The Sun.
London, England, 1833-06-29 00:00:00

re, it mist still he borne ;n mind that the circumstance%
oader which they were now calhd on to legislate on this
'tihject were different to those whirl, attended any former
renewal of the charter. The Noble Lord (the Chancellor
the Exchequer) had declared it to be his wish to super-
ede the whole country circulation, and substitute Bank
P„,lPer. Being unable to accomplish that at once, he
,ft aposed to destroy it by slow and wasting means.—
r, hear.) The Noble Lord might think this just and
; but it was very probable that other persons would
ilut whether it was either just, politic, or magnanimous.
(11ear hear.) With regard to the provisions es to
hvaantry bankers, they were comparatively unimportant;
4et he thought that by compelling them to render
0
e"ntar they would, in some instances, create a
I°sg inducement to falsify their accounts. The
measure of 1826, by which the joint stock banks
Werei enabled to conduct their operations with greater
;fitlear was a measure intended for the general advantage
,tue country. He was of opinion that the present
„
'ettle would have the effect of entirely destroying the
e'rculation of the country banks. There was no reason to
'lluPPose that any pecuniary transactions had been delayed,
t' etlosequence of the uncertainty which existed relative
ta
theßank Charter. The importance of the question,
a°4 the state of the business now before the House, ren-
ered it extremely desirable that this question should be
erred till the beginning of another session. He hail
tof4flned himself to showing the importance of many of
the Points which must be discussed, in order to prove the
:tessity of giving the matter a hid investigation, and con-
: nsently of postponing its consideration during the pre-
-14 session. Its importance rendered it desirable that it
111041 d be taken into consideration at the very beginning of
e session. He had abstained from entering into any dis-
kao
100 respecting the merits of the question itself, and Lad
101? spoken of such points as bore upon the question of
tponement ; he hoped that other speakers would
ate his example, and keep to the question of adjournment.
Lord ALTHORP denied that the House could be better
IltirLePared to enter into the question at any other period
1%14 the present. If Hon. Members had thought that
0•,,e Report of the Committee of Inquiry upon the subject
;", not afford sufficient materials for the House to come to
nttision, they ought to have made that part the sui ject
oMotion; or ought, at least, to have expressed their
itinion upon the subject. The arguments of two of the
„tin- Members who had spoken upon the present occa-
-114), were directed against the measure itself. The Hon.
''4 Gallant Member had asserted that there were varia-
h'na since 1827 in the amount of notes in circulation, to
he amount of fifty per cent. ; but taking the greatest
rober during that period, and comparing it with the
kyt, it would be found that the fluctuation did not exceed
tt4 Per cent. The Hon. and Gallant Member asserted
thatw the rule of the Bank for regu'ating its issues
as to have always bullion to the amount of
the-third of its notes in circulation. This was not
fact ; for Mr. Palmer had stated that the
principle of the Bank was to allow the drain of money by
t•the state of the foreign exchanges to °petite precisely as if
Oil
currency were metallic ; consequently the amount of
O4il
t,e, in circulation did not depend upon the amount of
Itlion, but on the securities in the hands of the Bank.
v," great object which the Bank ought to have in view,
44e to keep the fluctuations in the circulating medium at
ketninimum, by allowing the exchanges to act naturally
2 gradually on the circulation. It could sc iicely be ex-
: ted that a period should ever arrive when fluctuations
,id be totally prevented; but the great object was to
ske these fluctuations the least possible. The Hon, and
h'llant Gentleman had stated it as his opinion, that the
raPosed measure would entirely =seenetinuish the country
t 446 ; but, for his part, he could no connexion be•
v'een the measure of Government and the result antici-
Plo:ttti from it. It had even been asserted that it had
nen declared to be the intention of his Majesty's
"nverornent to annihilate the country banks alto-
iteth,r- He had certainly said that it was desirable
obtain a more perfect system of circulation, and
e thought that the Ministerial measure would pro
dti
le that effect ; but be did not think that it would have
.4: effect of annihilating the country banks, and he should
11
Very sorry if it should produce any such effict. It was
443ewhat remarkable, that while the joint stock banks
Banks,
of the measure as too favourable to the country
1,446, the country banks complained as loudly of the
due advantages which it would confer upon the joint
1;16c banks. The Hon. Member for Stroud also coin-
-I:a4led of the Bank of England as a monopoly ; but it
,
Ust be proved that the monopoly was prejudicial. It
PPeared to him, after giving the subject his best consi-
deration, and after listening to the results of the expe-
;ence of practical men, that it would be very detrimental
° establish a competition of banks in London, instead of
!'ne bank of issue. It was certainly a monopoly, but
itzt remained to be shown that it was an evil. The
Member for Stroud objected to giving the
-we' of regulating the circulation to a body which
t°"(lncts its proceedings in secret, and without being
Tjected to public opinion. He (Lord Althorp) was
°Pinion that it was desirable to avoid that, and, there-
°,4, he proposed that the proceedings of the Bank
:1"41(1 be public, so that it could no longer be considered a
"eret body, and would have all its proceedings subjected,..,-
the revision of public opinion. The Hon. Mernb• r as-
terted that the Bank Directors were not responsible to any
utt the Proprietors. That was, no doubt, true in law ;
~Itt to the present state of the public mind, it could t of be
",perly said that any body of men were independent of
public opinion. lie thought that public opinion would
place any set of men who acted improperly, in a sit, ation
which to
bythich would not be desirable to any man who wis
considered respectable. He was, therefore, disposed to
ernneide with much of what had fallen from the Hon.
