The Sun.
London, England, 1833-08-03 00:00:00

Mr. P. SCROPE hoped the Noble Lord would not
proceed in the Bill that night, as he believed it was un-
derstood that the matter would not come on till Monday.
Lord ALTHORP, after a few introductory words, said
tbat it was his wish to proceed that night, especially when
he looked to the late period of the session.
After a few words from Mr. Arrwooo and Mr. Gls-
BoaNE, who hoped the Noble Lord would fix an early day
in next week for the second reading,
Mr. HUME said he had put the question to the Noble
Lord, and he considered that the second reading of this
Bill would not come on till Monday, and he bad informed
one of the Members for the Tower Hamlets and the Mem-
ber for Ipswich that such would be the case.
After a conversation between various Members, the ques-
tion that the Bill be read a second time was put and carried,
when

Mr. P. SCROPE would beg to ask Hon. Gentlemen
whether they were so satisfied upon the details of this mea-
sure, or so willing to put themselves into the hands of the
Noble Lord, as to follow him in a plan to tie down the mone-
tary system of this country fcr a period of 20 years, merely
to encourage a monopoly. The Noble Lord might say
that the monetary system would be thrown into confusion
if the question then before the House were delayed ; but
he (Mr. &rope) would beg to observe that the Charter
renewed itself every year, and, no notice having been
taken, the Charter must continue in operation till August,
1835. It was clear that the Charter must last one year
alter a notice given; and the worst that could happen by
postponing this measure till next session would be that
they would be placed in the same position as that in
which they were now placed. Had the delay of this measure
caused any want of confidence ? He could not believe
it had, and therefore he could not see any reason for
hurrying this measure. By this Bill the monetary system
was bound hand and foot, and it was placed in the
hands of twenty-four men till 1846. He objected to the
great power given by this measure. All the dreadful
fluctuations of past years had been caused by the Bank of
England, who had worked the currency to their own self-
interested purposes. He had quoted on a former
occasion the opinions of Mr. Tierney, of Mr. Ricardo,
and others, and he bad not yet heard how it happened
that many Right Honourable Gentleman had now altered
their opinions on this subject. He had yet to learn how it
%vas that Sir J. Graham, who in 1828 called upon the
Parliament to change the policy wi h reference to the
Bank, and who had attributed to that fatal connection the
first prodigality of the country, should now, when a
Minister, have changed his mind. He had yet to learn
bow it was that Mr, Ellice, now a Member of the Govern-
ment, and who on former occasions had expressed his hope
that the renewal of this Charter would never again be
granted, should, nevertheless, in 1833, call upon the
House to grant such renewal of the Charter. He had
yet to learn why Mr. Henry Brougham, who, in 1826,
had declared his opinion that the fortunes of every family
were placed within the control or caprice of twenty-four
men, should now, when Lord Brougham, in 1833, insist
upon it that the wealth and interests of the whole empire
should be placed under the control of these four-and-
twenty men. For half a century the people had suffered
severely from the effects of this monopoly. But he (Mr.
Scrope) could scarcely believe that a reformed Parlia-
ment could renew this antiquated and barbarous Charter ;
that they would, instead of removing, make fresh fetters
for the people ; and that, instead of freeing the people of
this country of the evil, they would proceed with haste,
and in a manner which no unreformed Parliament would
have done, to bind down the nation to that cruel task-
master whose stripes were not yet efface‘,. The Bank of
England might be considered as the architect of the public
debt, and they, like an architect, bad an interest in en-
couraging the extravagance of the Government. He
looked with apprehension to the increase of power which
this measure would give to the Bank. They would have
in consequence an overwhelming influence in the metro-
polis, and through their branch banks would, in a few
years, obtain equal influence in the country. It would
enable them to command the whole money transactions of
the country, landed, commercial, trading, and funded.
The Hon. Member concluded by moving that the second
reading be postponed till next session.

