The Sun.
London, England, 1824-12-21 00:00:00

1:11,831,190

:2,349,888
8,224,608

Remains . 173,608,583
It would therefore appear that the active capital of the Bank
is at present only about 3i millions.
Now I believe that nothing I have here said can be mate-
rially or substantially contradicted. The item of 5,01,1901. is
tiumded on the Bank's own statement; and that.its profits since
1819 must have materially diminished, not only from the re-
sumption of cash payments, but also from the great decline in
the rate of interest on all Government securities, is,. I believe,
past all, question. And, indeed, if this were net • the case,
where was the necessity to reduce the annual dividend from 10

to Gper cent. ? But I have no wish to exaggerate.; the profits
of the Bank may have been greater than I have stated; I am,
willing to be in error, and to allow (what I do not believe) that
the profits of the Bank have been such as to admit of the divi.
demi% it has made since 11319 without the least diminution of its

then active capital ; and then I will'leave it to the determina-
tion of any prudent, considerate, sober-minded man, whether,
upon the fountlation (.0 so limited a capital as live millions, the
Bank of England is warranted in- entering into such stupendous
engagements and operations.
But then there is a great deal of gold in the country. This
isnot (Mite so certain. On the contrary, I ant full)' persuaded
that all the. gold in the country does not exceed fourteen, and
certainly not sixteen, millions. How this is divided between
the Bank and .the public is not very easily'determined perhaps
'about five'or.six millions may be deposited in the ceirers of the
:Bank, and the remainder in circulation,-and in the hands-of the
public. But at the period of the suspension in 1797, upwards
of thirty millions of gold currency existed in the country, find
yet Mr..ritt, merely by borrowing about ten millitins front the
Bank, caused it to stop payment.
Then„ ,again, we are told that some or all of the nets mining
associationS are to introduce large quantities'Of gold from
.Mexico.., Very likely ; but this gold is not yet concocted, it is
gold infidurn, and as far as the fact stands at present, the
whole idea is ridiculous;. because at this present moment of
trg.„-41,07iaorjoi areott.
—Weed, these Me:deans and Colombians are most cm:AMR
customers to the people of this country, for not only are they
content to take our goods'. but they arc •willing to take our
money into the - bargain. What a pity it is that they arc not
also willing to take the notes of the Governor and Company of
the Bank of England I But somehow or other this is a com-
modity which foreigners do not rate quite so highly as ourselves.
Thus, if I go to Paris with 100 sovereigns, I am Sure to re-
ceive from 2,Mii to 2,1120 francs ; but if I take a 1091. Bank-
note, I shall only get about .9090 francs ; and therefore, in
the estimation of a Frenchnian at least, Bank-notes are at a
discount. .
lint, get gold from Mexico, or the moon, or where you like,
and where is the utility ? You will only receive it in transits,
and it will immediately be exported to other countries. It is a
maxim in currency, that the money which is worthless or of
interior value will drive out that which its good. flow, then,
is gold to remain in the country when the currency is already
redundant ? And as to export the paper would be of no utility
(because nothing could be haul in return for it), it is evident
that the gold must be sent out. During the restriction irm.
mense quantities of gold and silver were imported, and yet the
whole disappeared, and along with it all the gold currency of
the country.
Now, let us view the matter in another light : let us con-
trast the state of things produced by these operations of the
Bank, with that state which exists when things are left to them-
selves, and in their natural order.
Them, if the money borrowed by Government of the Bank
for defraying the naval and military pensions had been bor-
rowed of the public, the latter would have advanced a real capi-
tal, anti the amount of currency.would have remained the same ;
hut when the same transaction is entered into with the Bank of
England, the case is altered immediately, because the Bank,
having no capital to lend; does, anti can, in reality, only fur-
nish the Government with a certain amount of paper : and then,
as a result of the operation, an immediate addition is made to
the paper currency of the country, and which but for this would
not have existed ; and which clearly is not necessary, because
the quantity of commodities still remains the same; the opera-
tion itself neither tends to increase nor diminish them ; that
they should circulate at their fair natural value, no additional
quantity of cnrrency was therefbre necessary ; and therefore,
the quantity of commodities remain the same while the quan-
tity and amount ofeurreney is increased, it is quite evident that
the natural tendency of that operation which borrows paper from
the Brink instead of capital from the public, is necessarily to
raise the money value of commodities and this is the natural
tendency of every jobbine; transaction which takes place between
Government and the Bank of England.
So, again, when the '4 per cents. were reduced, - the Bank by
paying the dissentients, in realitradvanced nothing : butthere
was merely a certain quantity and amount of Bank paper added
to that which already existed : whereas, if the money to pay
the dissentients had been borrowed from the public, the cur.. •
rency would not have been affected. And why this was not
done I am at a loss to imagine; for. upon what grounds and
on what pretence do we reduce the 4 per cents. ? Simply be-
cdatileiseett the e
(I,.,fitit,;itoerfesitn_tenreostt
iinsrraeptlu, cliednt.
inßrteiarrliotwy
;tlbwonrroawt afnrem;
the public .
iraiite that has something to lend, and not from the Bank
that hal nothing.
again : when money is advanced by individuals on mort-
„„`.' this money is lent in a currency which already exists,
passes front hand to hand, and is applicable to this anti
every other purpose of the community : but let the same ad-
vances be made by the • Bank, anti immediately the quantity of
money in circulation is augmented, because the advance is made
in paper created expressly for the occasion, and which but for
this would never have existed.
Finally, let advances on funded property 1w made by indivi.
duals, and the mount of -currency will remain unaltered ; but
let the same advances be made by the Bank, and immediately
the amount of currency will be augmented.
Now let-- us endeavour to ascertain the present amount of
inttaTivee°,:::llttsobielieve) (luring
the legal• currency Of the country, and compare it with the
am aware that to do this exactly is impossible, because the
and concealment, ob.
ystiateornneyofin
mystery
ytion during the war. I
the last session of NMI.
meat, to withhold alt knowledge of its issues from the public.;
purposes of illustration;
but here again we know enough for the
anti if I err, it shall not be willfully, or to favour my own
hypothesis.
last nine months, may, .1
'lie average amount of Bank-notes in circulation during the
gtlairimetritaiekt; tit
think, at the highest, be estimated at
twenty-six millions, and at the lowest at twenty-two millions ;

