The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-24 00:00:00

BANK OF ENGLAND.

At a Court of Directors, held on the 23d January, 1840,
Resolved_" That the sate of interest of bills of ex-
change and notes discounted at the Bank of England be
five per cent. from this day."
The Funds, both Foreign and Domestic, rose
directly the notice became known, Consols about per.
Cent., leaving off at 91a for money, and 91-a for time
Exchequer Bills improved to 18s. premium ; the New
Three-and-a-Half per Cents. to 991 ; and the Re-
duced Three per Cents. to 91a ; Spanish Consols ad-
vanced to 25i 26 ; Portuguese New Five per Cents.,
to 34ti ; Columbian, to 271 ; and Dutch Two-and-
a-Halt per Cents. to 52i.
The Share Market was also more elastic. The
Great Western Shares rose to premium ; the New
Shares to par ; the Brighton, to 101 discount ; and
the Manchester and Birmingham, to 8 discount.

TIMES —The notice so frequently anticipated by spe-
culators, but deferred, as believed by others, through pru-
dential motives, for the reduction of interest by the Bank
of England has appeared this morning.
So strong wa§ the impression in the Money Market
that the proper time had not yet arrived for the Bank to
take this step, that its appearance to-day has taken most
people by surprise. Besides that caution in the regula-
tion of the circulation which it is the duty of the Bank to
exercise in order to avoid any encouragement to specula-
tion, there is another motive which is supposed to have
weighed with them in this delay, which is the necessity for
getting back the greater part, at least, of the securities sold
during the late crisis before the general rise took place, as
they would have become otherwise a mark for speculators
on both sides of the water. It is surmised from the
publication of the notice, that this has now been effected,
and also that some considerable progress has been made
by the directors in the liquidation of the Paris account,
which may serve to explain the late depression and irre-
gular course of the exchanges. If this should turn out to
be the case, the Bank will have credit for more cautious
management than they have usually shown, and must have
employed very discreet and cautious agents, as their move-
ments are at all times most carefully watched, and no sus-
picion of the kind seems to have arisen in an quarter.
To most persons in trade the measure will afford a timely
relief, for though among traders in the first class of credit,
money was readiiy to be obtained for some weeks past in
the open market touch lower than the rate now fixed by the
Bank, their adherence to so high a rate as 6 per cent. was
an excuse for making it the general charge out of doors,
and great extortion and oppression seems to have been exer-
cised under its cover. The return to the old legitimate
rate of 5 per cent will do away with much practical
evil of this description, and, by becoming an indication to
foreigners that we are returning to a healthy state as to
credit, will renew all the confidence heretofore placed in
our merchants, and which the late panic had disturbed.
There must now be in the spring orders, and as soon as
the northern ports are open a great increase of business,
and that, if it can be kept from degenerating into specula-
tion and gambling, adapting itself to the real demand, will
be the best restorer of the circulation.

Altogether a strong persua.sion exists in the city that
sufficient experience has been acquired by the Bank during
the late momentous struggle to secure us from any relapse
into the errors which have mainly contributed to bring it
on ; at all events, the Directors may be assured that the
public have seen so much that they will lay the fault of
another rise to 6 per cent. entirely at their door. In this
country of vast capital, the rate ought never to be higher
than 5 per cent., nor can it be so without the conviction
that $ omething is wrong in the system.
The English stock-market opened this morning with fa-
vourable appearances, and a scarcity of Consols for imme-
diate delivery caused the money price to advance to 91a,
while the quotation for the account was 911. When the
resolution of the Bank directors to lower the rate of dis-
count became known, the immediate effect was to raise the
price of Consols to 911 for money, and 91+ for the ac-
count, at both which quotations there were buyers at the
close of business. Previously to the reduction of interest
being known the premium on Exchequer Bills had risen
to- 18s. , and the price was easily obtainable afterwards.
In the Foreign Market the effect of the Bank notice
was still more decided, and almost every foreign security
advanced in value. Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents.
rose to 521, after being as low as 52+; Spanish Active
advanced from 25i to 25+ to 26 ; Portuguese Five per
Cents. from 331- to 34i ; Colombian Bonds, which in the
morning had been flat at 263, closed at 27 to 4 ; and Mex-
ican 6 per Cents. at 291.

