The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-06 00:00:00

trnang A 4,11.6

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1847.

The state of the money market is now the chief
object of interest to persons of every rank and grade
in society. The fearful results that have been ap-
parent, when houses of the highest character and
undoubted solvency have been compelled to suspend
payment even for a limited period, although possessed
of assets far exceeding the amount of their liabilities,
has, indeed, had a startling effect upon all classes in
the community, and the public generally have begun
to inquire into that system of finance which has led
to such unhappy and unforseen results, to question its
soundness and efficiency, and to see the vital import-
ance, nay the imperative necessity, of some great
and comprehensive measures of reforra. The spirit
of inquiry once thoroughly awakened, will not easily
be set aside. Although the people may not at present
be unanimous as to the nature or extent of the remedies
essential to the restoration of our national prosperity,
they are fully alive to the evils of the present system,
and the great danger of an obstinate and pertinacious
adherence to certain arbitrary rules that have reduced
both public and private credit to the lowest ebb, and
which, if blindly persevered in, must ultimately re •
duce the nation itself to little better than a state of
bankruptcy. Already many victims have been sacri-
ficed at the shrine of the bullionists. Mercantile
houses which have been in existence the greater part
of a century--and which could not have attained to
the high position in which they were placed, and the
universal credit they possessed until within the last
few weeks, in a lesser period—have been compelled to
stop payment, not from over-trading or undue
speculation, not from being reduced to a state
of insolvency, but simply because they were
unable to procure the usual facilities for
carrying on their transactions ; they could not obtain
a representative of the wealth they really possessed
to transfer from hand to hand. Property of every
description has been depreci ited in value; the reduc-
tion in the value of the funded debt has, within
a brief period, amounted to fully 10 per cent. That
alone would show a loss to the nation of nearly eighty
millions of pounds sterling, and if we assume that
other descriptions of property, lands, houses, railway
saxihadre Inerchandize, and all other articles of trade
commerce, in fact, the general accumulated
'property or capital of the country, has been deterio-
rated to an equal extent, and we believe that we are
n
fully justified in asaerti
git as a fact, the public,
generally, have suffered within
tilittle more than a year
a loss amounting to not less b
.hundred millions of Pounds sterling, from three to four
ngth hest
.
And why Be-
try
‹ause the unfortunate failure
of
rato crop
aid the mysterious visitation by which he of 1846',
was destroyed, rendered a large insportat
necessary, in order to pay for which 74 food
bullion was temporarily abstracted from the C0ff13431,
in
the Bank, which was therefore compelled bye Sthoef
atrocious Act of 1844 to restrict its issues until they
were insufficient for the ordinary purposes of trade,
and this frightful calamity, involving thousands in
ruin, was thus precipitated.

It is manifest that these evils have been occasioned,
not by any want of real capital, but in consequence
of a deficient circulation to represent it. There is
an abundance of capital, but unfortunately it is
dormant, and although the national resources have
been greatly augmented of late years, the circulation
has not been proportionately increased. Every mile of
railway that is constructed—every new house or
building that is erected—every acre of land that is
drained and rendered more fertile and productive—
every new machine that passes from the hands of the
manufacturer, is an addition to the actual capital of
the country. But there is no corresponding addition
to the circulation—there is no means of representing