Remains - - .£34,000,00
And therefore the total amount of the legal currency of the
country in circulation amounts, I believe, at the lowe't to
34,000,0001.
. .

Now let us look at the state of our currency during the wet
and the late restriction,

The Period during the late war at which our Paper currenes
stood the highest was In 'the year 1813, anti there was also, dial
ing that year, raised by lijan for the Public service the enormoull
sum of 27,000,000/.
NoW the average amount of Bank:notes in circulation diming
the year 1813 was 23,612,3901.; there' was not a particle af
-gold coin in circulation. The average price of gold during the.
year was 51. 6s. per ounce, and therefore the Bank-note watt
worth only 14s. - Bd.-; and therefore the real value of the
23,012,3001,, when reduced. into gold, or into paper on a par
with gold, was only 17,315,686/, 13s. 4d. Add now to thii
about.tive millions (at the very utmost) in Batik tokens and a
depreciated silver currency, anti you will have a total amount
of legal currency for the year 1813 of about 22,000,0001., and,
then the conclusion is irresistible; and if during a period of
war, of guar Government expenditure, heuty loans, excessive
taxation, and • difficult communication with other parts of the
world, a currency of 22,000,0001. was sttificient for all the pure
poses of the community, it is quite certain that during a pe-
riod of profiaindpenee, reduc d taxes, and a prompt and easy'
communication with till parts of the world, a currency of
34,000,1100/. must be redundant.
But we want no calculations, we are under no necessity to
prove, or even to inquire into the actual amount of our cur;
rency ; for the Met being that the real (not the nominal) ex-
change has for this some time past been below par, and that.
gold has been regularly exported to France and other parts of
the continent; this alone is conclusive evidence that the cur.:
Tenet( is redundant.
Now, leave the public out of the question, and view the;
matter in se,. and with.relation to the Bank alone.
The Bank was instituted for the purpose of discounting tneN
• chants' acceptances, and against these it issued its notes ; does
it discount merchants' acceptances now ?—Certainly. To a
large extent ?—Very trifling; and indeed so trilling, that nine.
tenths, and perhaps nineteen twentieths of the Bank circulation
is founded not on merchants' acceptances, but on laud anti on
Government. securities. Out does it consist with any sound
principle •of banking, that nineteen-twentieths, or even nine-
tenths of the issues of an establishment which prides itself 013
its solidity end good conduct, should be founded on securities
which before they
.can become assets must first be sold in the
market'?

