The Sun.
London, England, 1826-06-01 00:00:00

-THE LONDON JOURNALS.

DAILY EXTRACTS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS,

JUNE 1, 18'26.

[THE TIMES.]

, The reports of the Committees of Lords and Com-
' mons,- concerning the. ScOtch and Irish bank-note
systeM, on which,a precious specimen of negative
legislation his just been exhibited by
,his Majesty's
Government, are documents not, unworthy of the end
for. which they were compounded--viz. the finding a
lame excuse for a piece of inconsistent and sneaking
policy. Messrs. Peel and Robinson having alleged
the report of the Commons' Committee, in excuse for
the abandonment, of their own recent and unqualified
declaration that the whole Scotch system called loudly
for areform, by the substitution of a metallic for a
paper currency, we were curious to see what sort of
an opinion it was that could work such wonders upon
a pair •of Cabinet MinisterS. The opinion -of the
Committee professes to be governcd by the evidence
of the Scotch witnesses examined by them ;—and
who were thoie witnesses-? Now. mark—" The wit-
nesses examined by your CoinMittee with reference to
the state 'of the circulation in Scotland, were seven
gentlemen, standing in various relations to some of
the Banks in Scotland !/" Here is a pretty sample
of a Committee for you,. and a pretty brace of sages
to be directed by them. They want to ascertain
whether it would not be expedient to give the people
• of Scotland gold instead of paper ; and, to make
sure of getting honest and impartial advice, they beg
of seven Scotch bankers to favour them with their
sentiments upon the subject. They go to the very
men who make their fortunes by supplying the coun-
try with paper to the exclusion of gold, and ask for
data: by which to Satisfy the world that it would
be wise and just to circulate gold and • exclude the
paper ;---that is, they importune the witnesses to
break up their own monopoly, to destroy the sale
of their own promissory paper, and, in short, to
cut their own throats ! Was this fair to the seven
Scotch banking gentlemen, who, by some strange,
chance or other, found themselves so "
close to the elbows of the Committee—When witnesses
were called for ? Was it decent towards the country,
or commonly prudent for Ministers themselves, to
seek out ex parte evidence on a great commercial
question ? The consequence is just what any one
might haVe foreseen. he bankers impress the Com-
mittee•with their own belief; that the system which
they thrive under is the happiest in the world for
those at-whose expencei they make their profits, and
that the one pound is a fine old article, which, like its
exact image, an ancient cobweb, it would be " un-
lucky" to sweep with reckless hands away. This is '
really the sum-total of the argument, or conjuration,
so far as touches the interests of the people at large ;
for with respect to'the points urged, on behalf of the
bankers personally, under pretence of serving the
public, they are so bare-facedwe had almost
said so impudent—that one cannot gravely allude to
them. It seems that the practice of " cash credits"
would be endangered, or overturned, by a metallic
currency. We very well conceive that it might ; and
we are far from doubting that it ought to be at least
modified, if any thing like fairness were intended
between man and man. A cash credit is an under-
taking by a Scotch banker to make advances within
eertain specified limits, to parties offering' satisfac-
tory security for the sums thus furnished—the bor-
rower being liable • to pay them to the banker on
demand, with interest. The borrower has the flirther
privilege of lodging any sums he may think fit with
the banker, receiving interest for the same. Then
see how the business works. The banker lends his
own paper to the customer, and charges five per cent.
for it t he receives hard money, or Bank of England
faper, from the customer, and allows him four per cent.
or it ; but as we are assured by the banking witnesses
:ghat the public confidence in them is unbounded, that
.no panic,has ever affected the credit of their notes,
and by consequence that nobody ever dreams of call-
ing upon them for cash or for any paper but their
own, why, it follows that • they actually coin for the
community, at no eXpence to themselves ; whatever
real money or Bank of England notes they take in, •
they may send out to Scotland, and get its value in
any other form—their own paper is all-sufficient for
them, and brings them in an interest of 5 per cent.,
being on the amount of their cash-credits only, not
less than 250,0001. per ann. A fruitful harvest this
for the bankers, welt worth writing up in newspapers
,well worth intriguing for—swearing for—ay, almost
worth what they almost threatened, a rebellion. Then
again, the people of Scotland would lose the happi-
ness of being allowed to deposit money with their
bankers, if the latter were compelled to pay them again
in Money! Verily, we say, let the bankers refuse if
they like ; but they would be apt to think better of it,
or others would take their places. After all, the.Com-'
mittee give, no decided opinion whatever upon this
Scotch banking question : they say repeatedly that the
rvqii, is doubdul, and that in either of two cases the
metal musi,,and shall be administered to Scotland, vice
paper thrown upon the shelf—lst, If the bank notes,
like the natives of that country, cannot be kept out of
England ; 2d, If forgeries be increased by the conti-
nuance
of the paper issues. The Lords' report is
nothing more than an echo of the other, and the little
that remains to be said about the Irish currency, we
must reserve for another day.

[MORNING HERALD.]
It has come to our knowledge that some of the
Select Vestry of Mary-le-bone lately held a Meeting
to consider whether any and what steps could be taken
to bring us to justice (what a perversion of terms I)
for the animadversions we have frOm time to time been
41e means of offering upon some of their proceedings.
The Meeting ended, as such instances of folly must
do, in smoke. Though we have neither time nor in-
ablation to break a lance with these worthies in 'West-
minster Hail, we should have little doubt of coming
ocr victorious, were we compelled to do so. The
whole is, in fact, a mere ebullition of ridiculousselief-
importance, and of that irritable wincing which . a
galled jade" exhibits in every state of life. If there be
room in the New Court House for a perpetual rue-
mento, we would recommend the words, t, now
we apples swim" to be embossed in striking cha-
racters upon its walls. Of the individuals com-
Posing this august body, we do not so much
as know the names of any half dozen. It is
against the system that we have argued ; and whether
that system be in this or any other parish carried
into effect by Lords, or Gentlemen, or cobblers, is to
us 'i3 matter of perfect indifference, But this we can

tell them, that when they act rightly they have nothing
to fear from the press-,,when otherwise, nothinStp,
hope for from the .Courts. We have watched the
Vestry system very closely--at first with no unfriendly
feelings, and our conviction is, that it is a complete
failure, and that it is fast becoming a complete abomi-
nation. At the first blush it would seem to hold forth
the fairest prospect of honesty, impartiality, and eco-
nomy. }row many' of these points it has failed in we
will not stop to inquire ; why it has failed is to be
found, we believe, only in a minute attention to the
workings of the human mind, in which a love of power
is generally accompanied by a proportionate tendency
to the abuse of it. Though we have been compelled
to elucidate our objections by allusion to particular
acts of this and other particular bodies, our rooted op-
position is to the system generally, which we look
upon as one fraught with more of abuse than ad-
vantage, acid as a source of taxation equally burden-
some in its effects and unconstitutional in its prin-
ciple.