that vastly-augmented capital. In fact, the great
mistake, the fatal error that has been committed is,
that gold is the only description of property that is
considered or looked upon as a security, against which
paper money—the symbol of value—is permitted to
be issued. A private banker may possess large real
estates or considerable funded property, which would
afford the most ample and satisfactory security fur his
solvency and the due and punctual liquidation
of every engagement he may contract, the payment
of every note he may issue ; he may even possess an
abundance of silver bullion, the standard of value in
every other nation on the face of the earth, and yet
he will not be allowed to issue a single note beyond
the amount fixed by the Act of 1844 (and for which
there is no security whatever), unless he has an equal
amount of gold coin in his coffers. The Bank of
England is restricted in like manner, save as to
fourteen millions, which it is allowed to issue with-
out any reserve or security whatsoever; true it is,
that the Government owes a sum nearly equivalent
thereto to the Bank, but there is nothing to prevent
it from assigning the whole of that debt to others,
and still issuing the same amount of notes to the
public. Such a law is not wise or statesmanlike.
It may be just to prevent any individual or
body of individuals from issuing what would pass as
money without giving security to prevent the possi-
bility of loss to those who would take the notes in the
ordinary course of trade ; but if they are at all per •
milted to do so—if the necessity is recognised
by the State, and it is seen that gold alone
is not sufficiently abundant to perform all
the duties of a circulating medium, and to
supply the wants of the country, why should not the
issue of an amount adequate to the national require-
ments be sanctioned, on full and ample security being
given by the parties by whom it is circulated against
any possible loss ?
We have stated that the 7,000,0001. of bullion was
temporarily abstracted from the coffers of the Bank.
In the natural course of events that money would
speedily have found its way back to this country in
consequence of the increased demand for our manu-
factures that would have followed the greater pros-
perity of those from whom we last year purchased
our corn. Such is the natural effect of free trade,
which was so urgently required by the country, and
the effects of which must prove so valuable to the
country, if not impaired by laws and restrictions
utterly inconsistent with the great principle. There
was much truth in the statement of Mr. MUNTZ, at
the important meeting at Birmingham, on Monday
last, "that free trade, with all its advantages, and
sound as it was in principle, would only, with-
out an alteration in our monetary system,
increase our difficulties." We require free trade in
money also, and that the unjust limitations which
have created a partial monopoly therein should be
totally abolished. That gentleman stated " that the
pressure under which the country now laboured may
be eased in a day, relieved in a week, and that in twelve
months the country might b.: in a greater state of
prosperity than it had ever been." We believe that
an Order in Council relaxing the present law, followed
by just and wise rules adopted by the Legislature
for the regulation of the monetary transactions
of the country, would have a magical effect,
almost equal to that which the Honourable
Gentleman has stated. Meanwhile, we trust that
the exertions of those who feel deeply on the
subject may not be relaxed, but that many similar
meetings in all parts of the country may follow the
Birmingham one, and that Mr. MuNTz and the other
gentlemen who hive maturely considered the ques-
tion will lose no opportunity of enlightening the
public mind, and setting forth the results of their
experience.

Much curiosity is excited in the French capital by
the unexpected arrival of Count WALEWSSI from his
post as Plenipotentiary on the Rio de la Plata. The
meaning of this sudden removal is obvious—it is an
evidence that the emissary from the Cabinet of the
Tuileries finds himself in a position of such an extra-
ordinary character as to require an immediate and
personal communication with the Government. The

adoption of some extreme course will be the inevit-
able consequence of the recent movements on the
great South American estuary. GUIZOT is either
thwarted in his intentions as to the protection of the

Frenchmen resident in Monte Video, or the ulterior
project of the Opposition, with ADOLPHE TUIERS at
its head—the project which would constitute the city

and the surrounding districts a mere colony of
France—will be carried to a successful consummation.
Such at least is the manifest opinion entertained by
Count WALEWSKI, for without a positive conviction
of that kind he would never have evinced a deter-
mination so peculiarly opposed to the views of the
British Ambassador, and would much less have taken

his spontaneous and diagonal journey across the
Atlantic. Count 11-.ll.EwsKr is evidently aware that
the course of the Government, of which he has now

been for some considerable time the representative, is
jeopardized by the abandonment of the blockade to
the vessels under the tricolour. With the forces

placed at his disposal he recognised the impossibility
of affording any adequate aid to the French traders
resident within the walls of Monte Video, and the
utter futility of any further endeavour to prevent
the occupation of that city by the besieging
army under General ORIBE. His position,
therefore, became so peculiar as to require an

instant conference with the Ministerial advisers of his
Sovereign. llence has the Count WALEwsKi has-
tened to the council chambers of Loris PHILIPPE, or,
as the Edinburgh Review has termed it, the lair of
" the spider of the Palais Royale."

