Star.
London, England, 1819-05-26 00:00:00

to compel the Bank by kft Act of Parliament to
me cash.payments at a given period. The pro-
'';stof the Directors by discounts and
.the power of
60aernment secrities, were sufficient to answerever
, y
~giporary inconv uenience on the paert of the Bank. A
.oiler understanding of the question, and the speedy
~i,cision of the House,:would allay the fears and
:I.3rins of the country i and the people will rejoice
r•rlea they find that certain principles of security are,
..,:totioned by Parliament—(Hear, hear).
Mr. MARRY AT said, that, much as he admired
speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman who had
c.opo,ed the Resolutions, he had one objection to it
he must be allowed to state to the House. He
Nald not see any advantage in allowing the Bank to
ria their notes in bullion at a higher rate than when
were first issued, because such a system enabled
....cm" to take advantage of the distress of their cre-
,Aar& Besides, it was a, most extraordinary method
recommend it, by saying that it was•totoall impe-
,live. When men found the Funds lowetink every
1%, they naturallyendeavoured to obtain ullion,
~e it was always a standard of value. ' Now,
wing had declared that the Bank could not
to pay in specie, when the price of gold was
than 1:3. 17s. 100. per ounce ; and he also
Lined that the Bank ought not to pay at a much
m taxi what was fixed by the Mint price of
He (Mr. Marryat) contended that, besides. the
exc., tinges, there were also other•eireu m stances
elk!, the Bunk had no controul) to be taken
insideration, before a resumption ulcash,isay.
should be ordered by the Legislative Oovitop
He would ask, whether the importation of fo-
:oi a into this country hid been proilectiveof no
? .y, he would ask whether the effect of the late
h loan had yet ceased to be fek in the commercial
? l'.,r his own part, he thought that it had not;
totted that it would yet come down so far as
t•..i•er British subjects to invest their capital in
is therefore of opinion thatatmier such eir-
the payment in bullion on the Ist of Fr
impose a task upon thej3ank which they
~alsi not be able to fulfil, or which, if they did-,
attended with distress to the community.—
;,:nourable Gentleman then proceeded to state,
‘'.)en the Committee had been appointed, he
o.nolaincLi that too many theorists had been se-
: to compose it. Mr. Burke had said, " nothing
he conceived more hard than the heart of a
,113hboad metaphysician. He never sees any
his projected good but by the road of some
and considers man, in his experiments, just as
as he would mice in an air-pump, or a ski-
d mephitic gas r He was fully convinced of
uth of this observation before the Committee
trade their Report ; if he had not been so, the
,ophic e.tse and calmness with which this Re-
Tcommeasied the adoption of measures which
ca:lailated to bring great distress, of a tempo-
upon the country, would have
iced such a conviction. For himself, who was
ictical man, and no philosopher, he had found
our currency had depreciated 3 per cent. the
in dispute, therefore, was not whether we were
rere not to recover that depreciation, but whether
;ere to recover it three months sooner or later.
itch had been said of the confidence which had
and which ought to be, reposed in the Bank.
rould not enlarge upon that subject, but would
ly observe, that at present it appeared to him
it was very harshly and unjustly treated. The
iourable Member for Portarlington had even
id fault with the Directors in his capacity as a
k-Proprietor; he• had even stated, that they
not taken sufficient care of the interests of
• constituents—(Loaf cries of Order, order.)—
last declaration of their funds appeared to him
ive been such as ought to have satisfied even the
rapacious appetite. The Honourable Gentle-
had expected that there would have been a sur-
of £10,000,000, but there had only been a sur-
.of £5,000,000. But the Bank Directors ap-
peared to have lost the confidence of Ministers also
thought this particularly hard, and could scarcely
-.eive how the Chancellor of the Exchequer could
round upon, them, after the accommodations
:h they had previously afforded him. The Ho-
irable Gentleman concluded by stating, that
Igh he could not approve of the Amendment
:h had been proposed, he was most decidedly
:ile to the original Resolutions. If the Amend-
it was withdrawn, he should propose that the
.rth and fifth Resolutions should be left out, and
Told move that the time for the Bank's paying in
Cron should be postponed from the Ist February,
;20, to the expiration of the next two years.
During part of the Honourable Member's speech,
:ere was considerable confusion, and immediately
ln his sitting down, Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH and
• FRANKLAND LEWIS rose to address the CHAIR-
,N. The cries for the former were very great, but
, however, gave way.
Mr. FRANKLAND LEWIS wished the question
ere put to rest, in order to allay the public fermen-
ion, which was somewhat alarming. If the Bank
rectors acknowledged themselves in a dilemma, it
• incumbent upon Parliament to relieve them. The
esolutions' now proposed were the best remedy
.ich could be applied. They ought to be inter;,
Toed as the opinions of Parliament. He sincerely
limed that the Bank Directors had misinterpreted
e meaning of the Committees. Parliament has de-
al even to the Royal Prerogative the power or
iminishing the value of the current Coin. If the
rown do not feel degraded by this exclusion, then
y should the Bank Directors? If Parliament
thheld that power from the Crown, it had certainly
right to withhold it from the Bauk. The Resolup
nu would reduce the Bank Directors—and he spoke
with all due deference—to keep better company,
led assume good habits—to attend to their-mercan-
ile affairs, without believing themselves profound
Statesmen or acute Politicians-o.and to use their
test endeavours for the speedy resumption of Cash
payments—Loud cries of. Queitio*, adestion,
nomadedthroughout the Howse. Ix the midst If the
Interruptio,,
Mr.P. MOORE rose, and remarked, that it could
not with justice be said that the present plan came
ay surprise on the Bank, because, from the se-nt.i.
meats uniformly expressed on this subject by Parliaa
meat, as well as from thegeneral principles of justice,
the Bank must have known that they ‘lbuld be rat
oared at some time or other, to pay thaii debts 1..
Elea thear.)—The bnly question fly before do