The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-20 00:00:00

THE PRIVATE PANIC DODGE.

By the conversation in the House of Commons
last night it seems that little further has been elicited
than was already known with respect to the action
last week upon the reserve of the Bank. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer has without doubt availed
himself of his customary facilities to secure all the
requisite information, and while he supports the
mode of proceeding pursued by the directors, he
does not attempt to fix any serious responsibility
upon the particular firm (Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co.) who acknowledge to have availed them.
selves of their own individual resources for their
protection. The question has therefore become very
much narrowed, and if, as now avouched, no com-
bination existed to disturb the operation of the cur-
rency, the case has probably excited greater atten-
tion than it deserved: The new policy of the Bank,
and the necessity which it enjoined for the discount
brokers to be prepared against every contingency,
has, from the date of the alteration, rendered it
compulsory for these establishments to be supplied
with a reserve adequate to the demands that may
be made upon them. And in this especial instance,
it may, on full investi▪
gation, turn out that the house
was only prompted by. the natural desire either to
keep the money in their till for their own conveni-
ence, or to loan it out at the Stock Exchange. If,
as is alleged, the firm who are charged with being
the great culprits are in the habit of supporting a re-
serve of a million and a half, their depositors will
perceive that no want of prudence is exercised, and
the surmise will be removed of heavy and almost
illimitable transactions being supported on an in-
sufficient basis. It i▪
s stated that if a strong desire
had existed to have interfered to a greater extent
with the Bank's reserve, Messrs. Overend and Co.
could have at least reduced it by an additional
£GOO,OOO. Perhaps part of the misfortune was that
the inability to sell Exchequer Bills some short time
ago induced the firm to avoid such an investment
in future, an 1 that the determination to withdraw
their balances from the Bank occurred when the re-
serve had already been previously diminished by
antecedent influences. The amount to their credit
was, if the version current be correct, not swelled
for a special purpose, it being a rule, as now estab-
lished, to increase their reserve previous to the pay-
ment of the dividends. The real sufferers in the
case are the public, who, placed between the dis-
count establishments and the Bank, have to pay
enhanced terms for the accommodation, through the
stringency of the regulation and the attempt to
battle for an alteration. A combination, if one had
in reality existed, would have been a very serious
affair, and it indicates in a most striking manner
the results that might be accomplished if personal
feeling aroused the discount brokers and their
friends. That no such catastrophe, simply through
pique, will now ever intervene is more than fully
assured ; but both the Bank and the brokers are
perfectly aware of the comparative danger of the
situation, which if prejudicial to the permanent
safety of the one has been for the last year and
more sorely inconveniencing to the others.-11/orn-
ing herald's City Article.

THE ARIIISTRONG GUNS FOR CHINA.

A letter in the Times says—l have a letter from an officer
at Suez, en route with this expedition, dated on the 30th of
March, and consequently subsequent to the extract which
appeared in the Times allay or two since, and he makes no
mention of any mishap to his powder, leathern straps, or other
stores, which I think he would have done if any such ex-
isted. Ile says, however, that he had only just got a ship
to take on his men, and that they had been working day
and night for the last live days to get her ready for sea, and
that it would take them to the 2d of April to make matters
square. The Imperatrix had been laying down the Red Sea
telegraph, and been pulled to pieces to make room for the
cable and paying- out gear ; all her decks wore cut up, and
huge iron cylinders built from the bottom of the ship to
her upper deck, all of which had to be cleared away, and her
decks rebuilt. All the moss appurtenances, &c., had to be
made, and very many other heavy operations got over be-
fore they could go on board. He says there was no one in
such a place as that to do anything, and that many a regi-
ment would have been unable to do the work necessary for
embarkation. He adds that he had set all his artisans and
men to work, and they were getting over it in fine style,
to the astonishment of the owner and his engineers, and
that he expected to be in China in good time after all. Ho
had previously mentioned the retention of the Himalaya at
Alexandria, at great cost, for week after week, merely as a
barrack for his men, and the utter want of preparation for
the expedition. But as yet I have not heard that the ex-
pedition has become useless for want of ammunition.
Loudon, April 19.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is ex-
pected to return to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday next,
from Germany, and at the close of the week, according to
present arrangements, his Royal highness will take his
departure for Canada.
THE WEATHER.—AII yesterday it blew a hard
breeze at Portsmouth from N.N.E. with occasional slight
falls of hail, snow, and sleet. The' air was intensely cold
throughout the day. Barometer at 9 a.m., 30.18 ; at 6.30
p.m., 30•15. During the whole of yesterday Chatham was
visited with a violent gale from the E.N.E., with occasional
storms of hail and sleet. At times during the day the wind
blow with the force of a hurricane.