The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-09 00:00:00

THE ORIGIN OF THE NAPLES BANKS,

The Saint Public of Lyons, in a letter from Naples,
gives the following account of the antecedents of Signor
gives the following account of the antecedents of Signor
Buffo-Scilla, who has attained such unenviable distinction
by the crash of the Naples banks. A gambler in difficul-
ties borrowing 20f.—such was the starting-point of this
extraordinary mania. Signor Ruffo-Scilla, having had
his pockets cleaned out one evening at play, bor-
rowed 20fr. in paper from his neighbour (a female), pro-
mising to return the sum in gold the next evening, and he
kept his promise. Gold was then at 15 per cent. premium,
so that the 20fr. produced 3fr. fOr the four and twenty
hours. • • The lady thought the operation original,
and offered to renew it for a larger sum. The
reimbursement was again punctual, and at last,
all the persons of the society wanted to lend in their turn.
Ruffo, reduced to exjedients to raise a small sum, accepted
the ofers, but fixed fifteen days for repayment. In pro-
portion as his credit improved, and his operations
extended, he extended the period of liquidation,
and diminished the rate of interest so far as to
have no term less than a month, and not to pay
more than 4 per cent. monthly. Everybody
was persuaded that Ruffo had found the means of returning
this prodigious interest by operations with the money
changers, and he took good care not to contradict that
opinion. As long as the mystery was kept up the banks
prospered ; but presently the receipts and expenses no -
longer b l^need, and 10 and 12 per cent. interest was offered
to secure fresh depositors. Presently rivals appeared,
Ruffo bought them up, and that course proved a great
blunder. From that moment banks sprang up as by en-
chantment, and every day a fresh programme was issued.
The walls were covered with Fargo placards on which
millions upon millions were arraved in endless
succession. In proportion as the number increased, the
competition advanced the rate of interest, which was car.
tied as high as 30 per cent. The customers of Ruffo at
last went off cis masse to his rivals, and one fine morning
he found himself in presence of demands of reimbursement
amounting to 23 millions, whilst he had scarcely one in his
strong box. •

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
THE DEBATE ON THE IRISH LAND BILL.

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The Times observes that the debate on the Irish Land
Bill has been once more adjourned, but there is neither
heart nor substance in the opposition to the principle of
the measure. It may be true that everyone finds fault
with all its details, as Mr. Henley declared on Tuesday
night ; but it is also true, as he immediately confessed,
that everyone ends by expressing his approval of it as a
whole. It does not matter on what side the member sits.
Mr. Read, the representative of the farmers of Norfolk,
certainly shewed no excess of sympathy with the Irish cha-
racter, and bluntly said that no Government could possibly
yield the whole or the half that Irish tenants or their
spokesmen demanded ; but he added that the bill gave all
they could justly claim. Mr. George Henry Moore, ap-
proaching the subject with all the prejudices of a patriot
from Mayo, supported the bill as a conscientious attempt
to do justice to Ireland, and frankly said that if Irishmen
were disappointed by its provisions theyivere disappointed
because they had been misled and &hided by false advisers.
It is scarcely necessary to refer to further evidence. Mr.
Samuelson and Mr. Read, from opposite sides of the
House, brought to bear on the bill independent judgment
founded on personal inquiry. It was pronounced by Mr.
Samuelson to be on the whole admirable, and Mr., Read's
judgment was equally decisive. On the whole, he saw the
bill was calculated to do a great deal of good, and he had
never doubted, when once he had heard its principles ex-
plained, that it would be his duty as well as his desire to
support it. Such is, we are persuaded, the conclusion of
all dispassionate persons who have considered the subject,
and the function of Parliament is now almost limited to
seeing that the principles of the bill are properly worked
out in its several clauses.
The Standard thinks that the debate on the Irish Land
Bill improves in value and .interest as it proceeds. The
able speech with which Dr. Ball concluded the first night's
discussion brought forward new and more complete views
of the subject, and gave life and significance to the de-
bate. Mr. Read very justly urged that a limit should
be imposed on retrospective claims to compensa-
tion, and that twenty years' enjoyment is sufficient
remuneration for all tenants' improvements. The
O'Donoghue accepted the bill as a satisfaction of
all just claims, and a deathblow to the profitable
business of "trading patriots"—a remark for which some
of the hon. gentleman's former friends will be duly grate-
ful. Mr. Henley pointed out that one effect of the bill
would be to induce the landlord to consolidate farms as
far as possible, and thus gradually to extirpate the nume-
rous class of small occupiers ; and the Solicitor-General
for Ireland failed to disprove a suggestion which
shews how very far the real purport of the
bill departs from the intentions of its authors,
and how very imperfectly its provisions have
been considered. As the debate proceeds the de-
termination of all parties to accept the bill, and try to
make the best of it becomes more and more apparent, but,
at the same time, it becomes more and more clearly
evident that the bill has been devised in ignorance and
constructed in haste, and that only a very careful revision,
and very extensive amendments can render it tolerable to
the landlord, advantageous to the permanent interests of
the tenant, or consistent with the primary conditions of
social justice and agricultural progress.