The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-01 00:00:00

....••••••• .10•1=0*.M.
raises its discount and reduces its circulation, and
the prices of all things are depreciated. And thus
the farmer is deprived for years of the fair remune-
ration for all his industry, and of the interest of the •
capital which he has invested in his land. The same
thing applies to the manufacturer, for he has
en dies
building new mills, enlarging his works, exP
his trade and employing more hands. Peel's bill pats
a stop to all this ; and when the farmer and the
manufacturer are suffering, and all the country
with them, and Government, at the eleventh hour,
seeps in to save the country from utter ruin, the,
usurer complains that prices are.not suffered to felt
still lower, that he (the consumer) is defrauded 01
wheat at 30s. a quarter; and all other things in pro-
( eat. according to his calculation.
portion, and that he cannot get his 201. o;301. perr
(Applause)
there among there writers in the Times one word oh
heartfelt regret, any relenting for all the angnis
and privations the broken fortunes and the broken
hearts, which this Bank Charter Act is at this En°
ment causing ? Do they say anything of the
tress and poverty of the people, thrown by thousands
and tens of thousands out of work without an)"
fault of their own 7 Have they shown:the lead
feeliug of commiseration for the workieg-inen bY
whose humble firesides suffering, poverth
tion, and starvation, are taking up their winterg
abode ? No ! "Isit so nominated in the bond I.
Is there one feeling of pity for the victims of this
whole
iniquitous system ? No, not one. The
tenor of their writing is—Perish the People°
of England ! but let;the "hard calculator' O'er
his 15 per cent. (Loud and continued cheering`)
How very far different is the feeling of an excellent
and attached friend of mine—Mr. John Taylor, 0'
destita:
London, whose calculations have always been
an for
others and not for himself, and who has for MY
long years been the disinterested advocate of thi!
unpopular, but great question. In a paper will"'
I received from him this morning he owes the
question between the producer and consurner.in 6
remarkably lucid point of view. He says" " °beer
ness has been cried up as a blessing to the labourer'
yet it is difficult to conceive how an one coolie
think that the labourer would be benefitted by lot
prices. A moment's reflection would have servedt
to undeceive him. A poor man produces (say)
five times as much as he consumes ; a rich Ina"
consumes (say) five times as much as he produeet
Low prices, therefore, are in favour of the lieu'
consumer as five to one, and high prices are in
favour of the poor producer as five to one. These
numbers are used by way of illustration; it ie it!
material what the real proportions are • , every one
who lives by his labour, every one who pro •
more than he consumes is benefitted by high PrTte
more than by low. Every one who lives on
property, every one who consume. more than by
produces is benefitted by low prices more tban
be
high. Yet there are many persons professing to
friends of the labourer who gravely trY
his
persuade him that low prices are forbe
especial advantage. Having forced down. Pr.ice°thje
the Currency Acts of 1819 and 1844, they wisbh,e to
people to believe that low prices are preferawe
high prices." This seems to put the question eery
tween the producer and the consumer in a !pia.
clear point of view. With regard to over-slree of
tion when there was an extraordiriary by
gold to the Bank, the English people were tol
the bullionist organ that they were afraid tolaTe7
out into a courageous spirit of enterprise ;€ weeer-
they do so launch out, they are accused ot
speculation. The Acts of which we complain e°
ever
pel the Bank of England to petrel:lase gold, how be,
large the amount of it in their coffers g ere
When they had 20,000,0001. of gold theYni
obliged to give their notes in exchange for any
amount of gold that might be brought to thoeo
The effect of this, is three the circulating meal ,d
being largely increased, money made plentiful) a",
the rate of interest reduced to 1i or 2 per eerv„;
the greatest temptation is held out to people to ;1;3
gage in various kinds of speculation, because, no
"routine system of buliness" then produee'ede,
adequate remuneration. Now the Times ter
nounces this " courageous spirit of °no
prise." Let it not be supposed, however, t
the virtuous indigna'ion which the organ of, till.
bullionist party so vehemently hurls against
conducted banks and insolvent merchants arts
e"
solely from the wish to condemn such miscondeoS'
It was because the drain of bullion to Scotland Nvel
the last straw which broke the back of bullionisni
that our friends of the Times go into such a rage.