Now look at the extreme ridicule of the thing. Is it in the
nature of things that land should circulate and flout up and
down the country io the shape of Batik-notes ? Or doe:: it
consist with right reason that Government securities should be-
come the currency of the country through the instrumentality
of Bank paper ? But it will be said that this was the case
during the war and the late restriction. No doubt ;• but the
war is at an end, and the Act of 1819 repealed the restrictions
and all the state doctors assured us that we should recover our
senses. But I see how matters stand, and as the dog returns
to his vomit, so is it intended that we should again he brought
to take up with this vile trash of a paper currency.
-But how is this a public question, or how does it •concern the
public that the Bank should make advances oit land, and on
property in the tam& ? Not at all, provided these advances
be made in real capital ; but by advancing mete paper, which
costs nothing, but which the law acknowledges as money, anti
11711:;i;41.'15i';:w. iiit'lndszanideec,°ll:eieurlinet;
cheaper, anti commodities become dearer; while all this time
io one real thing, not one single particle of wealth. is added
to the public stock, and there is merely a certain profit made
by the Bunk, which, somehow or other, must come out of the
pockets of the people. •
• Now, mark the progress of the operation ; first, by means
of a mortgage of land, or advances me Government securities,
a certain quantity Of money is thrown into the market which
otherwise would not have existed ; and then, as the instrument
is ready to the hand, anti that this money must be employed,
we immediately begin to think of speculating in commodities,
or to form some new company, and so the public is deluded ;
and therefore this is directly and essentially a public, question,
and one in which every plain, honest, induatnous man in the
kingdom is interested.
" It cannot, anti it will not come to good." But I will
neither break my heart nor hold my tongue ; bitt as long es
this frail body draws breath, and in utter disregard of all con-
aequences, I will continue to deprecate a system which tends
to raise the price of the poor man's loaf of bread, and to abridge
his comforts.
And now upon the whole matter. 'We have seen what the
Bank has undertaken, the truly slender means at its disposal
to enable it to carry such gigantic operations into effect 4 we
have ascertained that our currency is redundant : and we have
also seen the way in which a most unnatural influx of currency
must necessarily influence the transactions of the community.
And are we, then, so unskilled in the signs of the times, that
we must yet wait for a sign from Heaven ? Do we wonder
that coat has risen—that land has risen-- that the exchange for
this some time past has been declining, and is now below .par ?
that gold is regularly exported—that new companies spring up
one after the other like mushrooms—and that the abundance pf
paper, and the consequent facility with which it tnay be ob-
tained, is the signal anti sanction for every wild and desperate
species of• adventure ? Where, then, shall we be, if (in addi-
tion to all I have stated) this country should next year require
an importation of foreign corn ? And what is there then to
prevent the Bank from suspending cash payment*?
But is this system to be continued ? I believe so. Hitherto,
at least, there is not the slightest indication of a efuinge. Aak
the Bank for money on mortgage : it is granted. Ask for an
advance on consols: you have it immediately, In nicking ad-
veneer; upon stock, there is, however, one part of the conduct
of the bank which is highly deserving of approbation there
is no exception of' persena; but you are greeted with a " Walk
in, gentlemen t the cash Is ready : first come, first merved,
whether it be a lord or a chimney-sweeper.
But is there no remedy ? A very simple one. The Bank
must reed a part of its issues ; and the sooner it does this the
nester : but if the present course be persisted in, then that im-
pulse which has elready been given to things, and which now
creeps as a canker, will become too powerful to be checked, and
we shall have a catastrophe, and this very. shortly, if the
country should require an importation of foreign corn ; but
something later, though with equal certainty, if this importa-
don should not be necessary. The eyes of the public will then
be opened, and the monopoly of the Bank of England Will be
put down as a public nuisance. •
• There is therefOre no alternative, anti no means exist to avert
the impending evil, end to restore the equilibrium of things,
but to reduce the Bunk issues. -The same cause, generelly
speaking, will produce the ewe effect; and if AIL Pitt, merely
by borrowing ahem 10,000,000/. from the Bank in 1797, canoed
it to Atop payment, the same and other jobbing transactions of
the- like nature, but to a still greater extent, will • inevitably
now lead to the sante result.
Every reliance, I know, May he placed on the honour and
integrity of the Bank Directors, but this is not sufficient ; new
maxims prevail, and this is an.-era of speculation and experi-
ment. Uncertain, therefotate as to the count.: they will adapt,
let us be prenatal for a denouement ; anti as we shall in that
case have to travel again over the same ground, it will not be
amiss that we consider the nature and effects of our paper cur-
rency during the hoe restriction : and this I will do, if I have
time, and you will allow me apace in your columns.
In the mean time, what sha we do with he large eiablis-
ment on Towevhill (the Mint)?ll Shall wet shut it upt a oncbo
in order to save expence? or shall we convert it into it paper-
manufactory ? Talk, indeed, of coining money, and of a par.
feet mathematical system of currency I Talk of Tags, and egg-
shells, and eel-skins, and leave the currency of the country
(where it luxe been before) in the hands .of the Governor and
Company of the Bank of Englandralo" will be care of"
plentiful supply nelue-ad nauseam. • -
.DANIEI4 •I I A It ()CASTLE,

