The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-07-15 00:00:00

THE CURRENCY LAWS.

On Friday evening, Mr; Jonathan-Duncan, 8.A., deli-
vered a lecture at the Music-hall, 80ld-street, on "The
Currency Laws as affecting the condition of the People
and Trade of the Country." The proceedings commenced
soon after seven o'clock, and we noticed, amongst those
present, Dr. Trench, Messrs. Isaac Buchanan, R. Graves,
James Irvine, Rowett, L. Peel, Arthur Crook, Charles
Myers,•James Harvey, J. Singlehurst, Henry Bremner,
Jones, Wilkinson, Edward Brodribb, De Pugee,
Braga, Percival Witherby, John Wood, James Davison,
James Bold, Dr. Brennan, Thos. Inman, R. Hinley, C.
J. Waddington, T. Roskell, J. Hant, and R. Parry (of
Seacombe); Councillors Fisher, Thomson, R. L. Jones,
B. Hall, and Bigharn, &c.
Mr. SAMUEL HoLME was called to the chair amidst
applause. He said that, as they had met rather to hear a
lecture from Mr. Duncan, on a subject which had already
excited considerable attention in this country, it would
scarcely become him to occupy much time. He would,
however, venture to make a few remarks, which, he
trusted, would be considered as his individual opinion only,
without his wishing that the meeting should identify them-
selves with the topics which he might introduce. He did
not think that those who had been the advocates of free
trade bad such exalted notions of its great blessings; nor
did he think that the Protectionists, and those who had
held views adverse to the free-traders, considered that its
disadvantages were so great that the one would expect
national and unlimited prosperity, or the other would be-
lieve that ruin was to be poured upon this country at once.
A great and wealthy nation like England could never be
permanently elevated or depressed by any solitary act : it
must be by a train of concurrent circumstances operating
in unison ; and the acts which could alone benefit or injure
must be those, not of individuals, but of the legislature at
large. Free trade was carried by our legal representatives,
and if it should be found to be a mistake, as a nation we
should suffer for the mistake of our legislators, with the
concurrent opinion and testimony of a great number of the
electors. In periods of great excitement, many were led
astray by passions and prejudices rather than by reason,
and he was glad that at the present period, which was one
of no great political excitement, they had an opportunity
of hearing Mr. Duncan, who would, no doubt, throw a
good deal of light upon the question. The mass of man-
kind did not think deeply or profoundly upon many of
these questions. Indeed, they had not time; they allowed
others—men who had often sinister objects in view—to
think for them. Thus error was induced ; the individual
suffered as an individual, and the nation as a nation. The
nation, however, was now compelled to think upon a great
number of subjects, and in this view the doctrines of the
" Manchester school," when brought to the test of prac-
tice, would undergo a most severe scrutiny at the hands
of the people of England. The most valuable knowledge
which, nationally and individually, we could possess was
acquired by suffering and by experience, Now, what was
the condition of this country at present ? Was it really
prosperous ? Were the agriculturists—the tradesmen—the
shopkeepers—growing richer? Was competition less rife
now than it had been ? Was property of all sorts rising in
value? Were our merchants in receipt of high prices
and high freights ? Were the operative classes in full oc-
cupation, and were two employers running after one
mechanic ? He thought not. He never knew a period
when there was more of individual distress, and particu-
larly amongst one class of the community. His table was
loaded with letters from all parts of the country, implor-
ing him to help men to situations who had filled the most
respectable offices, but who were now in the greatest dis-
tress. At the present moment there were at least 200
applications for a situation of comparatively small salary,
vacant under the corporation. Our country had been
placed in a most unfair competition with other and foreign
lands. The farmer was compelled to compete with the
lands of Pomerania, Poland, Russia, and other places,
while, at the same time, he must pay, in addition, the
burdens, in taxes, of Enelani. He was loaded with a
heavy tax, and then he was told to compete in the
race. The shipowner and the shipbuilder, who had
to pay their proportion of the national burdens, were
tolclby certain parties, in these enlightened free-trade
days, that they, too, must compete in an unrestricted
manner with the foreigner, and that it is no more than an
act of genzrosity on their part to allow the foreigner, who
pays none of our burdens, the same privileges of selling
his produce as ourselves. This they are told, although
the foreigner pays none of those taxes to which this
country is subject, and which must continue to be paid by
our posterity, if the credit and honour of the country are
to be maintained. The fact was, the whole nation seemed
smitten with a desire for cheapness, and this had caused
our legislature to repeal the corn-laws. We had taken the
duty off flour • but it now appeared from Mr. Jackson, of
Wakefield, although himself a great free trader, thatcheap
flour was prejudicial to his interests. Mr. Jackson was
said to be an extensive grinder of flour, having no less
than between fifty and sixty pair of stones at work. We
must have cheap silks, &c., and so we altered our tariff in
this country, and reduced it to such a level as to allow the
