The Sun.
London, England, 1832-07-02 00:00:00

amount, and thoroughly revised, and the fund-
holders and men of property must, by submitting
to direct taxation, relieve the weight of the fiscal
extortions levied on the necessaries of life.
These vital subjects can only be fairly and
boldly dealt with in a Reformed House of Com-
mons. One of the greatest evils of recent Par-
liaments has been the paucity of " business
,nen" connected with the trading, commercial,
And general monetary interests of the nation.
Sir Robert Peel, for example, as any one may
discern by reference to the debates on the mea-
sures of 1819 and 1825-6, was ignorant of
many of the most common practical principles
)f the currency ; and the late Sir J. Macintosh,
in an anonymous obituary of Mr. Canning, men-
tions, as a singular proof of the " quickness" of
that statesman, that he entered on the subject
,if the currency in the discussions on Mr. Peel's
Bill ignorant of the most elementary principle,:
of the questions, but acquired a profound
knowledge of this difficult subject of practical
experience during the debates ! We hope and
trust, therefore, that Sir R. Peel, Mr. Herries,
et hoc genus mune, will not be allowed to fore-
-lose or smother the difficulties of the inquiry.
lithe Right Hon. Baronet should exhibit such
an intention, we shall never forgive ourselves in
having sent him down to the Committee.—
ilforning Chronicle.
As the Bank charter draws to a close, and its
monopoly is about to cease, the historians of its
proceedings and the critics of its conduct multi-
ply, while, strange to say, considering its im-
mense wealth and influence, its partisans are
few, or dare not raise their voice in its defence.
In recounting what it has done, and what it has
prevented others from doing, since its origin—
in following its history from 1694 downwards,
through its increasing power and its increasing
tyranny—in tracing its successive accumulations
of wealth, and its successive encroachments on
the freedom of banking, according as the ne-
cessity for new banking establishments arose, in
reflecting that by restrictions on cash payments
for its protection, and by a restoration of a
metallic currency for its security and our own,
it has twice changed the fortunes of every class
of men in the kingdom, it is evident that it has
much to answer for, and that it cannot expect
very indulgent or gentle treatment at the hands
of the public. It can, indeed, lay no claim to
national gratitude for any sacrifices which it has
made for the national interest. At the succes-
sive renewals of its charter it offered only a very
inadequate compensation for its exclusive privi-
leges ; and when it was required in 1826 to sur-
render a part of its monopoly for the public bene-
fit, it limited its generosity to the permission of
distant establishments, and endeavoured even to
render nugatory this permission, by creating coun-
try branches of its own. Among the statements
which have been sent us respecting the Bank,
and the criticisms of its conduct, is one by Mr.
Farren, the resident director of the Asylum As-
surance-office, printed in 1827 ; in which an
apprehension is expressed respecting the exclu-
sive power of its country circulation, by means
of its branches, which has not been completely
realized. There is one remark in Mr. Farren's
paper which well deserves mention,—namely,
that a panic, like that of 1825, which compelled
the bank to issue H. notes to supply the defi-
ciency of money created by the failure of the
country establishments, was a real gain to the
monopolists of Threadneedle-street. Even a
new restriction act, of whatever calamities it
might be the symptom or the cause to the em.
pire, would be to the Bank of England a source
of additional profits,—of growing dividends and
increasing capital. Immediately after writing
the few foregoing remarks, in which we have said

hat we have seen no recent defence of the Bank

interests, it is curious that a pamphlet should be
put into our hands, (scarcely :yet, we believe,
published), evidently penned by a very zealous,
though not a very wise, partisan of that
establishment. This pamphlet is entitled
Facts relative to the Bank of England
and the Bank charter. The author makes a
great parade of his practical knowledge (by
which he means some knowledge of the manner in
which the Bank conducts its business, both with
the Government and with the public) ; and
upon the strength of that knowledge, thinks
himself entitled to dispute principles which he
plainly does not understand. His theoretic ig-
norance far transcends his acquaintance with small
details, and must make him a dangerous advo-
cate for the system which he defends. Thus
we are assured that, even under the Bank Re-

striction Act, when the issue of bank-notes was
checked by no regard to the power of converting
them into cash, these issues had no influence on
the foreign exchanges. The Bank Directors
had said, in their examination before the Bul-
lion Committee in 1810, that " they did not
conceive that the amount of their issues could

materially affect the exchange with foreign parts,
that they did not deem it necessary to advert to
the course of exchange or to the price of bullion
in regulating the amount of their notes issued
in discounting, and they could not perceive
any danger in discounting good bills for re-
sponsible persons who required the accommo-
dation." This opinion is still maintained
by their present advocate, who, of course, must
deny that their notes were depreciated, when a
guinea, or its weight in bullion, could purchase
:27 shillings in their paper currency. In speak-
ing of the Bullion Report of 1819, he asks,
How does Mr. Peel suppose that the foreign
exchanges are to be regulated by the issues of
Bank of England notes ?" This question is
enough to decide the character and principles of
the Bank advocate, and must save us from the
trouble of controverting such grandiloquent non-
sense as the following :—" To annihilate the
charter of the Bank would be to reduce at once

the greatest and most powerful empire in the
world to the shrivelled insignificance of one of
the most puny States of Europe ! !" When the
mighty interests connected with the questions
now submitted to the Bank Committee are con-
sidered ; when we reflect that the gain or loss to
the public of several millions a year, may de•
pend upon its decision ; when we extend our

view to the influence which a renewal of the

charter, with the sole power of coining paper
in the metropolis, and within a range of sixty
miles around it, must exercise on the general cir-
culation of the country, we are persuaded that it
would be preposterous to expect a satisfactory
arrangement in the present session. Let the
committee, therefore, receive all the evidence

which it can collect with all its diligence. Let
this evidence be printed by order of the House
of Commons, and circulated over the nation,
and in the first session of a reformed Parliament
the question of the currency will be settled with
more knowledge of facts, and under less bias
from prejudice.—Times.
We cannot say we are much gratified at the
decision of the Westminster meeting, held on
Friday last, relative to the celebration of the
Reform triumph, when it was cauied, more by