Star.
London, England, 1819-06-22 00:00:00

..e Bank -neeeseetyy .to
take's:tont, and the feelingof that pOrtion of the pub-,
lic .4o were at all capable of judging, be must say,
was in favour of • the measures determined upon by
his Afiijesty's Government. A comprehensive and
adequate ststem to meet at once the financial diffi-
cultia-i of the country was, in everyway.tbe wisest
andsafeet policy that could be adopted. In that view
it was determined to establish a really effective Sink.
ing Fund, by creating an adequate surplus revenue. ,
This vat a point, whatever %Wails may be Feld as
;to the other parts of the subject, which he Al:Ought
could pot be denied. And he thought they would
net do their diitY to the country.
,or to posterity, if .
they took no advantage of this perio4 of peace, and
act so as to establish an efficient Sinking Fund. This
policy was now adopted by every great country in ,
Europe, and which, he re ted, could only be effec-
ted by means-Of a sur uskivenue. By the kepi,
which. were adopted, an die arrangements proposed
jsea
to be made, he trusted that at no distant period this
country would he in possession of an 'effective, Sink-
ing Fund of about eight millions, by which means
'they would be enabled pr(gressively to relieve ,the
hardens of the country. With such a system
tie
could look forward without much anxiety, eithertol
continuance ofpeace, or even to a renewal of war. In
the Mean time, said the Noble Earl, the country
wotild grdually get rid of its financial difficulties.
by a progressive reduction of debt. Such an addi;.
tion as was new prOposed to be Made to the revenue
could at no time .be done without some pressure ;,.
,but a time was chosen when that would be as little
felt as any other which enuld be hoped Tor ; and it
J was so calculated as to render necessary fiery little
or no rise in the prices of the respective articles ; the
whole amount of three millions proposed • to be
raised; was little in proportion to that of eighteeri
millions not long since relinquished. It was seemed
the safest policy to bring the whole subject at once
to the view of Parliament, and laying aside all half
or partial measures, to tell the country at Once what
was necessary to be done. This cause would give td
the public a fixed and permanent systein (as far al
may be) for their future financial concerns, and upon
those grounds it was held adviseable to submit the
pending system at once to the view and deliberative
wisdom of Parliiment -
The Earl of, LAUDERDALE congratulated the
House that this measure, and the opinions now en-
tertained by -the most intelligent ranks of society;
had given the death-blow to those principles which
' bad so long prevailed in the country.
,Looking at
this subject in eery point of view, he' was one of
those who said that it had been much' misunderstood.
He thought that the Directors of the Bank of Erg-
land had acted a part which did them the higiwat
honour. By the Act of Restriction. their Lordships
had, in fact, transferred to the Bank of England
what was once considered as the greatest poWer and
pride bf the prerogative of the Crown—the right of
regulating the currency bf the country. When he
heard people•say that the Bank had forgotten them-
selves, their
,Lordships should remember, that, by
investing them with that power, they had placed
them in a very different situation from that of airy
' other body in the country: it was their duty front
that moment to consider what it was best for them
to do, both ;with respect to the Prop: ietors and to
the country noised. When he considered, then, what
Use and hems made of that power, in what way it
had been exercised, and fbr what ends, he prided ,
, himself as as Englishman, that it bad leen much
less abused than the power which bad been vested
in any other persons. The Noble Earl then repeated,
•at considerable length, the opinions which he bad
entertained on the subject of the currency, and con=
.tended that they were correct. He thought that this
business had been mismanaged from the beginning:
it was madness to make a silver coinage till we had
got over the difficulties of an over-issue of paper.--
He wished to know how it happened, that since the
year 1816, the Exchange had been against us with
respect to gold. Gold haZ always been exported
with a profit, 'and silver had been always imported
with .a profit: He wished to know how the Noble
Lord could explain the circumstance of silver having
"flowed into this country with profit. In the history
of man he was slue it could be found, that wherever
there bad been an over-issue of paper, there has al-
ways been a depreciation of gold. He was one of
thine who held particular opinions on this subject.—
He was one of those who thought, that if the Sink:
tog Fund had been noshed to the extreme which the
Legislature had contemplated, it would have been
ruinous to the country. Till Mr. Pitt's time; in 1786,
there WAS not a single Tax laid for the Sinking Fund.