity be an exten-
sive ono, but was anxious to know by what limits its
extent was to be circumscribed. lie desired to be
informed whether it was in contemplation that the
Scottish banking Acts of '45 and '46 should be
inquired into, as well as the Act of '44? In a report
of a speech delivered by a Right Honourable Gun..
tloman, in another place, he found that it had been
stated that: what had mainly induced the Government
to interfere with the great principle of the Act of 1844,
was that an application for assistance had been made to
the Bank of England on_ behalf of a large portion of the
Scottish banks. N
was a mistake. _ _ Now, he was inclined to think that this
Though not personally connected with
banking, he had an accurate knowledge of many of the
Scottish banks, and he was perfectly convinced that " a
large portion" of them had not applied to the Bank of
England for assistance. There were 18 banks in Scot-
land, and he was confident that not more than a very
small portion of them had made any such application.
Indeed, he was strongly inclined to think that the ap-
plication was restricted to two establishments, and that
one of them was a modern one.

The Marquis Of T. AMDOWNE replied, that a lamugh
no allusion to the subject %`a; comprised in the exact
terms of the resolution, it nevertheless was to be u.lder-
stood that the inquiry should include, if necessary, the
Acts relating to the Scottish banks. The Comttohttee
would exercise their diseretion in the matter.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE was of opinion that there
should be a distinct understanding as to the footing on
which Parliament was to stand with respect to the Bank.
It would be well to know whether, in case that the
result of the inquiry should be' to recommend the
introductionof alterations into the constitution of the
Bank, Parliament would feel itself at liberty to act ac—
cordingly, and also whether the Bank had given an as
surance that it would acquiesce in such alteration. For
his own part he did not hesitate to say that in spite sf
all he had heard to the prejudice of the Act of 1844, he
still adhered to the principle of the measure.
Lord STANLEY suggested that the resolution should
be amended by using the express words of the Quven's
Speech in defining the duties of the committee.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE acquiesced.
Motion agreed to.
Their Lordships rose at a Quarter past Nine o'clock.

METROPOLITAN SEWERS COM-

MISSION.

The several Commissions of Sewers are renewable
every ten years. Four commissions—the Westminster
District, the Holborn and Finsbury, the Tower Hamlets,.
and the Poplar Districts—expire this month.
The Metropolitan Commissioners of Inquiry have, in
their first report, which has been laid before her Ma-
jesty's Government, and will be to-day presented to Par-
liament, strongly recommended, on several grounds,
that the whole of the commissions under the power of
the Crown should be resumed, and the authority placed
in few hands. In compliance with this request writs of
supersedeas were issued on Tuesday from the Crown-
offi .ce Chancery to the Commissioners of the several
commissions above mentioned, and also to the
Commissioners for Kent and Surrey and the
Commissioners for Greenwich, the principal sorer
districts on the south side of the river. It is no.-
derstood that, on a consultation with the law officers
of the Crown, they recommended, on technical grounds
of arrangements entered into under some local Acta,
that the objects of the Commissioners would be gained
by renewing the commissions of sewers for the several
districts having the same body of persons named for all
the districts. This has been done, and the commissions
formerly held by between 600 and 700 persons, have
been separately directed, as the Sanitary Commissionara
requested, to a more limited number of persons, chiefly
of those who have paid especial attention to the subject
of sanitary improvement. The renewed commission.
are understood to be provisional. The following is the
list of names of the noblemen and gentlemen as they
stand in the several commissions, which were all issued
yesterday:—
The Right Hon. the Viscount Morpeth, M.P.
The Right Hon. Lord Ashley, M.P.
The Right Hon. the Viscount Ebrington, M.P.
The Hon. Frederick Byng.
The Dean of Westminster.
Sir James Clark, Bart.
Sir Edward North Buxton, Bart., M.P.
Sir Henry Thomas de la Beebe, Knight.
Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P.
John Walter, Esq., M.P.
Robert Aglionby Slaney, Esq., M.P.
Edwin Chadwick, Esq., barrister-at-law.
William John Broderip, Esq., barrister-at-law.
John Bullar, Esq., barrister-at-law.
Professor Richard Owen,
Neil Arnott, Esq., M.D.
Thomas Southwood Smith, Esq., M.D.
The Rev. William Stone, M.A., Rector of Spit/afield.,
John Bidwell, Esq.
Robert Hutton, Esq., F.R.S.
Thomas Puckle, Esq.
Richard Lambert Jones, Esq.
John Leslie, Esq.
The number of Commissioners for the sewer districts
was as follows:
Westminster Commission
Holborn and Finsbury ...
Never acted
Tower Hamlets
Never acted
Surrey and Kent
Poplar ...
Greenwich

... 134
87}
195
48
124 1
176
52

.. 36
... 116

671
:The number of the Consolidated Commission is
only 23.

