The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-06-04 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS, FRIDAY, MAY 31.

The Earl of Huntingdon, Lords Delamere, Northwick, and
Onslow took the oaths and their seats.

The Marquis of WESTMINSTER presented several petitions
for the abolition of slavery.

GAME LAWS.
-The Duke of WELLINGTON presented a petition from the
operative gunmakers of Loudon and Birmingham against the
present game laws. The petitioners stated, that since the
passing of the late act their business had very much decreased,
and that poaching had enormously increased. The noble duke
said that he had lately lost a servant, anti, in consequence,
would, as many other gentlemen had done, give up all idea of
preserving game in future. Poaching was in his immediate
neighbourhood three times as great as before the passing of this
act, and the evil proceeded from the power now enjoyed by
those who killed game of taking it away and disposing of it.
The Tallow and Soap Duties Bill was read a second time.
The Savings' Banks' Annuities Bill went through committee.
—Adjourned.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, FRIDAY, MAY •31.
Mr. EWART presented a petition from the Dissenters of Li-
verpool, praying for a charter for the London University; and
also a petition from Liverpool, praying the removal of the dis-
abilities respecting the registration of births, marriages, &c.
At the conclusion of the presentation of petitions Mr. G. P.
Scrope and Mr. Kennedy took the oaths and their seats.
The Speaker retired at a quarter past three.

At ten minutes past five o'clock the Speaker resumed the
chair.

Mr. GOULBURN presented a petition from the University of
Cambridge against the Jewish Emancipation Bill.

BANK. OF ENGLAND CHARTER.

On the motion of Lord ALTHORP, the house resolved itself
into a committee of the whole house on the Bank charter acts.
In the committee Lord ALTIIORP stated that he believed that
it was the practice on all former occasions on which it was pro-
posed to renew the chiirter of the Bank of England, for the per-
son who held the situation which he had then the honour to fill
to move the resolutions on which the Bank charter bill was
afterwards to be founded, in consequence of a formal applica-
tion made by the Bank of England to Parliament for its renewal.
The question of the renewal of the Bank charter was a ques-
tion of great importance to the commercial interest of England.
It was a question upon which the value of the property of all
classes of men in the country—not merely of those whose pro
party was invested in commerce, but also of those who had pro-
perty of any kind under their contrcul—must mainly and essen-
tially depend. In considering that question, he felt the full
importance of the subject which he had now to introduce to the
consideration of the house ; and he had endeavoured, to the ut-
most of his power, to frame a proposition which would give
general satisfaction and general security to the monetary in-
terest. During the last session of Parliament, occupied as it

