Star.
London, England, 1826-02-21 00:00:00

llear)--He would not believe it possible that one and
,411 were not iolicitous to do good, and tti!clo it perma-
nently, if possible, in an. affair of such magnitude.—
Tainting, as heltonettly ditib it would be of great pre-
sent advantage to grant an ettension to the date of the
issues of Bank of England notes to the day he should
Tome in his amendment, namely, the 10th of Oc-
tober neat ; he Intended to add a notice of an amend-
ment that thswe ,hould be given, for the take of pub-
licity, as ih the case of the Act of the. year 1819,
specificatinn by the Bank of England, in the Gaulle,
or the amount of small notes which the Bank had
impel,- which should with all cnnienient speed be laid
be fore Parliament—( Hear). With this additional proof
of kis mincers wish to let tits world and the .Howe be acquainted
with the extent of the issues of the Bank, he felt sat/weed he
should. as well as the rest of his. Majesty's Ministers, and the
Bask itself. be relie►ed from the imputation that any of them
could be parties to a dirty, paltry, contemptible scheme to defeat
that mealure which one and all felt so advantageous and essential
to the public interest—(Lond cheerios).

Mr. ABERCROMBY said he should oppose this
tlai.se in every stage, and if be failed in that opposition,
he should feel himself pledged to support the Bill, in
conformity with the vote he gave in support of the Re-
solution of last Monday night. He contended that the
effect of the measure would be to make paper currency
thrive and flourish. The House, if it adopted theamend-
'steno would record the principle of depreciation. On
all former occasions the greatest difficulties had been
made when the period approached for the consumma-
tion of any alteration like that now contemplated. I
did not augur well, therefore, if they now began to
falter, and to adopt in any degree the elements of de-
preciation. The onlypossible hope that such malty%
lion would take place was to be found in thefact—that
the Bill for continuing that circulation would expire on
the 10th of October—a period when Parliament was
not likely to be sittisig; or, when, it would be too
monstrous for any Minister to undertake their fur-
ther continuance. This was, at first sight, some-
thing like a plausible argument; but a great many
things might occur in the meantime to give a colour
to a further continu..nce of that Bill ; and who would
venture to say, that there would not be found, in cer-
tain quarters, a power and an inclination to prevent the
law from being, carried into effect? Besides, would not
the Bank itself have the power of doing something
which would have chat effect? It was said that the mea-
sure formerly proposed would have the effect of setting
the question at rest; but now the only security held out
to the House or the country was, the speech made by the
Right Hon. Gentleman last week. Since that speech was
made, however, the measures proposed were totally dif-
ferent, and yet with an arrangement so different the
arguments used in its favour were almost, if not pre-
cisely, the same. Surely this was a mode of proceeding
which, to say the least of it, required some explanation.
Mr. J. SMITH had taken considerable pains to con-
sider this question in all its bearings, and the result was,
that he must differ from his Hon. Friend who had just
sat down ; and he did so because he could not persuade
himself that the measure now proposed was unfavour-
able to the suppression of the one pound Bank notes.—
Since the debate upon the measure, events had arisen
to justify the vote which he was about to give; but in
giving that vote he did not do so upon the same
grounds as the Right Hon. Gentleman, who said, that
it was a measure for the support of the country bankers.
He voted for the measure because he thought it cal-
culated to support arid uphold a body upon whose
solidity d, pended, in a considerable measure, the ge-
neral prosperity of the country. He meant the Bank
of England itself—(Hear)—which had, by a spirited
and prompt resistance, during the late panic, saved,
the country from most calamitous consequences. He
did not apprehend that the power would be abused by
the Bank Directors; than whom a more re:peeable
body of men did not exist in the commercial world.—
If a proof of his assertion were wanting, it would be
found in the conduct of the Bank Directors, in the year
1316, when they announced a bonus of 251. per cent.
Bank Stock. That bonus was at that time worth 651.
and the knowledge of the secret on the day before the
bonus, was &Oared would be a fortune to any man,
but he believed that, upon reference to the Bank books, it would be
found that upon that occasion there were few men of any consequence
in the commercial world who were not the holders of a greater
amount of Bail /Stock than the Directors of the Bank of England.
Ile accounted (or this fact by his firm belief that those Gentlemen
hardly ever held more Bank Stock than was necessary for the
qualification. He should vote for this aware. unless some lion.
Gentleman would point out to him aaalissesal remedy in the event
.of another panic.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PEARSE said, there need be no apprehension
of any attempt on the part of the Bank Directors-to
get out an issue of one pound notes to any extent, be-
cause that species of circulation gave the Bank more
trouble than any other. He had heard complaints on
both sides of the House respecting the conduct of the
Bank of England. One party said that the Bank had
given unlimited discounts, and another party charged
the Bank with having restricted their discounts—and
to each of those causes had the late panic been ascribed ;
but he could assure the House, that the Bank had
done neither one nor the other. The fact was, that ap.
plication had been made to the Bank by several mer-
chants, to make as Issue of small notes • and such application
would not have been made if there had been an excess of that
circulation in the country.
Mr. Secretary CA rise, Mr. Speaker, thus
early in the debate, because 1 believe it is only necessary
for the House clearly to understand the measure in
discussion, and to see that measure in the light in
whiCh it is meant to be brought forward, to come
without difficulty to a fair, just, and conscientious
Conclusion. I agreed in the truth of the first observations
of the-Honourable Member who last spoke ; but not in
the latter points, as to the manner or principle upon
which the Bank was accustomed to regulate its issues,
but this is a matter of no consequence; because the
question is not, whether of right the Bank ought to have
the power of unlimited issues, not whether the Bank
ought to be restrained from a particular species of issues,
but whether that degree of latitude proposed by this
amendment, and not given by the original Bill, be of
soch a kin] and of such extent as to defeat the operation
of the measure itself. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman
(Mr. Abercromby) has opened his opposition to this
amendment, •by stating, that he saw no reason why
the proposition, which on Monday last was thought to
be an insensible proposition, should, on the present
Monday, become a proposition which his Majesty's
Government think proper to support. To that ques-
tion there are two answers. The first answer is, that
this proposition is by no means tlle same that was ne-
gatived on that occasion. In the terms there is cer-
tainly some resemblance, for in that measure there were
the words 4' Bsnk," and " Issue." In the present pro-
position there are also the words, so Bank" and " Issue,"
but in nothing else are they alike. This, Sir, will
clearly appear, when we come to consider the prey-