The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-01 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

(TUESDAY EVENING.)

TlMES.—Copies of the report of the Manchester
Chamber of Commerce on the administrat:on of the
Bank of England, are in town, and have been much
talked of in the monetary circles. It is especially
praised for one thing, which is, that the parties have not
ventured to point out any specific remedy for the evils
complained of, but are content with clearly tracing their
operation upon the trade of the country. That is a

matter which must be left to those who are not only
more experienced in the workings of the currency, but
are removed from the excitement produced by actual
suffering. It was feared that the Lancashire merchants
and traders, living, as it were, in a ta,tex ofjoint-stock
banking, would have advocated increased issues of paper
as the only panacea, which would have damaged their
case exceedingly, and rendered the whole of their
labours useless. As the report must be perused entirc,
to form any just estimate of its bearin,
is s, it is the less
r .
necessary to dwell upon it. What said in it in
commendation of the )=.ractice of France and Hol-
land, and other countries enjoying a metallic currency,
that they have been quite free from the agitations which
have lately convulsed England, and in a still greater de-
gree the United States, is intended perhaps to advert
to the remedy really considered to be an effectual one,
and if it is so, the Manchester Chamber will obtain
on this spot credit both for great judgment and for
great disinterestedness. No doubt can prevail but that
the monetary system and practice of those countries
would preclude the vast fortunes which some lucky in-
diviOuals have realized, but it is equally certain that
none of the desperate re-action and bankruptcies and
ruin which we are now familiar with would take place
under them. This is the practical lesson which, whe-
ther intended or not, the Manchester report will convey
to the country.
Mr. Brooks, one of the speakers at the meetinc, of
the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, put in a table'
(which appeared in The Sun of Saturday) and results
of his trading operations in 1837.
A curious question is likely to arise out of the suddon
death of Mr. Miles Stringer at the Bank to-day, in re-
spect of the bonus declared and about to be paid by the
Equitable Company upon policies of a certain standing.
To-day being the last day of the year, and the full year
therefore not completed, the question is whether the
representatives of the deceased gentleman will be en-
titled to the banns payable upon policies which would
have come within the specified class on the termination
of this, the day fixed.
The mail that has arrived to-day from Alexandria has
brought a large portion of Indian letters that ought to
have been here en the 10th, by the " convention" with
France. Many persons received letters to-day who had
none before, and many the portion that were left behind
in Egypt for this route. One house of agency received
to-day orders from two regiments, the execution of
which might have been sent out by the Sophia, or Clau-
dine, but which cannot go now for one month. Public
attention may be usefully :ialled to these facts, in con•
nexion with the present arrangements for the communi-
cation with India.

Among the schemes for a decimal division of the
coinage, one published by Mr. Babbage, in his " Eco-
nomy of Manufactures," to which our attention has
been called, is in principle, the same as the first of the
two schemes mentioned in the Times of yesterday.
He purposes also to effect the division by the creation
of a tsNo-shilling coin, to be called the Prince (the florin
of the other system). In detail the resemblance still
continues, as he says, that when the public were familiar
with the new coin, it might be divided into 100 instead
of 96 farthings. The piece of 10 farthings is to be re-
presented by a silver coin, the stiver of the other sys-
tem. The only real difference consists in the requisi-
tion for a coinage of two new pieces, instead of the pre-
sent shillings and sixpences, the first to represent 10d.,
and the second sd. Here it will be seen that the sys-
tem mentioned yesterday has the advantage, for the al-
lowing five farthings to the old great 'penny, and five
of these to the present sixpence, permits the present
shillings and sixpences to be retained.
A consideration of the two schemes published yes-
terday has led to a remark in the city, that the pro-
posers of the first scheme; after ha'viag ingeniously given
a distinctive value to the great penny, have not made
bitydocourbliangotchwe
ssionitin:mugchhauvsee
notof iotnalsy tohreeyntemdigaht,nboouots
coinage, but destroyed a decimal part already in their
hands (the great penny), and to make up for its de-
ficiency struck another new coin under the name of
the stiver. The proposers of the scheme doubtless did
this from a wish to retain the pound sterling as the
highest denomination. From a comparison of the two
schemes, a third idea has been started, in which the
principle of the second is to be taken, and so
much of the first applied as relates to the distinc-
tive value of the great penny. By this new (or re.-

tiler compounded) scheme, the half-pound would
be the highest denomination ; this would be di-
vided into ten shillings, as in the second scheme ;
but then, instead of creating a new coin, to be called
the decimo, the great penny of the first scheme is to
represent that coin, and be the tenth of the shilling.
The farthing, as in the first scheme; would be the fifth
part of the great penny, and represent the two cents of

the second scheme. The advocates of this third
scheme hold forth the advantage that it would leave the
coinage, both silver and copper, utterly untouched. One
new wordthe word—" cent"—would be introduced,
and this value would be represented by no new coin, but
be merely imaginary, with its double represented by the
present 'farthing. The adoption of the half-pound as

the highest denomination would not, it is contended,
lead to any serious inconvenience, as the denomination
would be sufficiently high to prevent the mass of
figures found in the French franc column. If it'should
be found expedient to represent the cent by a coin in-
stead of leaving it imaginary, still no new coinage would
be required, as the half-farthings now struck for the use
cf the colonies might be at once applied, and would be
perfectly intelligible to all classes.

