The Sun.
London, England, 1833-04-25 00:00:00

ing, they might depend upon it they should not hear any
body else. It was his decided opinion that the present
motion was substantially to inquire into the distress of the
country ; and that distress existed, might he gathered from
what had fallen from the last speak-r, and from several
returns that had been laid upon the table of that guise.
He maintained that the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite
(the Vice-President of the Board of Trade) had not given,

the other evening, fair statements as to the distress of the
manufacturing districts; and, if he was called upon, he

could give proofs that distress to a lade amount did pre-
vail-in those tii•tricts. AR a proof that he could do so, he
would instance the state ,:f Wolverhampton, which
was very d:ff-rent from t'' at in which it had b-en said by

the Right Hnn. G mtleman other I,arge manuft.cturing
towns were. The condition of the al.re-awntioned towts

!night be zuesQed at if the increase of the pan- rates were

considered, and they had since 1524—that is, in the space
of nine years—doubled. The increase of tolls on the old
Birmingham Canal, which had been given by the Right
Honourable Vice-President of the Board of Trade as a
proof of the prosperity of the trade of that part of t!'e
country, was fallacious ; for it should he recollected,
that the cause of the increase of tolls might more pro-
perly he attributed to the improvements made on
that canal, at the expense of half a million laid out upon
it to facilitate transports. He could cite other instances
of canals in manufacturing districts upon which the tolls
had decreased, to show tit disiress existed, and that ma-
nufacturing property had deteriorated. Even in that fa-
vourite county, Staffordshire, it was difficult to find pur-
chasers of this species of property. When such was the
fact, and when distress really existed, was it extraordinary
that ti e people should call out, and ask for an inquiry as
. .

to the eau%e; of it ? There had been a great deal f cross

language used towards gentlemen who were supposed to
he desirous of a change of the currency ; but itshnuld be

remembered that alterations in the currency had often oc-

curred, and had been found useful in caws Of great neces-

s,ty. The standard was always dependent upon expediency.
The Hon. Member then proceeded to read several tables,

showing the fluctuations in the currency, and demonstrated
that throughout the various alterations of the currency for

the better or worse, it had always occurred that the Go-
vernment had produced a favourable alteration just before

each dissolution, so as to please the people at a time
when new representatives were to be chosen. A Hong
other similar instances, the Honourable Member stated
that in 1816 and 1817 there had existed the greatest
distress, owinz to the unfavourable state of the circula-
tion; but in 1818, just before Parliament was dissolved,
Government had contrived to produce an additional issue
of three millions of bank notes, which was of course in-

