The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-26 00:00:00

into cash or the notes of the Ranh of England, is the most t we are not mistaken," says the Journal des Debats,
safe and convenient system that has yet been acted upon.' " this is the first time since its accession to power,
that the Ministry of Sir ROBERT PEEL has found
With the monetary panics of 1825 and of subse-
quent years still in our recollection, we must take itself in a minority. It is certainly not the first time
leave entirely to dissent from this assumption. Mr. that it has met with serious opposition ; for, last year,
GLADSTONE himself sufficiently disproves it in the it was obliged to yield to public opinion, and with-
very next member of the paragraph, except for the draw one of its most important measures—that con-
causes by which he attributes the admitted facts of its cerning the education of children in manufactories;
" unsafe" and " inconvenient" working : but this is the first serious check it has received in the
" Yet, notwithstanding, the charge of conducting the Parliament, and which all the influence of its chief was
pecuniary interests of the kingdom through the medium
of the Bank of England has, at eriods of excitement,
inadequate to prevent. A t the same time, the question
p
produced by political events, as well as from overtrading, on which it had this majority of nine against it, had
proved to be attended with considerable difficulty in the no really political or ministerial character ; and the
and the
transactidestruction of mercantile ons of commercial men, th
confidencereatening" convulsion Opposition, setting, in this respect, a good example,
Leave out the words we have printed in italics,—
had the good taste to declare that it did not seek to
it will be seen that Mr. GLADSTONE attributes to the it
make a party triumph. On this occasion, the
Currency Bill all the disasters of resulting " difficulty House presented the singular spectacle of at least
one-half of the Ministerial Members voting against
to commerce," and "the convulsion and destruction -
of credit" with which its most strenuous opponents the Ministry, while a considerable number of its
h
have always, and consistently, reproached it. But we habitual adVersaries divided with it. Lord ASHLEY is
take leave to deny the premises involved in his quali- a decided Tory, but on all questions where a
fications. The excitement under which the control Principle of humanity is involved he is to
over the national currency, exercised by the be found strenuously contending against the
G
Band of England, has been disastrously admi-
overnment. He has successively brought for-
nistered, was owing neither to overtrading in ward motions against the opium-trade, .against
any fair sense of the phrase, nor to political events in the occupation of Singe, and against the labour
0,
children in the coal -mines. -mines. In this vote,
any sense at all. The abrupt contractions of the of
Bank issues in each of the mercantile crises that
therefore, there was a perfect change in the usual po-
have happened, since 1819, was the immediate cause sition of parties. The agriculturists took pride in
voting for a measure which would make great modi-
of that sudden paralysis of trade, and that overthrow fications in manufacturing labour; it was also a tri-
of confidence which ensued. Political events, in that
uraph for the philanthropic party, so strong in
long period of years of European peace—so far as the England, from the influence it has out of Parliament.
relations of this country were concerned—there have This party, as we have more than once observed, has
been none of a magnitude to produce any such conse- often proved itself more powerful than the Govern-
quences. The only foreign event in all that interval, ment, and has dictated laws to the legislative body. It
which can be indicated as, in its working, approxi- was this party that carried the emancipation of the ne-
mating to effects fraught with mischief's of the groes, and caused the conclusion of the treaties on the
enormous character truly described by Mr. J. GLAD- j
right of search, which it still upholds. The vote we are
STONE was, the disastrous bankruptcy of the national now speaking of is a new example of its great influence."
and other banks of the United States ; or the still 1
more disastrous bankruptcy of private good faith and ,The Ministerial paper regards the defeat as only
• temporary, and expresses a conviction that on a second
public honour, subsequently avowed and announced , .
on the part of some Federal States of the Union, and ! division Sir JAMES GRAHAM will obtain a consider-
able majority. The remit of the debate on Friday,
most of the insolvent establishments in question. The
however, will undeceive the writer, and show French-
amount of trade in course of transaction, at each of
men that in the cause of humanity Englishmen can
such periods, in this country, was not excessive or forget political ties. The Presse, alluding to the ob-
illegitimate, for aught that has yet appeared to the
servations of Sir JAMES GRAHAM, says :
-contrary, if measured by the previous issues and
,i There is both anger and pride in this short address.
discounting facilities of the Bank of England. Accustomed to see all their opinions adopted by an imposing
hrienljnogril)2,e-it,ttehoe EnglishTle Troy
Mere gambling speculations in Joint-stock Company 1 030111 Ministry cannot
nteotoltebte blelloitet‘seeaisna thei
r
paper, railway shares, &c , have been since carried understanding, through surprise, a momentary act of aberra-
on, to a greater extent than at the date of the panics tion, which it cannot fail to immediately retract. In con-
rseeceiouuernscee,tot.he.yrhaeskquitestjoze from 1825, inclusive, to the present time ; but flecntolbveftooreascaerttiaeiwn
if
frtihe hadl;louse
(whether because of the larger issues of Bank paper will consent to condemn
-it-to exhibit the spectacle of a
out; at such period, or from the greater abundance 3;shamefulin, t eorrgi:,‘Y.ehrestei orn ,i-tilwir
peerrts7s savet
itt Itlsi e
first
tf-lroeNs-oel
resolution,
itohne
of bullion then in the market, and the lowered rate We 5h..11 know this in a few days; but, whatever may occur,
