The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-25 00:00:00

SAVIN`GS BANKS.

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL,
&c. &c. &c.
LETTER, 111.
My Lord,—The following observations were in-
tended to have been addressed to that best of Irish
landlords, the excellent Member for Rochdale, whose
constituents, being depositors in the savings bank in
that town, have been co shamefully rubbed; but the
subject is so germane to the matter contained in my
previous letters, that little apology is necessary for
addressing this also to your Lordship.
I propose to show that the commission of such
robbery has been entirely owing to the Acts of Pa
liament passed by the Government of the day for its
own purposes, and if I succeed in doing thi., do
not doubt that your Lordship, and those whose minds
are imbued with the principles of justice, will con-
sider that a just and equitable claim has been estab-
lished against the Government to return to the depo-
sitors every shilling or their deposits.
It is passing strange that the point to which I have
referred, not depending upon opinion or argument,
but upon facts which car lilt be controverted, was
never mentioned tii'r alluded to in Parliament vibe°
the subject was under discussion ; for had it been
brought fairly under consideration, it is irapossiblde
to conceive that a body of English gentlemen went
not decide—that if Government has for its own par-
poses weakened the security held by the depositors,
and loss has thereby accrued, Government must nll°
good the deficiency.
With the view of rendering the reference lucre
easy, I state the years in which the Acts of Parlia*
went relating to this subject were passed. In 1817,
1818, 1820, 1828, 1833, and 1844.
The first point to which I would invite your Lord;
ship's attention is the fact that, until the Act of 182
the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National
Debt could only sell out or transfer the stock in
which the money belonging to the savings banks was
invested, for and on account of the savings banks, or,
in the words of the previous Act, " upon the llPPlice.
tion of the trustees of any savings banks?'
uer,
In that year the then Chanceller of the Excheq
Mr. Goulburn, for his own purposes, wished toff url
in his own hands the complete control of the cl!s.
in which the savings banks' funds had been invested;
lans
he, therefore, inserted in the Act of 1828 a
giving to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the
n:
.
National Debt—that is, to himself, a 4 Chancellor a
the Exchequer—full power to deal with the stock
to
he pleased ; to buy and sell, in plain Ellgliah banks
dabble in the stocks belonging to the savings ban
just as he pleased.
After a careful examination, I cannot find that 11:
ever informed the House of the important alteratio
he was about to make ; in fact, it was smuggled
through the House; that is, the clause was wregthe
up in a mass of verbiage, and, although by far a
most important feature in the Bill, Mr.
was studiously silent upon the subject. dab
But inasmuch as it was self-evident that such
bling might occasion serious loss, a proviso limiting
the responsibility of the trustees was for the first
time inserted in the Act, for of course it would h_e,
Goulbur
been most monstrous to have them liable for Mr:
Goulburn's unsuccessful bargains. The Act declarecl
" that no trustee should be personally liable except
for his own acts, nor for anything done by bins it
virtue of his office or the execution of this Act, ex
cept in cases where he should be guilty.of wilful Deg-
lect or default."
I pray your Lordship to bear in mind that undeir,
this clause, which was repealed in the manner I %I':
mention in its proper place, the trustees of the Rue's
dale Savings Banks would have been liable for eYeiviA
shilling of the loss, because it was by their Wiwi
neglect and default in not examining the books glir.
vouchers of the manager that the loss was occasionecL
The 60th section also enacts " That this Act sll!!
be a full and sufficient indemnity and discharge It;
the Commissioners for the reduction of the Nationlll
Debt (that is, to Mr. Goulburn himself, as Chancel
for of the Exchequer) and to the Governor and eel:lL'
pany of the Bank of England and Ireland, and
dtheoa_
officers, for all things to be done, or require,
tis••
vr
pr
permitted to be done pursuant to this Act"-"a-"asweeping indemnity clause, but not more so tn
events have proved to be absolutely necessary.
Thus your Lordship will perceive that Mr. G'°ll,l:
burn had, in truth, the most absolute power over the
stocks and funds and Exchequer-bills belonging
the savings banks' depositors—that he sought
th'
power himself, and obtained it; and the first qio:
is, for what purpose did Mr. Goulburn seek to ba%
this power ? He must have had some object, and 1
is self-evident that it could not be for better securing
the stocks, which must necessarily be endangered by
the operation of buying and selling.
I entertain not the shadow of a doubt that All';
Goulburn's object was to assist himself by the control
of so much stock (fifteen millions), in reducing th:
Four per Cents , and I will give you the reasons for sue,,"
belief in a subsequent letter, as I do not wish to bree'bt
the thread of my argument; but whether I am 00'
or wrong, does not injure or weaken the proposition-'"
•s-ss ea anuarnmont fnr if.
weakened the security enjoyed by the savings baaos,
depositors, and loss has thereby accrued, Governnleel
are bound to make good the loss.
Things went on under this Act until 1844, end
during that period successive Chancellors of the
Exchequer had, as acting Commissioners for
reduction of the National Debt, bought and sold ea
°
dabbled, just as it suited them, and the consequence_
was, as might have been anticipated, a most enormous
loss, arising entirely from the powers given by
Goulburn's Act of 1828, first to himself, and then "
succeeding Chancellor a of the Exchequer.
I have the honour to be,
Your Lordship's most obedient and faithful servapt°
RIGBY WASON.
London, Dec. 23, 1850.

