The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-20 00:00:00

851.

[PRICE SD.

! paper money." Is this, or is it not, a fact ? We call
into court a witness of no ordinary character—Sir
Walter Scott. After declaring that paper money
" has so completely expelled gold from the country
of Scotland, that you never by any chance espy
a guinea there, unless in the purse of an accidental
stranger, or in the coffers of the banks themselves,"
he goes on to say that, "through means of the credit
which this system has afforded, roads have been made,
bridges built, and canals dug, opening up to recipro-
cal communication the most sequestered districts of
the country—manufactures have been established,
unequalled in extent or success ; wastes have been
converted into productive farms ; the productions cf
the earth for human use have been multiplied twenty-
fold, while the wealth of the rich and the comforts of
the poor have been extended in the same proportion."
Such is the testimony of this singularly sagacious and
clear-sighted man ; one who loved his country with
all the devotion of genius, who felt the responsibility
of the part be was taking in advocating a representa-
tive system of paper money, and who in so doing placed
himself in direct opposition to his political associates
and to his best and oldest friends. As to the fact of
the advantage of a good paper money system in
America, we call as witnesses Benjamin Franklin
and David Hume. Are these men likely to be de-
luded by currency crotchets ? The former, Franklin,
has written philosophically and practically on the
usespo rt
no
gf
the
ep
systemape r
o f currency,
pepe r
money and his
was motivehis fnovricstui
that it was indissolubly united with the prosperity of
his country. We will not follow Mr. Duncan through
the argumentative and lucid statement in which he
disclosed the fallacies of the advocates of Sir Robert
Peel's system, and fully explained the advantages of a
coon
sound system of paper currency convertible into gold
at the market price. We -may,- however,.:;natice his"
allusion to what is commonly used as an argunient
against the necessity of a more adequate
circulating medium, viz., the apparent plentiful-
ness of money in this country. "At the
present time,' said Mr. Duncan, " the Bank of
England had nearly nine millions of unem-
ployed notes which they would gladly lend at a low
rate of interest, and the private bankers and bill-
brokers were in a similar position. Hence money
was said to be plentiful ; but," he further ob-
served, " the plenty of money, which indicated a
healthy state of trade, only existed when the money
flowed freely into the tills of the shopkeepers and the
pockets of the working classes, denoting high profits
and high wages." The fact is, money is then only dis-
charging its proper function when it is circulating
from hand to hand, facilitating barter, and expediting
the exchange of one commodity for another, and ef-
fecting, above all, that great and important exchange,
the exchange of the poor man's labour for food, clothes,
and lodging. The effect of the existing monetary
system is that we live in a state of modified
panic. The Bank is afraid of letting out its notes
for more than a short period, for if a little gold is
withdrawn from the country there may be a sudden
demand on its resources ; the private bankers are
afraid in like manner to discount or lend money for
more than temporary purposes ; merchants and ma-
nufacturers all live in daily dread of some " mone-
tary pressure,"—and the ill effects of this system, as a
matter of course, extend to every artisan and working
man in the country. We ask the merchants of Li-
verpool whether they are willing that this state of
things should be permanent ? Or if they think the
advocates of a reform of the monetary system wrong,
are they prepared to find men to accept Mr. Dun-
can's challenge ? Can they find three bullionists to
come forward, and publicly, deliberately, and philo-
sophically discuss the subject of the currency ?

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE;