lelober for Stroud, but he ought to have made some dis-
tinction between the acts of the Bank itself, and these of
the Government and Parliament. He had admitted,
'tat in the Bank Restriction Act of 1797, as well as
' the return to cash payments in ISIS, the Govern-
sent and the Parliament had as much to do as the Bank,
aa
bad at least as much right to share the blame of
0","e measures. He did not think it necessary to follow
" Hon. Member through all his observations; Govern-
°lent had endeavoured to take the best precautions in its
r, by adopting what they cnsidered, as far as they
Idascertain, to be the best security against improper
Practices; and, by taking publicity as the basis of their
plan, they thought they had secured the best check on the
of the Bank. The last speaker had said that he
o"°tlght it gadvisable that the country bankers should publish
4account of their circulation; but he thought that would be
r", from satisfaciery, as,the Pat liement having no check upon
ite
h b-nti there was no reason to prevoit them from sending
Ch false accounts. By adopting a method for ascertaining
e amount of the stamps issued to each banker, the public
tit'uld have an opportunity of obtaining correct inlorma-
°4 respecting the amount of the circulation. The Hon.
lenatier was completely misinformed as to the quentity of
buotry hank notes in circulation. He (Lord Altkorp)
41 reason to believe that the actual amount in circulation
or es from ten to twelve millions. He mentioned this in
der to show the absurdity of reasoning upon that point,
"e founding any argument upon it, till the actual amount
tif Counry ank circulation wnown. This wa not,
°Weyer,t the real question fur their consideration.s The
Itleation which they ought to consider was, whether they
to
t°,11,1 be in a better situation fur going into the considera-
ioO of the subject at any future period than they were at
present? He admitted that some people might be apt to
tolaggerate the danger of delay; still all must allow that
uelay was, if possible, to be avoided ; and all would allow
that it was impossible, considering the immense interests
I,t stake, that those interests might not be injured by being
flog up in suspense. Of such force was that argument
Nisidered by gentlemen connected with the banking
l!ffiiirs of the country, that one Honourable Member
'd urged strongly upon him (Lord Althorp) even last
0
-'s‘ion, the necessity of a speedy settlement of the
question. It was then, however, utterly impossible to
the plan of the Government before die House; but
(Lord A.) thought, that should any delay now take
"th''eer after the Govertnnent plan had been promulgated,
Consequences might be even worse than if the plan
Lor 4'l not linen promulgated at all. The Hon. :Member
yna itleetned to think that the plan of Government involved a
eer:otb; th'esehof faith to the joint stock banks; and he quoted
. forte tie opinion of Inct Government, in 1826, in support of
Boat statement, and to show that the Government of that
° ti 9 had give the greatest encouragemequestion at issue.
nt to joint !tuck
131?"13,11 That, however, was not the
1C
ene question for the consideration of the House was,
390r0104, "aeth,r it was advisable to lay such restrictions on the
cre, sl)`) banks as should be considered necessary to insure
Bute
safety of the public.—(Hear, hear.) If those banks
're not on a sound foundation, it was undoubtedly the
torf; f OtY of Government to take steps to place them on a
°der i:,ttet footing. He would, for instance, suppose that a
'1".„.11°-0 stock bank. bad a national capital of 500,000/, o;
I te4 '1::::i0ch only 15,000/. were paidoue would say thot
a bank was in a state that ought to be permitted
." the Government.—( Hear, hear.) lie, therefore,
Tiaet4h., 1:1(1, that it would be desirable to place such restrictions
1):000;ri, I,oll,n_n,tho.se banks as. would place them on. a s.trund and
ot: looting. It might, to be sure, be said, that people
not, and would not, trust banks which were in such
aellip7oi ; but it was well know:n that the first warn-
re'tor Ofgencrally given on such occasion was the baekruptcy
ee bookers, and every one was aware how tie atralis
eV, ov
intf~
1)0. e country were para)zed, and the credit of other
"kets effected by such failures. He therefore thougl,t

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