The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-24 00:00:00

PORTUGAL.

SOUTHAMPTON, MONDAY NIGHT.
The Tagus, Captain Christian, Admiralty agent,
Lieutenant Greville, RN., has arrived with the
Peninsular mails. She lett Lisbon on the 19th
inst., and has brought nineteen passengers.
Amongst her cargo are specie and bullion to the
value of nearly 9,0001. sterling.
Her Majesty's ship Curlew was at Gibraltar.
The steamer Aurora was at Oporto. The Tagus
spoke the steamer Volga on the 22d. The mail
packet Alhambra was at Vigo.
Yellow fever was still ravaging at L'sbon ; about
80 a day die of it. The Cardinal Patriarch has
died of the fever ; he is at present buried in the
fever cemetery, but he will be ultimately buried in
the royal vaults. It is supposed that he will be
succeeded by the Bishop of Oporto. The opera
and public amusements were suspended for three
days on account of the death of the Cardinal
Patriarch. One of the greateet capitalists of Lis-
bon, Sather Igressa, is dead.

The Lisbon Bank is about to raise the rate of
discount, which has hitherto been at live per cent.
The Bank has acted most liberally to the commer-
cial community, and has alleviated the monetary
pressure.

- In foreign exchanges at Lisbon the transactions
have been limited. Exchange on London, 54, at
30 days ; and 54g- at 90 days' date.
The st9ck market continues stagnant.
At Cadiz the inhabitants were in hourly expec-
tation of news of the Queen of Spain's accouch-
meut.

At Gibraltar the exchange on London was 501
for 90 days.

A Vienna letter states that the redaction of the
cavalry of the Austrian army will be of about 9,000
horse, or at the rate of 30 per squadron in the light
cavalry, and 20. in the heavy, whilst the depot squa-
drons will be entirely suppressed.

The Bourse Gazette of Berlin states that the
authorities of Hamburg have it in contemplation to
adopt measures similar to those of Prussia, Saxony,
and Bavaria, for the exclusion of foreign paper
money.

MONEY IS POWER.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

Government has done right in extending the
issue, the reservation of Government in not allow-
ing the Bank of England to appropriate the pro-
ceeds of that issue to their own excessively accu-
mulated wealth is good ; but such inordinate
capital cm . endanger the whole State again in a
very short time even with this extension. The
greater the issue given to any ono body, the greater
their circulating medium becomes, the greater is
their power of controlling the monetary world
whether for good or for evil.
.Now, since money is power, as well as knowledge,
both of which the Governors and Directors of the
Bank of England have given us vast and ample
evidence of their possessing to a dangerous degree,
is it not prudent for Government to consider
seriously to what extent do they endanger the
whole nation by leaving any one body corporate to
become so unwieldy ?
It must be evident to every prudent statesman
that no one company ought to possess too much in-
fluence over the nation, so as to make it suffer and
tremble by the selfish exercise of a power that was
given foe national, not selfish purposes.
Money pease is powerful, but when in the hands
of such subtle and acute observers as constitute the
Directors of the Bank of England, with their every
day's practice and long experience in the monetary
world, what overwhelming power has the nation
held over it in terrorunz at the mercy of crafty and
cunning persons that have given U 3 enough evi-
dence of late that they know how to enrich them-
selves entirely at the nation's expense and suffer-
ings.
It certainly answers the purpose of the Bank to
have only one idea and one means only in checking
the soi-disant speculation, i.e., the raising the
rate of discount, the only way that has been sug-
gested by the wise heads in Threadneedle-street,
and yet these wise heads know well that
the money they let out has a given day
for payment, and the refusal to renew the accom-
modation which they themselves originally induced,
superinducei a plausible excuse for raising the rate
of interest, while it more and more cripples the
borrower, until he becomes dangerous to these
wise heads, when they knock him up as if he were
a thing not worth a mention.
It must be well known that the money which is
paid for high rates of discount, such as the present,
is greater than the profits of trade when reduced
to its net amount. Now, the monetary men have
only to continue this policy of high rates long
enough, and the money must be fast going out of
the hands of trade and commerce, and just as fast
going into the hands of Vie bankers and
money-lenders; and this state of things continued
will bring the whole nation ultimately to bow
before the shrine of gold, as if it wore the god of
the universe, instead of that which it will be found
to be—the demon destroyer of all fair play.
Formerly the high rate of interest was the excep-
tion, and the low rate the rule ; new, for these last
seven years, the high rate of interest is the rule, and
the low rate the exception. Is not this benefiting
the inordinately rich, and crushing the rising
energy of the country ?
What is .Lord Palmerston doing when he recom-
mends to the Bank the minimum rate of 10 per
cent. ? He is doing that which a leg;slator ought
not to do, much less a Premier ; he need not en-
courage ruin faster than it will come ,in its
natural course upon the victims of these wise-
heads..

Our Premier rhould have spoken baldly to the
bankers of England, and told them they were the
promoters of speculation themselves, and ',he
starters of all extensive schemes, however wild, in
whatever cmutry, with whoever they can find
energetic enough to risk their
,a!1, and, what is
much worse, more than their all.
On the return of Parliament our legislators have
to inquire what has been the result of the abolition
of the usury laws ? Has it stopped speculation ?
His it checked speculation more than the use of
the usury laws did ? But, above all, has it be-
nefited the bankers above all others ? Lastly,
does not that enhanced position of the bankers of
England, arrived at by high rates of discount,
endanger the whole country, and lessen the pre-
rorgative of the Crown ?
The last remark I will trouble you with is,
shall the nation through the Government govern
this country, or shall the directors of the Bank
of England govern, independently of either people
or Government ?
The power of knowle-Igo is great enough, and
when unconnectel with a commensurate amount
of the good intention of national advancement is
dangerous enough, but the power of gold made to
subserve the selfish and the sordid intention of
inlividnal advancement at the exp3nso of all else,
is menacing in the extreme, and will before lone
destroy England, as it did Greece, as it did Rowel
because that which destroys the
m n-a
nation destroys the nation, itself,sou'llpowerand of a
body.

ROYAL BRITISU BANK DiaEcrons We are requested
to state that Mr. Hugh Hill, Q.C. is not one of the
counsel fir the defence io this ca-
e.
ofe c.
The Journal de ConslaptiaTnon (1)17: -.asesd
Co.,3he withs s
pension at Smyrna of the house / -
liabilities to the amount of about 40,0001.
MAIN DRAINAGE OF TIIE METROPOLIS.—The Bard of
Works met yesterday specially to resume the considera-
tion of this subject. fter keg discussions it was re-
solved by large majoritieii, on the motion of Mr. Carp-
limel—" That the report of the board submitted to the
Cornialssioner of her Majesty's Works and Public Build-
ings, also the reports of Messrs. Gidtcri, Simpson, and
Blackwell be referred to the engineer, together with two
other civil engineers, with instructions that ,hey report
to this board as to the main drainage of the ine'ropolis ;
and in reporting on the expenses of the works which
may be proposed, they wilt state, fire, the amount ne-
cessary for carrying the sewage of the metropolis to B*,
and secondly, in -case funds should be provided, the
further cost of carrying the sewage to points of uutfall in
Sea Reach ;" and further, "That the two engineers to
be associated with tlieir own engineer should be Mr,
i;awhsley and Mr. George Bidder." It was also re-
solved to call upon the First Commissioner to furnish
the board with further plane, sections, and estimates of
the plan of the referee engineers.