was with matters of the most urgent and serious importance,
he had thought it better to defer this matter to the considera-
tion of a select committee. That select committee had sat for
a considerable time, and though it had not concluded its exami-
nation so as to make a full report to the house upon the various
points into which it was instructed to examine, yet the informa-
tion which it had elicited in the course of its examination had
induced him to think that the subject matter intrusted to it had
been sufficiently inquired into, and that it was unnecessary to
move for its renewal in the present session. With regard to
the principles upon which banking here and elsewhere must
be conducted, in order to be conducted properly, he thought
that it was almost unnecessary to -observe that the first prin-
ciple must be the convertibility of the paper issued into money;
indeed, that was the only principle on which you could pretend
to say that paper ought to have value as a medium of exchange;
and any departure from that principle must have the very worst
effects upon the manufacturing, the commercial, and the agri-
maturel property of the conntry. The next principle of im-
portance was how to secure the solvency of the bank which
issued the circulating medium. It would require no argument
to prove that these two points were points which it would be
necessary for the house to keep constantly within its considera-
tion. There was also another part of this great question which
was scarcely of less importance to the interests and prosperity
of the country than the soliency of the bank of issue,—and that
was the security to he taken against undue fluctuation in the
amount of the currency ; for though the ruin arising from want
of solYency in the bank was more immediate, the ruin was
'scarcely less inevitable which proceeded from undue fluctuation
in the amount of the currency. It was impossible, however, in
any circulating medium to prevent altogether fluctuation of
value ; the only object ,which any reasonable government could
hope to obtain was the adoption of such a system as would ren-
der the fluctuation as small as possible. The question, there-
fore, which the house then had to decide was in what manner
for the future the mode of supplying the paper currency of
England should be effected. At present, the Bank of England,
possessin.g as it did the monopoly of the circulation of the me-
tropolis, was the point on which all the circulation of the coun-
try must ultimately turn. It was by the Bank of England that
bullion was collected; and- whenever the foreign exchanges
turned against us, so as to make it the interest of persons to
send bullion abroad, the place to which they resorted was al-
ways the brink; and thus the circulation here was also affected.
The first question, then, for the house to decide would be, whe-
ther it was more desirable that the management of the circu-
lating medium of the country should be conducted by a single
bed, as bankers of issue, or by a competition of different banks
,or bankers ? It appeared to him, upon looking into this ques-
tion, that there were advantages, undoubtedly, in both systems.
It was, therefore, necessary to consider the case as related to each
• system. It must be the interest of banks thus competing with each
either, assumingthem to be equally secureiis to their solvency, to
issue each as much paper circulation as they could. They would
:be a check one upon the other as to the amount issued by
.each. It was therefore positively clear that no one of these
banks could issue more than its. due proportion of the circula-
tion wanted. For if there should be a state of things in which
there should rise up a great demand for accommodation, though
it might be in the power of each to increase the amount of cir-
culation, it would not be in the power of any of them to have
more than its due proportion of the amount of that increase;
and when, again, in consequence of a depreciation of the cur-
rency, a failure of credit takes place, in consequence of the
turn of the
.exchanges against us, each bank, looking to its own
interests, would be under the necessity of contracting its issues,
and thus would produce a sudden contraction of all the currency
of the country. This was a danger which ought to be guarded
against, for you would, from such a competition, produce a
greater fluctuation than you would by a single well-regulated
bank. There was another point on which a single bank, hav-
ing the control of a large part of the circulation of the country,
might be of advantage, and that was the assurance that in times
of distress it could give assistance to the commerce of the
country. In times of panic the exchanges turn in favour of this
country. There was no objection, on such occasions, to the
bank's increasing its accommodation, but if there, should be
! many banks, no one of them would dare to come forward from
fear of the competition of its rivals. The accommodation, there-
fore, in times of difficulty and distress, would be greater to the
country by a single bank than by many. All he said in this
respect was on the assumption that the single bank'was con-
ducted on sound principles,—that was, that it should not make
too great a profit by the public,—that it should look to the rate
of exchanges, and let its issues be regulated by the actual state
of the currency. No doubt the interest of a single bank would
be to keep as large an amount of its notes in circulation as pos-
sible. This plan of the single bank, therefore, would, he ad-
mitted, place an immense power in the hands of a body which
had a pecuniary interest iu abusing it. When he laid this plan
of a single bank, or of many banks, before the house, he did
not mean to assert that either was a mode wholly free from ob-
jection, but they must take the objections and the advantages
at one side and the other; and, looking at these, it appeared to
him that if they placed a proper check on a single bank, it would
be more preferable than to have many banks rivalling each other.
The advantages of having the Bank altogether in the hands of
government instead of a private company would be greater
