The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-24 00:00:00

irietors it might be safely left to take the measures
equisite for the protection of those interests. It
has now, however, become pretty obvious, that no
,henry, or law, which attempts to place the Bank
of England on the footing of a private establish-
ment can be stricly carried out without entailing very
serious mischiefs upon the mercantile community.
file operations of the Bank, even within that Sphere
in which it has an unfettered discretion, are upon
-o vast a scale that they affect the welfare of the
whole nation. The London Mobey Market is the
zre it heart whose beatings regulate the circula-
:ion of capital through all the ramifications of our
industry : and though the Bank of England is but

►ne of - the dealers in that market, it exercises,
from various causes, an immense power over the
Jroceedings of all the other dealers. The power
hus possessed may be so used as either to aggravate
or to diminish the fluctuations in the value of

iiap ,sable capital; and tt is with reference to the
•xercise of this power that the interest of the whole
..ommunity sometimes requires a surrender of profit
ny the Bank. It is for the good of the community

that the fluctuations in the -rate of interest should
never, if possible, he sudden or violent, and that mer-
mintile calculations which extend over a considerable
ipace of time, and which include this element, should
lot be liable to complete derangement from its un-
certainty. A steady use of the power of the Bank of
England, however, for the purpose of moderating the
Alternations in the value of money, would require a
Kind of regard to the distant future which has never
been considered necessary by the Bank directors.
NTeither under the old system nor under the new
lave they ever thought it necessary to anticipate.
['heir system has been to wait for the action of the
ouhlic, and never tWmeasures to meet such em-
'arrassments as thtisr-cattW by drains of gold until
the bullion has been flowing out in a full tide. But
statesmanlike anticipation of the future is the. very
quality which the public welfare most requires in the
Bank direction. From the Bank ought to have come
irst the warning against undue absorption of fleeting
capital in railways, and from the same quarterwe
eight to have had the first intimations of a tifollitilo.
drain of gold on account of extensive purchases of
foreign corn. To secure thist rsgard to Ale *future.
in the Bank direction, it • ~.very ad
advisable. to have at its heactie -str9re perma-
nent officer than the Governor is leippresent regu-
lations, and it would be still moNsißitq lfiefthet that
•Aficer should be a person nat iTtealif elegaged •in"
commerce. Commercial experience, iddaisi4iA .essen-
dal, but a gooddeal more than commercial -experience
is wanted, and we think it is not too much to say,
Chat a certain kind of political knowledge add iao-
- is absolutely essential to wise and safe manage.
Inent of the Bank. This subject is welt worthy
of the consideration of Ministers, and they would
earn and receive the gratitude of the mercantile
simmunity, if, by the removal of unwise restric-
tions and establishment of a better system of Bank
management, they could place the country in a
better position for overcoming its present difficulties.
the management of the Bank of France, though
we would not hold it up as an example to be copied,
is deserving of consideration. It has a governor and
two deputy-governors, appointed by the Crown. This
regulation was introduced by Napoleon in 1806.
Attempts were made to alter. it under the Restora-
tion, but without success. Subsequently, the oppo-
sition of the. Bank, which caused those attempts,
Appears to have been softened, and the system has
become established. The governor presides at the
getieral council or board of direction. He appoints
and removes agents, sigtia agreements, sanctions or
'tot,, at his pleasure, the discount of bills, and the re-
solutions to which the council may come, and exer-
cises a general supervision. These powers are exces-
sive, like the powers given to all su,ierior functionaries
of administration in France. In the case of the Bank
of England we should expect little benefit fram the
introduction of a new officer with extraordinary
legal p )were, but a good deal from the presence of
one qualified to guide the councils of the Bank, and
whose character and capacity enabled him to impress
his opinions upon his brother directors.
POST.—The failure in business of the Governor
of the Bank of England is certainly a startling
event. It may, however, be of some public use
*f it serve to convince men, as it ought, of the
fallacy of the arguments upon which the friends of
he existing monetary system rely. Me-cautile
failures are now taking place right and left, in conse-
quence of the great fall in price of thoa various
stoppages are
he
dcei
ffirt:aiu ?I p
vy
orrecunippuita.stietfbil,ityinudf rtoahina3
-uch assistance in money as, under a less restrictive
:i3frsslueci nh,
ams..iigsthatnesea,feul
wunforeseenouid not byoc occur.
huer.
Their
rd
restrictive
rpi
crteisveeo t
systemsystem,
hbeuyt
ceesntsftuol specula-
tionspeculu.
they said that with tnyhdeeh;rra vsseuycsht beenecmiresguuticivihse circumstances,
e. rshew
circumstancesad:.nnitl
aftnraco,gmiagn:
unPfr
which there was
It is now but
too apparent that this reliance upon the Bank Charter
Act of 1844 was as ignorant es the refusal to attend
to the warning of the bankers of London, offered at
*he time of its enactment, was impudent. But it
4n tlitonPl used
wnhgaa ste
longer a wouldacnri crisis
e occasioncontingencysarisingu c h
has been recently said in Parliament that if the Bank
Charter Act had not worked as it was expected to
work, in checking speculation, it was because the
Bank did not soon enough restrict monetary accom-
modation, in anticipation of coming difficulties
Easily said, but great nonsense ; for how is the Bank
to act upon anticipation of circumstances which
even the most intimate acquaintance with the affairs
of the Bank does not enable any one to anticipate ?
The Governor of the Bank, it appears, was so far
from being able to anticipate the crisis which was
coming on, that his own house is obliged to stop pay-
ment in consequence of the exigencies of the crisis.
It is, therefore, utterly idle to think of working a
monetary system, in such a country as this, by a
calculation of coming events in the mercantile world.
That which the country requires is a monetary sys-
yin which can accommodate itself to the state of the
times, such as they may happen to be. The country
requires a description of currency which can be ex-
panded or contracted according to the peculiar cir
cumatances which a small circulation may satisfy, or
which it may require a very large circulation to meet.
L'he currency we have is one, indeedaihich may be
contracted, but which, unfortunately, cannot be ex-
panded without obtaining that which the country
cannot obtain when it is most wanted, namely . gold.
Our law insists that when money is scarce, owing to
the effiux 44' gold from the country, and when mer-
chants are in difficulty because of the scarcity of
money, they shall break unless they can obtain gold,
the very thing the departure of which has caused
their embarrassment! Then they are told that the
Bent, seeing what was about to happen. should have
taken early measures to avert the difficulty ; and
presently the evidence afforded of the Bank being able
to see what was about to happen is the failure of the
Governor of the Bank, who, with all the knowledge
of the directors' room at his eonimand, was not able
to foresee what was about tUhappen!