In the Share Market no business was done after the
Bank measure was known, but the effect was evidently to
make the holders more confident as to an advance. No-
minally London and Birmingham Railvray shares were 65
to 67, and Great Western (old), 1 to 11- premium ; and
the new shares discount to par.

CHRONICLE.—We stated yesterday that the meet-
ing of the Bank Parlour to-day was looked to with some
interest, in consequence of its being rumoured that the
Directors "are very nearly balanced on the question re-
garding the reduction in the present rates of discount,"
and we now subjoin a copy of the notice given on the
subject after the meeting, as above.
We justified the Directors on the past restricted policy
as a necessary measure of self-safety while the foreign
exchanges were unfavourable, and while gold was not
coming back to their coffers from the legitimate operations
of trade. The Directors themselves (tacitly at least)
allowed it to be understood that these were the causes
which had obliged them to keep on the screw ; and, ad-
mitting the force of the argument, we found no fault with
them for doing so, while charged with the responsibility
of preserving the value of the currency ; but we unequi-
vocally stated that much of the difficulty of their position
had been occasioned by their former mismanagement, par-
ticularly in keeping money so easy after the end of 1838,
and on even to April of 1839, after they saw the gold
taken away from them for foreign corn to an extent that
soon drained them almost dry.

POST —On the breaking up of the Bank weekly meet-
ing, held to-day, the notice above-mentioned was posted.
This measure, although the foreign exchanges have
been rather upon the decline during the last two or three
post days, and although it is more than probable that re-
mittances to some amount have yet to be made to the
northern parts of Europe for grain, is regarded in the city
as, perhaps, the best thing that could have been done ix
the present circumstances of the kingdom. It is con-
cluded that the Bank would not venture to assume the at-
titude she does had not her resources and prospects
materially improved of late. There can be no doubt
that the stock of bullion in her coffers must be, by this
time, between five and six millions, including everything.
and it is considered that the low ering of the rate of dis-
count will at once have the effect of giving relief to the
trading community, and of restoring confidence on the
Continent. It is only to be regretted that a change in the
Bank policy having these laudable objects in view should
be always at once taken advantage of by speculators in the
funds and in shares and produce, as the intention thus be-
comes in a great measure defeated. The afternoon did
not pass over without renewed dealings having taken place
in many of the schemes and bubbles that have now so long
been nearly lost sight of. In the low-priced foreign bonds
there was a decided advance of price, and throughout the
markets generally there was some improvement upon yes-
terday's quotations.
There is nothing of interest from the other points
named.

HERALD.—The Bank Directors, at their weekly
Court held this day, came to the resolution of lowering
their rate of discount from 6 to 5 per cent. per annum.
This measure is viewedin a very favourable light at the
Stock Exchange, and, we may say, generally in the City,
as it is taken for granted that the Bank Directors would
not, in the face of a continued depression of the Fo7e;,,r,
Exchanges, have taken so bold a step, had they not the
fullest confidence in the security of their position, and in
the gradual revival of our commercial activity. .We arc
informed, in fact, that things are very materially better
than they have been in many parts of the kingdom, what-
ever local distress may exist in the manufacturing districts.
The unfunded debt continues to advance, and rumours
still prevail of an intended funding.
The Bank arrangements have given a stimulus to the
Share Market, as well as to the other two, but speculatcrs
in
the former have been so severely punished on many oc-
eas.ions by their ill-considered adventures, that it now re-
gal:es a little time to give a renewed impetus to their folly
upon a scale of any magnitude. In a few days it is not
improbable that they may all be busily at work again.

As another proof of Sir Francis Burdett's de-
clining intellect, he not only delivered a speech on Tuesday
evening in direct opposition to the views he advocated on the
privilege question on the first of august last, but also forgot he
had paired off for that evening ; and was actually in the lobby,
ready to vote on the division, had not the tellers discovered the
mistake, and reminded him of his engagement. Really, the
friends of the poor old gentleman should look better after him !

