The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE PROGRESS OF
THE REFORM BILL.—The Reform Bill goes on very

slowly ; and it goes on slowly because there are
many persons who do not wish it to go on at all,
and who hope that, by making it go on slowly,
they may make it stop, and also because the subject
is one which raises very many questions of a com-
plex and intricate kind. The wish, therefore, natu-
rally arises that the Government would abandon
the bill, and bring in a new bill next session. This
seems to many minds the easiest course. It would
not necessarily be' humiliating to the Government,
it would give a mild triumph to the Opposition, and
it would please those who hate Reform, and who
think that every month of delay is so much gained.
But the easiest course is not always the wisest or
the safest. The Government would sink exceedingly
in general estimation if it gave any signs of being no
longer in earnest abour.. Reform. It has staked its
reputation and its existence on carrying a Reform
Bill, and it would be a lamentable blot on the high
character of English statesmanship if men who
have protested earnestness so loudly were found to
be willing to relapse readily in a comfortable luke-
warmness. The discussion has not gone far enough

as yet to enable the Government to bring in a better
bill next session. It must be remembered that there
are many questions included in the main questions
of Reform, as to which it is hard to say which is the
better side. How nearly the arguments on each
side may be balanced, and how slightly opinion may
incline one way or the other, is sufficiently indi-
cated by the division of Thursday night. Until
the Government has ascertained the feeling of the
house on the main provisions of the bill, it can have
no further materials for a correct judgment than
it possesses already. At what stage the discussion
should stop, and what measures should be taken to
prevent the time spent in discussing Reform this
session from having been wasted when Reform is
dealt with hereafter, is a very nice and difficult
matter of detail. But clearly it is to be desired that
an express decision of the house on most of the main
provisions of the bill should be placed on record this
session. The country is very quiet about Reform.
There is no great zeal for or against it in any county
or in any large town. Paints therefore that need
discussion may be discussed calmly and s itisfac-
torily. But the nation is aware that, so great a
question as Reform having been solemnly submitted
to th 3 decision of the Commons, as it had been this
session, there will be a probability, or perhaps
a certainty, of great public inconvenience
and embarrassment if Parliament shows itself in-
competent to make a fairly good use of all the
months consumed in discussing it ; and those who
look to the practical exigencies of Government have
convinced themselves that no strong Ministry can
be formed, nor any of the many social changes that
are needed carried, until Reform has been disposed
of. If the Conservatives came into office next week

they would have to propose a Reform Bill before
a twelvemonth had gone by ; and the nation and its
representatives must be taken "to have decided that,
if a Reform Bill is to be passed, the present Minis-
try had better have charge of it than any other that
can be contrived. [Because—we presume—of the
enormoua muddle they have made of it !] The Spec-
tator says :—On the whole the net result of the
Reform debates of the week has been infinitesimal,
and the prospect of pas Sing the bill this session,
always diminutive, is now invisible to the naked
eye.
THE " OBSERVER" ON THE MONEY INIARKET.—The
Bank rate of interest is still 10 per cent. ; this, of
course, cannot be lowered until the reserve is suffi-
ciently increased as to admit of its being done with
safety. Since our last publication the reserve has
augmented by 1700,000, but it is still under
£4,000,000, and is consequently £4,000,000 below
£8,000,000, which we have in previous numbers
pointed out as the figure which the directors ought
not to allow it to fall when it can possibly be pre-
vented. Strenuous attempts are now, however,
being made to induce, or rather to compel, the direc-
tors to lower their rate in the interest of the discount
and speculation banks. The gentlemen connected
with those establishments seem to imagine that the
Bank of England has no other object or mission
than to assist them and help them out of their diffi-
culties. They ought to recollect that the Bank of
England has its shareholders as well as the joint-
stock and limited companies, and that its directors
are as much bound to consult their interest as are
the directors of the other London banks to
look after the interest of their respective share.
holders. It is for the advantage of the share-
holders of the Bank of England that 10 per
cent. should be maintained until the reserve has
been brought up to a proper amount ; and if
the directors allow themselves to be cajoled or
bullied out of this course they will be sacrificing
not only the interest of their constituents, but of the
public—of all those who are carrying on legitimate
and productive trade—to the gain of those specula-
tors who have caused the panic and the high rate
of interest, which it is now absolutely necessary to
maintain for some time longer, in order to work out
the cure of those evils brought on by overbanking.
The chief reason which is assigned by several of
our contemporaries for the reduction of the rate
of interest is the large amount of gold
(i 14,000,000) in the issue department. We pointed
out in last week's number that this gold does not
belong to the Bank of England any more than it
belongs to the London and Westminster. The gold
in the issue department is the property of the holders
of Bank of England notes, whoever and wherever
they may be, and the directors cannot touch an
ounce of that gold. It would not add in the slightest
degree to their power of discounting if the gold
amounted to £30,000,000 instead of £14,000,000.
All that really belongs to the Bank, and out of
which alone the directors have the power of dis-
counting bills, are the notes and coin in the banking
department. This, as we have already stated, only
amounts to £3,500,000 ; a sum far below what it
ought to be, and which can only be augmented by
keeping up a high rate of interest. W e shall now con-
clude by noticing the Bank return of last Thursday.
The bullion in the issue department has, we per-
ceive, increased by about £1,000",000, and the Bank-
ing reserve by £700,000. But we may remark, as •
we did in our last number, that not a pound of the
notes issued to the depositors of the £1,000,000 of
gold in the issue department haA entered the bank-
ing department or in any way increased the reserve.
This could only have been done by the holders of
the notes depositing them with the bank. But this
we know was not done, for by the return referred
to, the private deposits, instead of being increased,
have since the previous week actually fallen off to
the extent of £77,000. But, as we have already
stated, the reserve has increased by £700,000. This
has arisen from an increase in the public deposits
and a decrease in the private securities or in the bills
discounted. There still remains in the portfolio of
the Bank £31,000,000 of bills running their term.
This is at least £12,000,000 above the normal

amount. Here, then, is a large margin out of which
the Bank can secure an ample sufficient reserve
which, as we have frequently stated, ought not to
be below £8,000,000. But, in order to secure this.
it is necessary that the directors act with firmness
and resolution, and resist all attempts to make them
lower their rate of discount until the right figure
has been attained. After this we have little doubt
that the crisis will come to an end. The banks of
speculation will have given in and have left the
field to the old joint-stock companies. Then the
loanable capital will be restored once more, with
moderate interest, to the legitimate and productive
industry of the country.