Two courses appear to present themselves to M.
GUIZOT and his colleagues. Either the scheme of
French intervention between the belligerents
on the banks of the River Plate must be
abandoned, or the daring scheme of M. THIERS
must be carried into effect by the dispatch
of a powerful armament, both military and maritime,
to the shores of South America, for the purpose of
quelling the dissensions of the citizens of the Ar-
gentine Republics, and transforming one or other
of those independent states into a colony of
the great nation. The latter is a bold venture,
but cne fraught with glory and emolument if suc-
cessful ! The former bears about it too much the
appearance of pusillanimity to be palatable to the
fastidious tastes of Gallic statesmen ! There is an
old grudge, moreover, to be satisfied, and, if possible,
to be paid off with interest upon the valorous
ORIBB and his consistent followers I Reflec-

tions of this description will force themselves upon
the Cabinet of the Tuileries, and influence the
judgment of its members in regard to the future
treatment of the Monte-Videans. Pride and cupidity
will dictate proceedings which prudence or honesty
would avoid and repudiate. Besides which the
starched historian who at present monopolizes
in Paris the combined dignities of Foreign
Minister and President of the Council, still labours
under the delusion that his administration has a cha-
racter to lose, and a reputation to maintain. Agitated
by the conflict of opinion inevitable upon a conjunc-
tion of affairs so unprecedented, the decision of the
French Government will, in all likelihood, be inimical
to the abandonment of the system of intervention.
To attain the shadow of an addition to the authority
already vested in the Orleans dynasty, the Guizot
Cabinet would traverse the most tortuous passages;
and (if this were the age of black magic) might even
resort to devices as varied and ingenious as those of
the necromantic princess in the Arabian legend.
From the snake to the pomegranate, from
the pomegranate to the fruit pippin, from the fruit
pippin to the silver fish, the metamorphosis would be
as natural, and, surely, as facile, as from constitu-
tionalists to promoters of absolutism
from the
friends of England to the allies of Austria, from the
chaunters of the Marseillaise to the
prohibitors' of
RossiNes Ilymn to Pius IX.! The aggrandizement
of the power of Louis Putuirpe has inded so essentially the aspiration of his political become,advisers, that any movement, however preposterous, any
policy, however opposed to the principles of 'recti-
tude, would receive their approval and ensure their
encouragement. The transmission, therefore, of
a formidable armament to the Rio de la
Plata for the purpose of realising in South
America the aspirations which have only been
partially fulfilled in Northern Africa, is a project by
no means too extravagant to be discountenanced by
the associates of hl. Grumoil Such, indeed, will pro-

The Gazetta Privileggiata di Lucca of the 27th ult.
contains the new law on the press. It allows every
person the right of publishing his opinions, and discus-
sing the acts of the Government ; it forbids all publica-
tions contrary to the Christian religion, public morals,
and the rights of the SOVEREIGN ; as also all offences
against governments, magistrates, ministers of wor-
ship, foreign princes and their representatives, and all
writings directly subversive ofpublic order or the safety
of the state. A committee of preventive censorship,
composed of three censors and two substitutes, is esta-
blished, against whose decision an appeal may be laid
before a superior council of censorship, composed of
five members and two substitutes. The approval by
one censor establishes the right of publication.
Transgressions of the present law are punished with
fines from 25 to 200 lire, and imprisonment from a
fortnight to six months in the first instance; for a
second transgression the amount of fine and term of
imprisonment is doubled.

A letter from Berne of the 30th ult. says—

" The cantons of the majority are so firmly con-
vinced that our divisions cannot cease without a
sanguinary struggle, that the three largest of Swit-
zerland, those IN hose military organization is the best
arranged, and whose financial arrangements are the
most considerable, Berne, Zurich, and Vaud, have
just replied to the demonstrations of the League by
military preparations proportionally formidable, and
which prove that they do not look on the decisions of
the Diet as mere child's play. That of Zurich has
called out all its militia (16,000 men); that of Vaud
(the regular_army of which amounts to 18,000 men)
has not only done as much, but is organizing corps of
volunteers on the one hand, for young men of from
sixteen to twenty years of age, and on the other, for
men of from forty-five to sixty. In addition, on
Sunday next, a great civic and military fete is to take
place, intended to keep up the enthusiasm which the
energetic attitude of the Diet inspires. At Berne,
fourteen battalions of chosen infantry, each 1,200
strong, sixteen companies of carbineers, sixteen bat-
teries of artillery, six companies of horse-chasseurs,
only await the first signal of hostilities to avenge the
defeat of the free corps."

