Star.
London, England, 1811-07-16 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Mr. Secretary RYDER having heard that doubts had arisen in
the minis of many, whv•ther that the Mi iiia Intercha.tge fill
folly embraced the extent to*whisli his Maje-ty's irtirstris had
M il-hest to airord relief unto the families M the Volumetrs or
Substitutes serving in tilt. Mil:: iits, he therefore would intimate
that he meant to propose a Lill to remedy the evil con; lained
o!.; and tie telt assured there could he Nthe oncsition given to
a measure so necessary, which might induce him to propose that
it should pass throogli its several stages in the course of the day
it was brought its.

Lord COCHRANE rose to propose his motion r .specting the
Papers of the Fingal-1 frigate, but was interrut ttd by
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUI:R., who insisted
on the precetlence of the 2d reading of the Gold Coin Bill.
elle SPEAKER stated the regulations of the House regarding
the precedence of Orders and Notices.
Lord FOLKESTONE asserted his belief that the resolution
which conSrrned the precedence of particular right in orders or
in notices, bad overturned the constitutional rights of the Houses
He felt it his opinion, that there were certain cases of paramount
necessity which °wet to have tilt precedence above all minor
things. The public duty required a Member freqt:ently to push
motions of material moment before others which had the pre-
cedence, and Le could are nothin; hut dissention and distrust
from the breaking down of such a custom.

The SPEAKER observed, it was Lis du'y to comply with the
pleasure of the House ; and the motion of the Noble Lord not
having the precedence, he could only say that it would have to
abide until those preceding it were discussed.

Lord COCHRANE then postponed his motion respecting Pa-
pers belonging to the Fisgard frigate until tomorrow; and the
other which stood for to-morrow, concerning the removal of the
Judge of Ms Malta Admiralty Court, until the first sitting day.

GOLD COIN AND PAPER CURRENCY.

On the motion from the Chair, that the Cold Coin
Bill be read a second time,
Mr. EDEN arose. He felt himself somewhat em.
barrassed on a subject of such importance, and which
had been so very ably discussed by both Houses ;
nor would he have troubled the House with his opi-
nions, had he not deemed it his duty to make oppo.
sition to a measure, to which he could neither accede
in principle nor feeling, and which was totally inad-
dcquate to perform the main object of its Constitu-
tion. He would not consider what were the opinions
of his Majesty's Ministers on the subject, nor even
what were the opinions of the Public itself; but by
every estimate and calculation which could be made,
it appeared that the paper money was depreciated.
The measure adopted to heal that want proposed no-
thing. There was a maximum required to give stabi-
lity to any Legislative measure. The Restriction
Bill of 1797 w.s hurtful in its establishment, an,l in-
jurious in its continuance; and the measure intended
to remedy the evils which it had created, only tended
to make them more lasting. It was only a patch-
work; where new regulation was required, extending
itself not into Ireland, which was considered as a part
of Great Britain. Much had he heard the character
of Lord King traduced, from the int'mation he had
made to his tenants on the payments of his rents.—
The difference of a twenty years' contract was ac-
tually twenty per cent. by the depreciation, and Lord
King, in one of his contracts, actually paid £l2oo
for an annuity of Xl(X)o.—(Near, hear.)—The law
on that subject was already made, and were Lord
King's tenants to appeal in a Court of Law against
his demand, it would only create delay without as.
sisting them, for the law would award to his Lord-
ship the vi.lue of his engagement in legal money.
There were only a few methods to relieve themselves
from the discharge of their contracts, which were, by
purchasing bullion with B.tnk•notes, or by selling the
produce of the farms for guineas.—(Hear,
The latter method he believed was the best, for it
might spread itself to other markets, and, by the sub.
stituting itself for paper, completely make Lord King
obtain his object.—(Hear.)—Did his Majesty's Mini-
sters avow their desire of making Bank-notes a lerl
tender ? Assuredly they hinted at it, but they had
not the firmness to make the experiment. To cotisti.
cute a real currency from Bank-notes might cxtst a
while in the Journals of the Law, bot was assured
it wohld soon be banished from cominerce.---( /tsar,
hear.)—He wished to say a few words concerning
those Gentlemen who liist pointed oot to the Public
the miehty evils which mignt %s!ilt from a conti-

nuance of bank restriction. —Were those Gentlemen
to meet with the censure which he had heard cast
upon them when they pointed nut t remedy, and
proposed it, but which, unhappily for the country,
were rejected, they merited his thanks and the good-
will of every well-wisher to the Consitution. Though
he did not mean to propose any measure himsell, yet
he expressed a wish that no more notes should be
issued by the Bank until the Bill was either rejected
Or passed.
Mr. HERBERT contended against the extraordi.
nary manner in which the Bill was introduced, and
the manner in which it was pushed on.by his Majes•
ty's Ministers. The measure itself appeared like a
phenomena in politics, and he had heard it called a
measure which the Ministers deemed necessary to the
salvation of the Government. He was SCI. y the:e
should be occasion to constitute compulsor> , ! iv;,
i which might overthrow the Constitution. Besides,