POST.—The heaviness of the Spanish Funds to-day
seems to have been occasioned by an expose published
in the French Journals on the subject of the late Trea-
sury arrangement at Madrid, and of which the particulars
were given in the Morning Post. There is no doubt,
from the past conduct of the Spanish Government, that
the statement of the Commerce, to the effect that large
amounts of Active, Passive, and Deferred Stock have
been placed with Messrs. Ardouin, Laffitte, and others
at Paris, in order that money may be raised upon them,
and transmitted to Moreno for the use of the army. If
the markets of PariS and London are to be again inun-
dated with these bankrupt bonds, a fall of some conse-
quence may be looked for. Messrs. Ardouin and Ri-
cardo would appear to have a certain quantity to give
up. The name of Zulueta :s also mentioned in con-
nection with the affair.

H ERALD.—The Public Securities have varied but
slightly to-day. Money has been rather more in re-
quest, in consequence of the settlement of the Account
in the Foreign house.
The adjustment of the half-monthly account was
effected this afternoon without much difficulty, and we
believe all parties in the market were prepared to meet
their differences. The principal fluctuation has been
in Spanish, Dutch, and Colombian Stocks, since the
Account commenced.

We much regret to state that Miles Stringer, Esq.,
well known in the City as one of its honourable mer-
chants, expired suddenly this afternoon, while in the
Reduced Three per Cent. Annuity-office, where he was
about to effect a transfer of stock. Mr. Miles Stringer
was one of the Directors of the Equitable Assurance
Office, and would have been entitled to a bonus on his
policy, it is said, of not less than 10,000/., had he lived
until twelve o'clock this night, when such bonus would
have been effective. It is more than probable, however,
that the deceased, as well as other Directors, has se-
cured the amount by effecting a policy to such amount.
As a merchant, Mr. Stringer was well and deservedly
respected in the City. The event was the subject of
much regret in the Stock Market and on 'Change this
afternoon.

e re; da at quarter. Paris
r a may CHRONICLE.—In the English Funds very little
Exchange was
business was transacted, and prices continue without
alteration. The Exchanges on Hamburg have receded
a
be accounted
f
this period of the
rather
taalsri fromear f
esi,iva the considerably
lsi
circumstance
ilopmse.
enr shipments
; baurthis,et
made
ehv
thato t
o
Amsterdam a
sett
higher ; the circumstance attending the remittance of
the coupons for the dividend on the Two-and-a-Half per
Cents., due to-morrow, is of itself sufficient to justify
that alteration. The Liverpool steamer from New
York is now anxiously looked far, particular:y as it is
understood that the Baltimore, whose arrival we
noticed yesterday, had spoken her on the evening of the
sth ; therefore she would have arrived at New York
on the 6th.
This being settling day in the Foreign Stock Ex-
change, the Account to be settled was on a much
smaller scale than for some time past, the fluctuations
during the Account having been unusually small ; money
at one period of the day had the appearance of being
wanted at higher rates than noticed yesterday ; subse-
qkLntly, however, it was comparatively easy.

and Antwerp, 12 3.
T3hBe,l,a;st prices were
SUN —The Exchanges left off flatly this afternoon ;
I Amsterdam,
e—spPecairaisll,y2tshc6Orattoe
67; lllilaonllbbuurrgg., 1
i;3,13,4-le-ek ;010'irfa,iinilLilori4aliret-k4,ll;rQ
;till
clospd,
Coffee,
~500,0001b5.
I;owercr, is in demand. TO, is firm. The neat public,
this afternoon, but not
closed at 0,2-,i- to
6::'l:s;ll,:sevdi loEli
nn°3gg.3l.Pi:ll!Cnt
oiQanfrs. 'Lionel:: .flwoeri-4"gthtginiPonv 0 n i 0
f.t.
1; Bank ptp,cl4 at 17s ; Exchequer liilis at par. i and
ItOia Bonds at a rally to 60. 01804;.-:
Lute il.; bt, hy A oppd cle4i of conversation, 4110 wo
may add no little regret, Isitil 9C9l§ieced by the skicHcjeti
death of Mr. Stringer, a w " wealthy gentiem 17 wellknow; '
ii,, kiiooptit i.:;,;,.!", while effecting a transfer at the
Bank. TNs gentiewan wao eoPneeted with the Equi-
table Assurance Office, and it has become a curious 1
auestion whether his reprecnOtive§ will be entitled to