goods of foreigners to be admitted into competition with
our own on the same scale of duties. We must., too,
have cheap ships, and so we must sweep away the navi-
gation laws of England. He had 'stele been in Ireland,
and had travelled through more than half of it, and he
had been wonderfully struck with the great natural ad-
vantages presented by that country, and yet with the con-
dition of the people there. Its rivers and reservoirs would
give motive power to more than double the number of
manufactories at present existing in England ; and yet we
found that hundreds and thousands of the people of that
country were emigrating, whilst others were living in a
state of misery so abject that those who had not witnessed
it could scarcely conceive it. Their position was indeed
terrific. He (Mr. Holme) did really believe that if the
present system of free trade was attempted to be carried
out in Ireland in its present miserable condition, and if
that country was to be brought into competition with the
whole world, the country itself could not longer exist, let
them do what they would. Before the corn laws were
repealed, it was predicted that, with free trade, we must
have prosperity, but we should soon see whether the
prophecies of Mr. Cobden would be realised or not. He
(Mr. Holme) would not quarrel with free trade if free
traders alone were to suffer by it ; but the evil was, that
every person in the country, wheter his cpinions were in
favour of free trade or not, had to take part in the loss.
The free trader had a constitutional right to agitate and
pursue his theory, but he (Mr. H.) protested against
being compelled to suffer by such an act of national
folly. Free trade might be sound and wise if the whole
world was placed on a level, geographically and finan-
cially, and if all other countries would act upon the same
principle towards this country ; but so long as each
country must protect itself, it must have laws subject to
its own condition, otherwise it was utterly impossible that
the state of a country could be prosperous. Now the
currency question, which they were then met to consider,
was, he contended,-necessarily identified with the princi-
ples of free trade. He firmly believed that it was impos-
sible to carry out the present system of free trade under
the currency bill of the late Sir Robert Peel. Free trade
and a restricted currency were altogether incompatible.
They could not exist together. (He.r, hear.) House I
and other property had not yet reached the lowest
level ; and it was impossible that they could safely keep
gold at a fixed price, which was the case under the exist-
ing law. One of the greatest errors in the late Sir Robert
Peel's bill was, that in periods of great depression it made
no distinction between a man whose credit was good, and
whose property at his bankers was undoubted in real
value—it made no distinction whatever, in case of a panic,
between a man who was trading on a borrowed capital,
and another who was trading on his own capital. (Hear,
hear.) He felt the effect of that very strongly in his own
case, in the year 1847. It so happened, that in that year
he had a great body of workmen employed on certain rail-
ways which he had under contract. In that year, during
the panic, he was placed in this position, that, with credit
and property at command, far away more than he wanted,
it was impossible for the banks, in consequence of the
restricted currency at the time, to find him either bullion
or bank-notes. Any security he could have given them,
but they could not obtain the money ; and ultimately it
was with great difficulty that they were able to pay their
workmen, and then it was by Government itself doing an
illegal act which gave them relief ; and if this had not
been done, he should have been compelled to discharge
several hundred men, not because he had not the means
of paying them, but because the bankers had not the
means of giving it to him. Several eminent merchants
and tradesmen told him that they were in the same posi-
tion at that time, and if it had continued a week longer—
if the Government had not been driven to do an illegal
act—his workmen and the workmen of several other firms
would have had to walk about the streets. It was forthe
purpose of getting rid of such a calamity as this that he
hoped something would be done to make an alteration in
our present currency regulations. lie had no wish to see
anything done which would create a fictitious capital, and
so allow men to go into the market with such a capital,
being thus unable to meet their engagements; but as rents
and other commodities must come down, the price of gold
could not much longer be maintained at £3 17s. 10Id. per
ounce. If so,' the mortgagee would be the man who
would come into possession of property, and the mort-
gagor would be ruined. Mr. Holme concluded by stating
that it was for these reasons he was anxious to hear what
Mr. Duncan had to say, without pledging himself, or with-
out the meeting pledging themselves to every opinion
which Mr. Duncan might propound. He should be glad
to hear what Mr. Duncan had to say, because by this
means truth was elicited. He trusted that this would not
be made a political question, but more of a social ques-
tion ; and if the attention of the country was roused to
it, as it no doubt would be, the subject would be forced
upon the legislature, and Sir Robert Peel's bill would be
so modified as to better the condition of the people, by
basing the currency laws upon a principle of equity and
justice. (Mr. Holme resumed his seat amidst applause.)
