The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-27 00:00:00

ObJtnina

LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1850.

A lamentable proof has juet been afforded of the truth
of the old sating, " more haste, worse speed"—any :uch
ill-judged precipitancy being peculiarly perilous in
regard to navigation. By a singular coincidence the
Superb steam-vessel has perished on same the sunken
rocks lying midway between St. Melo and S. Heliers,
called the Alinquiers, off which only a few days pre-
viously the steamer Polka had foundered—a mariner
of the name of PRIAULX having acted as captain on
both occasions. From the scanty particulars already
furni,hed in reference to this melancholy catastrophe,
it appears that eleven lives have been destroyed in con-
sequence of the most culpable negligence, the most re-
prehe.nsible temerity, and the most perverse blundering
`on the part of those entrusted with the safety of the
vessel and her passengers. Until more detailed ac-
counts have been famished by the survivors it
would, of course, he invidious to condemn by name
any particular individual. When it is considered,
however, that the Superb, on leaving St. Malo to
proceed across the intervening° portion of the channel
to the islaed of Jersey, was purposely directed out
of the ordinary line of navigation—whether to abbre-
viate the time occupied in the passage by a shorter
cut than usual; or to enable the captain to gratify the
curiosity of his passengers, by pointing out to them
the exact locality of his recent misfortune, it
would be difficult to conjecture—there cannot
remain a doubt but that the steamer was most shame-
fully and unntcessarily placed in a position of obvious
and extraordinary jeopardy. After running thus, as
it were, prepense into the v-ry jaws of destruction,
no wonder the Superb met with her last and fatal
catastrophe. In fair weather, in broad noon-day,
with scarcely a breath of air stirring, the Superb
struck violently upon one of the crags of the Min-
quiers and begin filling immediately. Considering
the suddenness of the calamity, it is by no means sur-
prising that thereupon a panic manifested itself among
the passengers. Orders being forthwith given by the
captain to lower the two boats belonging to the
steamer, another accident shortly afterwards added to
the agonies already experienced. In consequence of
a by no means unfrequent oversight, one of the boats,
unprovided with the usual plug, on being hurriedly
pushed off from the Superb with eight men and three
women in It, slowly filled with water, and in the
presence of those still remaining on the steamer
gradually sunk, the sea all the while shining as
smoothly as a mirror. Besides the eleven un-
fortunate creatures who were thus drowned in con-
sequence of a petty act of forgetfulness (the recur-
rence of which might be readily obviated in
future by attaching the plug to each boat by a small
piece of chain), two children were thrown overboard
by the first shock of the vessel striking on the
Minquiers. Otherwise the crew and passengers re-
mained uninjured by the calamity, the steamer being
left upon the rocks by the falling tide, until by sig-
nals cf distress another steamer, called the Collier, at
length came to their assistance.

Oue deplorable incident occurring prior to the
rescue of those whose lives were endangered by this
misfortne, must not he allowed to pass altogether
unnoticed. Our allusion is made to the circumstance
of the commander of the Superb having attempted to
save his own existence by deserting the ship under
his charge in her most perilous predicament. For-
tunately for his repute as a sailor, be was induced,
before it wee too late, to return on board his steamer,
sad the re to await the arrival of the ,

It would be impossible to find a better or more un-
questionable security than would be afforded by the
"national taxation money" suggested by Mr. DUN-
CAN, and to which we directed the public attention on
Wednesday. The most cautious and fastidious capi-
talist, who is contented with a low rate of interest,
provided he incurs the least possible risk of losing or
diminishing the amount of his principal money, could
scarcely demand an additional guarantee. Such
a person will make no speculative invest-
ment. He eschews railways and shudders at
any description of real security. Bank shares have
no charms for him. Anything approaching to spe-
culation he avoids with a holy horror. Fares may be
reduced, rents may fall, or titles prove defective ; a
commercial crisis may set in, destructive to the inte-
rests of the shareholders in joint-stock undertakings,
but the Three per Cents. never fail. They are safe at
all times and all season's, and under all circumstances.
Nothing but a revolution could affect their sta-
bility. With these he is perfectly satisfied,
and invests all his property in the public
funds. This confidence, which maintains the price of
Consols at a high rate, is fully merited ; for they are
based on all the property iu the country of every
nature and kind whatsoever, real or personal. The
broad acres of the landowner, the stock in trade of the
merchent or tradesman, the goods and chattels of
every individual throughout the length and breadth
of the land, are responsible for the amount of the na-
tional debt, and the security is unquestioned and un-
questionable. But the very person who thus places
his all in the public funds, and would think
it an act of heresy, even for a moment, a
to doubt their perfect stability, will chatter, with
ludicrous affectation of wisdom, of"' worthless rags,"
of the absurdity of supposing that the butcher or the
baker would part with his property in exchange for
inconvertible paper; and with profound solemnity
utter all the pompous platitudes, the glaring fallacies
of the bullionista.
Can it be possible that his perceptions are so obtuse
that he cannot perceive that the "national note"
would be bated on the same security as the
national debt, that it would possess every
guarantee, while it would have some additional
advantages not attached to the latter. Like the funds,
it woul i be founded on all the property of the king-
dom. The five or six thousand of millions of pounds
sterling at which that property has been estimated,
would be ample security not only for the 800 000,0001.
of debt, but also for the 50,000,000/. or 60,000,000/.
of notes. The holder of the one should be satisfied
as well as the holder of the other. It' the national
faith is to be preserved intact and inviolate, each
would be equally the public creditor, and would have
a claim of equal degree v ith the other. Their demands
would in some degree be analogous to those of the
holders of notes and depositors in a bank of issue,
who, in case of failure, would participate equally in
the dividend.
This view is the most favourable that can be taken
to the fundholder ; it even goes too far in some re-
spects, for it assumes that he could claim the amount
of his principal, which it is notorious that he cannot
de. But it sustains our argument to the fullest ex-
tent, that the "national taxation money" would be at
least as well and fully secured, and posses-es every
guarantee belonging to the Consolidated Fund.
Even the bullion itself—the gold and silver—in the
country %mild be responsible, although in different
degrees. It would be liable for the "interest" of the
Consols, and for the "principal" of the national note.
One advantage possessed by the naticnal note over
Consols is so obvious that it must be palpable to the
most superficial ob-erver. In case of any commer-
ciel crisis, or public emergency, by which the rate of
interest may be increased, the price or value of Con-
suls will be materially depreciated. The per-
son who bought in at 96 or 97 may have
to sell out at 88 or e 9. He may lose the
entire interest he had received during two
or three years, or even more ; but the bolder of the
note runs no such risk. He is certain that it must
be taken from him, at its full nominal value, not only
in satisfaction of his liabilities to the Exchequer, but
that he can liquidate every other claim, public or
private, that could by any possibility be made upon
him.

