The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-18 00:00:00

THE SUN,

facturing and commercial interests must ensue,
whereby the labouring population will be imme-
diately thrown out of emkloyment, and an amount
of misery and destitution Will be witnessed unexam-
pled in the ann of the country. And this is the
price we are called upon to pay in order to main-
tain inviolate a principle which evenits most
ardent and enthusiastic supporters could not
advocate to its full extent, which they only
desired to be partially adopted, that the imaginary
line should not be exceeded,' that the Rubicon should
not be passed which allowed thcf.aßank of England
to issue fourteen millions of notes without the pos-
session of one single ounce of gold, but sternly re-
quired that every note beyond that amount should be
based on bullion, or, in other words, that for every
Si. issued the Bank should retain five sovereigns
lying uselessly and idly in its coffers.
That the money would have returned to the coun-
try without these extraordinary exertions, that free
trade, so recently conceded, would have had the effects
which its most sanguine advocates alleged, may be
gathered from the fact that there are foreign orders
to a considerable amount, the execution of which
would afford ample occupation for our operatives.
There is a ready demand, but, alas ! the want of a
sufficient circulation, and of the ordinary facilities,
prevent our manufacturers from availing themselves
of the golden opportunity. They cannot procure the
means of carrying on their business, even at a con-
siderable sacrifice. Even if money was obtainable, its
exorbitant price would run away with all the profits
and leave the millowners considerable losers, by the
operations from which they might fairly have hoped
to realise considerable gain. They are thereby
obliged to see their factories lying idle, the
operatives suffering every privation, and deprived of
those humble comforts that are almost luxuries, or
perhaps driven to the tender mercies of the union
workhouse, to sustain life until the return of a more
propitious season, when our Legislators will be aroused
from their apathy, and will at length take steps to
remove the cause of all our misfortunes—to reform
and remodel the monetary laws.
But before Parliament can possibly be collected
together—before the necessary measures can possibly
be submitted for their consideration, and passed
through the various stages until the final "La Reine
le vent" is pronounced, much time must elapse.
The burden, already sufficiently onerous, will
have crushed us to the earth, and mischiefs perfectly
irreparable will have taken place. The national cha-
racter and the national credit will be fearfully
damaged, if not wholly destroyed, and England's
prosperity will be a tale of bygone days. Prompt
and immediate steps must be taken to meet the
emergency, to arrest the progress of the disease.
The Government must exert itself to preserve the
country. It is not a time to hesitate, or remain
quiescent, while the producers of national wealth—the
industrious and enterprising classes—the tax-payers,
by whom the national Exchequer is sustained, the
interest of our enormous debt paid, and our annual
expenditure for the support of our military, naval,
and civil services defrayed, are involved in ruin.
Already there has been an ominous presage of the
failure of our resources : the financial returns of the
country for the quarter ending the sth instant ex-
hibit a falling off of more than one million and a half
sterling on the ordinary revenue as compared with
the corresponding quarter of the preceding year.
This is surely something to arouse the members of
the Cabinet. The Chancellor of the Exchequer will
have but a sorry tale to tell, when opening his
Budget, to the representatives of the people,
unless this deficiency can by some means
be counteracted, and the national purse
replenished. This can only be done by re-
moving the present scarcity, by sanctioning a circu-
lation sufficient for the wants of the people. There
is a strong objection at all times to the Executive
usurping the functions of the Legislature, and un-
settling anythi:g that has been solemnly deterinired
on by the three Estates, but circumstances may arise to
render such a step not only advisable, but absolutely
essential to the safety of the country ; and there can
scarcely be a doubt that an indemnity would readily
be afforded for any temporary measures adopted, on
the Ministerial responsibility, in order to meet the
emergency. We conceive that the Government
would be fully authorised in permitting the Bank to
issue such additional sum as may, on full considera-
tion, be found to be sufficient for the present; but
there is a mode by which material and immediate
relief could be afforded without any violation of the
Acts of 1819 or 1844. If the Exchequer-bills which
the Treasury is empowt red to issue were divided
into such sums as to make them accessible to all ; if
in place of 1,0001. and 500/. bills they were sent out
fir sums of 101. and 51., and an announcement
was at the same time made that they would be
received in payment of taxes, these bills would
pass as readily from hand to hand as Bank-notes.
If some five, or even ten, millions of large
Exchequer-bills were thus exchanged into the
smaller denominations it would at once mitigate
the evil. In addition, the Bank of England, besides
the fourteen millions of notes, is authorised to issue
two millions of post-bills for the convenience
of persons desirous of making remittances; these
post-bills, which are payable at seven
days after date, are to all intents and purposes the
same as Bank-notes, and would circulate as freely.
If some of our wealthy bankers and merchants would
take a considerable quantity of those bills in the
smallest denomination in which the Bank will issue
them, and the people generally agree to circulate
them, in place of sending them in for payment,
one million, or one million and a half, might be at
once added to the circulation. Something must be
done; and what we have just suggested might of
ford a temporary relief until the more permanen
measures should be passed through the Legislature.

The principle which inculcates the irresistible
efficacy of moral agitation as the most effectual
means for lidding the social or political world of
abuses, is now recognised so generally, that associa-
tions similar in character to the famous Anti-Corn-
law League are successively starting into existence.
For the improvement of the physical condition of the
people the Health of Towns Association was originally
organized, and that movement has been already so far
beneficial in its influence on the Legislature as to
have led to the appointment of a body of duly-autho-
rised Sanitary Commissioners. For the better adjust-
ment of our present brittle and inflexible system of
national currency another association has been recently
organized, under the expressive cognomen of the Anti-
Gold-law League. For the purpose of diminishing,
and ultimately of preventing the recurrence of in-
stances of corruption in the election of representatives
to Parliament, an association has likewise been
founded under the expressive and explicit title of the
Anti-Bribery Society. The originators of this em-
bryo League have boldly struck at the very root of
the social Upas which blasts the character of more
constituents than Sudbury, and renders the scheme of
the Constitution in a very great measure impracticable.
Rejoiced,ho wever, as we are to observe the commence-
ment of a crusade against that venal vice which is,
more if possible than any other, the most derogatory
to the name of a freeman, we are prepared only to
coincide in the purpose of the undertaking, and to
reserve our approval of the manner in which the
Anti-Bribery Society intends to realise its aspirations
until the association is further advanced, and its
ideas are more mellowed by discussion and agitation.
Following the example of its memorable predeces-
sor, this society has already adventured upon the
publication of tracts, and is striving to enrol new
members among all classes of the community upon
the payment of a single shilling, and the subscription
of the member's name to a very simple preliminary
declaration. That the numbers already obtained are
Comparatively insignificant, and that Tract No. I. is
msrveuowAy unaspiring, both as an exhibition of
rhetoric and logic, are considerations of very little
moment to ourselves. They dilate into a prospective
importance whenever the thought occurs to us of
the little back room at Manchester, where seven
dreaming philanthropists
and
s
sanguinen m
tahteistudentas
aieny t hoef
the sub-
versionscience of political economy
of monopoly by thefi ay
Bready
ibery
the doctrines of free trade.
Society we would persuade ourselves that
we a
perceive the phantom of the infant 1-lEacur.Es str
ling the snakes of corruption. Nevertheless, we
are
satisfied that if some bolder effort be not made by
the members of this association than that which is