Madrid papers of the 29th ult. have been received

NARVAEZ has withdrawn his resignation, and has
been enjoined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to
depart forthwith for Paris. The interview between
NAavAEz and the Minister is described as having
been stormy. It is said that NARVA.EZ immediately
left for Paris. It is said that a decree will shortly
appear, again authorising time bargains on the Stock
Exchange. General ALAIX has been created Duke
of BERG kliA. SALAMANCA is, it is said, about to
summon to Madrid deputies from the different pro-
vinces, in order to come to some understanding as to
the support which he may expect in the Cortes. If
the answer of the Deputies is favourable to him, he
will at once convoke the Cortes, but if unfavourable,
the Cortes will be dissolved.

The Captain• General of Arragon has announced
to the Government the dispersion of the band of La
Ginebrosa in the Maeatrazgo, with the capture of the
chief and several of his men. Several Carlist offi-
cers, many of them of high rank, have taken advan-
tage of the amnesty to return to Spain.
Senor PACHECO, the late Prime Minister, has left
Madrid for France, on his way to Rome, as Ambas-
sador. General CONCHA, the Captain-General of
Catalonia, is about to publish a bando forbidding the
shooting of those insurgents who may be taken pri-
soners, and substituting for the punishment of death
military service in the colonies for ten years.
MAnaiD BOLSA, SEPT. 29.—The Three per Cents.
were done at 261 for cash ; the Four per Cents., at
16/; the Five per Cents., at 17i; the Debt without
Interest, at 5i for paper; and the Coupons, at 14.
The Three per Cents. rose, after the Bourse, to 26i
for cash.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday.

The following announcement of the ratification of
the treaty of commerce with the King of the Two
SICILIES appears in the 2lfoniteur

" The King's Government has just exchanged with
the Government of his Sicilian Majesty the ratifica-
tions of a treaty destined to complete the clauses of
the treaty of commerce and navigation concluded at
Naples on the 14th of June, 1845, and the simulta-
neous execution of which in the two States com-
menced on the 19th July of the same year. By the
convention signed at Paris on the 28th February,
1817, there were stipulated in our favour consider-
able advantages for commerce ; but the changes suc-
cessively made in the Sicilian tariff of customs had in
a few years entirely annulled their value. In vain did
our ambassador protest against modifications which
doubled and even trebled the amount of the duties in
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies on products of the
soil and manufactures of France. The constant
reply to our complaints was that the Neapolitan
Government, in granting to French commerce a
general reduction of 10 per cent. on the amount of
the Customs duties, had not bound itself never to
modify its tariffs. The King's Government, there-
fore, in 1845, performed an act really profitable to the
interests which it had to protect when it renounced
privileges which,
, in their application, had become
completely illusory, in order
return important reductions
theroftobe
daubtilestoonobstapienciianl
products of our rnanufacto • nes The advantages
which were conceded to us
in
the treaty of the 14th
June, and by the declaration of the 18th October,
1e45, consisted in a reduction of a third, half, and