Mr. DUNCAN said it was notorious that the ancient
political combinations of whir and tory were from year to
year becoming mere traditions of history, and that those
two powerful parties were now superseded by an antago-
nism that was raging between protectionists and free
traders. Now he bad the boldness, and some might say
the audacity, to think that both the protectionists and
free traders were profoundly in error, and that it was im-
Pertitnt for the best interests of :the state that each party,
in a generous spirit, should revise their former notions,
endeavour to get rid of their prejudices, and unite toge-
ther on a friendly and patriotic platform to discuss differ-
ences, with the view of creating harmony where discord
now exists. (Applause.) It was to aid in this reconcilia-
ticn of opinion that be presented himself before that audi-
ence. He was not a partisan either of the free trader or
of the protectionist, but simply an advocate of what he
believed to be true. He should endeavour, therefore, at
the commencement to point out what he thought were the
errors of the free traders, and then what were the errors

of the protectionists, and having done that he shouldenter
upon the general topic of his address. The free traders
set out with the fundamental "principle that food is the
first necessity of the working classes. That was the doc-
trine of the Anti-Corn-Law League, and he considered it
most erroneous. The first necessity of the working classes
was constant employment at remunerative wages, (cheers,)
for it was plain that the labourer must earn wages before
wages existed to be exchanged for food. He dare say
there were some poor men in this town who had passed
the bakers' and butchers' shops when food had been in
abundance, but for want of employment they had not
money to satisfy the shopkeeper. There was nothing new
in this, although it had been strangely overlooked by those
who called themselves free traders. Cobbet, who cer-
tainly was a friend of the working man, long since said,
" What would it avail ye were a quartern loaf ata penny,
and you had no employment to get the wages by which
the penny could be earned." (Hear. hear, and applause.)
This he took to be the first error, and a grievous and fun-
damental error it was of the free traders. The next grand
error was the fallacy of cheapness, and it was that fallacy
which carried their question. The working man was told,
during the agitation of the league, that, were the corn
laws repealed, three masters would run after one man.
But another idea was this, and it was important, because
it was the telling deception upon the working classes.
They were told, though not in express terms perhaps,
that their wages would continue as high as ever, their
employment as constant, while food would fall, and that
all the produce they would require to consume would fall.
That this was a fallacy was patent on the face of it, for why
were wages paid in any business, but to create profit ?
The employer intended to sell at a profit; but if produce
sold for little money, would any man pay high wages ?
But cheapness was to be looked at in a two-fold aspect.
Much money for very little labour was a sort of cheapness
which the industrious classes ought to fight for; but the
other form of cheapness, of which the fixed annuitant had
the benefit, was to command a great deal of labour for
very little money, and they had to say which of these
they would choose. David Ricardo long ago put forth a
very flattering theory to the industrial pride of England.
He said that because England possessed coal and iron she
was destined to manufacture clothing for the whole world ;
this doctrine was taken up by Mr Cobden and his associates.
