The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-14 00:00:00

supposition that agriculture would be sacrificed to
gold diggings.
The public works of what may be called the
in fant colony are worthy of its vigorous growth.
One short railway, from Melbourne to the sea, is
already paying a dividend which will make the
mouths of our poor shareholders water—fourteen
per cent. net ! It is to be hoped that it_will not
ruin itself by " extensions." Forty miles of a rail-
way are already completed, between Melbourne
and Geelong,► leaving eight more to be finished ;
and lines have been laid out to the gold fields, one
of which joins the great river Murray, which is the
boundary between Victoria and South Australia,
and part of New South Wales, and the grand chan-
nel of internal traffic. The lines are constructed
under Government superintendence, and there is
we presume, nothing wasted in parliamentary
expenses, or excessive price for land, or by oppos_
ing unfair competition. The electric telegraph has
stretched itself 701 miles, at a cost of £70,000,
through cities, forests, and unsettled pastoral dis-
tricts. The waterworks lately finished, and so
much needed at Melbourne, comprise an area of
thirteen hundred acres, and will contain about
seven thousand million gallons. Their total cost
has been £664,452, and they seem likely to yield a
good revenue.
The commerce of Victoria is now prodigious for
the size of the colony. To our best customer—
America—our exports amounted, in 1857, to
X18,760/812; but America has twenty-three millions
of inhabitants. To Victoria, with only half a
million of inhabitants, we sent £6,630,000 worth
of our productions. The whole of our own colonies
in North America take from us more than two
millions less than Australia. Of course gold has
much to answer for in this truly wonderful com-
merce, about eleven millions per annum having
been exported for the last three years ; but wool,
we are pleased to see, continues to increase. In
1857, the exports of that article amounted to
17,176,920 lbs., valued at:£1,335,642. In 1851, the
quantity was nearly a million pounds less, and its
value less by £601,024. Ilides and leather have
also increased in value from £11,380 in 1851 to
L 190,746 in 1857.

Such arc some of the principal facts in this
remarkable Report. Those relating to Banks,
Savings' Banks, Education, and Religion are also
in their way equally interesting. In the Savings'
Banks, the deposits of 1,208 persons in 1851
amounted to £46,444 ; in May, 1858, the deposits
of 7,124 persons reached the sum of £425,766.
Whether we look at the population, the good order,
the public works, or the commerce of Victoria, it is
beyond doubt one of the marvels of modern colonisa-
tion. Why are the East Indies such an entire and
disgraceful contrast ? There are great differences
of course ; but the greatest difference in regard to
the two last points is the government of the leaden
Company, and that of free Englishmen—the dis-
couragement of coloniSation by the close monopoly
and the encouragement of it by the self-governed
Victorians.

The country is at present regarding another
phase in the inevitable monetary cycle. There is
now money in abundance for every legitimate
claim, and that at very moderate (perhaps too
moderate) rates of " interest," or " discount." It
is well to bear in mind the distinction between the
phrases " interest" and " discount," for the absur-
dity of the present monetary code is thereby
powerfully illustrated. " Interest" is something
paid on a loan for a protracted period—
A mortgage forms, perhaps, the best example,
" Interest," properly so called, seldom varies more
than one per cent. On first-class mortgages it may
vibrate between 3i and 4 per cent. On others
which, although equally secure, are not quite as
perfect, 4+ or even 5 per cent. may be given in
"hard times." Taking the average, it may fairly be
esthnated that the limits, with few and rare,excep"
tions, may be taken at between 4, 31, and 4+
per cent., while under similar circumstances the
rate of " discount" will vary at the Bank itself at
from 2 to 10 per cent, and out of doors at from 11
to 20 per cent.

But in the funds the fluctuations of interest are
still less. The Three per Cents. have never been
lower than 87 during the greatest intensity •f the
recent panic. No man could, therefore,
obtain more than £3 Bs. per cent. for his
money, if seeking a permanent investment on
Government security. These facts prove, beyond
the possibility of doubt, the absurdity of the OVER-
STONE theory that the panics were created. in con-
sequence of the deficiency of capital. No. Even
at our most trying periods there was a plethora of
capital. It was the circulating medium that was
wanting—the measure and representative of value
could not be obtained for temporary use save on
exorbitant and ruinous terms.

Now these evils were altogether avoided in the
olden time, before the currency quacks were per-
mitted to carry their vicious theories into operatic*:
For a century and a quarter before 1844 the rate
of discount never varied more than between 4 and
5 per cent., with the exception of a few months in
1838-9, and that, be it remembered, took place un-
der the Act of 1819—one only less prejudicial to
the best interests of the country than that of 1844.
Before that year these violent alternations were
practically unknown. Commercial operations had
not then degenerated into gambling speculations.
By honourable industry and unblemished integrity
men were certain of realising fair remuneration for
their exertions, and every labouring man was cer-
tain of receiving " a fair day's wages for a fair day's
work," if only willing to earn them. But all these
blessings were changed into curses by the enact-
ments of 1819 and 1844. Money was at one time
a drug in the._ market, obtainable on any fair
security, at the easiest rate of interest.
Before the obligations incurred under that state
of affairs required liquidation, everything was
changed. It was not merely that money had ac-
quired a double or even fourfold value, but it could
scarcely be obtained on any terms. Men perfectly
solvent, if a little time were npt allowed to realise
ort
The
compulsory
Bpatunskorurypt ey,
their assets, were compelled either to appeal to the
Cu
or to wind up under inspection.
realisation deteriorated their pro-
perty and blighted their future prospects. There was
no further hope,and much of the commercial demorali-
sation, against which so many complaints have been
preferred, may be ascribed to the practical operation
of the currency laws. When the're is a reasonable
chance of emerging from difficulties, and main-
taining a high commercial position, men will be
little solicitous as to the propriety of the means
adopted, or even the risks incurred, in the attempt
to keep their heads above water.
There could be no more auspicious time than the
present for introducing a sounder and better sys-
tem, one that preserves an equable rate of
" discount" as well as of "interest," and
consequently maintains the value of
" "legal
tender Money at such a price as would be fair
both to debtor and creditor. Give one his full
demand without oppressing or ruining the other.
The requisite alterations in the law could not be
carried into effect at a time of general distrust and
panic. The really national notes
threshold,urld be
depre-
ciated, and the difficulty on the very
'slim, men were not XePACIAWO Qr reasoning, ;night