The Sun.
London, England, 1826-02-18 00:00:00

itself. It might he said that this had been pronioied by the en.
creased issues of the Bank of ,England; but it Jetta a material,
fact td state that it war after the Bank had drawn in its issues to
an extent perhaps too great for the citetunstanee of the tittles,
that the greatest encrease had taken plaee in the circulation of
the country banks. In the, quieter ending in October, MIS,
there had been a large number of country bank notes stamped
than at any other quartet ; so that all the good done by the re-
duction of the issues of the Bank of England was more than
cOunterbalanced by the augmented issues of Country Banks.--
Was it too much therefore to say that the spirit of speculation,
supported by a paper circulation, and particularly by that of
Country Banks, had brought the colliery where it now stood ?
The first failure had been that of a great Bank in the West
of England. The second had certainly happened in town,
its IZi, ri flout* own"; WI VI --I*ty Cox Y,,
Battl4ae The tiled bad been a great Ilitrikittg-Establieltniant
in Yorkshire; and during the panic and the run with which it
had been attended on all Houses ; and even on the Batik of
England, those rifts had been the most exposed which were
known to be connected with Country Bankers. It was now the
duty of Parliament to apply a remedy to the evil. He knew
thet it might be said—" Leave the matter alone ; wait for quiet
times, and then apply a remedy t" but those who would say so
had seen less of the world than he had. The application of a
remedy came with much more effect, and excited less clamour
when its necessity was felt, than when the pressure had ceased.
The nature of' the one proposed was two-fold. Its first branch
was a measure for the gradual withdrawing of one and two
pound notes out of circulation. Its second, one for opening as
much as possible the keneral system of Banking. The first
tneasufe Was not actually before their Lordships, hut as it was
known by the votes of the other House to be in progress, it
might be more satisfactory, he should state the grounds on
which it was founded, and should endeavour to obviate the
objections made to it in public. its chief object was 'one
which could not be denied as far as it went ; it was by with.
drawing U. and 21. notes, and substituting a metallic currency,
to give achesk to commercial speculations. But there was an«
other consideration which ought to be overpowering with their
Lordships. If we were to be subject to crises of that nature,
and a great commercial country like this must be subject to
them to a certain extent, the first consideration should be to
relieve the great body of the people, the Poor, from the evils
of elicit a circulation. The humble labourer could not refuse a
note ; his wages mist be paid t neither could he retain it.—
lle must expend it in his daily support. Let Noble Lords
reflect on the misery produced in a country town by the
failure of a bank considered solvent (and about 70 with that
character had failed) where the industrious had deposited all
their little savings, and having one pound notes, were obliged
to hawk them about for five shillings to purchase the necessa.
ries of life. To such misery he had been a personal witness,
and it was a case which could never occur with a metallic
currency. The next point was the difficulty of establishing
such a currency. But those who saw any great difficulty in the
task forgot the actual situation of the country. In this metro.
polis and its vicinity there was nothing but a metallic circula-
tion. In Lancashire, in Liverpool, and Manchester, with their
three hundred thousand inhabitants, and in the whole district,
containing two millions of people, them was nothing but a
metallic circulation. With respect td four millions of the
population of England, therefore, embracing two-thirds of the
wealth of the country, nothing existed but a metallic currency.
Where was the difficulty of' extending to the whole country
whatep ilen doeunrciiseisted?
alld force i nestlnitilsoint
ed, Lai
nn cbaostliiti ret,haesned .13 their
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es
without any obstacle, and yet had there been any peril in the
attempt it would hare been ten times greater there than any
where else. Indeed at 'Manchester an attempt of a different
nature had entirely tailed. An endeavour had been made
to establish a circulation of one and two pound notes, but
to the great credit of the inhabitants of that town, it had
been defeated, and they had chosen to remain where they
were. There were, besides the accounts on their Lord,
• ships' table, other facts to show that the difficulty of extend-
ing a metallic circulation throughout the country was not
great. It was pretty well known what the circulation of
one and two-pound Batik notes *as, and would be, in the total
absence of gold. During the suspension of cash payments the
last returns were laid before Parliatoent, from which it appeared
that the whole circulation of Bank of England U. and 21. notes
amounted to seven millions. The amount of Country Bank
notes was to be derived from other data. It did not exceed six,
.or at most seven millions, making a total of thirteen or fourteen
millions, taking years when no extraordinary issues had been
made. Now, between 1819 and 1828, the Mint bad coined in
sovereigns and half sovereignsi gold to the amount of twenty.
five millions. In one year alone, 1021, nine millions and a
half had been coined. Vrom this total was to be deducted the
amount legally exported out of the country, for the absurd
law which prevented, the exportation of British coin had been
abolished. 'This amount was 7,289,0001. from 1819 amen to the
present time. He was also aware that a considerable nom had
been probably exported in smuggling transactions, and in the
pockets of individuals visiting the Continent, which had never
gone through hie Majesty's Customs. This sum he Would esti.
mate at three millions more though he knew that it was far above
the real amount.--Supposing, therefore, that out of twenty-
five millions of gold Coin, ten had been exported since 1819,
there still would remain fifteen millions, or rather, as one mil.
lion had been re-imported since last year, in consequence of' the
favourable state of the Exchanges, there couldnot be at present
in the country less than 18 millions of gold coin to take the place
of a paper circulation, at the utmost. of 13 or 14 matins. In
consequence of the refusal of a hanker at Bristol to pay in gold,
e.nd of the ran on country bankers which it occasioned at
the time, much gold had been sent to the country, where it
still continued to circulate. Potting the case, therefore, in
the least favourable point of view, there was, if not ac-
tually enough, at least not much less than enough gold coin
in the country to carry on a complete Metallic drettlation....
But it wee no; intended to propose the immediate establish.
tittit of such a circulation. Three years were to he allowed
for the purpose, and if the example of Lancashire were taken
innistolf,e(lNlll4itliyerwaatismtl'ierheilittligoeetrul;da,papcarpitprruceeotritlila.cetniltrldiecoeuncaloai in
niiLtioffitnry.en:elvtexti I,eitihsier eycVlawail:tesdeMitt
I.l4oVeenarr•
thinaw 114noitli'leac3rgpu ceal t thereo 4n ovat
Its was a fact that two mingled currencies