tended as a bolstering up of a fictitious state of prosperity.
This fully appeared by the fact, that after the Parliament
had been returned, Government brought the circulation
down again, and in 1522 the circulation was brought
down so low that the whole country combined in sending
up petitions for relief from their distresses. The agricul-
tural and manufacturing interests bad been dreadful
sufferers from the system pursued by the Bank; and it
must be inevitably so ; for as long as a gold circulation is
adhered to, all our interests must be subject to all the
fluctuations of every country in Europe. What he
wished, therefore, was to contract this circulation, in order
to avoid such fatal fluctuations and arrangements of the
circulation. He was therefore very anxious for the ap-
pointment of the proposed Committee; and what he par-
ticul .rly wished that Committee to inquire into would he
the question whether there could not be such an adjust-
ment of the one-pound note circulation as to prevent the
gold from going out of the country. As it was, the farmer
was called upon to pay two quarters of corn for the one
which he bad formerly received. He would readily vote
for the Committee; and he fully concurred with the pro-
position, that all the evils and distresses of the country
were wholly attributable to the Change of Currency Bill
of 1519.—(Great confusion, cries of " Question," " Ad-
journ.") At any rate there were quite sufficient grounds
to warrant an inquiry; and a practical inquiry would be
better than all tie theories put together.
Mr. JOHN SMITH was rather surprised at many of
the arguments he had heard. The Hon. Baronet had
spoken of the fall of profits of canals as a criterion of dis-
tress; but the public funds betrayed no symptom of that
disease. Had the Three per Cents. fallen ? They were
as marketable as ever; and many people desired to have
them. Without meaning to throw any imputations on
any Hon. Members, he must say that lie doubted many of
the stories of distress which had liven told the House. He
had heard, on what he was told was good authority, though
he did not know the gentleman, that all the population of
Manchester engaged in the spinning business got, including
men, women, and children, 10s. a week wages. He was
not particularly acquainted with Oldham, but be believed
that the poor rates in that district were remarkably low.
What he, however, chiefly rose to say was this :—He was
as sure, as that the sun would rise to-morrow, that if the
issue of small notes was allowed there would be again a
panic. He was, in 1825, Chairman of the Committee of
Bankers, and in that capacity had frequently to wait upon
the Bank of England with persons soliciting relief, and he
had a good opportunity of knowing the circumstances of
many persons ; and Ire could assure the House that many
honest and industrious men, who had then been obliaed to
make great sacrifices, had struggled on for years after-
wards, but were in the end ruined in consequence of the
shock they then received. He knew certainly that the one-
pound notes then found were of great use; but the Bank did
not want them for itself, it could have paid all demands
on it without them, but they were of use to lend to
others. He knew that the Bank of England tlien lent
reilliens, and that many of those who borrowsd notes car-
ried them to the Bank in half an hour and demanded
specie for them. Another panic, not less than that of
1625, must ensue from issuing small notes. It the Bank
of England were to suspend its payments, all the bankers
of England would be ruined ; and what then would be
the state of tho country? All the manufacturers were paid
in the notes of the country hankers, and if they were
ruined, he put it to the House if society could eo on ? No;
there would be one scene of devastation, misery, and civil
war. He admitted the honesty ef the intentions of those
who supported the motion, but he, fur one, protest, d
against it; and he trusted the House would not forget its
sacred duty, and would preserve the prosperity, the inte-
rest, the honour, and the integrity of the country.—
(Cheers. )
Mr. M. ATTWOOD rose to reply. He had been
charged with desiring depreciation; he denied it, and
those who made that charge had no authority, from
his words, for making it. He had reason, aherefore,
to complain that the whole arguments of the Noble
Lord (Althorp) and other speakers, had all been di •
rested against his speech, and against the motion on
that inference. The Honourable Member then ex-
plained the nature of the motion and amendment, and
warned the House that there would be no incon-
sistency in voting for his motion, though Members
might desire not to lower the standard. The resolution
of the Noble Lord went to pledge the House not to lower
the standard. But why ? The standard had been suc-
cessively raised for several years. It had been raised be-
yond the old standard of 1795. It had been raised, as
the Hon. Member for Essex admitted, more than 50 per
cent. above that of 1815 ; and it would have been desi-
rable, therefore, that the Noble Lord should have c Aled on
the House to pledge itself that it would not raise t, e
standard any further ; so that the people might have had
some guarantee against a further rise, and might have been
no longer the victims of such legislation. The Noble Lord
had admitted, in his speech, that he would not object to
silver coined into 60s. as a standard, but he would object
to it coined into 625. ; but 60 was depreciation. The
Noble Lord, therefore, who was so indignant about de-
preciation, and talked aboutdishonesty, had no objection to
let the 100/. be written down 981. 103. ; but to write it
down 951. was everything that was bad.—(Cheers.)
Lord ALTIIORP explained that he had said he would
only consent to silver as a standard so coined, if it were
not depreciation ; and if it were depreciation, he would
not consent to it.
Mr. ATTWOOD accepted the Noble Lord's emenda•
tion ; but he could assure !aim that silver at 603. would
be depreciation ; and then it appeared, after the Noble
Lord bad moved a resolution about depreciation, and
talked a great deal about it, that the Noble Lord did not
know what depreciation was.—(Cheers.) The Hon.
Member next refsrred to Mr. Baring's declaration, that he
would not object to 1/. notes.
Mr. BARING was understood to sly that he spoke
hypothetic illy, and that if the two other conditions he
bad mentioned were fulfilled, he should not then object
to consider the propriety of issuing one-pound notes.
Mr. ATTWOOD continued—The Hon. Member had
in 1826 spoken in the strongest terms against small notes.
In 1830 also, when he (Mr. Attwood) had moved two
resolutions, cne of which related to the small notes, and
the other to the silver standard, the Hon. Member had de-
nounced the small notes, and had agreed in the propriety
of-the silver standard. Tne Hon. 'Member bad then ex-
pressly stated, that by adopting it they would have a
better chance of maintaining the standard than by the
gold siandatd only. And was he now to be condemnor
for recommending that as tending to depreciation, which
the Hon. Member said would maintain the standard ? By
supporting his motion, Members would pledge themselves
to no opinion ; but by adopting the amendment of the
Noble Lord, they would pledge themselves to a line of con-
duct, which, if a war were to break out—an event so
likely to happen that it Lwas stated as the excuse for