The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-21 00:00:00

law" is especially to be deprecated, and care
must be taken that we are not involved in evils even
greater than those we are anxious to avoid—lest, in
flying Scylla, we should fall into Charybdis.

But there is another matter
_even still more im-
portant than Chancery reform or County Courts
reform, inasmuch as life and liberty is more valuable
than property. We require not so much an altera-
tion as a full and clear explanation of the criminal
law, that the disjecta membra should be properly
digested, that any member of society, any
British subject, may be enabled to know the
nature of the enactments which he is commanded un-
der the heaviest penalties to obey—to understand the
crimes of omission and commission, what he is bound
to do and what he must avoid, without devoting his
entire time to their study. Many considerable im-
provements have been effected of late years, since
the lamented statesman who was, by the visitation of
PROVIDENCE recently hurried to his last account, in
the full vigour of his intellect and mental and bodily
powers, undertook the consolidation of the criminal
statutes ; but much remains to be done that should
not be neglected or disregarded.
Such a task is of no ordinary magnitude, but,
fortunately, we have all the materials for its perform-
ance. Much valuable time and labour, and large
sums of money, have already been expended in bring-
ing► the matter to its present condition. Many emi-
nent men have for many years been engaged in that
important duty, and the result has been that, after
au outlay amounting to nearly 100,0001. sterling,
the Criminal Law Commissioners have produced a
complete digest of " crimes and punishments," and of
the whole " law of procedure in criminal cases," that
may challenge comparison with any code of ancient
or modern times.

The nature of the subject is such, however, that it
can scarcely be disposed of as other Bills. A Parlia-
mentary Committee could scarcely go through a Bill
containing nearly two thousand clauses. It should
be prepared ready to their hands, so that little, if any,
additional labour would be required. This great de-
sideratum could be attained at a trifling expense,
not exceeding 2,000/. sterling, by the reconstruction
of the Criminal Law Commission, which has,
unfortunately, been suffered to expire. But
Sir CHARLES WOOD and his colleagues have
suddenly been seized with a fit of economy.
The 100,0001. already experded may be altogether
thrown away, the criminal law may remain unre-
formed in order to save 2,000/, at the very time that
5,0001. has been voted for stables to Marlborough
House, in order, we suppose, to keep the (hobby)
horses of the Prince of WALES for the next nine
years, and 12,0001. per annum is granted to the Duke
of CAMBRIDGE for his life. Lord BROUGHAM, with
that zeal and enthusiasm for which he has ever been
remarkable in all matters relating,to the amelioration
of the law, offered himself to defray the entire ex-
penses cf the Commission for the short time it may
be required by the country; but this liberal proposi-
tion was coldly rejected by Sir CHARLES WooD, who
would neither do the matter himself or permit any
other person to do it. Verily there is a " penny wise-
and-pound-foolish" economy that should be especially
deprecated and eschewed by the British nation.

The speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in
moving for the appointment of a " Select Committce
to inquire into the causes of the recent commercial
distress, and how far it had been affected by the laws
for regulating the issue of bank-notes payable on de-
mand," will not speedily be forgotten by any person
interested, or in any degree acquainted, with the
vitally-important topic to which it related. It had
been generally known that the Government had re-
solved to cast off the responsibility of dealing with the
question, and that the labour and honour were alike
to be transferred to a Select Committee. But up to
the 30th November, 1847, it had not been even ima-
gined that there would be any attempt to bolster up
the impolitic law that had been almost uni-
versally condemned by all persons competent to
form a just judgment on the question. The
virtual suspension of the law, by the Ministerial
letter of the 23d October, proved that both Lord
JOHN Russent. and Sir CHARLES WOOD had been
convinced—reluctantly convinced, we admit—that the
Act had materially aggravated the intensity of the
This admission was the more valuable as pro-
ceeding from unwilling witnesses, from judges whose
sympathies and feelings were altogether in favour of
the Act of 1844. But the extraordinary results of
the change confirmed the accuracy of their
,impres-
sions, and established beyond the possibility of doubt
the ruinous operation of that most mischievous
enactment. Speculation was rife as to the extent of
the reform that would be recommended ; but no per-
son, not in the ,confidence of Government, for a mo-
ment supposed that the law would remain intact,
that the restrictions thereby imposed on the circu-
lating medium of the country would be continued in
full force.

These opinions, however, proved to be erroneous.
The sanguine hopes that had been entertained were
bitterly disappointed. The whole arguments of Sir
CHARLES WOOD were directed to stistain the mea-
sure; it was rather the speech of an Old Bailey
advocate, trying to bamboozle and throw dust in the
eyes of a jury to obtain by any means, however dis-
creditable, the acquittal of a prisoner already con-
victed by the voice of public opinion and the
unanswerable evidence brought forward on the trial,
than that of a statesman discussing a question of the
deepest interest, a problem in the solution of which
the welfare and prosperity of the nation were de-
pendent. The specious fallacies of the bullionists
were gravely put forward ; the distress and monetary
convulsions were ascribed to every cause bat the
right one.

He first endeavoured to show that there was no
deficiency of circulation—no inadequacy of 'notes in
the hands of the public, forgetting, or at least keeping
studiously out of sight, the well-known fact that a
large proportion of these notes—estimated by Mr. S.
GURNEY at no less than from 4,000,0001. to 5,000,000/.
sterling—had been hoarded by bankers and commer-
cial men, in order to ba prepared for the time when
the Bank could give no further accommodation,
which, from the provisions of the Act, was supposed
to be rapidly approaching ; and that they were thus
withdrawn from circulation, and were of no more
pratical utility than the 8,000,0001. of gold and silver
coin and bullion that were at the same time locked
up in the Bank cellars ; that a considerable portion
of the amount of notes was, as stated by Mr.
HoasELT P.aLMSE is his evidence, "an issue rather
for the purpose of precaution and reserve than for
active circulation in the country," being "issued
merely for the maintenance of credit, and not re-
quired for circulation."

We do not think so humbly of the intellect of
the Right Hon. ;Gentleman as to suppose that he
could have been so totally mistaken on this point.
Tbe question, however, is one between his ability as
a financialist and his honesty as a statesman. -He was
utterly incompetent to discharge the duties of the
important situation into which be was pitchforked
as " one of the family," or be was guilty of a per-
version of truth, for the purpose of sustaining a
favourite theory. In which of these categories the
excellent Minister of Finance is to be placed, on
which horn of the dilemma he is to be tossed, we leave
to the selection of his admirers, if any such there be
in the British dominions.

H 5 then endeavoured to show the actual
causes of the panic—a deficiency of circu-
lation—not being included in the • list. These
were chiefly—crede Sir CnARLas Woo D—the
large expenditure on corn, railway speculation,
over-production, over-trading, loans on call, &c.
Other topics that have been repeated usque ad
nauseam were also put forward. We have over and
over again proved that the exportation of bullion for
coin was the only one of these matters that could
have caused a pressure. It might be true that
30,000,0001. sterling had been sent cut of the country
in order to provide food for the people, of which by
far the larger portion, about 21,C00,000/. sterling
was paid for in goods, and abcut 9,000,0001. in gold.
This, be it remembered, was the estimate of the
Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of
England, who declared that about 7,500,0001. was
withdrawn from the coffers of the Bank, and, probably,
not less than 1,500,0001. from other sources. And
this was the extent of the drain that produced the
panic, that led to the total cessation of credit and the
depredation cf every,description of property to the
'extent of 20 to .10-pqeyeentj
In the early part of thi`pfetient=eoiit'iliy;"titidira