The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-11 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.

The meteorologists are fairly puzzled. What does
this weather mean ? On the Ist of January we had
frost; not many days ago snow fell in some parts of
the country; and this is followed by weather warmer
than we generally have three months later. How
does it all come about ? Mr. kllnatt, the
scientific correspondent of the Times, can throw no
light on the matter; only he makes some very
dreadful hints, which we would advise the nervous
not to read. " Whence," he asks, in bewilderment,
"do all these manifestations arise ? Are they cos-
mical, and do they emanate from consequent changes
in our elemental electro-dynamical conditions ? Or
has the Gulf Stream broken its accustomed bounds ?
Or have the late earthquakes so attenuated the floor
of our globe as to have brought us into closer
proximity with its central fires ?" Mr. Allnatt cannot
—or, at any rate, does not—give an answer. Will
anyone relieve our anxiety, especially about the
" attenuation ?"

TILE " COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER."

"Amelia, Countess of Derwentwater," has addressed
a letter to the Northern _Daily Ezpress, emphatically
per-
mission for the publication of her biography and of
letters addressed to her by continental statesmen.
contradicting the statement that she had given
Such letters belong to the archives of her family; and
so far as her own history is concerned, she has
nothing but " barbarous treatment and cruel chroni-
cles " to relate of England. The lady is highly
indignant with the speculators who, she says, are
endeavouring to make money out of the public with
her property.
MR. TIIOROLD ROGERS ON FREE BANKING.

Rogersthrouhgahs the columns of the Star.
on given the public his views
Ile holds that. the
.power to issue paper money with-
out giving valid evidence that the notes will be con-
Mfrr.eeThboarnolkding
verted into cash at the holder's pleasure, is not neces-
sary for the purposes of honest and legitimate trade.
A century ago the London bankers voluntarily
renounced the privilege, and the reversal of that part
of the Act of 1844, which prohibits the creation of
new banks of issue, will never be effected unless
ignorance ministers to fraud. There is, however, as
Mr. Rogers points out, a marked difference between
the position of the ordinary trader in a time
of pressure and that of the Bank of Eng-
land. If the reserve of a trader is far less than
his liabilities he is obliged to strengthen
his position by sales of property, in order to avoid
bankruptcy. When the Bank of England is brought
into this position, as happened in 1866 and half a
dozen times before, its profits became enormous. As
a trading company it derives the largest advantages
when it ought by all rules of trade to get the least.
In short, the Bank of England gets an unnatural
advantage out of a public calamity. One of two
remedies should therefore be adopted. The incon-
vertible issues of the Bank--those which are based
on public securities—should be permanently reduced
by one half ; or else the Bank directors should be
compelled to supply themselves with gold by the sale
of stock as soon as their bullion falls below a certain
amount. The first of these remedies is, in Mr.
Rogers's opinion, the most advisable, since
the existent privilege of the Bank is periodi-
cally mischievous to trade and unfair on
principles of equity. He thinks it, moreover, worth
remembering, that the pressure of a discredited
currency falls heaviest on those whom the law is most
bound to protect, those to whom money is not a
commodity, but wages or income.