The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-27 00:00:00

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"----Gt/n—
-hestv tity Correspondent grura.;
tent hat "the Bank Charter Bill
virtually extinguished at the mo-
severe trial." The " bankers of
_n are to blame for this, Mr. Jones
Loyd, Of course, being excepted, just as e was. ex-
dc eopnt eadgfarionms t thThee re
Bmi
Bill
n whenst r anc ei
to fvvtahse
pbaasnski
negr s
tohfr Lo
uogni
i.
Parliament in 1844. The Government found -a' o
much light on the subject of the currency and of th a
existsinagtusrtdaatye of affairs between Wednesday mornin cs
ptahrneedsye
nt ht ocui
circumstances,
nightc
Monday morning they last,l that though on Wednesda: y
tsitlaenceseyth‘ae‘ e
thou ddo nothing, yet early o: a
dfmeletacsnonrefidlevrhitieLlitaht,eyinhathy ee
sparmopeostieidne:ntialye bmeaisnafperlyovisioonpsted .t;. and that, at th e
vitalban -note,
law, and th a
convertibility,.l,tre iof th e
eventst
taughthat , as
IN themi el
will
events between
mtbinieeottnizaeidtndmi
additional
ah9lel ;pi tgohsastn:
possible
ne2dst
that
ttOi
fma
tier
atreott
(Is, a,'il
.yiy.
1( r
enable them to discover that the " vital principle" •of
convertibility must go with the rest. This co ae.
vertibility is now their " rock ahead," and unk ei s
they find some reason for taking another course th le ce
that in which it. lies, while they avow that this c( ee _
vertibly is still their darling, they will assuredly Le
shipwrecked. We advise them to lose no time in
putting themselves to school to learn how the coun .t ry
may have a full and safe currency, not liable to
depreciation, and yet not convertible into a fL'xed
amount of anything which it can be the interess t of
1 theta i°n e
d the
merchants to export.
ADVERTISER.—It is surprising, that amid all
the suggestions which have been made for mijgat ing
the monetary pressure, one of the simplest, safest, r and
ogohktebde. sulplproesehdavme,oostn opLrveivoiuosa,sshc,onicaldsiohnaes-,emfese T.
oitvemrli
tioned a fact not very generally known to ti e
English public, namely, that in Scotland the ctn.. •-
rency consists exclusively of a paper medium. IT(..
gold ever enters into the monetary circulation nort►t
of the Tweed. A sovereign is never seen in Scot-
..land. The Scotch are so wedded to the one-pound
notes, that however great the absolute attractions of
gold may be in their eyes, it loses all its charms when
placed in competition with the pictorial bits of paper
issued by the British Linen Company, or any of the
other established banks in Scotland. And yet, though
a metallic currency is unknown in that country, Sir
R. Peel's Scotch Currency Bill compels the Scotch
banks to keep, at all times, a large amount of gold in
their chests. The object, as stated by the ex-Premier
himself, is that the notes of the banking companies
may be convertible into gold on presentation. The
whole affair is an absurdity. It is contrary to all
experience of the Scotch people to suppose that they
should demand gold for the paper of their banking
institutions. They never have given the least ground
for supposing that they will prefer sovereigns to one-
pound notes; and those who 3 know them best, and
know, moreover, the perfect stability of their banking
establishments, can have no hesitation in saying they
never will—not, at least, in our day or generation.
Sir Robert Peel, therefore, in assimilating the Scotch
banks to the banks on this side of the Tweed, showed
that he altogether misconceived the character of the
Scotch people. He neither comprehended their
genius, nor the genius of their monetary institutions,
when he imagined that their currency could not rest
on a secure ground, unless, as in England, it was
based on a metallic foundation. The Scotch Mem-
bers did everything in their power to enlighten
the Right Hon. Baronet's darkness in reference
to this point, but their efforts failed of success. He
clung with an unyielding tenacity of grasp to his
favourite crotchet—that there can be no security for
a currency which is not based on the precious metals.