even two-thirds of the duties in the Neapolitan tariffs
on divers French manufactures, and especially the
products of the manufacturers of Paris. These re-
ductions are now secured to us for a period of ten
years at least, without prejudice during that period
to a reduction of one-tenth on the duties in the tariff
as regards French products imported into :the king-
dom of the Two Sicilies. At the same time that the
Cabinet of Naples was negotiating the treaty
which contains these concessions, it was preparing
with several other powers, particularly England,
Austria, Russia, and the United States, treaties
which are now in execution, and which confer upon
them, without condition of reciprocity, the national
treatment as regards the rights of navigation.
Similar stipulations had been proposed to the
French negotiators, but as they did not do jus-
tice to the earnest and incessant remonstrances
of our commerce against the surcharge on the
export of Neapolitan oils in foreign ships, they
were by common accord left out of the French treaty.
This decision, however, was not come to without re-
gret by the two Courts, and on each side the hope
was retained of being Isle to come to an understand-
ing as regarded the flags of the two countries. The
King's Government was in particular desirous of pro-
curing for our exporters in the ports of the kingdom
of Naples an equivalent for the advantages enjoyed at
Marseilles by the numerous Neapolitan vessels which
enter that port. The natural opportunity of again
resuming the question presented itself after a discus-
sion which had taken place on the application of one
of the articles of the treaty. The negotiations were
therefore resumed, and his Sicilian Majesty having,
in the course of them, issued a decree suppressing
the surcharge on the export of oils in favour of
foreign flags, the King's Government did not hesi-
tate to subscribe to the proposition for an additional
convention to the treaty of the 14th June, 1845. In
virtue of this new arrangement, all the products of
the soil and manufactures of the two countries
coming from one of them into the other, are to be
subjected there to the same duties and to enjoy the
same favour, whether imported in French or Neapo-
litan vessels; and the products which can be legally
exported or re-exported from one of the two countries
to the other, are to be subjected to the same duties
and to enjoy the same favours, whether effected by
the vessels of one country or the other. In the
second place, all French ships arriving in the port of
the Two Sicilies, and all the ships of the Two Sicilies
arriving in the French ports, will on their entries and
departures be put on the same footing as the ships of
the two nations respectively, in everything that re-
lates to navigation duties properly so called; provided
such ships come direct from one of the ports of France
into one of the ports of the Two Sicilies, or from one
of the ports of the Two Sicilies to one of the ports of
France. Such is in substance the treaty recently
entered into between the Cabinets of Paris and
Naples. The financial measures which it necessitates
will be submitted to the approbation of the two
Chambers at the opening of the next session. The
carrying into execution of the convention of, May 12
will complete the stipulations which for two years
have formed the basis of the relations of commerce and
navigation between the two countries. By an ar-
rangement concluded between France and the Two
Sicilies on the 17th of May last, and ratified on July
19, the two Courts regulated the intervention of their
respective consuls in the disposition of the property of
deceased persons."
The Presse publishes a letter, from Athens, dated
September 19th, from which the following is an ex-
tract :
" As soon as the tomb closed on M. Coletti the no-
mination of a successor to the Presidency of the Coun-
cil became the question of the day. M. Piscatory first
presented, or at least strongly recommended, M.
Rigos Palamides to his Majesty; but not only was
the King in nowise disposed to nominate this candi-
date of the Minister of France, but the Minister of
Austria, whilst remaining united to M. Piscatory,
represented to him, and succeeded in persuading him,
that it would not be becoming that M. Rigos Palami-
des should be elevated to the Presidency, at least at
this moment. M. Prokesch declared himself in fa-
vour of M. Glarakis, already Minister of Public In-
struction and of Worship, and charged with the in-
terim of Foreign Affairs. Olsyliged to refrain from
insisting in favour cf M. Rigos Palamides, M. Pis-
catory desired to present Admiral Canaris, one of the
latter's friends, and he made strong representations
to the King to obtain from his Majesty his nomina-
tion to the Presidency of the Council. It was on
Friday that he made in vain the last efforts to attain
this object. He passed a great part of the day on
horseback, going from one Ministry to the other, and
from the Ministries to the Palais, where be presented
himself three or four times. At length, on Friday
evening, the King, desiring to put an end to these
struggles of foreign influences, and to intrigues, no-
minated M. Tzavellas, Minister of War, President of
the Council of Ministers."
We take note of this statement of the correspondent
of the Presse, as it is an admission that M. PiscA-
TORY, although nominally French Ambassador, is
really French Viceroy over King aruo—the Mire
du Palais of the Roi Faineant.
The Constitutiunnel has a long article on the finan-
cial results of the Mediterranean Mail Packet Service.
The following statement shows how unwise it is for
Governments to meddle with commercial concerns.
This packet service, which in the hands of the Go-
vernment is a constant source of loss, would, if left to
private enterprise, have proved a very profitable con-
cern ; but, wherever Governments interfere in matters
of this nature, they interfere but to job, while private
enterprise, for its own profit's sake, eschews jobbery,
and secures the most efficient service possible, at the
cheapest possible rate. The Constitutionnel says—
"lt is about twelve years since the service of the
Post-office packets was instituted. Our geographical
position, the influence which we ought naturally to
exercise in the Mediterranean, the multiplicity of the
relations which were sure to exist between our ports
and those of the Levant, had caused the necessity to
be felt of our participating in the movement which
was making its appearance in that sea, and to take
place, according to an expression of a committee on
the budget, amongst the nations which made that
their place of rendezvous. We arrived late, and that
was a motive to display extraordinary activity.
Every one was so well aware of the importance of the
service which it was necessary to organize that the
Government would not give up to any one the care of
directing it. This undertaking besides offered fair
chances of success. But in the hands of a Govern-
ment negligent and unskilful in business, and occupied
besides exclusively, for the last seven years, with
maintaining themselues in power, consecrating to that
great object all the administrative strength, the
chances of success were changed into a probability of
ruin, and in place of increasing profits, the accounts
of the Mediterranean packets each year present a
considerable deficit. In 1844 the expense of that
service amounted to 2,542,198 f., and the receipts to
1,274,784 f., showing a deficit of 1,267,414 f. Since
that period the expense has doubled, and the receipts
have diminished. The expenses at present amount to
4,800,000 f., and the receipts are act more than
1,100,000 f. The deficit which, in 1844, was 50 per
cent., is now 75. Let it be explained to us, if that
be possible, how, after the expenses of a service have
been doubled, the receipts have been diminished !
There are secrets of which the Ministry alone have
the key. It was impossible for the committees on the
budget, however indulgent they are in general found
by the Ministry, not to have made some remon-
strances relative to such waste. They did not fail to
do so, and year after year we have seen the same
complaints made, which the Ministry always receives
with resignation, quit for a laugh when the money is
voted. However, the committees have done more than
complain; they have, in part, done the work of the
Ministers. They have sought out the causes of the
increasing decadence of our packet service, and as
the majority of the committees, quite ministerial as
they are, would not perceive the principal causes of
this falling off, namely, the impuissance and abuse of
a policy of corruption which gangrenes and paralyses
all the services, their reporter has confined himself to
pointing out certain ameliorations."
The Duke D'AUXIALE left Marseilles on the 30th
for Toulon, from whence he was to embark for