We were to supply the continent of Europe, America, and
in fact the whole earth with clothing, and this was to be
on condition that we should not grow food for ourselves.
The foreigners were to destroy their looms and we our
ploughs. This was one of the visionary doctrines of free
trade. Could a more monstrous doctrine be conceived
than that the inhabitants of any country were to
forego the advantages of manufacture in order to have
possession of the bread and beef markets. These were
the fundamental ideas of those who called themselves free
traders ; but they were, in fact, nothing more than free
importers. Now as to the protectionists : the old school
of protectionists, from 1815 to 1846, never perceived the
folly of their legislation. They had, at one and the same
period, laws on the statute book which were mutually
subversive of each other. They had a corn-law designed
to raise prices, and a money-law designed to pull prices
down. (Hear, hear.) It was clear, therefore, that when
the harvest was abundant, and the corn low, that the
manufacturer would flourish whilst the farmer would be
injured. On the other hand, when the farmer got a high
price for his wheat, the manufacturing interest would be
depressed, because it depended upon a good or bad harvest
whether the corn-laws were of more benefit than the
money laws, and vice versa. From this ruinous policy
the modern school of Protectionists were exempt. In 1846
they began to think how,they should recover their lost
ground ; and though he (Mr Duncan) had been preaching
the doctrine of currency like a voice crying out of the
wilderness with very few to hear him, and though he felt
certain that till the corn-laws were repealed that doctrine
never would get a hearing, yet he was equally sure that
when protection was carried away from agriculture the
territorial aristocracy to defend themselves would be com-
pelled to take up the money question •, and that they
would do it, he had the very best assured certainty, when
a change of government should call upon the Earl of
Derby to administer the affairs of this country. (Great
cheering.) The modern school of protectionists saw the folly
of the old system, which had two antagonistic statutes con-
currently existing—the corn-laws and the monetary laws.
He would take that opportunity of doing justice to the Na-
tional Association. In the address of the General Commit-
tee, dated 12th Dec., 1850, and signed George F. Young,
there is this passage :—to make " an energetic demand
for revision and amendment of the present currency laws,
the provisions of which not only embarrassed the action of
the protective laws while they existed, but materially con-
tributed to the ultimate subversion of those lags, and
would again impede and neutralise their action if restored."
After these avowals, officially printed and circulated, a
reform of the monetary system is an essential element of
Protectionist policy, equally with the defence of agricul-
ture, shipping, and the colonies; and when the whole
question is impartially surveyed from this point of view,
all currency men are bound to support the NATIONAL As-
SOCIATION. It is on this principle that consistent Free
Traders and Protectionists may form an honourable alli-
ance—for Free Traders may argue thus :—" Our work is
only half done ; we have, to some extent, got free trade in
commodities, and, advancing in the same direction, we
must have free trade in the instruments in which
commo-
dities are bought and sold ; moreover, we always under-
stood that free trade would give us snore trade, but surely
to carry on more trade we must have money." The Pro-
tectionists may reason thus :—" We are prepared to pro-
tect the legal tender of the country; the old laws rendered
it penal to melt or export our coin ; those laws are re-
pealed, and we feel the disastrous consequences in being
periodically deprived of the national instrument of ex-
change, attended by panics and the suspension of busi-
ness ; as, therefore, we are pledged to protect the trade of
the country, we are bound to protect the money in which
that trade must be transacted." Mr. Duncan then
gave an historical narrative of the money laws from the
suspension of cash payments in 1797 to the panic of 1847.
Our space will not allow us to report this part of the lec-
ture copiously, but we will select the most important pas-
sages. When cash payments were suspended, it was re-
garded by Parliament as a temporary measure, no one
imagining that the war with France would be of long
duration. It was agreed that metallic payments should
be resumed six months after the signature of a definitive
treaty of peace. The peace of Amiens was signed, but
cash payments were still suspended, showing that the par-
liamentary pledge was set aside and virtually extinguished.
It was, however. revived by the Bullion Committee in
1810 ; however, Mr. Vansittart's resolution that a pound
note and one shilling were worth a guinea, passed in 1811,
did really amount to a recognition of a new standard, on
the faith of which innumerable contracts were made.