of interest on public and other. securities, forcing in- the vote just given will remain one of the most important of
vestments of .capital into other channels, as usual the present session, whether regarded in a political or a
manufacturing point of view."
under such a state of things, we will not stop to in- The following are the remarks of the Constitutionne
quire) such speculations have since been entered into
on the subject : '
i
with comparative impunity to the public interest. "The struggle between agriculture and manufactures has
Why, then, it should seem that the primary cause of been going on for forty years in England. The advantage
the pernicious " excitement" and its fatal conse- bas
However,all
azalnlo,in h
cases, remained
a certainenmined with
period eprrold)er tti?r;
situation
or the or 3
party. ofr
quences, to which Mr. GLADSTONE alludes, must be manufactures has become such, that changes, in the tonsti-
looked for in some other quarter rather than tcuotrnio-nlacuif,
il,aelaid,aude -ispraolf,iemrtly:idaahpiepeiaorstniiiimeNe-
thielhleanAdsnt
" political events" or " over-trading." That primary the Whig party, and although an association . equally
intatbinle.
cause Mr. GLADSTONE himself assigns in reasoning powerful rtion edrefnetettrhtLietsiatereastesmoaf the
e_sxoeirlciiaseopainiosiendfluto
on certain admitted results. Will he permit us re- owe which. appears to presagee a certain triumph. The
spectfully to add, that in this reasoning, which we corn-laws form the difficulty of the questiOn ;_ favourable
subjoin, he again begs the whole question—as in the Loi,rthhewposessesasenrds ooff tthistesodil,sttrleisesy
aafret;Tee
lovfartil,tienn.cacilt,slessaeoaf
influence he attributes, in the passage already quoted, Agriculture has just attacked - manufactures on triteir own
to " political events" and " over-trading." For we , grruna. lifee of corn is n
on the one
isisditeesi,( on, on the o
said they, a diminution
the
i
entirely deny and contest the proposition assumed , i the pr
factory workmen must be relieved, and in consequence Lord
in the quotation which now follows, as to the necessity Ashley proposed, in the debate on the Factory Bill, an
of such a perennial stock of bullion in the Bank, as tahmeepnetedntoftoredu
daily lacebotuor tienntheoumrsa'nfuoframc'toomriees. and
amdernedn-,
he speaks of, for the purpose of preserving public ment was adopted by a majority of nine, notwithstanding the
credit. Of course Our denial is irrespective of the
ineffanorttisfaoefttSiriers It eel
in P the imr• he(o)
ni noseicsttieodno nw
itthhe
foerneei ra 1 ienotnetrnets,t,rsee of
fact, that the impolitic principle to which we are so Sir Robert Peel thought it is duty to oppose !Ord Ashley's
strenuously opposed . has been adopted into our sta- amendment.3iehers,
t;erTahlirere WohiLAwfiniste
1 him,l,';oVwil-itf7timthaniVixtitty:
tute-law by the Bill of 1819. Our position is, that outmthis's'uepport, generally opposed
altogethers from a source independent
that Act ought never to have been passed, and should of politics, the rout of the Minister would. have been com-
now be repealed, or modified simply to the extent lief emt What
r eo.v e d is
seremarkable
ainn thiswil that politics were
of making the bank-note convertible into gold—not terests at stake laid aside all other objects of consideration."
at the already jived price—the " Mint price," as it is The papers of Saturday have since been received.
called—of 31. 17s. 10d. per ounce, whatever its The only intelligence they contain relates to the plans
market value, but at that, market value. We shall of the Government for constructing new lines of rail-
road.
.This grand scheme is the passion of the day.
show that herein consists the active poison which de- According to the Journal des Debate the Government
stroys whatever the Bank management wounds. have determined to take immediate and active steps
But what -is Mr. GLADSTONE'S theory as to that towards the completion of no less than five great lines
!management? A theory which accurately and of railroad—from Paris to Lyons, from Paris to Bor-
forcibly explains certain consequences, co-existing deaux through Tours,, from Paris to Strasburg, from
Paris to Nantes, and from Paris to the frontiers of
with the powers which the Legislature, when it
passed this limitation statute of 1819, left in the Belgium : to a branch to Boulogne, and another to
hands These great undertakings will amount, hands of the Bank direction, but does not revert to to-
gether,nearly 1 500 Englishmiles.
the to ,
the cause of these‘consequences : The Funds had fallen a little, but no reason was
" These results may in a great measure be imputed to assigned. The Five per Cents. closed at 1221. 50c.,
the nature and objects of THE CONFLICTING INTERESTS and the Threes at 83f. 10c. The prices of Railroad
which are intrusted to the care and management of the Shares also declined. The Strasburg and Basle Rail-
Bank Directors—viz., the public interests on the one road fell to 27.23-; Orleans Shares closed at 905;
hand, and those of the Bank on the other. To preserve Rouen at 912 f ; Havre, 690 ; Avignon, 773.1
public confidence, and to regulate the currency of the „,„..-,-, -7-,--sm, ...,-,,, 0
-.1.-n.c. .110 ti t., nor•--oATURDAY, MARCH 23.
country, as well as our foreign commercial inteteourse,
st
IT IS NECESSARY that a considerable stock of bullion should First
Price. HigPherice. Lowest
Price. PriLast
ce.
at all .times.be held by the Bank, sufficient to meet any exi- "'French Five percents.— •; 122 30 •• 122 40 .. 122 30 .. 122 40
gency that might arise either from panic at home, or . Four-and-a-Half.. •. 110 40 •• 110 40 .. 110 40 .. 110 40
FourperCents.• •••• 105 50 •• 105 50 •• 101 50 .. 105 50
excessive speculative importations from abroad, the last
Three per Cents.• ••• 83 •• 83 10 .. 82 90 .. 83 10
exceeding our -ordinary means for payment, and re- Bank of France••••• • 3150 -3150
..3150
..3150
quiring provision to 'be made for the deficiency in the Laftitte Bank, I,ooof. Shares' 115 • • 1115 ..1115 .•1115
precious metals." Belgian f1ank.........
Belgian Fives, • • •••• ••••• • • 1051 - 1051 .. 1051 .. 105?
Mr. GLADSTONE'S view of these "conflicting inter- 1840....• •• •• 105 . •• 108_ •• 108 .. IC

