Star.
London, England, 1811-07-03 00:00:00

•
plae would only, in the first instance, consent to re-.
ceive guineas, but to avoid giving trouble as much
as possible, for the next species bf payment he should
receive Portugal..gold coin of "equal weight and
value, and bank nowt only at their depreciated
value. But it was said that there was something
harsh and perverse in this mode of conduct ; he
would ask where was the hardship in requiring pay-
ment in that way, for it was a self-evident proposi-
tion that in the proportion as the currency was deli
-
preciated, in the same proportion a rise must take
place in the price of all commodities—in labour,
manufactures, Stc. The covenant of a lease re-
quired payment in a certain known quantum in
%k eight of the precious metals of a given value.
The right of a party to claim this had never been
disputed ; it was quite clear that every man grant-
ing a lease was fairly and justly entitled to receive
his rents in that way. At the same time he took
that opportunity of declaring, that so far from hay-
ing
entered upon any bargain for an advance on
land depending on the depreciation of the currency,
or insisting on being paid for that land in gold,
he had abstained altogether from granting any
land on any such conditions, and should continue
to do so until the currency of the country shall be
actually depreciated below its intrinsic value, and
was further prepared to receive an abatement of
rent in the sasno proportion with such de-
preciation ;—and then, the Noble Lord would
ask, what could he more fair or equitable
The Noble Lord here entered into a disquisition
upon the nature of rents, from which he argued,
that a portion or share of the gross produce, after
paying all necessary expenses, and allowing a suffi-
cient profit to the tenant, was to be paid as rent ;
and could it be said that the tenant was entitled to

take advantage of the great proportion, or share on
the depreciation of the currency, and to pay the
landlord in that depreciated currency ? There
might be an increased price arising from the in-
creased demand of any commodity; but the depre.
ciation of the currency arose from a totally different
cause. He believed no one would venture to say,
after all the experience they have had, that paper
money was not liable to depreciation ; and he must
say, that symptoms of that depreciation had now
made itself known in this country. He believed it
would be found that the scale which he had adopted
was favourable to landlords, because the real value

of the lawful coin of the kingdom ws demandable
thereby. In the first place, then, it was no hard-
ship ; and that there had been a depreciation, he
should only refer their Lordships to what appeared
upon the Report of the Bullion Committee ; and he
insisted that it would also appear, that instead of
gold being dearer at this time, it would be found
cheaper than at any former period. His Lord-
ship then cited extracts from the returns made
to the House of Commons, in order to prove

this position, and to show that the whole was
attributable to the continuation of the Bank restric-

tion Act. The system which he adopted, he de-
fended, not merely as justifiable but precedented ;
and he adverted to the practice in some parts of
Ireiand, to show that that principle was still ad-
hered to; also the recent instance of a Member of
Parliament, who, in lending a sum of 50001. to a
friend, paid it in bullion, in order to secure the
repayment, and it was contracted, that the repay-
ment was to be made in the same weight of bul-
lion. It had also become the practice, in granting
longer leases than usual, that the contract should
be to pay in specie, according to the average of
the last five years. Satisfied, therefore, in the
rectitude of his own conduct, he should presevere
firmly but liberally in what his Lordship conceived
to be an equitable demand. Having thus, as he
conceived, made out such a case as was unanswera-
ble in a Court of Equity, he would ask how any
Noble Lord could fairly animadvert on the black
malignity and bad motives which influenced his
conduct. He had done no more than make a legal
demand of a just right ; if he nad done more, the
law would protect the meanest individual from
such a demand. Having thus dispatched that which
related to his own private conduct, his Lordship
proceeded to the immediate question before the
House, and in doing so, he adverted to the various
inconveniences which were the reeult of the Bank
Restriction Act—the depreciation of Bank•paper ;
an event never contemplated by the law, and the
adoption cf a system from which the State de-
rived no advantage whatever, while the deficiency
was taken out of the pockets of the people for the
sole profit, benefit, and advantage of the Bank
of England. He was almost tempted to say, that he
would rather pay some millions annually out of
the receipts of the rev _line, to make up any defici-
ency to the Bank, and say to them, " for God's
sake let us have the legal coin of the country."
There was a loss at present of not less than
16,000,0001. annually, and it would be impossible
to incur any expense beyond that sum. If the
present system was to be continued, it would be
impossible to pay the Army and Navy without the
most enormous losses, and the evils and inconve-
niences must be daily augmented, while the only
advantage to be gained was, that the Bank of Eng.
land held a certain proportion of Exchequer Bills,
• and in order to pay the public creditor in that de.
preciated currency, they induce the Bank of Eng-
land to take their Exchequer Bills, who have
nothing but bad bank paper to give for them. With
respect to the assertion that gold was grown dearer,
the Noble Lord contended, that on the contrary it
was grown cheaper, for if there was an advance of
price on commodities, it was evident that coin
must be grown cheaper, and this was as plain a
proposition as could be advanced, and the strongest
proof cf it was, that even China now returned
much of that silver which used to be exported to
that country, and as to the argument that there was a
scarcity of gold, so that it could not be sent out of
the Ki:,gdont, he contended that this was now the
natural channA for gold to find its way to France.
South America, which, from her gold mines, was
the source of all the gold which came into Europe,
sent her gold to Spain and Portugal, and from
thence it went into France and the other parts of
the Continent ; but that intercourse being prevented,
it was impossible to suppose that the gold remained
in South America, it has found its way into this
country, and it was the easiest way for it to come
to this.country, ix fransitu, to France ; it was impos-
sible it could be otherwise. With respect to the
paper currency, it must become forced, the effect
of which would be a total
.overthrow. of the spirit