Peace was again restored by the battle of Waterloo, and
instant preparations were made to return to metallic pay-
ments. The Bank of England and the country banks
suddenly contracted their issues, and the distress in all
parts of the country was unparalleled. The Government
was alarmed and abandoned their project. The currency
was again expanded, and prosperity returned. The years
of 1817 and 1818 were years of comparative prospe-
rity, although the price of corn rose to nearly 90s. This
encouraged the Minister of the day again to bring forward
the proposition to resume cash payments. and the late
Sir R. Peel, who had been previously an advocate of paper
money, became chairman of the Bullion Committee, and
introduced the act of 1819, the source of woes innume-
rable to this country. More deaths had been caused,
more hearts broken, more suicides committed, more deso-
lation spread through families by the act of 1819 than by
the most sanguinary edicts of the most bloody emperors of
Rome. (Cheers.) In the January of that year there was
boundless properity ; in November dissatisfaction, tumult,
and rebellion. At the very hour of the birth of that act,
its condemnation hovered over its cradle. Of this state
of things it is important to give evidence, and we possess
it in speeches from the throne to Parliament. In January,
1819, on opening the session, the royal speech contains
these words : " The Prince Regent has the greatest
satisfaction in being able to inform you that the trade,
commerce, and manufactures of the country are in
the most flourishing condition. " The fatal mea-
sure was passed in June, 1819, amidst the insensate
acclamations of Parliament, and in November the whole
country was in a state of insurrection. At this unusual
period of the year Parliament assembled, and the royal
speech was to the following effect :—" I have observed
with great concern the attempts made in some of the ma-
nufacturing districts to take advantage of local distress to
excite disaffection to the institutions and Government of
the country. A spirit is now fully manifested utterly hos-
tile to the constitution of this kingdom, and aiming not
only at the change of those political institutions which
have hitherto constituted the pride and security of this
country, but at the subversion of the rights of property,
and of all order in society." Such were the immediate
effects of this spoliating legislation, and it is remarkable
that this speech of the Prince Regent was framed by the
very Government whose ACT had caused all the danger
that threatened the existence of the monarchy. They
were utterly blind to the consequences of their own folly.
When we meditate on these events we cease to wonder at
the strong language of the late Lord Wharncliffe, who is
reported, in the Bankers' Circular of 23rd July, 1847,' to
have said, " Peel's system must be destroyed by violence."
The Government again became alarmed, and, in 1822,
Lord Castlereagh's Small Note Act was passed, which
again expanded the currency, and general prosperity was
restored. In 1825 every working man in the country was
employed at remunerative wages. Prices rose to the
taxation level ; but as the law tied gold down to the barter
lovel, which excludes taxation, gold was the cheapest article
in the market. The foreigner sold us his goods at our high
prices, but would not buy our goods at their high prices; he
took away our gold, and then we were deprived of our legal
tender. The consequence was the dreadful panic of 1825,
which involved a loss of property equal to the amount of
the national debt. Mr. Huskisson declared that the
" country was within twenty-four hours of barter," and
recommended the Bank of England to post a notice on its
doors, stating that they would pay gold for their notes in
the following week. That establishment was only saved
from bankruptcy and the country from revolution, by the
lucky discovery of a box containing a million of the dis-
pised one pound notes, which were forced into circulation.
The next historical epochs were the panics of 1847 and
1839 ; in the last named year, the Manchester Chamber
of Commerce published their celebrated report, in which
they declared that the losses of Manchester, owing to a
forced contraction of the currency and a consequent re-
duction in the value of all merchandise, amounted to the
enormous sum of forty millions sterling. The lecturer
then described the provisions of the cxmplement act of
1844, which, based on the assumption that a pound ster-
ling 84:sifted 123 grains of gold, contradicted itself by
authorksing the issueof thirty-one millions of inconvertible
notes,. without the guarantee of a single grain of gold.