ests," between the public and the Bank—always, be
it observed, in NECESSARY antagonism, whenever the
bullion price of gold in the market is higher than the
Mint price—is confirmed by a passage in the speech
of no less an authority than the framer of that very
Act of 1819 himself! The present Sir ROBERT PEEL,
in his memorable speech, on moving the Currency
Resolutions (24th May, 1819), quoted from the re-
port of the proceedings which had taken place at the
Bank, four days previously, a paragraph, in which the
Directors submitted to the Government, among other
things, the following considerations :—" They feel
themselves obliged, by the new situation in which
they have been placed by the Bank Restriction Act of
1797, to bear in mind, not less their duties to the es-
tablishment over which they preside, than their du-
ties to the community at large." And, in comment-
ing on these expressions, the Right Hon. Gentleman
said he felt that this assertion was a melancholy
truth. He asked the House to relieve the Bank from
the duty which had thus been thrown upon it. A
strong impression was made upon his mind as to the
necessity for relieving it from the duty of attending
to the.concerns of the country at large. It was the
duty of Parliament, and not of the Bank, to take care
of the pecuniary and commercial concerns of the na-
tion generally. He certainly thought it was the duty
of the Legislature to endeavours, by great exertion,
to resume that duty which had thus been delegated to
the Bank.
Why, what stronger testimony than this, illus-
trated by the fact that the power complained of
still virtually remains in the Bank, can be desired to
the absurdity and danger of PEEL'S Bill of 1819 ?
What more striking demonstration can be adduced
of the identity of the "primary cause" of the mis-
chiefs described by Mr. GLADSTOYIE, the " active
poison" of which we have spoken, with the Aet
1819 ? But we shall pursue this point further in
dealing with the remainder of Mr. GLADSTONE'S ira,
portant letter.

