The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-11-30 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY.

Earl GREY laid upon the table copies of the correspon-
dence between the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, and the Bank of England, res-
pecting the infringement of the Bank Charter Act of 1844,
and took that opportunity of replying to the question of
Lord Ashburton, on the preceding evening, as to the
public being left in suspense in consequence of the letter
of the bank directors announcing their resolution of re-
ducing the rate of interest to seven per cent. not being
answered by the government until the Monday following
the Thursday on which it was written. The fact was that
no such letter was ever written. The bank directors and
the government were in constant communication, but the
former acted on their own responsibility, though with the
sanction of the government, and, having carried their
resolution into effect on the Monday, the First Lord of
the Treasury and Sir C. Wood withdrew their letter on
the Thursday.
Lord ASHBURTON said that, under such circumstances,
the government was not to blame. The responsibility
was thrown altogether upon the Bank of England.
In reply to question from Lord BROUGHAM,
Earl GREY said that the effect on the currency pro-
duced by the outlay of capital on railways must, he con-
ceived, form a portion of the enquiry of the committee
upon the commercial distress of the country.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—FRIDAY.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved for leave
to bring in a bill to extend the time for the purchase of
land, and for the completion of works by railway compa-
nies, and in so doing declared his opinion, that the demand
for money for the construction of railways was one of the
causes of the commercial distress, which they all deplored ;
though he would not pretend to say it was the principal
one. As the agriculture and commerce of the country
were to be sustained by means of its floating capital,
when that became from any cause diminished a severe
pressure was necessarily felt by its withdrawal. The case
was precisely the same with communities as with indivi-
duals. If a large proportion of floating capital became
converted into fixed capital in any community the result
must be that all those who trusted to the floating capital
for means to carry on the trade and commerce of the
country must be exposed to the greatest inconvenience;
and such was at present the condition of this empire. The
right hon. gentleman then went into a series of calcula-
tions showing that from the year 1826 to 1846 the amount
of money sanctioned by parliament to be expended upon
railways was about £286,000,000. It was stated by Lord
George Bentinck that the average annual expenditure on
railways was about £12,500,000 ; but it was an erroneous
mode of calculating to extend the sum equally over the
whole number of years, as in 1841 the expenditure on
railways was only £1,470,000, while in 1845 it was no less
than £14,000,000. In 1846 the amount was £36,485,000;
and in the present year the sum expended, according to
the estimate of the Board of Works, had been no less than
£62,000,000. At present the expenditure was compara-
tively light, but since the commencement of 1846 it had
pressed heavily on the available capital of the country, and
would continue to do so in an increased ratio until 1850,
even supposing no railways were constructed beyond those
schemes which had been already sanctioned by Parliament.
Under these circumstances, it became necessary to take
some steps to Frevent the recurrence of such a pressure by
spreading the future expenditure in that direction over a
larger space of time than was at present authorised by
th-
Acts of Parliament under which those railways were res-
pectively carried on. He would not propose any compul-
sory measure, but rather one to give the power to railway
companies to extend the time for the purpose of buying the
lind for, and for the completion of their works. This would
prevent the necessity of their raising capital to purchase
the land for their railways within the given time pre-
scribed by their respective acts of incorporation. The
time to be allowed would be more conveniently discussed
in committee, but his present view was to give two
or three years beyond the time originally contemplated.
On the other hand, he proposed to give to the landowners
a claim for compensation for any injury which they might
in consequence sustain. With respect to railways not yet
commenced, he proposed that the directors should not be
empowered to commence their works without the consent
of a certain proportion of the shareholders. He would
also suggest the expediency of not passing, during the
present session, any bills authorising the raising of any
large sums of money.
After a short discussion the bill was brought in and
read a first time, and a committee appointed on railway
bills.
A discussion on the case of the ex-Rajah of Sattara,
arising out of a motion of Mr. Hume's for papers, in
which several hon. members took part, concluded the
business of the sitting.