The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-12 00:00:00

„0-.. 1,-,

LONDON, THURSD.IV, NOT. IL 1557.

The crisis increases in intensity. Yesterday
there was greater excitement in the city than on
any previous day. The panic was manifestly
spreading. Dismay and distrust were perceptible
on every side, and the feeling was by no means
alleviated when the intelligence of the suspension
of the City of Glasgow Bank, and, subsequently,
of Messrs. SANDERSON, SANDEMAN, and Co., the
eminent bill-brokers of Kicg William-street, city,
were communicated, and it was known that a large
amount of gold had been despatched to Scotland
_1,100,000/. sterling in two days—in order to
meet the run upon the various local banks.

The stoppage of the City of Glasgow Bank,
following so closely on that of the Great Western
of Scotland, has occasioned deep distress to
many industrious and intelligent parsons at
the manufacturing metropolis of North Britain.
Its paid-up capital amounted to no less
than one million sterling, and the reserved
fund to 90,5951., and it had 96 branches spread
throughout the country. Its authorised note
issue amounted to 72,921/., while that of the
Western Bank was 225,2921. Here, then, we
find a reduction in the circulating medium of the
sister kingdom of 298,2131., or nearly the tenth
part of the entire authorised circulation of the
country. A matter of fearful importance at any
time, but more especially so at the present
moment, when large amounts are hoarded, and
thereby deprived of their functions as currency.
We believe, too, that other large amounts have
been forwarded to the Irish Banks to sustain
them during the pressure ; and it is probable that
the demand for gold will be continued during the
week, and until the Government consents to relax
the stringent provisions of the Act of 1844, the
teterrima cauusw of all this wide-spread distress.
That relaxation cannot long be withheld. We
believe that it must take place within a week at
the farthest. The publication of the Bank re-
turns in Friday's Gazette will, most probably, dis-
close such a state of affairs as to greatly enhance
the confusion. We need scarcely remind our
readers that on the evening of the 4th instant
the stock of bullion stood at 8,497,7801., being a
diminution of 872,0141. in the stock within the
previous ten days; and the reserve of notes was
but 2,155,3151., or little more than one half of
the amount required for the business of the bank-
ing department. It reouires no extraordinary
claim to vaticination to predict that there must
be very considerable reductions in both these
iiil-
portant items, in the face of the active demands
not only for India, China, the Continent, and the
United States, but also to Scotland and Ireland.
Surely, then, the time for Government inter-

ference, if it is ever to take place, has
arrived. The people will naturally feel
indignant, if, while their losses and sufferings are
regarded with contumelious indifference, the mo-
ment the pressure comes on the Bauk itself,
every concession is to be made, and nothing can
be too much to save the moneyocracy from the
evils they have themselves occasioned by their
heartless proceedings. It is, however, only
through the necessities of " The Old Lady" that
general relief can be obtained, and that being the
case the more stringent the pressure, and the
sooner the reserve is exhausted or reduced to a
very low figure, the better for all parties con-
cerned—more especially for the• commercial and
manufacturing interests.
It must be quite obvious that a more decisive
measure than that resorted to in October, 1847,
must now be adopted. The mere suspension of the
Bank Charter Act, or the emission of a larger amount
of notes than those now issued on securities
►ill not suffice under existing circumstances, At
that time there was uo drain from abroad. The
foreign exchanges had set in strongly in favour of
this country, and we were importing, not export-
ing, a large amount of specie. The reasonable
apprehensions of the mercantile men, that persons
possessed of property could net convert it at any
price into Bank of England notes, was the only
difficulty, and that was removed the moment it
was known that the Bank had obtained unlimited
powers for the extension of its issues. But now
these matters are totally changed. There is an
incessant drain—a continuous ebb of bullion from
our ports, which the exorbitant additions to the
rate of discount have been totally unable to check
or restrain. In fact, so long as 30 or 40 per cent.
will be freely paid in the United States, 10, 12, or
even 20 per cent. in Lombard-street will be insuf-
ficient to arrest the evil. So long as the exportation
of specie to any quarter is profitable, it will continue,
all the platitudes and exhortations of the Timm,
and its servile flock of imitators to the contrary
notwithstanding. It is not merely the Act of
1844, but the entire bullionist system, the prin-
ciple of " convertibility" that is now on its trial.
It is shown to be inconsistent with the welfare,
prosperity, and happiness of the people.