•••• 123 ....
481
..
5i
408
109 i .. 1091
Threes •• •••••• •• • • ''" •• 36t • • 36 •• 364
SpanishDute hT‘pvaos-sainvltelB-.4a.2-.1.1•it lj
... ••• ••• ••• ••• Irl . . 8 4 . . 6 1
..
61
Neap01itan................ 102 30 .. 102 30 .. 192 .. 102 30
Roman . .
RAILWAY SHARES.
.. 407 50 .. 405 407 50
•
St. Germain .............. 818452 50 ..
..
280042 50.
.... 818452 50
....
28a042 50
Rouen •• •• • ............ • '• :405:
50 1
091250
Versailles, R.B.
:20: 30 ..
910
920
Rouen to Havre• •• • ...... • • 695 ' • 695 .. 692 50 692 50
OrleaAvignon to Marseilles• • • • • • 777 50 •• 777 50 ....
277722
5500
....
277772
5500
ns ....... ..
277 50 .. 280 Strasburg to:Bale.. •• • • • • • •
RAILWAY SHARES, FOR TIIE ACCOUNT.
St Germain .......• ...... 855 • • 855 •• 855 ~. 855
925 • 925 .. .
Versailles, R. 8.............
231889068
257 .
5 ..
...
224801051
25
......
231789268
527055
......
224701205
5.0
Rouen to Havre..." •• ••• • • 695 • • 695 922 50 .. 922 50
Orleans • . 690
.. 690
.. 912 50 •• 912 50
.. 900 .. 905
Strasburg to Bale• • • • • • • • • • '
Avignon to Marseilles• ••• .. 777 50 • • 777 50 .. 770 .. 773 75

ARRIVAL OF THE WEST thDIA
MAILS.

SormistrroN, SUNDAY Mcnomm.—The Severn, Royal
Mail Company's steam-ship, Captain Vincent, arrived this
morning soon after seven o'clock, from the West Indies,
bringing all the mails, and the following passengers :
From Jamaica—Mr. Henriques, Mr. Math°Hand, Mr. G.
Rhodes (60th Rifles), Mr. C. Thompson, Mr. F. Steel.
Trinidad—Mrs. Lake, two children, and female servant.
Fayal—Mr. Solomon Benskabeth, Mr. Solomon Seabury.
Also, Mr. Stewart, chief officer of the Company's ship Tweed,
invalided. •
The Severn Mugs home but 2,000 dollars, 17i ounces of
gold dust, 296 ounces silver bullion, and 310 ounces of gold
ditto. No cochineal. Independent of the dollars above-
mentioned, one of the passengers brought home about 30,000
on private account.
The Severn left La Guayra on the sth of February; Deme-
rara, 19th ; Trinidad, 20th ; Barbadoes, 20th ; Jamaica, 23d ;
Grenada, 25th; St. Thomas's, 29th; and Fayal on the 16th
of March.

Madrid papers of the 17th have been received, and
as usual contain some fresh tales of horror. At
Alicant on the 12th and 13th three civilians were
shot; and Senor GARRIDO, Secretary to the Political
Chief, on being identified, was to undergo the same
fate, for remaining at Alicant during the insurrection.
A Barcelona journal of the 17th announces that a
new conspiracy had been discovered in that city, and
that the persons suspected of being engaged in it
were to be tried by a court-martial, then sitting in
the citadel. A letter adds that four had been capitally
convicted and shot. Two other.executions had taken
place at Zamora.

The Heraldo, a Madrid paper, publishes the fol.
lowing atrocious order of the day, issued on the 4th
at Denasal, by the Commandant-General of the
QUEEN'S troops in the Alaeztrasgo :
" Any individual that shall be seized and convicted on
evidence, however slight, of having attempted to induce a
soldier or inhabitant to join the factions shall be shot. Shall
also be shot any soldier that shall be found communicating
with. persons hostile to the Government of the Queen
(whom God save!), and that shall be known to wish to
join the enemy. Before -he suffers death, his offence shall
undergo a summary inquiry of not more than two hours,
but three hours to prepare to die as a
he shallian be allowed
Canhdrist

The Three per Cents. were done at 331- for cash,
and 34 at 60 days; and the Five per Cents. at 22i for
cash, and 23 3-16 at 60 days.

Most of the Paris papers have leading articles on the
defeat of the English Ministry in the gouse °Nora-
mOns on Monday; and as they bring no news of the
slightest importance, we can find room for a few
extracts from them on this " untoward event': "If