The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-25 00:00:00

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--melted in the drucible of Sebastopol. The
Black Sea -fle et completely annihilated—the Baltic
one skul kif2 g under cover of the guns of
Cconstadt. Her finances in a state of con-

'anion, and her foreign trade dependent on the

insidious a► ud venal aid of Prussia, no wonder that
her arrog a. ace is abated, and that she is willing
to close nri th any terms that she can obtain, only
thankful that she. is not compelled to surrender at
discretioni. On the other hand, our armies hav e
been made: thoroughly efficient ; we have supplied
defects of c ur navy, and a magnificent fleet of gun-
boats prove that we only want the will to try the
boasted stn )ngth of Cronstadt, and to solve the
great problem of Wood v. Granite. Our finances,
too, are in.:a thoroughly sound and healthy condi-
tion, and, .despite the Jeremiads of " Mercator,"
there is no want of zeal to carry oat any object
that may be) deemed desirable.
Why, then, disregard these obvious advantages?
Why leave any sin of omission hereafter to be
accounted for I The answer is unfortunately too
obvious. We have been contented to play a se-
condary pant because the desires of Austria were
more potent than those of the British people !
Because the shadow behind the Throne did not
wish to succour the oppressed nationalities. Be-
cause the resucitation of-Paland is regarded with
dread ! and there is a greater anxiety to bring
England under despotic authority, than to ad-
vance the cause of freedom and civilisation. In
a word, because the spirit of Germanism would
prefer, were it the only alternative, to behold
Europe " Cossack," rather than Republicans,
it would not therefore do to cripple the power
or humiliate the pride of Russia ! It is suffi-
cient to check for the time being her object, and
to afford temporary relief to " the sick man," but
not to effect a permanent cure. A greater dis-
play of resolution would have converted the S wed-
ish Alliance, and brought the Scandinavian
Powers heart and hand to our side. But that
would not be in accordance with the prevailing
policy, or the desires of the irresponsible control-
ler of the Cabinet. Therefore the disgraceful
compromise that has exalted the hours of " abso-
lutism" and excited feelings of shame and indig-
nation iu the mind of every true-hearted English-
man. These things will I.)ng be remembered in
England, and by no means to the advantage of
the principal actors, who may one day find to their
cost the nature and extent of the disgust and
anger of the despised and injured People.

Should peace really be restored, there will no
longer be any excuse for postponing the investi-
gation into the operation of the Bank Charter Act
of 1844. Men of all shades and variety of opinion
on monetary questions concur in the opinion
enunciated by the Times in. October last, viz.,
" that a full discussion of the whole subject can-
not be arranged too soon." The Act itself has
virtually expired. The notice might have been
given at any time subsequent to the Ist of August,
1855 ; and, but for the contest in which the
nation was involvea, and the very recent appoint=
ment of Sir GEORGE CORNEWALL LEWIS to the
office of Financial Minister, the matter should
have been finally disposed of during the last ses-
sion. The necessary inquiry was deprecated at
the commencement of the present, on the ground
that it would be injudicious and inconvenient,
under existing circumstances. Probably the
Chancellor of the Exchequer desired to avoid the
necessity of repaying the debt to the Bank until
the money market was in an easier position. But
this was, after all, but a short-sighted policy, fir
the simple fact that a large addition would
speedily be made to the circulating medium, and
that all the wants of the people would be ade-
quately supplied in that important particular,
would have enabled them to obtain any money
that could be required for that or any other na-
tional purpose, at a cheap rate.

It may be that 410 r G. C. Lzwis will be pre-
pared to bring forward a large and comprehensive
measure, without any inquiry before a select com-
mittee. He will have the co-operation of a zealous
and efficient coadjutor in Mr.. JAMES WILSON,
whose speeches and writings on the currency first
established the high reputation which he has since
maintained. Mr. WILSON was a member of the
committee that sat in 1848, and took a leading
part in its labours. There is also the admirable
report of the Committee of the Houso of Lords,
so that in fact ho has all the materials for legis-
lation, and need not delay the introduction of the
bill until it might be too late to carry it during
the present session.

The great thing which the country requires is
the establishment of a really National Bank,
under the control and management of parties re-,
sponsible to Parliament for their proceedings, and
issuing notes of the smaller denomiv,ations—say
11., 21., and 31. There could be no question of
security, for the liquidation would be guaranteed
not only by all the accumulated and realised pro-
perty of the country, but also by the industry and
labour of its people. Theso National Notes
would also possess an additional attribute,
not belonging to Consols, iu being at all
times receivable in payment of fiscal burdens
of every description, and as unfortunately
the visits of tax-gatherers are neither few nor far
between, any paper that satisfied their demands
would not be deemed worthless rags, or scornfully
repudiated by the butcher, baker, or, any of the
tradesmen with whom the paterfamilias is brought
into daily communication. All, in fact, that is
required for the purposes of currency is that the
instrument tendered should posses a purchasing
power, and that the recipient should feel con-
vinced that he can pay it away at the nominal
price at which he accepted it. If this condition
be satisfied, there is no necessity fof its possessing
intrinsic value. In fact it is better fitted for the
functions it is required to fulfil when that value is
wanting, and the enormous wear and tear and loss
of interest is saved to the country. As we bane
already explained, it might just as well be required
that the yard with whieh the mercer measured
his goods, or the weights used by the grocer,
should be formed of the precious metals, as that
the national currency should be co posed of, or
even based on, or convertible into, bullion. For
twenty-two years the nation got on without a
metallic currency. Gold was, as it ought to be,
simply an article of merchandise ; and what was
the consequence ? The nation was enabled to
maintain the most formidable and expansive war
in which it was ever engaged, to which that with
Russia was a mere bagatelle, and to carry it to a
triumphant conclusion. This was the result of
which for the time were
using worthless rags,
more potent than the lamp of ALADDIN:
onszllaebrsudredn.or.nTinhae-
As to the prohibitiocnanof
bthe
tion of notes, nothing
pretext is that they might tender a run for gold
more formidable. But there will be no rues
where the credit and solvency of the establish.
ment is undoubted. A political run would be
far more likely in Ireland, but there has been no
instance of the kind amongst our excitable breth-
ren at the other side of St. George's Channel,
and in both the sister kingdoms it is notorious that
the U. note is greatly preferred to the gold sove-
roigu, and that WhOil aye Qf the latter is regeived,