And how many have failed at this period, against,
whom the slightest imputation, even of want O
prudence, cannot be justly brought, and who have
fallen victims to this pernicious system of currency
Do you suppose that such a firm as Naylor, Viekera
and Co., of Sheffield,Sheffield,wile) even now, in the midst
of depreciation and ruin, are able to produce ass'
of more than a quarter of.a million of money be-
yond their liabilities, would have failed under of
sound monetary system'? • Take, again, [the ease
Dennistoun and Co., who failed the other dal:
We see that they are already meking arrangenlee:
to pay 20s. in the pound. (Hear, hear.) °c
are remarkable instances, and the-Times is can
niq
enough to make these exceptions to their rule 00:
condemnation of the unfortunate victims of the in°,
tary system by which many others of equal honess4
but lessextensive resources, have been ruined. I fiL,
cow go to the remedy we have to propois, evhiert.7
embodied in the petition which I have the WO!,
to submit for your consideration. [Mr. TIOLI
here real the petition, which we give 0'1"
Tue currency question as it now stands, may .4
compressed in very narrow limits. The great polue
of difference between the currency reformera 101
the bullionist is—shall the bank note be. converteie
into bullion at a fixed rate, or shall it beconvertel
into bullion at the market price of the (131,
Peel's bill has three phases when gold flows in,
great abundance from any cause whatever, tbl
Bank is obliged to increase its note circulation
speculation is encouraged and fostered. This
id
the first phase. At the time when bullion floeis
into the country, as it has latterly done from Atir
tralia, but at the same time there is a considerable
d ain of bullion, an equable currency is:maintainecli
The Acts of 1819 and 1844, then become a
letter, and the country enjoys a sound and healthy
trade. This is the second phase. But when fro
are
any cause bullion is. exported more largely dhan 4
is imported, the currency is contracted, prices .
lowered, and you are subjected to a state of. de-
pression, pression, suffering, and ruin. This is the tu"_"2. •
phase. Now, , I believe that this state.
_tt.
things would be entirely remedied by
w of
is here proposed—viz., the establishment a
legal tender paper money,. And experience hail
shown that about 20,000,000 of this would be stlu?•
cient as a basis for our domestic circulation. This
Would setena he
withdrawn from the country. It
business whether gold left
paper money would not be subject hoareor
nation to go on with its
just rate of int:irest, and we should be free from
the country or not. It would preserve a tair auci
these often recurring periods of ruin and panic,
What you want is security for your trade, and that
the commercial and agricultural interests of the
country may rest on afirm basis. And this can be
secured by an adequate and unfluctuating
circula-
ting medium, which, under any circumstances 01
export of bullion, you may be able to retain at home
for domestic purposes. !DAS state of things is to be
maintained by the proposed remedy. But I kne.vr
a great deal will be said by giving up the principle
he cow of convertibility. It has been proved to demonstra-
tion on the occasions of 1847 and 1857 that t s
vertibility of the bank note under the pr item l
nnt elt_e"
tern is a mere financial fiction. It is a sysee
which you can always convert the' bank note inw
gold except at the tune when everybody IWdlite
to
do so. But the system which we propose in our
petition is one by which we can alivays convert the
bank note into gold and silver at their market price
and into everything else. If I want gold or silver to
send abroador to melt down to make watches or jewel"
lery, I could, under the proposed system, .go to the,.
'link and convert them into bullion at the mark"
price of the day. I have, after all, no wish
dogmatise in this difficult question,' bat I believe
that this is the only convertibility which, unee.del;
the existing circumstances of the nation, is eibitd
attainable or desirable. (Hear.) Sir, it was
by the first Lord Liverpool that a purely motorail's,
that
currency had this inherent defect, at being co
.7
ee.sed of an article which was also a coramodith
was liable to fluctuations in value. California anil
is
Australia show bow possible a great 'fluctuation .0.
the value of the material of a metallic currency I
under a domestic circulated medium of paper
much would be done as possihle to render theis 1:y;
haircut defect. The currency of paper, whicneeri
propose, would, it is believed, do more than
a metallic currency to retain a fair equitable p.t.
chasing power. Sir, I am quite aware that
question of the monetary system is a most moment°
one and that nothing should be done without 41
deliberation. In addressing you on this occal-wue
I have endeavoured to place the object whichtbe
have in view, namely, currency reform,
1°
)
clearest light that I could. (Hear, 1;0
Let, I would say, that system of currency
established which shall promote the greatest pal'
piness of the greatest number of my fellow-countrf;
wen. But there is a powerful party against us.
will require every energetic exertion on your part,ye
even though this system now stands self-condo:a:
before the *country to effect the least possible refer
mation. Yet I cannot but think that comeor
sense and common justice will at last Una:o'n
and that this rich man's bill, by which the rich 47_
wade richer and the poor made poorer, will not
127
suffered much longer to encumber our statute boa,
(Applause.) Had I not believed that truth, an,
important truth—that justice and most imparts
feted on the contest, or, having enterede on it,
justice were on our side—l should never have 0.,
`Z