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 investigation, 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 is 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
£600,000. 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, anl 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 ternis for the accommodation, through the
stringency of the regulation and the attempt to
battle for au 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.—Morn-
ing _Herald's City Article.