Star.
London, England, 1820-05-31 00:00:00

THE EVENING STAR. •

LONDON. -

WEDNESDAY, MAY Si, 18204

FUNDING EXCHEQUER BILLS.

A most extraordinary scene took place this morn•
ing. As early as Timm o'clock, several of the first
Brokers in the City began to assemble round the
outer door of the Bank ; they continued to accumu-
late in numbers until six o'clock, the usual time of
opening the doors ; the Porters then admitted them
into the passage leading.to the Chief Cashier's Office, '
which, by ten o'clock, was crammed to excess,—
The moment the door was opened, an attempt was
made to admit one or two Gentlemen at a time, but
at length the rush became so tremendous, that the
large door was torn from the hinges, and the Office
was in a moment filled with persons, every one more
anxious than another to fund a large amount of the
Exchequer Bills.
The Gentlemen then gave their names, and the first
ten Subscribers took the whole amount of 1:7,000,000!
—lf the Minister had wanted 20 Millions, he could
have been at no loss to procure them. The disap-
jpointment to the Exchequer Brokers, in consequence
of this sudden Subscription foe the whole amount,
was great, but the lass they all probability,
sustain, is worse than the disappointment.
Yedittrday.they had purchased immense quantities
of Exchequer Bills at 10s. and 12;. prem. bat as soon
as it was announced that the subscription was full,
they fell to ss. prem. and then to par ! t •The general
effect upon the market was not favourable, as Con-
sols for the Account have been done at 703/4, anti are
now at 70%. The Fives are at 104% %.
• The new Five per Cent. Scrip is done at about Is.
per Cent. prem.

PRICE Of STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK
Bank Stock 2241/2
3 per Cent. Reduced 6878 14
• per Cent. Consols 69% 1/2 54 5/8
Si per Gent,76N 77-6 per Cent. 86
5 per Cent. 1041/2 3/8 ys
Long Annuities 17% 13-16
India Bonds 20s. 18s. pre.
Exchequer Bills, Its. pre. par
Consols. for July opg. 703/8 I/8 11/}

.

The Civil List Bill was read a third time and passed,
in the House of Peers, last night.
In the House of Commons, Mr. SUMNER brought
forward his Motion for a Select Committee to exa-
mine and report on the various Petitions presented to
the House respecting Agricultural Distress ; and evi-
dently to the surprise, and contrary to the wish and
expectation of Ministers, the Motion v. as carried by
a majority of 49, after a long and interesting debate.
ill be read with interest, and every one who
,wishes well to his country should make himself well
ll
acquainted with the principles that were advocated
by the supporters and the Opposers of the motion.—
The Debate, and its mode of management, may be
compared to the conduct of men who are engaged in
attempts to move a large mass of hot iron. They
-would like to take it up at once and transfer it to an-
other place, if they could do it without burning their
hands; but the greatness of the weight mikes a hard
grasp indispensible, and the greater the force neces-
sary the more severely will the hand be injured.—
What is to be done ? Get others, if possible, to do it
for you. Realise the fable of the monkey and the
roasted chesnuts, milting use of the cats paw to take
them out of the fire. The aim of the Petitioners,
however they may clothe their words, is to raise the
price of bread, which, we assert, is too high already ;
and• the arguments by which it has been attempted
to gain this point amount simply to this—" We
feel greatly the/pressure of our burden, and we
think that others should carry-the load for us."—
Now this demand would be vet y reasonable, if the
others had nothin; to carry, or Were less heavily
loaded ; for -the weight to be carried should be as
equally distributed as possible. But is it not mani-
fest, that, by the proper application of this principle,
the Agriculturists, if not already loaded equal to
the other carriers, should take a little more of the
load, instead of attempting to put •it on others ?
They tell us that the Land bears the whole weight
of the Church Establishment-.-but this is incor-
rect :—When the present holders bought or obtain-
ed their Lands, they did it under this burden.—
In other words, the part that goes to 'the Church
EstablishMent newer belonged to the Land-holder.—
We have no business inquiring at present into the
policy of- our tythe system ; but if the tythes were
done away to-morrow, they would not belong of
right to the Land-holder, but to the State. " The
Land also pays the Malt Dities !" As well might'
the "West India planters maintain (and we have heard
them assert such nonsense), that they pay all the
duties on the coffee and sugar consumed by the
Land-holders. Mr. SUMNER admitted,• that " when
Manufactures arise is a country, a demand for
agricultural labour is therell. created." But, is

it not equally true that, in proportion as you ba.
nish manufacturers, you will diminish that de-
mand ? Raise the price of bread, and you raise the
price of
_Our manufactures, and, consequently, you
will exclude them from foreign markets. Ilas not
this been realised already ? Has not thediminution
of the consumption of agricultural products been

t .

proved hp' the statements, restirg on undeniab're
vouchers, furnished by the town of Birmingham
And yet you seek relief by attempting to increase the
'evil. The fact iv, as stated by Mr. HARING-•-" C!"
agriculturist suffers because the manufacturer can-
mot buy his products, and the manufacturer suffers
because the agriculturist cannot buy his comn:r-
dities." The rent of land must and will be redutc.i.
—Every farmer who occupies under lease, obtained
when paper was our established currency, new
tually pays at least 25 per Cent. more rent thaq
contemplated in his bargain.. The fact cannot be
disguised. Either the Landlords must voluntarily
lower their rents, or they will ruin their tenants
enforcing payment, in which event the relit, wchen. tl.e
laud is again let, will find its level The comm.;
nity cannot evade raising the required Revenue, emu.'
Landholders will eventually be compelled to pay
their full quota. It is very true, that even at the pre-
sent prices some farmers are hastening to ruin; but it
is equally true, that tradesmen who took premises at
the war rents and tear currency, are getting also
ruined. After they have been Gazetted. new tenants
are found for their premises at new rents.