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intimated to them by Ministers, that were
ete proposed measure rejected, they would find need
• • ,estit cite p tper money a legal tender of the realm.
• .nreare, considered as a partial one, framed ex-
, sedy for making paper le,,eti tender, was inefficient
He admitted it to be proper in his Majesty's
elieisees, when they compelled a man to take their
:I..ereciated currency, to go further, and protect him
le it ; but by that proceeding they were making other
lilies suffer, and instead of assisting the public, were
'.tending injustice. Much had beer. said about the
t a 0 prices that money now had in the realm ; curious
,yinions lied been adduced, but it plainly arose from
tto fatal Restlicemn Bill of 1797. In vain was it
teen urged that the measure would increase the issue
nt paper ; that by doing so they would drive gold
tr en the kingdom, and, by scarcity, create two
erices. Argument had shewn, at that remote time,
ee evil of which they were complaining. The Right
H.,nourable Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Ex-
cealuer) then before him, had argued on a former
d.ty, that the two prices were not in existence until
eeey were created by my Lord King. Nothing more
• telt. and patriotic had ever been proposed. Its object
was to bring the evil into the public notice, creating
teereby a necessity For enacting of some measure of
public utility. In vain might they form Acts of Par-
liament on the relative value of paper and of gold,
the transactions of life gave to the latter the prefer-
ence ; it was impossible by any act to stop the depre-
cietien of paper. By the measure proposed to be
adopted, numerous evils atone : xll persons lending
money on mortgage and annuities would be losers by
t!ieir bargains, and defrauded of their just rights.—
Government might take away the property from men,
but they would not hinder the depreciation—(l:ear,
!:ear !)—a general unwillingness would manifest it-
self among the dealings of the nation to recognize
the decision of Parliament. All gold would be driven
from the traffic of the nation into the hands of the
Jews and smugglers, and our enemies would prosper
by a measure unwisely proposed to assist ourselves. It
was a doctrine quite inadmissible, that a twenty-shil-
ilng Bink.note and a shilling were equal in value to
a guinea ; every person knew the cost of a guinea,
and the consideration of that told them that paper
was depreciated. Such were the measures adopted
by the French in their paper system, and we were
telly proceeding a little more slowly in the same ca-
reer. How, might he ask of his Majesty's Ministers,
did they intend to hinder guineas from being sold to
privete banks ? they would find it difficult to prevent
such clandestine commerce, and he believed that the
Bill would do no more than hinder, not amend the
evils which had been complained of. From what had
formerly fallen from the Right Honourable Gentle-
man (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) opposite, he
might have concluded that no legislative measure was
necessary. The same kind of transaction had taken
place in Ireland, the Irish Members never deemed it
necessary to make mention of it, nor propose any
measure of remedy : but the moment when such a
transaction appeared in position, his Majesty's Minis-
ters took the alarm, and proposed a measure instantly.
Mr. CALCRAFT contended against the compa-
rison which the Hon. Gentleman ( Mr. Herbert) had
made between the Bank assignats of France and the
notes of. England ; 130,000,0(X) of the former were
issued where there existed little national credit. The
currency issued by elle Bank of Britain amounted
enly to twenty-three millions, proceeding from a Go-
vernment secure in the Public faith. How could the
Honourable Gentleman indulge himself in such wild
comparison ? ot.ly showed how blind men might
snake themselves by argument.—hear, hear.—Gen-
tlemen should reflect a little that those opinions and
statemeuts they think proper to make are transmitted
for the inspection of their country, and they ought to
advance nothing which tends to uiterttle the public
mind, unless they are assured of its renntiness beyond
their own knowledge. He felt himself speaking with
some pain, because he had to diffeeia opinion from
many of his most esteemed friends. . He felt himself,
therefore, called on to tell his reasons for the manner
in winch he was about to vote. Once he deemed
l tit. legislative provision necessary, but by the agi-
tation which be perceived in the public mind he soon
swerved from that opinion, and believed that some
legislative measure would actually be necessary be-
fore the prorogation of the existing Session of Parlia-
meat. The aspect of the country demanded Parlia-
mentary protection, and he deemed it necessary to
bestow it. The proposed Bill made sure unto the
tenantry of the kingdom what none but the Noble
Lord (King) had ever doabted—the fixed value of
Bank-notes. He was assured that nobody would
follow the Noble Lord's example, yet it was safer to
make one law too much, than to allow such mischie-
vous examples to be copied in the nation. The Bill
proposed to prevent the sale of guineas above their
stamped value, and the acceptance of Bank-notes be-
low their promise. Would any of the Honourable
Gentlemen who had argued before him refer him to
any transaction in life which shewed depreciation ?
He was always willing himself to accept of a Bank.
note for twenty shillings, and he was convinced th.:t
no transaction in life could be adduced where Bank.
netes had frillen below their nominal value. The
Noble Lord ( King) had, however, discovered a fall-
ing off equal to 20 per cent. but for himself, he could
not perceive why eighty millions of revenue paid in
notes might not give a decided negative to deprecia-
tion. The acceptance of notes by tly Government
as legal tender established a durable currency at
once. He allowed that twenty shillings now could not
purchase so touch as it would twenty years ago, yet
that wit: a pie •of of a rise in the valise of comrnodi-
dities, not a fell in the value of money. The Bank-
notes returned thrice a-year to the Bank, which was
a sufficient check on an exorbitant issue. The French
assignats were forced upon the nation, and not re-
quired by the people but by the Government, to f;11
up the vacancy of public revenue. Should the Bank
perceive that they have issued ton much, why they
would know that it soon came back again by the ra.
pidity of commerce. Last year there was a heavy
pressure, and the Bet* issued a larger qnamity to
meet that emergency ; the money %Val issued in De
cemher, and by February following it was all recalled,
for the money returned to its wonted medium. He
eves not prepared to argue that the existing was the
• hest possible state of circulation—(llear, hear.)—and
he believed that a legislative measure was absolutely
necessery. The exchanges had continued in favour ot
wit little variation
Britain, from the Bank restriction,
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