THE LATE MEETING AT
TEWKESBURY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE GLOUCESTER JOURNAL'
Sir,—As the course which I took at the Tewhe6.,so
bury meeting on Roman Catholic Aggression has becv
much misunderstood, and has therefore exposed In!
of
opposition, as well from clergymen of the Church
England as from others, I request you to 4110 W ee
the opportunity at once of setting myself right, ati e
of offering my views on the subject generally re,`":
,
fully than I did at the meeting in question, not
petting then that what I said would become the bug,
ject of public comment. I do so with some cop
..e
dente, because the subject is one of some important;
and my desire to take an independent course 801
the many parties which have sprung up, obliges me 'I of
enter on many points which have been lost sight
during the public discussion.
;tvilleertirrse:
Without wishing to force
tmhyatowitn vaiemwesetcihn
I could not fail to observe,
called as a Church of England or clerical Ineeatitnhe
the true character, as well of the aggression as °lt. it,
parties originally or subsequently mixed up witP
must be to a great degree lost sight of, and the disc
of
sion, instead of being an independent investigatiello
the Popish claims, of their abettors within the Cblloo
of England and without, °lithe conduct of our P.
men in relation to it, and of the best means of fuee_ti
ore
the emergency, degenerate into the accustomed Ord
of Popish mummeries, and an unqualified apPreva
the rival establishment. h of
I yield to no one in attachment to the Choi' oi,
England in its integrity, nor in respect to its collate
entious and faithful clergy ; and I do not lean
:0
imputation of having slighted or neglected eitheiber
preferring to make the movement a lay. one ro con
than a clerical one. The Popish aggression we, ,atie
withstand, but the Popish mummeries we cannel' rby
down; and I think we ought not to be led avveX,oto,
dissertations on them, and other theological Pe' oi..
from the more vital topics which laymen can ea c° 1
petently and much more independently discus Car'
mean not merely the conduct of Pope Pius a Bishop
dinal Wiseman, but of Bisho Bloomfield, be
Phillpots, and Bishop Wilberforce; not merely of the
Papal junta and its head, but our own Cabinet se' _
„
head, Lord John, who may not only draw pro'
from his Puseyism by his late outburst of ultra
on.
testantism, but may withold us from political, flPre.,
cial, and economical progress, by appeals to our P 01
judices. Above all, I was and am particularly enhlri s
that we should not be led away by Roman Cat"°:"„c0;
Tractarian, or Church clergymen, from the conchtl"o
of the Church of England herself, from the cognizsi:e
of her imperfections and abuses, and from the pro of
ewpuoi ttpihoi.
withstanding
dr
aincgtiChurchcersoeprxei
ifshotri
ni St
It is no offence to clergymenin.
to say that we
actionsy ear years f for them,
tha
c hi and
ef
not look to them for this vv e have waited too °° lay
land,st
n
as
the chief promoter of Protestant Reforill'i.-
ofl the Church ncrh
etuiw:r eel without
:et att
1:11:11
no less the chief upholder of the principles --e
gioiufs toleration and freedom of opinion. eta'
one party in the Church has pushed its Pr thee
sfoions to the extreme, we cannot depend on the 0I)
r having maintained a consistent opposition;. t 9,
whatever differences may exist on theological rine,'
there is none in the assertion that the Church of Ffl(1
land endowments are beyond the supervision 70
control of the Legislature and the people, 21./1 re,
the irresponsible property of the clergY•
therefore, we have in reality one very important 5—",,
with in the right of discussion attempted to be
from us, for if Popish aggression is to be resiato:
through the Church of England, and its InieistL
have been unable or unwilling to do this, how is iv
necessary action to be insured if that Church be rea
irresponsible to the nation ? Ibis
I deny, Sir, nevertheless, on every ground'
doctrine irresponsibility, in whatever form asserter'
,olli I dr ny, most espy cially, that the temporall:l t
of the Church are held by any other title than o,rf
r,f oh dir-alce to the national will. This is the test
both Sides, as well for the Claims of the- Churc,4
the present and in the future, as for the public. .oe'
sawfeeguingtwahrurieedtsshtsuoi.