ENGLISH and BRISTOL CHANNEL SHIP CANAL.

[EXTRACT FROM CAPTAIN NICHOLL'S REPORT.]
Of the dangers attendant on the navigation
round the promontories of Cornwall, at all sea-
sons, but more especially during the winter
months, a great deal might here be said ; the
frequent occurrence of shipwreck on this coast,
and the loss of life by which it is accompanied,
being matter of public notoriety. I well remem-
ber the impression made on my own mind many
years ego, whilst traversing the shore adjacent
to-and between the Land's End and the Lizard,
where the numerous graves of seafaring persons
who had perished on those inclement coasts, and
whose bodies were interred near the spot where
they had been washed on shore, frequently in
clusters -of many together, were calculated to
awaken the most painful sensations.
Note.—At one place alone, near Gunwallor,
there have been between 30 and 40 of these poor
creatures buried. The marks of their graves are
still to be seen.
The proposed Canal, when completed, will as- ,
suredly tend to lessen the number of shipwrecks,
and by so doing ‘t ill lessen, if it does not anni-
hilate the system of " wrecking" with all its de-
moralizing effects on the character and,habits of
the people, which has so long disgracefully pre-
veiled on the coasts of Cornwall ; indeed, the
undertaking is well deserving of 'public support,
on grounds quite distinct from any calculation of
advantage in it pecuniary point of view—l mean
from motives of humanity'and general benevo-
lence, for I know of no public object that com-
bines so many of those considerations which must
ever influence the Patriot and Philanthropist, or
that would conduce to a greater saving of human
life, or be productive of more extensive benefits
to the country and to individuals wishing to place
this interesting subject in its true light, and to
found. it on something like official returns, I have
bud the books at Lloyd's carefully examined,
end the following statement, abstracted there-
from, shows the number of vessels which have
:been wrecked, or sustained damage off the Land's
End, or on or •near to the coasts of Dorset, So-
. merset, Devon, and Cornwall, between Bridge-
'water River in the Bristol Channel, and the Bill
.-of Portland in the English Channel, from 1815
to 1823, both years inclusive :

Number of vessels that
1 Number of vesselsstrand. have lost their masts, or
1,,,,tr, ed on the above-named sustained injury at sea, in
coasts, either diunagod or theirapproach to, or off the
totally wrecked. Land'sEnd,and theabove
named coasts.
—lBl5 ' 51 713
1818 :48
43
.1817 22 04
1918 41 76
1819 35 57
1320 .37 50
1821 49 70
1822 49 74
1023 50 48
—.—
332 ' 553
Average, 424 per Ann. Average, 62 per Ann.