This national note would possess two qualities that
would be of the greatest importance in a circulating
medium. Fiist, it could nut by any possibility be
issued in excess. The amount would be strictly limited
to the taxation that was to be collected from the
people. There would, therefore, be a demand for every
single note that was issued, which would require to
be paid in within the year or a certain specified
period ; and, secondly, the mischievous practice of
hoarding, which so materially aggravates the pressure
during a time of emergency, would in a great degree,
if not altogether, be removed. There would be no
temptation to secrete paper not possessing intrinsic
value and bearing no interest. On the contrary,
every holder would have a stake in the country, and
would by every means in his power be in-
clinedc to support and maintain the public
at the highest point, which would thus be
sustained on the broad foundation which has proved
so exceedingly beneficial in the Scottish system of
banking.

This species of note is no new or untried experi-
ment.ce.n We have it already in existence to a certain
extent. Yes, the postage stamps in daily use are no-
thing hut notes fur a penny or upwards, as the cage
may be, payable in one species of taxation only,
and by their means the Post-office revenue
is chic fly collected. The stamp is intrinsi-

cally without value, but as it will bear

a letter from one end of the kingdom to the other, it
is freely accepted for any small payment; and, as

- -
Mr. DUNCAN pertinently inquire?, " if we can raise

2,000,000/. a year fiscally, through these intrinsi-

cally valueless stamps, why could we not raise
4,000,0001., and if four why not forty ?" The

Learned Gentleman added—" It was clear that the

priuciple of symbolic money was proved experimen-

rally 'by these stamps, and this was nothing more

than one of the forms or modes through which such

money might be• used beneficially, without the intro-

duction of bullionism."

AN EscAra FOR THE Razz z.—General Baron
Hansa was not ducked at C9lPglat..—Punclt.

gallant captain of the Collier, to whose gene-
rous promptitude the survival of so many
of our fellow-creatures humanly speaking,
attributable. Previously, however, to the arrival
of the Collier, then running between Jersey and
Shoreham, a cutter, called , the Jupiter, had, after
considerable exertions, taken all the survivors from the
wreck, and was herself again ultimately relieved of
her human cargo on the appearance of Captain DOKE
on board the steamer Collier. By one of those startling
reiterations of alarm which sometimes occur to our
astoni4hment, the Collier, in her turn, on entering the
harbour of St. Heliers, struck upon.the oyster rock,
which, it will not be forgotten, was recently the scene of
the destruction of her MAJESTY'S steamship Cuckoo.
All things, in short, appeared to unite in demonstrat-
ing the necessity, the absolute and imperative neces-
sity, of employing every care and precaution in
the midst of such a peculiarly treacherous and danger-
ous navigation. With sunken rocks sown abundantly
in that portion ef the Channel—a portion so shallow
at low water that the old legend of its having been at
one time fordable is scarcely beyond the reach of
credence—it must be manifest that any course like
that adopted by the captain of the Superb is little
short of being absolutely suicidal. It must be re-
membered that the scene of the late catas-
trophe, the Mirquiers, is a perilous spot, well
known to all mariners accustomed to the
Channel, and that consequently, in running
his vessel directly upon those sunken rocks, a seama❑
is, with bis eyes open, dedicating his charge to
inevi.able destruction. Such was the danger tempted
in the instance of the Superb, and this merely for
the chance of making the passage more speedily, or,
mayhap, with a view to gratify an idle and morbid
inquisitiveness. Notwithstanding that the science of
navigation has been carried, therefore, to its present
high state of perfection, it would appear that ships
may be lost, that ships are actually lost, through the
rashness of their commanders, through a shameful
neglect of those precautions which common sense
and experience alike demonstrate to be requisite.
Until this most culpable temerity be obviated by the
rigorous punishment of _ all similar offenders, we shall
still be compelled at intervals to recount the recur-
rence of some such melancholy catastrophe.