The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-11 00:00:00

HULL DOCK BILL.

On the motion of Mr. C. WOOD the Hull Dock Bill
was read a second time, and ordered to be committed after
a few observations from Mr. Pryme.
Mr. TENNENT said, as some doubts existed respect..
ing the propriety of the proceedings taken upon the Copy-
right of Design Bill, he begged to give notice that to-
tnorrov.• he would move to rescind the order for further
proceedings upon it, and move that the House resolve
itself into Committee for the purpose of passing a resolu-
tion, upon which to found another Bill. That he under-
stood would be the proper course, as it related to trade.
The HON. GENTLEMAN then gave notice of a motion
for a return of certain correspondence beween the Irish
Government and the Board of Works.
CORN-LAWS.

Mr. PRYME postponed to this day fortnight his motion,
which stood for this evening, on the subject of the Corn
duties.

THE PRIVILEGE QUESTION.
Sir EDWARD SUGDEN having made some obser-
vations (which were not heard in the gallery) on the ap-
pellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords, as in some way
connected with the present state of the privilege question,
gave notice that in the Committee on the Bill, introduced
by Lord John Russell, and read a second time last night,
respecting the publication of printed papers by the House,
he would move the omission of the second clause.

Sir JOHN WALSH then rose to bring forward the
Motion which he had given notice of. to the effect,
that in the opinion of this House it is expedient that the
differences existing between the House and the
Courts of Law respecting the privilege of the House
to authorise the publication of its proceedings by
its servants, exempt from all liability to action in
those Courts for matter contained therein, be deter-
mined by legislative enactment. The Hon. Baronet
said, that having attentively read the Bill he held in his
hand, he thought that his motion was entirely put
an end to by it, but he must be permitted to state that
the case put by the Bill was not altogether a parallel
with Mr. Howard, who was entirely annihilated by it.
When he first gave notice of this motion he had not the
slightest idea that the Noble Lord would have taken
the step which he had done, indeed it came quite
as a surprise upon him, considering the state-
ments of the Attorney-General, the Noble Lord, and the
startling speech of the Solicitor-General. (Hear,
hear.) The whole discussion that had hitherto
taken place upon this subject, it was apparent,
had been for the purpose of pressing upon the House of
Lords the necessity of adopting the principle of legislation
upon this subject. He should not trespass further upon the
time of the House, but he felt himself called upon to offer
one observation in reference to what had fallen
from the Noble Lord the Member for Northum-
berland on a previous occasion. He felt called upon
emphatically to repudiate and repel the charge that the
course adopted by Hon. Members on his ( Sir J. Walsh's)
side of the House had been dictated by any desire
to degrade or lower the character of thi.t House. Frcm
the turn which affairs had taken, he should not press his
motion.

The motion was then by leave withdrawn.
Sir E. SUGDEN begged to ask the Right Hon. the
Attorney-General whether there was any objection to lay
on the table the particulars of the action referred to in the
second clause of the Bill ?

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the clause re-
ferred to an action for trespass, taken against some person
in the employment of the Sergeant-at-Arms ; but since
the writ bad been served, no further steps had been taken.
BANKING AND CURRENCY.
Mr. GROTE having presented a petition from the
Merchants of London on the subject of Banking,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
in rising to move for a Committee to inquire into the
eEcts produced on the circulation of the country
by the various banking establishments issuing notes pay-
able on demand, he trusted be should not find it ne-
cessary to trouble the House with a long statement,
but he felt the question was of so much importance, that
it would be disrespectful is him if he did not state to the
House the grounds on which he considered him-elf justi-
fied in recommending the appointment of this
.Committee,
and on which be thought the House would be justified in
acceding to his motion ; at the same time, as there was
some representation in certain quarter; as to +he nature
of the Committ.e,.. and the inquir; it was propis,
enter upon, it he necesrl for him to.enter

EVENING EDITION.

soma explanation, to do away with this misunderstanding
with regard to the propriety of Appointing the Committee.
He would first call the attention of the House to the

state in %%hien the Bank of England Charter rested at he
prpnttr:orrien . The House would recodect that his

