Star.
London, England, 1826-02-11 00:00:00

the speenlatian Mania, orb should find that it begin lafid
Inßf. Mk thud spiettaiddirwatiktntlessi- the, -
were encouraged 'by die; Inwriteara- hiresest, aiscl ih
consequence followed which: had belie-elestribed:isy •
Mrs Tooke—(Here Mr. Maberlj rdad &eters! -paean*
front a Rublication applicable to the subjeetesponwhicat
he was addressing, the House)—the re-setionhegae.,o.
the sales became dull. It was imposiVe to raise moneti .
and then followed the pack. which approached to e resemblance,of
the celebrated South Sea -Bubble. The Honourable Member coo. "
eluded by reading copious extracts from a Pamphlet publithed
during the panic of the South Sea Bubble, which tended to shew ad
analogy between the wild spilt of speculation then pievakut and
the late spirit which-led, aniong,other causes, to the great distresit
in the Monied and dactimercial Interests of the country.
Mr. HUSKISSON said, the* Noble Lord opposite,
and his Honourable Friend (Mr. Baring); had made
some observati',ns which would afford him an oppor-
tunity of giving an explanation upon a point which-
appeared to be misunderstood. His Honourable Friend,
the Member for Taunton, had indulged in some aid:
smadversions, rash and unsupported, on what he was -
pleased to call the insensibility of the First Lord of the
Treasury, and his Right Honourable Friend theiChan-
cellor of the Exchequer, in respect to the peseta state
of the country. It was not necessary to vindicate the'
Noble Lord at the head of the Treasury front the impu-
tation of a want of feeling, either for the difficulties
of the country, or the distresses of individuals.— •
Both the Noble Lord and his Hon. Friend had com-
mented eery strongly on a passage in the corre-
spondence between Government and the Bank,
without distinctly understanding the way in which it
applied. The passage to which he a luded, was that
commencing with the words, 6, the panic id the money.
market having Subsided,"-etc. He need not ask his
Hon. Friend, who he believed was in London about the
middle of 111e:ober, and Was a witness to what was
passing, whether there did, not exist at that time, for
two or three days, a state of affairs in the money-
market (contradistinguished hose commercial dis-
tress), which rendered it impossible to procure money
upon even the most unobjectionable security ? He .
;appealed to every Gentl:man present connected
with. the City, whether it was not a fact, that during .
forty-eight hours it. was impossible to convert into
money, to any extent at least, the best securities of the
Government? Persons could not sell Exchequer Bills;
they:could not sell Bank Stock; they could not sell East
India Stock ; they could not sell puSlic, securities oft the
funded debt of the country. That difficulty di f n it arise
'from any rational idea of the insolvency of the Go.
vet nmen„ of the Bank, or of the other great coporate
body, but from that panic to which his Right Hon.
Fr end, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ani the First
Lord of the Treasury alluded, in the passage which had
been referred to, as having existed and being removed.
Was the statement true, then, that the panic—that state
of things which he
,had just described—had been ran .
London
? No one now beard of two or thtee Lalon
Bankers stopping every morning. It was no longer
impossible to convert all public securities into money.
.The operations of the Royal Exchange had resumed
their ordinary course. Did Lord Liverpool suppose that
when ihe panic in the money market was over; the com-
mercial transactions-of the country would not be affected?
No such thing. In the conversations whet he had
with Lord Liverpool, his Lordship had stated, that the .
convulsion in-the money market must inevitably derange
the transactions- of commerce, and involve them in
difficulties. It the difficulties which existed in the money
market a short 'time.. since. had continued tor only On
hours longer, he believed, that the effect would have
been to put a stop to all dealings between man.and man,
except by means of barter. The c„nduct of the 8..0k
had. been most praiseworthy, and had in a great-degree
saved the country from a general convulsion. He *dull
take upon himself to say, that the B ink, throughout their .
prompt, efficacious, and public-spirited conduct, had
the countenance, advice, and particular recommendation
of the First Lord of the Treasury and hi, Right Hon.
Friend to assist them. Therefore he had a eight to
say that hii colleagues, in their communication to the
Bank, alluded to the state of the money Mat ket only,
His- Hon. Friend had inferred, from what appeared in
the correspondence, that Government was ignorant of
what passed in Scotland. Could it be supposed that
his Noble Colleague andhis Right Hon. Friend were so •
ignorant of the state of the country, as not to know •
that the gteatest commercial distress at present existed
in Scotland, and that the Scotch bankers, by their mode
of affording discounts, were aggravating that distress?
It was, however, quite .consistent with tkat fact, that
the system of Scotch banking afforded greater securities .
than the English system, and therefore it was desirable
to introduce the former here. He did not know whether
the Noble Lord intended to subject the whole of the
members of Government to the charge of ii sensibility
for the distresses of the country, but he could assure the
Noble Lord that there was no part of his speech in
which he so cordially and entirely concurred, as that in
which he stated that a system of currency which plc.
duced great and violent fluctuations in the price rf,
commodities, was one which, however it might all ct
the opulent merchant or the man of landed properly,
was most to be deplored on account of the marmor
in which it operated to aggravate the distresses of the
labouring classes. Tuat was the opinion which be had
uniformly maintained. -It would be found recorded its
the Report of the Bullion Committee of 1816, and it
had been awed by him en every occasion when he had
been called upon to deliver his sentiments on the subject.
There was tie part of the system of the currency at
which he lookel with greater anxiety than the manner
in which it prejudiced the interests of labourers, and
particularly those employed in agriculture. His Hon.
Friend the Member for Taunton had given a disserta-
tion—a very a* one certainly, to which he had listened
with great attention, and in some parts o ith great
satisfaction—on the general system of bankit g in the
abstract. HikHon. Friend then entered upon a state-
ment of the difficulties under which he supposed the
Bank to labour on account of the advances on Exche-
quer Bills and other advances more or less of a per-
manent nature, Made by the Bank to Government. As
. the question was one of fact, it was material that it
should be set right. His Hon. Friend was considered
a great authority, and a statement going forth from
him was . likely to produce considerable effect. He
wished, therefore, that the matter should be fairy
stated. His Honourable Friend had stated the advances
made by the Bank ou account
_of the half-pay
annuity .at 8,000,0001. forgetting that considerabse
sums were paid by Government to the Bank
twice a year on account of that transaction, which,
if deducted, would reduce the amount advanced by the Bank
to somo,ooc. His Hon. Friend add, that the whole of the
' capital of the Banswas Icncto the'Cimenonsent. -If he mous that
' the whole of the capital which the Bank possessed at tip
period of its foundatiotr *as kilt 'to Gooerientent at the psi.,
paid for their charter he (Mr. linskisson) would not dispose the