The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-05 00:00:00

1M P ERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YIisTERDAY,)
THE CASE OF MR. TITRN'BULL. •
The Marquis of NOItMANBY rose to move the ap-
pointment of a committee to eonsider the whole of the cir-
cumstances connected with the resignation of Mr.Turnbull.
Earl GRANVILLE defended Lord Palmerston from the
attack made upon him by the Marquis of Normandy. Mr.
Turnbull had done his work well, and his resignation was
contrary to the advice of his friend& But, having re-
signed, it became a question as to his fitness for his office,
and it was this view of the case that Lord Palmerston had
taken when he expressed himself as adverse to the reap-
pointment of Mr. Turnbull. There was nothing, he de-
clared, in the conduct of Lord Palmerston which could in
any way hurt the feelings of Roman Catholics.
Their lordships then divided, when there appeared—
For the tommittee 26
Against it
42
- -

Majority against.. —l6
The motion was therefore lost, and their lordships ad
journed.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.--(YESTERDAY.)
CONSOLIDATED FUND AND EXCHEQUER
BILL ACCOUNTS.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved
the following resolutions :
" 1. That it is the opinion of this committee that the
principal moneys of Exchequer bills issued under the au-
thority of Parliament, together with the interest thereon,
which may become payable from time to time shall be charged
upon and paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the United
Kingdom or the growing produce thereof. 2. That the
interest on such Eichequer bills shall during their cur-
rency by law be payable half-yearly by coupons
and shall be paid at the Bank of England. 3. That an
option shall be given at the expiration of each 12 months to
to the holders of Exchequer bills to be paid the prin-
cipal money* of all Exchequer bills held by them, and
such principal moneys when paid shall be paid to the
holders at the Bank of England ; and that all Exche-
quer bills not so paid off from time to time shall have
currency for the next 12 months following the date of such
option. 4. That, when such Exchequer bills shall be paid
off, the Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasurymay issue
the like amount of Exchequer bills to replace the Exchequer
bills so paid off. 5. That all Exchequer bills shall be re-
ceivable for duties granted to her Majesty during the last
six months of each year during which such bills shall have
currency by law."
The right hon. gentleman said the subject to which he de-
sired to call attention was undoubtedly an important one,
although he was afraid it w,ould not, be found the most at-
tractive of all those which might be submitted to their no-
tice, namely, the present legislative arrangements with
regard to the instrument of publie credit called Exchequer
bills, and certainproposals he was about to make to alter in
some material respects the footing upon which those bills
were at present placed.- For a number of years changes
had been going on in the monetary condition of the country
which had tended; very much to contract the market of
business for billa of this description. The principal change
had been that a great number of securities now existed to
compete successfully with Exchequer bills, and thereby
narrowed the demand ,for them. Of course it might have
been open to the public to keep on the market amounts of
Exchequer bills equal to those which were formerly in use,
but it could only have been done by raising the rate of in-
terest to a' point at which the employment of such bills
would have ceased to be advantageous tee the public. The
consequence his been that their amount has been progres-
sively diminished, and it was to the cause of that diminution
and the mode of improving their condition, that he desired
to direct the attention of the committee.' The select commit-
tee appointed in 1857 directed attention to this among other
subjects, and in the fourth section of their report they made
some important recommendation's. The principal of these-
was that Exchequer bills instead of continuing to be voted
as part of the annual supplies, and to be made chargeable
upon the grants of Parliament for supply services, should
be transferred at once to the consolidated fund, and that
they should likewise cease to be, so far as the corpus of the
bill was concerned, annually renewable, but should be made
current, for a period so long as might be convenient, or so
long as it might go Without being renewed. In the main,
the first four of the resolutions were intended to give effect
to the recommendations of the committee. They wore not,
indeed, absolutely bounded to those recommendations, be-
cause they contaitted certain particulars which might
bo considered developlients and applications of the prin-
ciple on which the recommendations were founded. The
fifth resolution, on the contrary, was beyond the scope of
the report of the committee. It involved in principle are •
currents to the former policy of the state, and in that view
ho should trouble the committee with a few distinct and
separate remarks on the subject. With regard to the ques-
tion of Exchequer bills, he held that the public, which was
the borrower, and. the holder of thebill, who was the lender,
had strictly a common interest. Generally speaking, the
confidence of the borrower and the lender were one and the
same. But over and above what related to the condition of
Exchequer bills on.the market there was a separate eendi-
lion. The Exchequer bills with which they were now
dealing were called Supply Exchequer bills. They were
voted in committee of supply as part of the supplies of the
year, and when. they Were presented for payment theywere
obliged to be paid under the law of the country out of
money which was already pledged to the supply services of
the year. The origin of this custom, which had now be-
come exceedingly inconvenient to the' regular progress of
the public service, was to be found in the nature of the
original instrument itself. When they were first resorted
to they were simply instruments of credit issued in antici-
pation of revenues which had been granted by Parliament,
but the collection of which had proceeded slower than had
been anticipated, and slower than the exigencies of the pub.
lie service required. Therefoie the practice was to issue from
the Exchequer ail engagement at a short date, which was to
star d in lieu of monies which Parliament had devoted to meet
the charge on the estrhlis,hments of the country, and as these
Instruments weretsed iu anticipation.of such money, it na-
turally followed that they were to be liquidated out of the
monies themselves when they came into the Exchequer.