Algiers on board the Labrador.
Count BRESSON has arrived at Turin, and Count
FLAHAuLT has left Paris for Vienna.
The 100-gun ship,
the Turenne, of the port of
Rochefort, which had been designed by the Minister

of Marine to receive machinery
to transform it into a
mixed vessel, is now not to receive that addition, but

the works necessary to carry it up to 22-24ths as a
sailing vessel are to be urged on with all the activity
possible. The Ulm, 100 guns, which is on the stocks
at the same port, is to receive the machinery intended

for the Turenne. The Coligny steam. frigate is to be
hastened in her construction as much as possible. The
Algerie frigate is also to be urged on rapidly, so as

to be ready for sea in the beginning of 1848. The

Constantine corvette is to be raised to 16-24ths in

place of 12-24ths. The building of the Vile de Paris,
120 guns, is to be resumed and completed as quickly

as all the means of the dockyard will permit.
The Three per Cents. closed at 75f. sc. ; the Five
per Cents., 114 f. 20c. ; the Orleans Railroad Shares,

1,137 f. 50c.; Rouen, 883 f. 75c. ; Havre, 517 f. 50c. ;
Great Northern, 506 f. 25c.; Avignon, 512 f. 50c. ;
Vierzon, 525 f. ; Bordeaux, 440 f. ; Basle, 155 f. ;
Paris and Strasbourg, 381 f. 25c.; Tours and Nantes,
360f.1; Paris and Lyons, 370 f.; Lyons and Avignon,
455 f.

MARSEILLES, SEPT. 30.—Marseilles and Avignon,
521 f. ; Northern, 522 f. 50c.

LYONS, OCT. 2.—Paris and Roun, 902 f. 50c.
Avignon and Marseilles, 512 f. 50c. ; Paris and Lyons,
373 f. 75c. ; Orleans, 1,150 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Ocroana 5.
Boulogne and Amiens,l3k—Dutch Rhenish, 214—Namur
and Liege,334 —Northern of France, 9%—Orleans and Bor-
deaux, 31/2—Rouen and Havre, 19%—West Flanders, 2%.