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

(From the Morning Chronicle.)
The electors of Southwark have not disappointed us.
At the close of the poll the numbers for Mr. Wood were
2,052, and for Mr. Walter only 1,504 ; the majority in
favour of the former being 548 !! I Throughout this con-
test neither money nor exertion has been spared by Mr.
Walter. The number of persons bribed by him in one
capacity or other, by high wages to further his views, was
prodigious. Everything on the part of Mr. Wood and
his friends was, on the other hand, conducted in the most
quiet and easy manner. We have no doubt that five times
as much has been laid out on bills, bill-stickers, and bill-
carriers, as the whole expenses incurred by Mr. Wood
amount to. The Tories are continually boasting of
the immense re-action in their favour. Here we have
a test which they cannot themselves challenge. It
will not surely be said that the present Ministry
have any peculiar source of influence in the borough of
Southwark. If there be an independent constituency in
England, that constituency is Southwark. What better
proof, then, could be afforded, whether the boasts
with which they have made the air resound of the
people of England being on their side, had any foun-
dation that an election for a populous and important dis-
trict of the metropolis? What better test whether Minis-
ters have, as the Tories have so often asserted, lost the
confidence of all but a few Popish agitators, Irish dema-
gogues, and Whig ladies in waiting, than an appeal to one
of the most numerous and independent constituencies of
England? The appeal has been made, and the result is
that the Tory candidate is utterly and signally defeated.
The Tories felt the full importance of the South-
wark election, and neglected no means of insuring
success. The candidate whom they put forward,
Mr. Walter, was in every respect the fittest
man of the whole party who could have been
selected for the purpose. His former profession
of Radicalism, his violent opposition to the Poor-
law Amendment Act, and his connection and sym-
pathy with Oastler and other agitators of that stamp,
throw a convenient veil of obscurity over his obnoxious
Toryism, and rendered it comparatively easy for him to
come forward, not as the Tcry candidate, but as the ean-
didate, to use his own words, of the two extreme parties--
the Tories and the ultra-Radicals and Chartists. Nor was
another qualification wanting in Mr. Walter, of even more
importance in Tory electioneering tactics, than convenient
laxity of political principle. At previous elections he had
shown himself a resolute, unscrupulous canvasser, deter-
mined to spare no exertion, to stick at no expense, how-
ever enormous and unprecedented, and to strain to the
utmost every advantage to be derived from personal influ-
ence, and from his connection with a powerful Journal.
For months past all these influences have been brought
to bear unceasingly and unsparingly upon the constitu-
ency of Southwark. Oastler has been enlisted to bring
over the Chartists and Anti-Poor-law agitators to the
cause of the " friend of the poor." The Times has put
forth paragraph after paragraph, to place Mr. Walter's
claims in the fairest light, and urge on the Conservatives
the necessity of bestirring themselves in his support. The
" continuance of Whig misrule," the Tory organs announce
on the eve of the election, depends upon its result. Mo-
ney, as Mr. Anderson's disclosures show, has been forth-
coming freely for every purpose, legitimate or illegitimate.
Turn to the other side, and what do we see to oppose this
compact union of Tories and Chartists, this formidable
array of electioneering influence?—a respectable mer
chant, known only in a limited circle, and recommended
chiefly by his attachment to Liberal principles, and his
avowed determination to support a Liberal Administration.
Add to this, that the Reformers were disunited amongst
themselves, and that up to the latest moment,
a second Liberal candidate remained in the field.
Could any combination of circumstances be imagined more
favourable for the Tories, or more likely to give them a
chance of success, if the sense of the people of England
had been—we will not say with them, but only not strongly
and decidedly against them. The result shows, and the
coming elections for Edinburgh and Devonport will con-
firm that result, that the people of England are unchanged
—that they have not been won over by the sweet voices of
the Bradshaws, the Robys, the O'Sullivans, and the
M‘Neils—that they arc not prepared to embark in a cru-
sade agAinst the " damnable" Emancipation or the " in-
fernal" Reform Act (we use the epithets of a noble Tory
orator).—in a word, that they are still the same people
who, at the last general election, returned for every po-
pulous city, every great centre of wealth and intelligence,
every numerous, independent, and respectably constituency
of English householders, an overwhelming majority of
members, pledged to oppose the return of the Tories to
power. _ _