Sir H. WILLOUGHBY supported the amendment.
His great cbjecton to the measure might he stated in very
few words. It was this, that the private interests of the
Bank might lead them to pursue a course inconsistent
with the public interests, and that such a proceeding was
not sufficiently guarded against in this Bill.
Mr. Alderman THOMPSON said, the Hon. Gentle-
man (Mr. Scrope) said the power conferred on the Bank
might endanger the liberties of the country. No such
danger could be apprehended, for let it be recollected that
no Minister of this country could borrow even a single
1001. from the Bank without the authority of Parliament.
It was said the Bank Directors were a monopolising and
greedy body of men, while, in point of fact, the Directors
seldom held more Bank stock tha❑ was sufficient to qualify
them for the situation. The Hon. Member referred to
the authority of some able and intelligent men, but he
could quote authority on the other side of equal weight and
respectability, that of Lord Liverpool and Mr. Robinson,
now Earl of Ripon. They both, in a letter to the Bank,
admitted that much of the prosperity of the country
during the list century teas to be ascribed to the justice
and fairness with which the Bank managed its affairs. He
opposed the amendment on the ground that the present
prosperity would soon vanish, and a general feeling of
dismay and disappointment arise, it the question should be
postponed.

- Mr. P. HOWARD was opposed to that part of the
measure which made Bank notes a legal tender. It was
a proposition of doubtful if not of dangerous tendency, and
might have the effect of bringing Bank paper into disre-
pute. In case of a real panic the only true security was
convertibility of papr into specie. Upon this subject he
would beg leave to call the attention of the Noble Lord
(Althorp) to a very popular and well written journal,
called the Spectator.—(Great ltughter.)

Mr. M. A TTWOOLi said that his great subject of
complaint was, that after a condemnation of all monopolies
by the present Ministers, they now proposed to extend
the monopoly of the Bank of England. He regretted
much that the Bank was not confined to the same terms
on which they held the present Charter, in place of
enlarging their monopoly so far as to make their notes a
legal tender. He (Mr. Attwood) looked upon the conduct
of the present Ministers as regarded the Bank, to be a
complete abandonment of all those commercial principles
which bad been held by them the last fifteen years ; and he
concluded, that in maintaining such principles, they had
at last seen they were in error. He trusted, therefore,
the trade and commerce of the country would again be
placed upon the same foundation, and regul ited by the
same principles, under which it had flourished for so long
a period. It was now proposed to give a compulsory value
to Baok paper. Such a course was directly opposed to
all the received doctrines of a paper currency. The fact
was, that Bank paper was already, by the tacit consent
of the people, a legal tender for all useful purposes.
There was no excuse for proceeding with the present
measure. Could it be said that it was prudent to trust
entirely the currency of this conntry, with the power of
depreciating it, to the Bank ? Supposing the Bank under
ordinary circumstances acted with the greatest prudence,
what security was there for such a course befog pursued
by the Bank under pressure in times of war. He admitted
that this measure did not at once depreciate the currency,
hut it laid a sure foundation for future depreciation.
The Hon. Member argued at considerable length against
making paper a legal tender by all parties but the Bank
of England. He asserted that those panics had nothing
of danger in them compared with what would be inherent
in the new system. What provision was made to pay in
gold the 13,000,0001. which might at once be demanded ?
Let the House look back to those panics. He would no-
tice the most prominent two which had occurred, that of
1832 and that of 1825. In the political panic of 1832,
the gold drawn from the Bank amounted only to about
1,400,0001. To talk of such a sum endangering the Bank
was ridiculous. Then what was the case in 1625 ?
There was to more gold required from the Bank of
England than about 1,300,000/. That was proved by
the evidence of Mr. Heiman, for that gentleman stated
that shortly prerioue to the panic there were but
1,300,000/. in gold in the Bank. Surely, then, care
would be taken to guard the public from being compelled
to take notes to any amount, unless some better security
for their realization in specie should be provided. It
was not the internal panics that under the present
system were to be feared, or that bad ever endangered
the Bank of England, but it was the drain, in con-
sequence of the foreign exchanges.—(Hear.) Shortly
before, in 1825, no less than 9,000,000/. was drawn
out of the Bank ; and previous to the panic in 1832
(3,000,000/. in gold were dratv,o out of the coffers of the
Bank. The Bill, therefore, as it s!bod would guard against
the lesser evil, which was insignificant, and leave the
greater evil, which was immense, untouched. The most
wise and easy wty to pievent danger would be to compel
the Bank to increase its store by some 2,000,000/. or
3,000,0001. He felt a strong repugnance to much of the
detail of the measure, but at the game time he was '
bound by sound policy to support the maintenance of the
Bank of England. That corporation, however, ought ,to
be "'A/lied to its proper field; it ought to be a bank of
issue for the metropolis, and the only one. Anxious as he
was to see the Bank of England supported in its just and
useful privileges, he should vote for the second reading of
the Bill, although he should do so with reluctance, for