Noble Friend Earl Spenser (then Lord Althorp), recom-
mended and carried through the House a renewal of the
Bank of England Charter for a certain period, but at the
same time made it nugatory at the expiration of ten years,
upon notice being given to the Company of that intention.
This notice must be given in August 1844 ; and
they would con.iz'er the necessity of legislating on
the subject, if he observed that the notice, in point of fact,
must be given by a resolution of that House, as appointed,
and he apprehended it would be necessary this House
should have great experience in the way in which they
should enter into an inquiry of the renewal of the Charter,
and for deciding the question whether or not such notices
should be given—experience, which it would be neces-
sary for them to have before the year 1842. In addition,
the House would remember that the Bank of Ireland
Charter was only continued by an annual Act of Parlia-
ment, and when Lord Monteegle, in the course of last
year, brought in a Bill for continuing the Charter to a
certain extent, the whole object of the Bill upon that oc-
casion was to make it conterminous with the Bank of
England Charter, so that it might expire at the same time.
The notices were to be given to the Bank of England, in
order that the whole question might be made the subject
of inquiry, and the House have before them the whole sub-
ject of the circulation of the country at the time that the
Charter of the Bank of England came under considera-
tion. He stated this that the House might see an inquiry
of this nature must in a short time be forced on their at-
tention, because, without reference to the state of the law
of the country, before long they must have an inquiry of
this nature. Because he did not conceive it possible to enter
into a fair and proper inquiry for the renewal of the Bank
of England Charter, without going into the whole subject,
ho now proposed to refer it to a Committee. It
was not possible to decide a question of this nature
by the consideration whether the Bank of Eng-
land had exercised with due discretion the power
vested in them. A question so important could no:
rest fairly on the conduct of the Bank of England, for
even supposing the Bank bad exercised its powers in
the most perfect discretion, still there came the larger and
more important question, whether the powers given were
fair privileges, and whether it was expedient the Bank of
England should still continue to have the power; and after
due consideration it appeared to him impossible to deter-
mine such questions without going also into the considera-
tion of the whole circulation of the country, and of other
banking establishments. That was one of the grounds
on which be considered it advisable for the House to ap-
point the Committee to investigate those circumstances,
which must of necessity come before the House of Com-
mons before long. But that was not the only ground on
which he proposed the investigation. He was not inclined
to overrate the value to be attached to public feeling with
regard to a matter of this nature, but he should say that
the wishes of the country, and the opinions, not only of
the public but even of persons whose attention
bad been called to the subject, and whose sen-
timents were most worthy of consideration. He should
say that the opinions of these men were well worthy of at-
tention, and that if the House took into consideration their
wishes and feelings, they would find there existed
the strongest impression that the question should come
under the investigation of the House.-- Hear, hear.) It
was his determination, in the course of what he should
have to say to the House, not to enter into the details of
changes against one establishment or the other, and he
merely wished to examine the question, with a view to
their coming to the inquiry in a fair and candid spirit, look-
ing to the real advantages of the country, and not to the
opportunity which might be offered of attacking any public
establishment.—(Hear, hear.) But in looking at the
question, they should, of course, inquire into the effects of
former transactions, though not for vindictive purposes,
but in order to apply a remedy to existing evils if they
could find one. In examining the question, they would
find that whatever might be the opinion of parties, whether
they attributed our difficulties to the conduct of the Bank