Tile.panic of 1847 was next discussed, and it was shown
tALkt it was caused while the foreign exchangc were

inas
be
being
re
an internal.
stlh
de r
ain drainto
payof bullionwg es
nfrdo the e burly_
•
ful works. This important fact should teach the Wit
ing classes that their real enemy was bullionisin .-Vred
excellent chairman, in a very noble spirit, had decd, be
that if the act of 1844 had not been suspend ,500
would have been compelled to dismiss 1200 or
men, and others would have been under the saute oen".,,'
coulda lntohto ugge al
ht tenderme hf ;lot
the
banks r o pteor tin
a;
to pay his wages. This avowal was most important°, ten,
confirmed the principles he was advocating, and c 1;1,1,
from a gentleman of Mr. Holme's high standing in e°,9l to
large experience, and ample fortune, it could nodslaw.
produce a profound impression on all whose m
.1;";
not barred and bolted against the reception of truth.
confession reflected the highest honour on the patriogw
ra
and manliness of the worthy chairman, as too Illaulieej,
false pride concealed their real circumstances; and in" _..e
thit
so many were under the thumb of the banks,
but a man of undoubted wealth would dare to raakeo
avowal, for which the thanks of the working classes Wed
due to Mr. Holme. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Duncan reiter,a,
the argument which, in his previous lectures here, bag
adduced to show the advantage which our present taro
tary system affords to the foreigner of selling his Prflber
here, abstracting the gold, and then bi inging it 1°1,...,4
only when he can buy our goods at 50 per cent. below
0"1:,
price. He gave the following illustration of the cheaP rto
recommended by free traders :—Supposing the lab /4 to
be represented:by 4, and the tax by 2, the price 0ue.....0
be 6. The free. trader says, " Let us have cheapoe,o
Well, suppose what ought to sell for 6 the free.trs7 ref
cut down to 5 ; whence is the 1 deducted ? From
representing labour, or the 2 representing the taxation •
out of the latter, lam satisfied, because that will show `
ta.:,
ation to be reduced 50 per cent.; but if out of the 4 reklre,
senting labour, I am not, because that cheapness in latter
a reduction of the wages of labour 25 per cent. /This of
kind of cheapness was the curse of the babouring classeso
this country. The fundholders were the only class weit
rejoiced in this kind of cheapness. The lecturer 001
glanced at another monstrous fallacy which he had h jr;
that
millions
Liverpool—namely, pßoofsonl —k
unemployedonfa thatmEenlgyl,anndo, t
fetoshr.ei
nbßsa weretnuaktnsleeet,
ibt s
bdf full of or
that this plenty of money was in the hands of bankeL
bill-brokers, and usurers. This-description of plenty ;v
akin to apoplexy in the body natural—all the blood 188'7_0
the head ; but the plenty of money that was healthful 70
that whic existed in the tills of the shopkeepers Ira°, their
increased number of customers coming to spend
money with them. (Cheers.) " Money," said °le
Bacon, " was like muck or manure—valueless to the eelhe
unless it is spread." Mr. Duncan further said, °atoll
present was a false prosperity, and that thousands of 05,
of reputed wealth in Liverpool, if called upon to Pal 0.
in the pound, would find it very difficult indeed to de to
The last fallacy to which he alluded, before proceedilett
another branch of the subject, was one of Sir 11.°,.,.f.