By this statement it will be seen that, on an
average of the last nine years, upwards of 42
vessels annually have been either totally lost, or
--else have sustained damage in consequence of being
•
Chat W iiiii11411111" alIVIABl.lthiVeLl r... CUMULI/
'have met with injury at sea in the vicinity of
'these coasts, or in their approach towards them.
~If the sacrifice of human life, and the destruction
of property which ensued, could have been added,
-it would have exhibited the whole subject at one
:view ; but it was found impracticable to do this.
The numbers inserted in the above statement
'are considerably within the actual amount of in-
:;jury sustained, us the majority of small coasting
vessels, being those mostly exposed to the ca-
• sualty of shipwreck, are neither insured nor no-
'ticed on the books at Lloyd's. The statement,
- however, although so far incorrect, will probably
be deemed sufficient for the present purpose. If '
any addition shall be thought necessary for giving
it a greater effect, such addition may be found ki
nearly the last page of the extracts, which L have
procured from the list of Lloyd's, where, in that'
of the 7th of November, 182.3, just twelve months
ago, it is stated, that " the whole coast, from
St. Ives to the Land's End, is strewed with
wreck, and it is impossible to ascertain the
names of all the vessels that have suffered, as
most of the crews are drowned.
That Government will give its decided sup-
port to the undertaking, it is impossible to
doubt ; for, independent of all its other advan-
,. tages, and the facilities which it will afford to
the conveyance of timber from the Forest of
Dean, and the country connected with the Bristol
- Channel, and for the transit of stores between
the Naval depots of Milford, Portsmouth, and
Plymouth—ifa war should break out, vessels, by
going through the proposed Canal, would be
-saved from passing along nearly one half the line
of coast, and that too the part most exposed to
the depredations of privateers,and cruizers ; and
in all probability millions of Our resources would
thereby be saved to the country, and kept from
augmenting the power of the enemy.

`.4 Po 11:TSMOUTli Ro-Ao.—The Intimation held our
by the Landholders of the neighbourhood of Li ph look and Peters.
field, of turning the Portsmouth and London Road through
Farnham, instead of Guildford, has prompted the Trustees or
the present road to the imutedinie alteration of the road over
Ilindheati. The improvement is as follows :—lnstead of eon.
..tinning up the narrow and hollow way called Itood.lane,'which
in many places is scarcely 15 feet wide, with banks on each side
from 15 to 20 feet high, making it extremely danstrous for
coaches to_ pass road waggons, especially in dark nights ; and
being at all times flirty in die winter (which, of course:, with its
narrowness, causes an immense wear of materials), and with.
out a breath of air stifling during the summer,—it is intended
to him a bold rood of forty feet wide, on the west side thereof,
upon a level with the surface of the country. On ilindhead
(kutanon, instead of ascending the hill called the Dray Hollow,
which rises one foot in nine for a considerable distance, and
several other very sharp hills, rising and falling one foot in ten,
eleven. and twelve, up to the highest point, and then descend-
ing 89 feet down to the huts. The Trustees are cutting a shelf
round the side. of the Punch:Bowl, which, with cutting threugh
two hills of considerable inaguitode, and tilling up a valley,
will enable the public to ascend at the rate of about one foot
rise in 45. The new line opposite the.highect point of the old,
road will be 80 feet lower, and will also be shorter by nearly
.furlong; it is to be 30 feet wide, eat out of the solid, and thel
. watt.* earth win forma bank of st artist 7 feet high on the west
blftk2lnd expostxl'
aids, completely. sheltering this hitherto very'
of the road. 150 worktueu cottuneneett their op:ratio:llk,
resterdsy setnight.