ALTERATION OF CLOCKS
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
An occurrence of considerable importance in a national
point of view took place on the Ist of December, when
the mails and other trains between London, Liverpool,
Manchester, and the north, were, in consequence of the
completion of the through communication, placed upon
the Trent Valley line, instead of going round by Bir-
mingham. On this occasion, by order of the directors
of the London and North-Western, with the concurrence,
it is understood, of the Railway Commissioners and the
Post-office authorities, the clocks at every station on the
London and North-Western, the Midland, Birmingham,
and Gloucester, and other lines, were set to Greenwich
time. It was at first proposed, in order to obtain the
communication of true time, a practice new daily adopted
at Greenwich for indicating it, that a ball should be
dropped from the upper part of the Observatory so as
to touch a spring communicating with all the telegraphic
wires in the kingdom, and thus by the striking of
h-11 give instantaneous true time to Liverp.).l and Man-
chester, and all the northern towns. The telegraph
could thus from day to day supply any want of
uniformity; but owing to the wires not being completed,
and not communicating with every station, the design
was found impracticable. Iu default of this another
plan was resorted to yesterday—that of bending special
messengers, each having a chronometer indicating true
Greenwich time, to the several divisions of the London
and North-Western and Midland systems, so that Green-
wich and London time, in the course of the day, was
communicated and established at every station on these
lines, the stations amounting to between two hundred
and three hundred, and affecting all the principal towns
and cities between London and Carlisle and London and
York. The authorities of the Post-office have given
official notification to the local postmaster at Liverpool
I* adjust the post-office clock there in accordance with
London time, and it is intended that the same shall be
the case at Manchester. The Post-office mails are
always regulated according to London and not to load
time, and the present alteration is found to be expedient
in consequence of the inconvenience asserted to arise
from the fact of every separate town having its own time
with reference to the longitude of the particular place B.
or W. of Greenwich. The promoters of the measure
state that to railways the old system of keeping time has
been a positive annoyance, from each town or stopping-
place between London and Holyhead having its appro-
priate time. The Post-office sends its mandate for the
dispatch of a new mail from Holyhead :at midnight on
Wednesday, but owing to the arrangement of " local
times," midnight on Wednesday at Ilolyhead is morning
of Thursday in London. A similar discrepancy a.
to time exists in all the intermediate places.
As regards railway travelling, one of the
consequences of keeping " local time" is found to
be, that an express train on a journey of 250 miles is
6:} hours from E. to W., and less than if from W. to
; and though the speed in travelling is really the
same in both instances, by the time-table it is made tcp
appear 33 miles per honr from W. to E., and less than
39 from E. to W. The chief object of the proposed
alteration is stated to be that of rendering the move-
ments of the railway system more precise as to London
time, and of enabling travellers from the East and from
the West meeting at some common centre, each with a
time-piece in his pocket, to be able to keep their ap-
pointments without first consulting the longitude of the
town clock.
The municipal autlioritiea and others, who have
the charge of clocks in various parts of the island,
intend, we perceive by the provincial papers, to "4"
just them to the London time as nearly as the re-
sent incomplete arrangements will admit of. The sys-
tem pursued at Manchester is thus explained in the
Manchester Guardian of yesterday:—The difference of
longitude between Greenwich and Manchester is 2 de-
grees and 14 minutes in space, or 8 minutes and 56
seconds in time; and as the only means of ascertaining
with facility, at Manchester, what is the time at Green-
wich, is by an eclipse of one of Jupiter's satellites; any
difficulty of difference of opinion about time might easily
be settled, if an order were passed for the clocks_ to
ey
be
kept 8 minutes and 56 seconds before mean solar-
L
or any number of minutes that may b
weeklybo
circumstances, futhsetaMncanesc, Manchester Royal
hat o;upon
tclocks in thatat Infirmaryagreed have,
under these
institution shall b© kept 10 a
tapproximationa Atn o
Almanac. the
Otime the
at
'antes before mean solar
n
vbeenainclothsee2vau
wich, as
Gtimreeen
railway it has been arranged to transmit
exactly at siren
the Greenwich
time to Manchester by electric telegraph
o'clock this (Wednesday) morning. The station clerks
at Rugby, Normanton, and Manchester are to be on the
alert at ten minutes before seven; and the left needle on
the London instrument is to be held pointing to the
icttestiteEtt,
thaecotleyedatiethise
tionsbteanrteloefasseedv,enanod'cwlof
Ilkr,etitrs to
Green-
wichits ordinary upright position. The clerk at Rugby will
instantly, on receiving this signal, release the needle for
Normanton, and the clerk will as promptly communicate
it to Manchester; so that not more than two or three
seconds can possibly lost in transmitting the time
from London to be
Manchester
When all the electric wires are complete, and the
local clocks correctly set, there will be a simultaneous
striking of hours throughout the country

- -
SIRS.
TROLLOPSS Nay NOVEL, "TOWN Algli
COUNTRY."—We are inclined to consider " Town and
Country," as the most agreeable, if not the ablest, of
Mrs. Trollope's novels. The characters are natural and
unexaggerated, the subject is well-chosen, and the story
skilfully conducted. The young and beautiful daughter
of a Cornwall clergyman is married to an old fellow, who
plays off her charms at court for the advancement of his
own ambition. Perfectly innocent at heart, she micon •
sciowly suffers herself to be made an instrument in the
hands of her husband to attract the regarcEi of the Prince
Regent. There is considerable delicacy as well as clev-
erness in the management of this imbroglio, and great
merit in the conduct of the scenes in which the Prince is
involved. The picture of the vicar's family—the induc-
tion of his daughter into the ways of fashionable
life and the simplicity with which she drops
into the lures by which she is surrounded,
contrasted with the energy of her deliverance are excel.
lent, and display insight into springs of character and
emotion which could hardly have been no successfully
dealt with by a writer of the other sex- The sketch of
the Prince Regent is capital. The experiment
gerous, but it is made safe by to and deztArity....4ll44