Peel's, that the disastrous panic of 1B47• justified us" "or
It was said, if a man had cotton, or calico, or
coal, he could make any profit which the market w, be
afford, and why not a man make as much profit _an'eot
could of money ? Plausible enough.;. but meoeniguehnytdwe°l.7l.3lltiatillf
like any other article in the market. There wake nt-tbers
which limited cotton, calico, or iron in amount; ea',;ney
were two acts of parliament which did thus limit lip,— We
and, therefore, we had no right to charge any
could get for money on the same ground as for coral•te 01
ties. In fact, our merchants had to pay a high rebjt foe
its
stearretsioiel it
interest, not
sfeoarrtehey. l. Duncan then all
legitinzrateuseof
tlefal tenuddeerd, the
tool
repeal of the Navigation Laws, which he dennu but
as a most disastrous and anti-national tneasakt:'„;ntife
be could not recommend their revival as a sia"e our
measure, as that would endanger the possession,%ede
colonies. and certainly lead to the annexation of "4 be
to the United States. However, our shipping be done
preserved, and the problem was how that could heht to
without injury to our colonists, who bad a rig the
say, " you have thrown open the British markets tea the
competition of the whole world • you have tower you
value of Canadian flour and of West Indian sugento
therefore cannot, without flagrant injustice, depriveeheip
any compensating advantage we may gain frotpssiff
freights." To reconcile these difficulties, it is neaEdOcS
to take a comprehensive view of our position, ana,.., bail°
from it a future course of policy which may ag9,'" „
up the delapidated British empire. Mr. Duncan toe-ofelt
folded that course of policy, and as it is perfectly ;020
we shall report it in the first person. The United cost'
have declared California a portion of the American°, c 1
in consequence of which no British ship, with carg •e;
sail from any port in the United States to Califor°,loeiro
propose, therefore, that British India and all our CI ore'
be declared coasts of the United Kingdom of Greif? te 00
tain and Ireland, which will enable us to retard our
brother Jonathan dodge for dodge. Henceforre,ar 0011
colonies must be treated as transmarine counties'
;
separated from us by a broader stream of salt we" . tos
that which flows between Birkenhead and LiverPe° 'free
I would admit all their produce into this count!! tre,
of duty, retaining the existing duties on foreigute's 0'
duce. In this arrangement I would include theit, be'
Cbitri, wholly remitting the present duty levied oonnsopi
cause every pound of tea consumed leads to the wool
tion of five pounds of sugar. In.this motrnonsurfPui
protect and regenerate our colonies, and,as t°' ree-'°.o
tion of tea and sugar would probably increase 0- „e tb;
under this system, I confer an equivalent boon eve,
shipping trade and on all artizans and mechanics con,Popor'
with it, as the employed tonnage would expand
tionately to the three-fold consumption of tea arier.,:eielltg,
and, having declared our colonies coasts, the
would be confined to the British flag. But it iv re;
asked, how do I propose to make up the deflciend 0000,1
venue which must ensue on abandoning this large 9/ slit/
of Customs' duties ? In the following manner.,..toper,
assume, in round numbers, the annual amount oilge Bpd
taxation at 50 millions. Into Schedule A, I Place of t:7
lions, to be employed in the current expenditor!jost.;
nation, including the army, navy, and ordna nc e Soto
and all civil disbursements ; and I place 30, the dile
Schedule B, strictly to be appropriated to Wills fon) it,
dends due to the public creditor. I would take, dole to
Chancellor of the Exchequer all control over Seueo as is'
and vest it in a special Board of Commissioners, f
make this department altogether independent,°9 pre
terial changes. I would make the national deqo cro:e.
plc fixed in the constitution, and as sacred as t"tbe rerot
thus rendering its repudiation as impossible e,,,goceelca•
diation of the monarchy. By this plan the ,s,ios ow. et,
of the day would be free from the importuo'"iperceadee
pidity of the monied power. The voice of the its; the
shipowner, and manufacturer would then he ice e'Doct!
weight in Downing-street, instead of theY"cballe; ;
bondholding millionaire. The attention of tee dole A'olo
of the Exchequer would be confined to Sche dole
propose to levy the thirty millions transferred to ate vd
B in the following manner :—Statisticians eel 00010
realised property of the United Kingdom at s's toe'd
millions sterling. On this I would put a tax roperl' te.