(From the Morning Advertiser.)
All hail, Reformers of Southwark I You have nobly done
your duty, and we thank you in the name of the Libe-
rals of England from the very bottom of our hearts. It
is not that you have rescued Southwark from the stain of
returning a renegade Liberal and unsound Tory, that we
are thus warm in our laudation, but because you have re-
vived the slumbering spirit of Liberalism—because you
have vindicated by your votes one of the boldest, as well as
one of the most moral revolutions that ever took place in
any age or country_we mean the reform of the gross
abuses of the Poor.laws—because you have shewn an ex-
ample which ought to be followed by every constituency
throughout the kingdom—because you have strengthened
the hands of an ill-used although thoroughly-reforming
Administration, and dashed from the lips of the Tories
that cup of hope—the re-occupancy of office—which they had
so fondly cherished. The defeat of Mr. Walter must be gall
and wormwood to the Tories. They not only felt sure of the
election of their confederate in their opposition to Re-
form principles, but they indulged the fond expectation
that it would operate upon the debate of Tuesday next, and
upon all the elections now pending—Newark, Birming-
ham, Devonport, Beverley, &c.—and finally, that it would
serve them as an engine for turning out the present Ad-
ministration, and establishing themselves in full authority
(query, tyranny ?) over the Queen, her Court, and the
whole people of the greatest empire in the world. But
" how are the mighty fallen 1 how has the gold become
dim, and the fine gold as the dross" of the earth ! The
betrayer has been caught in his own snare, and the
people delivered from the baneful domination of his mis-
chievous principles. To the Committee and the agents
who undertook the responsibility of Mr. Wood's election,
the greatest praise is due. Theis arrangements were ad-
mirable, and we trust that the constituenzy will not lose
sight of their exertions. The triumph ought to be cele-
brated by a public entertainment, and an unequalled ex 7
hibition of loyal and reforming feeling.
(From the Times.)
The Southwark election has been carried in favour of
the ultra-Radical or revolutionary candidate, Mr. Wood,
against Mr. Walter, who came forward as independent of
the trammels of party. The constituency of Southwark
will have full time, and ere long have opportunity, to
repent of their share in the result of this contest, which on
one side we suspect was not carried on in a spirit or by
means the most creditable. Of course we must not
say that Mr. Curling played tricks, or did that
which any but dishonest men would scout to prac-
tice ; but we may venture to maintain, that had
Mr. Curling meant to be a double dealer, to de-
ceive another candidate, and cheat the whole body
of electors into a belief that they had three names
to choose from instead of only two, he could not
have succeeded more completely than by pledging
himself to the last moment that he would go to the poll—ay,
keep the poll open until the whale constituency should be
exhausted, by treating as downright falsehoods (at ten on
Wednesday night) every current rumour that it was his in-
tention to retire, and then, at eight o'clock on Thursday
morning, withdrawing his own person from the battle, but
handing over his partisans to one of the remaining candi-
dates, at a moment when there were no means left for the
independent candidate to canvass them in favour of exer-
cising their own free will, or to retrieve the forfeiture of
the deserter's violated obligation. We do not say that Mr.
Curling has been bought by a tangible bribe of any sort to
this discreditable breach of faith ; but it is clear enough
that the acceptance of a bribe of some description by that
person would be the easiest way of accounting for his public
conduct on the occasion ; and, with a palpable corpus delicti
before our faces, the onus must rest upon the parties profit-
ing by it to disprove the accusation brought against them.
Southwark, then, continues in the hands of a clique
of barefaced demagogues, whose notion of reform is ever-
lasting change, whose law is the fluctuating impulse of the
mob, their religious freedom the absence of all belief, and
their test of truth the mystification and poltroonery of the
ballot-box. For those who call for such accommodations
as the foregoing, Mr. Walter unquestionably is not, and
will never be, the man to carry on their required services.
They want a slave who can truckle to faction, and can do
the behests of that many-headed tyrant, which knows no
restraint hut its own capricious will, and revolts against all
authority constituted, revered, and moral. They want not
a man like Mr. Walter, who will make the rights and com-
fort of the poor his care, and will devote, as he has done,
his life to their well-being, but one who will use their in-
terests for his pretext, their mind for his dupe, their num-
bers for his tools, and their peace and prosperity for his
victims: How long may we expect to see Mr. Wood tte
sitting Member for Southwark before he accepts the Chil.
tern Hundreds, and vacates for a lucrative office ?