DISGUSTING SCSNII.—STOURBRIDGE, AUG. 18.-
Yesterday a protracted investigation was brought to a
close before the county .-cormer at Lye, near this town,
relative to a revolting conflict between two women, which
terminated fatally to one of the parties. The deceased,
Maria Foxall, and her more fortunate adversary, Jane
Perry. both single women under 20 years of age, were
employed in a brickyard in the outskirts of the town,
and, according to the evidence adduced,- a strong degree
of jealousy existed between them for the company of a
Whether har eirni teh
attachment
tnrt
at
chhhee
me ndirection t
for encouragedh iomf .h their enhi
orm jointFridayw h
eefvnaevion, :umn favours labourer named Bromyard, in a similar occupation.
elicited, but it was certain that they had both a very
was returning from her day's work at the bricklield down
after her, and, on looking round, saw the deceased mak-
ing all haste towards her. Not wishing to have any
altercation with her she ran away, but subsequently
was induced to stop by some men, who kept calling
her a " coward," and to " fight it out." Perry re-
fused to fight, and again attempted to get away-
Foxall, however, encouraged by the depraved wretches
around her, succeeded in overtaking the other
girl, and a truly revolting scene took place. For
near ten minutes they were engaged in what might be
termed a " stand up fight." Blows were first dealt, and,
as they became more excited, so did the diogusting na-
ture of their violence increase. They fastened on each
other's hair, and tore it out by handful's. blood flowing
from wounds about the face and head. At length,
Foxiill fell back in apparently. a dying condition, and it
was then di.covered that during the confl et her neck
had been dislocated. She died hadst instantaneously,
s
Mr. H. Wilson, surgeon, who examined the body,
laston one
called n
Perry
stated the dislocation to be between the first and second
vertebra. It might have been produced by the head
ing violently pulled tin one side or backward, or by vio-
lent rotary motion. A blow would not produce disloca-
tiiin without some outward injury being apparent. The
coroner (Mr. Docker): in summing up, WI it to the jury
t state whether the girl Perry had exercised any more
violence than was necessary to protect her from tne at-
tacks of the deceased. The jury. after a short Consulta-
tion,
returned a verdict, " That the death of 'the de-
ceased was reused by the dislocation of the first and
secondlertebraitf the neck, oceiiAioned during a struggle
with Jane Perry, and that the said: Titre rely' wav
the tune ectiug 14 stlf-44119e."