This crotchet was incorporated in the late currency
measure, and the result is that for every one-pound
note which the scotch bankers issue, beyond a certain
amount of paper, they are obliged to put aside a so-
' vereig9. The amount of gold which in this way,
old from this absurd regulation; is constantly lying
utterly useless in the Scotch banks, is not much
under 2,000,0001. at the present time, and on no occa-
sion is it below 1,500,0001. Now, is it not deplorable
that so large an amount of bullion should be lying
wholly useless in the Scotch banks, at a time when we
are threatened with a national bankruptcy, in conse-
quence of the scarcity of the precious metals ? The
letting loose of this locked-up gold would be a most
appropriate accompaniment to the measure to which
Ministers have had recourse for the relief of the
to the beneficial effect of that measure. And,
mer-
cantile community. It would add. very greatly
besides conferring a great boon on the country, it
would be cordially welcomed by ' the Scotch
bankers. Not only is it a serious inconvenience
to them to be constantly ordering down from London
large chests of gold which are never opened, and
which, when they contract their paper circulation,
they return to the metropolis, but it would be a very
great saving to them. The estimate of the loss sus-
tained by the Scotch banks by being obliged to keep
so large an amount of unproductive gold in their
coffers, is no less than 60,0001. a year—a very con-
siderable sum in a country where the population does
not exceed two millions and a 'half, and where there is
comparatively little commerce. Sir Robert Peel's
notions of a convertible currency
might be practically
carried out by making the Scotch notes convertible,
on presentation, into the paper of the Bank of Eng-
land, which is convertible into gold. The suggestion
is one which will not, we trust, be overlooked. If
brought before the Parliament, on its assembling, we
do not see how it can fail of being adopted. Of one
thing we are certain—it would receive the cordial
support of all the Scotch Members, every one of
whom will bear his testimony to this fact,—that there
exists not the slightest necessity for having a single
ounce of gold in the banking establishments north of
the Tweed. . ,

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
CITY, TUESDAY EVENING.
CIIRONICLE.—The general subject of conver-
sation in the City to-day has been the order in Coun-
cil suspending the Bank Charter Act of 1544. Al-
though it can hardly be expected that those who have
hitherto violently supported the measure should express
much satisfaction at seeing it so comp!etely set aside,
yet the general feeling is that an important benefit
has been conferred on commerce by the virtual repeal
of the enactment, and that a highly satisfactory result
will follow. The large body of London bankers who
signed the memorial to Sir Robert Peel at the time
the Bank Act was under discussion, earnestly recom-
mending him not to pass the Bill without a " safety
valve," are of course satisfied with the result of their
prediction, and the event justifies their confidence in
a reliance on experience and a prudent foresightilin
preference to the promises of an untried e_
ththean offered,
not listen to the suggestion which wt'ae
5d
in the Bill,
author of the measure no doubt regrets plan. he
did
and which, if it had been incorporated a
'll t wi be made to renew
supposes now that an attemp
the measure in its present form.
f the
suspension of
might have preserved its prin cylcorintact. No One-
The best proof of the effect o
the Act will be found in the reports from the several
In
all of them immediate relief had been experienced
important commercial districts of the kigndom.
and it will be observed from our quotations of the
Funds that the improvement in the City is very de-
cided. It is true that after the close of the market,
as noticed above, a decline took place from the higher
quotations of the day, but this was an operation
that might be confidently expected, in consequence
of parties realising in ordinary course after such an
extraordinary rise in prices. We understand that
the applications at the Bank to-day for advances have
been very few, and the total amount asked for, par-
ticularly on loan, was remarkably small. Some
curious instances of the effect of returning confidence
in bringing out the money that had been hoarded
have been mentioned. In one case, a large amount
of money which had been withdrawn from one of the
however, report
banks "for a special purpose," was returned to-day
in the identical notes which had been given to the
and Co ,fi
party some weeks back !
We have no further disasters to record in the City
Lambert, rmareena-t
giteher of thema
tEoa- dtvriacdese,fraonmdl\olafn:ihre.stie:a,mb in the
gthaegefad iliunrethoef
hAolmesesrtsr.aldi'ea.irbNride
dstaYlndAia
all important. From Manchester it is said—" Our
Exchange has been in a complete
morning by the news that commotion this
last interfered to assisty. the commercial classes in
Government has at
the present emergency. As
is likely to produce it regards the effect it
opinions are varied ; but the
general aspect of thi
n
gs, up to the moment of writ-
ing, must be deemed as favourable,
though few, if
any, heavy sales in cl• oth or yarns have been reported.
Both spinners and manufacturers are asking fully as
high rates as on this day se' • nnight, and from appear-
ances it is probable a that decided improvement in the
demand will have to be reported before the close of
the day. The hesitation
purchasers seems to arise from the difference of
opinion as to the ultimate effects likely to be pro-
duced by the relaxation of the stringent Act of 1844 ;
so that perhaps another week must elapse before prices
can assume any settled point.
" It is understood that extensive orders are in
town from all parts of the world ; but in many cases
the assets wherewith to purchase are not available
unless at a ruinous rate of discount, which has in-
duced all that could to wait a little, in order to see
whether the rate of interest will not decline ; but
now that the Bank's minimum rate is to be 8 per
cent., it is fancied that merchants will commence
operations, seeing that there
Turningt
he prirosp..c.
int f
some time to come at least, of bills )
cash on easier terms."
TIMES.—U'he premium on gold at Paris is 13 per
mille, which, at the English Mint price of 31.1 is. 10'4
per ounce forstandard gold, gives an exchange of 25:47 ;
and, the exchange at. Paris on London at short being