The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-06 00:00:00

engrossed by this and other chimerical schemes, which
were known by the denomination of bubbles. The sums
proposed to be raised by different expedients amounted
to 300,000,000 sterling, which exceeded the value of all
the land of England. The nation was so intoxicated with
the spirit of adventure, that people became a prey to the
grossest delusion." By a most valuable synopsis, pub-
lished in the Time. newspaper last month, it will be seen
that 47 completed railway companies had paid up and
borrowed 70,000,000 Z ; that 118 lines in the course of
construction, and for which Acts of Parliament had been
obtained, required 67,000,0001.; that for the railways
projected, amounting to 1,263 companies, 59,000,0001. of
deposits would be necessary ; so that the total capital
invested and required (taking the amount actually paid
up at 54,000,0001. in railways completed, and those in
the course of execution, sanctioned already by Par.ii-
went, into account, together with 59,000,000/. to be paid
of deposits upon new lines), would be 113,000,000/.
Thus, to carry out these projects, including the
money already borro Ned, 590,090,0001. would be neces-
sary, the very magnitude of which sum must strike
every one as evidencing the highest degree of insa-
nity in any nation which could entertain projects in
volving such an outlay. The " deposit question," as it
has been generally designated, arose out of this extra-
ordinary state of things. By the Act Ist and 2d Vic-
toria, it is rendered imperative that the deposits upon
the undertakings in question should be paid into the
Bank of England, to the credit of the Accountant-Gene-
ral, within 14 days after the meeting of Parliament. It
is true that the check so opportunely given by the Bank
of England, by raising the rate of interest, effectually
put an end to many of the schemes, but it was
supposed, in the first instance, that a sufficient
number had complied with the forms necessary
to make the deposits alone 20,000,000/. Subse-
quent information has led to the conviction that this
sum was greatly overstated, and that the amount
required will not be 10,009,000/. ; but during the
time that the process has been going on of weeding out
the lines which had not complied with the necessary for-
malities, great uneasiness has existed in the money-
market. The banking interests all along has felt quite
unable to explain how the difficulty would be met, and
although certain that, from the total impossibility of
complying with the law, there must be some mode of ex-
tricating the country from its embarrassment, yet even
now that 10,000,0001. only are supposed to be required,
the monied interest is necessarily upon its guard, for to
withdraw this sum, if only for a few days, from the re-
quirements of trade, would be to put a stop to the whole
machinery of the circulation, and derange all branches
of public financial arrangements.
The President's message, though looked for with
great anxiety, has produced less effect than might have
been expected. Its tendency by a few is not thought to
be unpacific ; but the generality of persons consider,
notwithstanding its calmness of tone, that there is a
determination pervading it which is anything but ami,
cable in spirit, or generous in feeling. It seems to
breathe a decision of purpose hardly concealed by the
moderation of its language. Its demands assume con-
clusions which are most exaggerated, and its harshest
and worst feature is that it seems to close the door by
anticipations to all interference in a matter which, in
case quarrel is to be avoided, can best be arranged by
foreign friendly arbitration. It is difficult to suppose
that nations so wise and so enlightened as our own and
that of the United States, should not recoil from the
idea of war for the sake of so trifling an object as the pos-
session of a wilderness separated from both countries by
rocks and deserts ou the one hand, and by the ocean on
the other ; but as there is a point beyond which conces-
sion would be considered weakness, it is impossible to
say what may be the result.
The deductions to be drawn from all the facts before
us, are, as usual, liable to much uncertainty, and the '
crop, after all, in the opinion of most persons, is the
main point upon which, as far as cotton is concerned,
the future depends. There are some who rate this high,
and consider that it will reach 2,300,000 to 2,400,000
bales, but there are others equally well informed, who
pretend that 2,200,000 bales will be the maximum.
Added to this contingency, there is the certainty of a
large consumption and a good trade, and the remote pos.
sibility of war ; but the transactions of this year, as far
as regards speculators, have been so unfortunate that it is
probable the market will be left very much to the trade
for some time to come, and under these circumstances it
is rare for prices to improve either very rapidly or con-
siderably. Decline seems considered by every one to be
out of the question, but whether or not any material ad-
vance is to be experienced depends so much upon points
that are yet doubtful, that to predict an important rise,
should it prove to be the case, would be rather a fortu-
nate conjecture than the result of reasoning which at
present could be fully justified.