per cent. merely, abolishing the existing Pef c the
income tax, and this would satisfy the demon lied t°oo
dule B. All surplus revenue to be annually aPPtoI 0%01
liquidation of the principal of the debt. •Lety
relieve the springs of industry by remitting tulionelle,ee
of indirect taxation. I therefore outbid th° ' of
cog
school, who only hope to take off ten coillionsweoeve,
and this they only pretend to accomplish In." our re'
our naval and military defences, and abandol.Zges, to
lonies. I offer you a reduction of thirty 1111" cienie;seg
serving the army and navy, and restoring your „,; els the
their ancient prosperity. Unless the propertivose tej
are dead to honour and justice, they cannot ePocarselo,
paltry tax of merely per cent., for the debt was PA
to defend property. Moreover, this float'''. a0"4,1
withvp ieerwceepdrai
cent. would
ra wh o
moneylesu,
theffiwoc suffice
nationalldin uaa rfae nwwt
wealth
el
taall s
years. All
or
Aouplidei
prodigiously increase, even a smaller sum t,ha,.'he een"ief
would be employed, and, baying an easy cooldefee
the necessaries and comforts of life, would„, 010°
institutions of a country based. on auslica,',;sed e'prei
The utilitarian school of political economy is ""sthe
degradation of humanity, for it merely calculate ,ohlict'
duce, and forgets the producer. But the tilos thee'
political economy is based on the eternal relat,ty fed tbl
subsist between GOD and MAN.. Our heave doptc,,o
long before uis creation of the human race, ..togdee'detie
earth as our fitting habitation. In the three r,...,10'r
nature,—the animal, vegetable, and mineraeort etoerlti
us all the raw materials, on which we 1110 aerelatia',
dustry, and froth them extract food, lodging'4o, he-ojer.
HE has gifted us with intelligence, and jo 'rebe pie
d P
mechanism of the hand,—solid, flexible, ao.„0 000,
we possess an instrument with which, 'of 00 eeor;
fatgaftt
from
nnaooceetdanmteou:htrsapheowaresednsear.
usswfonooncti
rsGetarhaontonhfsdfpue,
otf,l
rohdedotexhahtdti
muchesr:
mgera bheccomEtt
soooetorttrtr
nnehhhs eenseroodhgl. rfri
misery
ahtobnei
aletdnr:oednlpaoes
jdur
anupgrserite:ni: 8,0001
cis;
coo:100;i
0091:03r:cri lc;
been unjust to men ; becausineAstherreusinfltoeiethe.,o79orantreasstderitibbceaelt:it°oooll;
so that the ample materials bestowed s-r prA pot
unspeakable benevolence of God cannot be Oath Ire
sufficient quantities, for who will produce w..",/ r0°,,°0014
distributed ? In the order of nature, ece'e'lld t" Vivi!
consumer and every hand is a producer,.creetPaitley
no markets but those which we ourselves 000,neet 0,
has been called the overproduction of,„ ciestra'-ri
really the underproduction of money, tue .Until eve- of 'OO
which produce must be exchanged. a thipesodelto
woman, and child have more of the ge°_f oaerPrtrited of,
than they can consume, the doctrines e' eon dioeido
and overtrading are sheer bullionist falltaelrbe ther;ibetiot
conceal the iniquity of the system•alecoo°.ooo
bog
Liverpool to found a new school of politrc.i_
reiatitra ts,ort
on this religious and christian view of tlitaiures, it
eisxiisnt byoetuwreen the CREATOR and Ills,cre
nobjetertitf soot
cn"oevnvinenrtdrwiye
was
st e° theffer
offered
da to this
ot
bf
aGod greatto
ttenearac•n t icex
sewo
of
isoptie
efrol glorious 0111;" :shied
tsah
itt;
make
eetrb
et o set
generousthis
poor brethren, and then it may betrutye,, peer too,.
may justly claim the epithet of " toe.rri 8, for #lO
to her by her poets in the good old titliive
°ors
el
1 u and s f
ueld
111
° b
,i
Thetion lweoetuuldrebleasbtaesdedupownerthde maxim s
of
ftwo
hat the Conclusion Mr. Duncan was most
see°
e eS
cheered.
Fl"Siti to Id, to
On the motion of Mr. Councillor as
Mr. BRODRIBR, a vote of thanks was P,a„ol4ile" very
can, amidst loud applause, which he,a
airottati'eoe
appropriate address. a to the choose
A vote of thanks was then Passe it to pi
the interesting proceedings were brut*
~,,ecta„edble
ten o'clock. • rvie pro'`
The hall was nearly filled, by.a t int
tory, vilwappeared tot ajq grab 14tecres.