Practically speaking, they had no connexion whatever with
the supplies of the year. They looked on them as constituting
a great portion of the unfunded debt of the country, and as
such they renewedaliespowerto issue the instruments from
year to year without the slightest regard to what was originally
termed supply.' Exchequer bills bore a low rate of interest,
and yet they had been compelled to exchange them at a
time when the rate of Bank discount ' had been not less
than £8 per cent. Thdy had to expect that a considerable
amount of those bills should 13e presented, for payment in-
stead of being renewed, with a view to a more profitable
employment of money by the holders; but out of the whole
amount of bills, namely, six millions, only one million had
been presented fer payMt-nt. Ire now wished to call the
attention of the committee to the course the Government
were compelled to take with reference to these bills. They
were not allowed to pay them out of the ceneelidated fund,
but out of the nteueye which were eppropriated by Parlia-
ment to support the army, nitfy.' civil establishments, and
the collection of the revenue. The consequence was that
a million tenet 'be deducted as the first step from thoSe
moneys. In the meantinie, how were those establish ment s
to be suppoeted ? That invalved a system of double charge.
There could not be a mere inconvenient arrangement than
one which male Excherp* bills payable out of that
money. The bills could not be withdrawn, and they
were compelled to renew Ahem in a most compli•
sated form... They ought therefore to detach wholly the un-
funded debt frown its relation to the supplies of the year, and
deal with it ea p. portion of: dA3t distinguished essentially
from the funded debt, beingt liable to be paid off at certain
times. There were other reasons which made it very de-
sirable, so far as the publie were concerned, that the basis
of these instruments should be altered.: It was extremely
necessary the Government shOuld have in their hands the'
power of using those instruments in quantities which could
be regulated aceording to convenience. In time of war the
amount of those bills was required to be large, but in time
of peace the requiremc nt would not be so great, and yet
there was no regular and formal method of enabling Go-
vernment to cancel those bills by a direct act. Those bills
could not consequently be allowed to lapse except in small
Quantities, and "their re-issue was necessary, whether on..
financial grounds it might be, desirable_ or not. The con-
sequence of these proceedings was that the law provided a
remedy which wai of an exceptionable kind, ix., it enabled
the Commissioners of the National 'Debt, without any
application to Parliament, 'to go through the process
termed tho fuedine; of E'xiihervr bills. Though that was
a very defeeiiveArrangetnenl, yet as the law now stood it
was the onty.intaine by which it was possible to effect any
material contraction in the amount of Exchequer bills which
at any time raight tie currthit in the market. Again, nothing
was more cumbrous than the instrument which the finance
minister had.at present in his handa for meeting any tem-
porary depreselen in the prioe of Exchequer bills. (if course
from the 4:reat 'flurtuatiims in the meney market of this
country,erebeCOthing_more eensiderable and more
rapid nevr t'lavn former times, instruments of this nature
must, like tither securities, undergo great fluctuations of
Price; but 40fitet
e-wished to do was to give the bills as far
amasirP:nsibti,°lll.r
earecter ofsteadines's. - Sometimes the pres-
- Market was of e!iam'ely short duration
but whenote,
caliie it tad on these instruments. Excite!.
quer bills wow; 'Co a discount, and it was desirable to have
ht
the means, keeping
tiot to ttactZelloatinautely, at or above par
for it was,
any length et time
aei,seeno7l
of the State that they should for,
rttof. at. diseeunt, or that they
should eveisgo
considerable amount.
The only mode in which that objectane
otuitt3d nresent be met
was by raising tho Ate off interest
'en Exchequer bills which might be inniarketvanid° asam thcli
etimeof
for which the bills rate was not less than 12 months if it hap-
pened that there was a pressure shortly after their issue, the
only remedy which
eeoald be, applied Was one of a costly
character, and might have the effect of carrying the Exchee
quer bills before the expiration of 12 months to a
premiumtowh ;e
so high as to be' equelly intoletable the discount
they had 'previously been. The incOuvenieneks to thepublic
.
might be thus stated.: Fit* they called upon at the
expiration of every, l 2 months to go to the,west end of the
town and present all the bills and depet them
for examinti,
tion. The bills remained out of their possession for somedays, and they ret urned- and had the new bills presented to
them. This was a serious inconieniekice to commercial men..
ih No therefore propote e following recommendation of the