APPOINTMENTS.
Chief Engineer—Thomas Bullions, to the Odin.
Assistant .Engineers—W. M. Jones,
Henryamuel Singer,
James Sumner, James M'Clymont, H Johnson,
and Lewis Owen, to the Odin.
PROMOTIONS.
Clerk—James B. M'Avoy, to the Fisgard.
Boatswain—John Riddett, advanced to second class.
Carpenter—John Read, advanced to second class.
Gunner—Timothy Donohue, to be acting gunner.
PORTSMOUTH, AUG. 19.—0 n the late visitation of
the Admiralty to the dockyard they maturely consi-
dered the fittings of cabins on the several decks of
ships, with the view to keep as many as possible of
the guns clear, without disturbing bulkheads. Under
the poop in line-of-battle ships there will in future be
only one gun of a side within the cabins; accommo-
dation is afforded for only the captain and secretary.
The captain has a midship cabin, and one on the
port quarter, for sleeping ; and the secretary has a
narrow cabin on the starboard side. The offices fur
the secretary are now to be placed amidships, so as
not at all to interfere with the guns. In three-
decked ships the admiral's apartments are—one large
cabin about twenty-three or twenty-four feet in
length, and reaching across the ship, and one midship
and two side cabins aft. On the upper deck, upon
which the admiral's cabins are placed, there are only
two guns on a side within the bulkheads, and these
are not in the least encumbered. The admiral's
steward's berth and pantry are placed amidships, so
that there are no fittings at the sides of the ship. On
the middle deck, upon which the ward-room is placed,
there are to be only two cabins—one for the master
on the port side, and one for the commander on the
starboard side ; these clear all the guns except the
after gun on each side, so that upon this deck all the
guns except two are free from obstruction. The
ward-room steward's pantry is also placed amidships,
so as to keep the sides entirely clear from obstruction.
Oa the gun deck only one gun on each side is within
the gun-room or midshipmen's mess-room. The
midshipmen's steward's pantry likewise is to be amid-
' ships, so as to present no obstruction to the use of the
armament. In a three-decked ship there will, there-
fore, be only twelve guns with which the bulkheads
will at all interfere ; and these bulkheads are made to
slide, so that all obstructions may be removed in less
than two minutes. The other officers for whom ac-
commodation has not been provided for as above will
be placed on the orlop deck. The same principle is,
we understand, to be applied in the fitting of all two
and three-decked ships as they are brought forward.—
Herald.
The Myrmidon steamer, Lieutenant-Commander
Joliffe, sailed for Devonport on Monday.
The Vengeance received about 130 seamen from
Plymouth on Sunday, she is now about 200 short, and
it is expected thatiiearlthat number will be entered
at Plymouth for her. She is to be ready for sea on
the 31st instant.
The Vulcan troop-steamer has come alongside the
jetty. She is to be docked and refitted, and have her
channels widened to enable her to carry more sail.
Her bottom is foul, and it made a great difference in
her rate of sailing. She brought home about 40 tons
of coal, which her commander reserved for the pur-
pose of using, if required, in the Channel. The leak
spoken of is a very trifling affair, being simply from
the packing of the shaft of the screw propeller.
The Admiral Superintendent Prescott, accompanied
by the master shipwright, Mr. Fincham, and Com-
mander Mathias, of the Britannia (Captain Yates
being ill), commenced their annual inspection of the
ships in ordinary on Monday morning, and it is ex-
pected it will be completed on Wednesday evening.
The Fairy steam-yacht, Captain Lord Adolphus
Fitzclarence, embarked his Royal Highness the
Prince Consort at Cowes this morning, and conveyed
him to this port. His Royal Highness landed at
Gosport soon after nine o'clock, and was received in
the Clarence Victualling-yard by Mr. R. Willoughby
Stevens, of the South-Western Railway Company.
As his Royal Highness's trip was quite private none
of the dignitaries of the port or garrison, or guard of
honour, were present. The Prince, attended by Col.
the Hon. A. Gordon, left the Clarence-yard in a
special train, in charge of Mr. Beattie, chief engineer,
and Mr. Godson, superintendent of the South-
Western Railway, at five minutes past nine this morn-
ing for London, and returned at about half-past six
this evening in the same private manner, when the
Fairy re-embarked him for Osborne.
The Marlborough Indiaman arrived at Spithead
yesterday from the Thames to embark passengers for
Madras.
The Pique, 40, was temporarily commissioned here
this morning by Mr. Joseph R. Ning, Master. ofmthn
Britannia, 120, who, with the assistance
el, vete
from that ship and 30 dockyard riggers, will '-
her to Pembroke for alteration. of 60
The Hendrik Hudson, New
arrived to-day from London, and sailed for America.
York packet-ship,
have no morefavour-
ableidPLYMOUTH, TIJESDAY.--We
report to give of the condition of Lord
John Hay.
The Swedish merchant brig Plied, of Stockholm,
landed here yesterday
R-anklin,third mate,
Thomas Gratnell, Adam Bruce, Andrew
Mackintosh,
A. M'Cluckie, T. Richards, Henry Smith, and John
Jaeger, Cap-
Whitfill, seamen, belonging to the ship
Cap-
tain Bartlett, the property of Messrs. Clark and Son,
of Liverpool,
for which port she was bound, from
Calcutta, saving left the 16th of March, with a
general cargo of saltpetre, sugar, rice, &c. On the
24th of July, at seven o'clock in the morning, in
log. 40 WI, lat '26 N., spontaneous combustion com-
menced is the after-hold, between decks, and although
all hands endeavoured to extinguish it by throwing
down wateF With !tat by keeping the two pumps