of all contracts, and havihg i paper currency thus
dependant on force, it would become nothing
more nor lest than assignats, and by making
Bank notes legal tender, they would expose the
community at large to that fraud which was
practised against the public creditor r.lone ;
and on this ,he appealed to the justice and
equity of the Houses he appealed tb the Noble
Lotd on the Woolsack, who was the protector of

all legal contracts. Ile appealed in behalf of all
those persons who made and held contracts—not for
those only, but for the numerous and distressed
classes of the community who were living on their
small means, the result of their former induslry—
those who had flattered themselves that they had a

sufficiency for their support through life. The
dayly labourer was not affected by it, because his
labour could not be dispensed with, and according
to the depreciation, he might rise the price of his
labour, and was thereby enabled to stem the tor-
rent. But against this proposal he had not only
the authority of Mr. Pitt, but of the Judges of the
land, who, upon the solemn consideration of the
question, observed, that whatever inconveniencies
might arise the Courts of Law could not apply a
remedy—they thlught the legislature had acted.
wisely, having the example of France before their
eyes, in not making the Bank note legal tender,
as it only depreciated that which ii was meant
to protect. In France the paper system was
supported by force and terror, but this did not
uphold the finances, and the paper currency of
France became depreciated. But in the more re-
cent instance of Austria, by a late edict of that Go-
vernment, the paper currency which used to pass
for five florins was reduced to one, and infinite

confusion was thereby introduced in all contracts
in that country. By having recourse to that which
is now recommended as a remedy to such an evil,
it must be destructive of all system and the ruin of
millions, it must overwhelm all property in all or-
ders of society. It was vain to say that any Legis-
lative interference could uphold that value upon
notes which they did not possess, and every attempt
to do it was big with mischief. It appeared to
him that the scheme of the Noble Earl was some-

thing like a Bank deposit—it gave a credit, but
provided for no security of deposit. But in his
opinion, if a credit was to be given, a certain quan-
tity of bullion should be deposited. But the prin.
cipal objection he had to this scheme was, that there
was no such security, and for these reasons he
hoped the second reading of the Bill would be re-
jected.
Lord BATHURST was of opinion that the
Noble Lord (King) would be amply indemnified
for the depreciation of the Paper Currency, by the
mode which he had proposed to his tennants. Did
the Noble Lord, by the proposition he made, in-
demnify for the failure he fancied a second time.—
( Hear, hear !)When the price of gold fell he low-
ered not his rents, but when the gold rose in price
he advanced them. In 1608, he contended, the
price of various articles were higher than at present.
Timber, iron, raw hides, &c. so that the opinion of
the depreciation of Paper was wrong urged, as a
cause of the rise of articles of traffic. The former
Administrations had made no attempts at a mea-
sure such as the present, and he believed there would
be a general disinclination felt to go into the merits
of the case, hoping that the second reading would
be postponed to some future day.
Lord KING made a short explanation.
Lord HOLLAND felt conscious of the impos-
sibility of saying any thing new on a subject so well
known ; but from the species of argument resorted ,
to by th?. Noble Lord (Bathurst), he felt necessi-
ated to repel the clamours raised against the pro- ,
prietors of lands. If Lord King had acted fairly
to his family and to himself, should the Govern.:
ment find themselves agrieved, they alone had
themselves to blame ; the laws should be so fa-
shioned
as not to offer injury unto private property ;
when they encroached on that, it was time for
them to retrace their steps. He contended that
the mode Lord King had adopted in his rental was
quite fair, and well justified by care and honesty.
With respect to the views of the last Administration,
had their prospects been closed, as they expected, in ;
peace, the cash payments of the Bank would have
been resumed. The present measure would ia.;
volve the country in mischief and trouble were it
adopted. The evil complaimed of; he believed, was
come to a height, but the measure proposed would
make it no better. The fiillacy of the Noble Lord's
measure was, in constituting an invariable standard
for what could never be regulated. Public value
lay in intrinsic worth, and, on general opinion, for
which no standard could be found. Were the
motion of the Noble Lord adopted, the Govern-
ment would nut remain in the King, Lords, and
Commons, but with the Directors of the Bank ;
and was such discretionary power to be left with
men, over whose private transactions the public
servants had no authority, it became the duty of the
nation's Representatives to repel such manifest at-
tack on right. He confessed that he felt no argu-
ment against the resumption of cash payments but
what would be in full strength at any future period,
and wished the restrictions to be taken away as soon
as possible, and the time specified so that the Bark
might fit itself for the occasion.
Lord ROSSE confessed belief that all the argu-
ments for establishing a depreciation of Paper
Currency were without foundation. The Bank-
notes in circulation for the present year were no
more than the compound currency of paper, gold
and silver for the year of restriction 1797 ; such
being the case where existed the depreciation ? Was
the Bank to resume the cash payment, they
would have to resume the restriction in less than a
twelvemonth. He complained against the Bill in
not extending itself to Ireland ; hoping, however,
that it would be allowed to pass into a Committee,
where it could be better regulated.
Lord LAUDERDALt was astonished at the
calmness with which the House received a meat
sure which would create evils worse than those it
attempted to remedy. There was a total want of
sound argument on the subject in all those who at-
tempted to sustain it. The Noble Lord contended
with the opinion of Lord Rosse, on the deprecia-
tion, which he believed to be void of foundation 3
The conduct of the Noble Lord (King) he con-
ceived to be just and proper, in the instructions
he gave his tenantry ; and he considered it as a
boon, to be allowed to pay their rents in paper
or gold as they pleased. . The prosperity of the