There is no doubt that the Bank Charter Act
has greatly aggravated the iatensity of the crisis,
but it is merely a question of degree, because
some 7,000,000/. or 8,000,000/. ar• uselessly
locked up in the coffers of the Bank. But, as wo
have frequently stated, periodical panics and rapid
fluctuations in the value of money are the inevit-
able adjuncts of bullionism. As a respected
and highly intelligent correspondent recently
stated, "it is not the quantity of money which is
important, but the kind of money. We want
money which cannot be taken away from us for a
basis l" This is the grand secret of a proper cur-
rency for domestic use, which can neither be
hoarded nor exported, which will always be
acceptable to the tax-paying community, inas-
much as it would satisfy the claims of the most
pressing creditors. Nothing will effectually an-
swer if the convertibility of the note is retained.
That is the giant grievance. Give something for
which we are not dependent on other nations, that
will not be affected by their convulsions, with
which the internal commerce of the country can
be carried en without disturbance. Decrees pro-
hibiting the export of specie would be worse than
useless, for, then, we should be rendered unable
to defray our balances to foreign creditors.
But there is no earthly reason why the value of
gold should not vary in our markets according to
' the Lclolive proportions 6atarntart tlao 14.mv.na spud
the supply, or why the State currency should not
consist of really national notes of small and con-
venient denominations—say, for 11., 11. 55., 1/.
10a., it. 155., 21., and 3/., which, being alone
receivable in payment of taxes and every public
liability, and the amount being regulated by a
department responsible to Parliament, would
always maintain their value. This is the change
required by the nation, and which will eventually
be obtained.

This will place all our domestic affairs on a satis-
factory basis, and insure the welfare of the people
—bestowing on every man, able and willing to
work, that great deaidexcaturn—" a fair day's
wages for a fair day's labour." We cannot con-
clude without repeating the statement of a true-
hearted patriot and philanthropist, one who has
devoted his extraordinary talents to the good of
the community :—" I have," said he, " fought
for many a good cause, but I sincerely believe
that no one is more intimately and inseparably
connected with the social and moral welfare of
my fellow-men, everywhere, than this of Currency
Reform." And he is right.

History, we all know it has been said, and said
wisely, is but a series of repetitions. It is so no
less to-day than it was yesterday. Only last
week we took occasion to remark that even the
hideous Massacre at Cawnporc had its dim pro-
totype fifty years ago in the Massacre at Vellore.
The bloody atrocity of 1806 was repeated in 1857,
under more harrowing and disastrous circum-
stances. And, as General GILLESPIE avenged the
one atrocity, so, happily, is General HATELOOK,
his noble compatriot, heroically avenging the
other. The leaders of the Revolt, no less than
the champions of Retribution, have each had their
precursors. The same may be said even of those
miserably mistaken palterers with the national
cause now at issue in Hindostan—the imperial
cause of British supremacy—those who ar© for
impeding the victorious march of our troops, for
lengthening out the campaign, and hampering
the supreme military authority entrusted to Sir
COLIN CAMPBELL at the seat of war, in his
eminent capacity as Commander-in-Chief. The
shadowy forerunners of these last-mentioned
advocates of the grand old laizsee-faire ou laissez-
aller principle are discoverable, moreover, not
merely as recently as half a century from the
present time, but as far back as the ages of classic
antiquity.

For example, there comes back to us, echoing
down two thousand years, through the historic
trumpet of LlVY—there comes back to us the
recollection of the indignant protest uttered by
MINUCIUS RUFUS, the leader of the Roman cavalry,
against precisely this same evil system of delay
and hesitation. It was a protest elicited from the
old soldier under somewhat analogous circum •
stances—when FABIUS MAXIMUS, the Dictator of
the Hour, was jeopardising the interests of the
state by a policy born of doubt and pro-
crastination—a policy yielding to HANNIBAL
without a struggle the heroic opportu-
nity. It is sheer folly, said MINUCIUS RUFUS,
two thousand years ago, it is sheer fully to believe
that we can conquer by simply making vows or
by remaining
tWh'ehahtandwse
fhaovuer
ttrooopd: ors,
quietly seated in indolence.
faianrcmteos
atnliidne
field, and to bring them
ttihsoulsteoafdaPctehh‘tceoem
hand to hand with the enemy.
Stultitia est
selendo atevotis debellari credere
annari copias ()porta, deducen posse
das miuum,
tit vir cum viro congrediaris. Adding
bluntly—lt is by valour and by deeds (not
words) that the Roman power has be-1
eatab•

lished ; not by these despicable counsels which
timidity misnames prudence ! Audendo atque
agendo res Rom. crevit, non Ms segnibus oonsiliis,
quce timidi cauta vocant. It is the cry at this
hour in India of every valiant Englishman.