of England, or of other establishments, they would find that
there existed in the minds of the most intelligent and best
informed persons, a strong impression that the present
system was one which required revision and alteration.
That opinion coincided, he thought, with the general feel-
ing of the country, which, from the opinians be had col-
lected since lie had given notice on the subject, he bad
more reason than ever to estimate. There was great
anxiety prevailing on the subject, and he believed that
this was a fair ground for men who were the representa-
tives of those people, and in whose hands the great inte-
rests of the country were placed. He believed that that
was a good reason why they should not be indifferent to
the feelings entertained on the subject, and why they should
take an early opportunity of giving their attention to the
question. That anxiety of the country did not appear to
him to be unreasonable. He did not propose to enter into
the history of former transactions connected with the mat-
ter, but when he looked to what bad passed since the re-
newal of the Bank of England Charter by his Noble
Friend Lord Spencer, and when he looked to their difficul-
ties in 1536 and IB37—difficulties which had affected On
commerce and manufactures of the country, and when be
recollected that very soon after, within a period of two
years, they had again to undergo not a crisis of the same
magnitude, undoubtedly, but yet a pressure from which he
trusted they were now recovering, and which he hoped
they would not much longer feel the effects of—when ho
considered all these circumstances, as well as the rapidity
with which important commercial events had followed
each other of late years, he did think the feeling of the
country was not an unreasonable one, and that the House
ought
onthe tsorubagiAeni
Another
et
on
btqwhyuea;
reyr
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ttnhi
v‘sg,
hn yti voehtrehs
naturea impression
was,
dpa sp,soeti
nihetacmtt
eefndrtot
mohp
fer eapvali
present
trniimtteeefo.
what he
could judge of the temper of the public he never remem-
bered a time at which they were more prepared to ap-
proach the consideration of the subject with candid and
impartial feelings. The House had lately had a petitioe
presented from one of the large manufacturing towel; !
requesting an inquiry in order that they might show to the
House the difficulties under which they laboured,
so that an
adequate remedy might be applied. If the considers- ,
tion of the subject was postponed he was afraid diffi"
cultics would daily increase. He had felt it necessary
to state the grounds on which he moved for the
Committee at the present time. The House ought ,
recollect that it had to instruct itself and the public oPeicei
this question. It was in vain to expect that they could
legislate upon an important question of this nature with",
first ascertaining the opinions of those men who were
competent to give an opinion upon the subject They
ought to look a little to what had been the result of forme,*
inquiries. No really sound measure bad ever been pa"ed
which might .tot be traced to inquiries of that House',
which though not immediately perhaps successful, would
assuredly produce in due time their fruit; by acting slid
re-acting on public opinion. He should almost have felt
it superfluous to say anything on the object of his motion,
had not an idea gone abroad that the inquiry
would not include the Bank. Now, though he did not in'
tend to point the inquiry at any particular body, yet an
in-
quiry into banks of issue, excluding the Bank, would Inti
n.;eed be the play of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet hire
!
omitted.—( Hear.) He should not wish to say anything
beforehand that could limit or confine the inquiry. but:
perhaps there were many points connected with the 133°
which might legitimately cue e under consideration, as, ~r
instance, the points which would arise out of the new
Charter, the nature of the principles upon which tee
Bank is established, and whether these had been properly
_
applied. Next, the system of branch banks of issue ni
connection with the Bank of England, and the clauses
the Act which made the notes of the Bank a legal tender;
also, the Lew paint which was introduced into the Ch:trret
as to the " averages. That clause was not viewed at first
without alarm ; but there had now been some experience
of its operation, and there were the means of coining t°
a decision as to whether the alarm was well grounded Of
,
not. It was desirable to consider further whether the ad
vintages expected from the return of the averages ha
been obtained, and the intended information was given to
the public. He was aware that more important questions
would come under the consideration of the Committee'
such as the very question of the existence of a bank having
exclusive privileges—and whether what was called fre°
trade in banking was not desirable ; and on the other
hand, whether if the Bank ought to exist it had sufficieet
powers to perform its functions ; and again, whether it was
not advisable to have but one bank of issue. Those cineesd
t ions agitated the public mind at the present moment, a"
to them the Committee would have to turn its atonal;
These questions must before long be forced upon r.".
House, and it appeared to him by far the wisest way to,olnr,
quire at once candidly and fully, in order to obtain intro
!nation for the House and the public before the time came
when they would be called upon to legislate on these
subjects. There was one point more to which he re
allude—the Bank of Ireland.—( Hear.) Last Session
Bill was brought in by his Noble Friend the Chancel, °r
of the Exchequer to continue the Charter of that Bark'
only until such time as the House should have decided upon
the Charter of the Bank of England. He would not
tdraw fffiirololcfmuu
ipl,ttoayhnr e o
Parliament
and
tanhmdpa
t eni
trs,hout
enbf
for
then
oerfltoydifficulty
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hands 13c
that he was moving for the appointment of a Comln'tee
That would, in his opinion, anear inconsistent. It es
therefore not his intention top bring in a Bill at the phis
sent moment, but if the House enabled him to have
ttieo
Committee, it was his intention to bring the quest
before it, and obtain from it some opinion as to the ce".ol
it was advisable to pursue ; as he was anxious that -el-
Bill he might introduce on that subject, should not be 10-0
consistent with the view the Committee might take Otto
the subject. In conclusion he trusted that the House we e,
have no objection to the appointment of the Cornin„cittc
o.
Me. GISBORNE did not rise to object to the
tit be
mittee moved for by the Right Hon. Gentleman, b o-
hed not stated any reason why the inquiry should be that
fined to banks of issue. By restricting the motion Intro
respect the Right Hon. Gentleman excluded
d.d 001
consideration all those Joint-stock Banks which thit
issue their own notes. It was quite impossible to sad
505
those banks which did not issue their own notes
di ar-
produce some effect on the circulation He allr of
ticularly to the existing bargains between the
riie6itiole
England and those Banks. Those bargains we,,,t,k of
in consequence of temptations held out by the.in:; oWe
England to induce them to abstain from issuing lifer thew
notes. Those temptations were discounting hill9l. this ec
to a certain amount within a certain period. Ne'v cac to
a time when money was scarce would be an inducement
they
those banks to require the whole amount for which
had bargained, in order to lend it out to their c those t
at 6or 7 per cent. That was one of the evili°e'r
banks ; but they operated prejudicially in oTi"ti hes ewe
namely, causing a great issue of acceptances. For ore'
Part he believed that it weu'd be found, if the woe'(
_ s__(to did
of joint-stock banks were looked into, that those riously
! rot issue their own notes often operated more i jetiwc
upon commerce and society than those that did•
with which he was unfortunately connected, and v,,)%t or
not issue its own notes had in a very short
.peri,r,:h
wards of halt' a million h i had debt..
smeng the are evils et' thejoitif..*.-sk