responsibility, and in that respect greater security to the public,
and the whole of the profit; Uut in his opinion these were more
than counterbalanced by the political evils which would -follow
from having the Bank wholly in the hands of government.
He thought that the state having thus the circulation of the
country in its own hands would be productive of great mis-
chief. Government would have a constant temptation to abuse
this additional power; besides, it would be impossible in times
of commercial distress that government could give the same as-
sistance thathnight be afforded by a banking company. But
even supposing that government could give assistance under
such circumstances, the power which it would thus acquire
would be so enormous as might be destructive of the constitu-
tion of the country. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, if the
' Bank were to be tied down by fixed rules, which might prevent
it from making such. advances, he apprehended that in the en-
deavour to avoid one evil they would fall into a greater; for it
would then be impossible to give assistance when it might be
most required. He thought, therefore, that under these cir-
cumstances, it would be better to throw aside the notion of
having a bank under the entire management of the govern-
ment. The only cheek to which the attention of government
had been directed, and indeed the only one which had been
stated in the committee of last year as likely to be efficient,
was the publication of the Bank accounts. This, though not
in itself a perfect check, would, he thought, be found a suffici-
ent one for all essential purposes. It was well known that the
exchanges were against this country from August, 1830, to the
month of February, 1832, During this perios there was a con-
stant drain on the bullion in the country and a corresponding
contraction of the circulation, which at one time tell below its
usual amount by the sum of £7,000,000. He did not mean to
say that this had not been productive of great pressure, and
some distress; but there had been no convulsion such as had
been experienced in former times: but by the plan adopted of
allowing the drain on the bullion to act gradually on the circu-
lation, the pressure came with diminished force, and the evils
which it was calculated to produce were consequently lessened,
and at last, when the exchanges turned in our favour, the cir-
culation was allowed to increase as the bullion came. They
had thus reason and experience in favour of the present princi-
ple of the Bank being a sound one. Now, the publicity to
which he alluded would enable the government and- the coun-
try to judge how far the Bank adhered to this principle. He
, was aware that the Bank was not responsible, and that its di-
rectors could not be punished for adopting any course they
thought proper in, the management of their affairs; but the
house knew that the publicity of the Bank accounts would
bring the directors under the control of public opinion, and he
was sure that the directors of the Bank were as likely to
be acted upon by public opinion as they would be by per-
sonal responsibility. (Hear.) He would therefore propose
that there should be a single bank, as at present, but subject to
that control which the publicity of their accounts would pi oduce.
Ile would, also, propose to continue the monopoly to the
, Bank of England as far as regarded the metropolis—that was,
that no bank with more than six partners should he allowed to
issue notes in London, or within 65 miles of it. The next point
to which he should call the attention of the house was the dura-
tion of the charter. He certainly felt it not desirable to tie up
the government and the country to such a length of time as that
for which Bank charters had heretofore been renewed, while at
the same he admitted the inconvenience of again setting the
question afloat too early. He would therefore propose that the
charter should be renewed for a period of 21 years, but subject
to this contingency—that if at the end of 10 years government
should think proper to alter the -sye::em, it should have the
power to give a year's notice to the Bank; and, it that case, if li
the government so desired, the charter would expire at the end
of the elei enth year. Thus, government would. have the op-
portunity of making a change, if such were considered desirable,
while the Bank would have the certainty of not being subject
to any change for at least 11 years. With respect to the pub-
licity of the accounts, he proposed that the Bank should make a
weekly return to the Treasury of the amount of bills and notes
in circulation, and also of deposits, and that the average of such
issues and deposits should be published quarterly. He did not
mean that these weekly returns should be published weekly, for
he could easily imagine many circumstances of a temporary na-
ture which might occasion an extraordinary issue from the Bank
in one week, the publication of which might tend to create
an undue impression, which could not be the case if the average
issues were published only once in the quarter. Such a publi-
cation would be sufficient to show whether the Bank continued
to act upon the sound principles to which he had already ad-
verted, and could not be productive of any evil consequences.—.
He now came to that part of his plan on which, perhaps, there
might be great difference of opinion in the house. He bad
already said that there ought not to be any interference on the
part of the Bank or the government to prevent the drain of gold
out of the country, in order to regulate the circulation ; but an
internal drain in the country was on a different footing, and
might therefore safely be made the subject of regulation. He
ha already said that, the convertibility of bank-notes to bullion
was essential to a sound system of.banking, but having a bank
secured by a ready check, such as'that which he had stated, he
did not think there would be any danger. iu securing banks
against sudden internal drains of gold. He proposed therefore
to make Bank of England paper a legal tender in every place
except at the Bank of England itself, or its branch banks.—
(Cries of " Hear, hear," from several quarters.) He knew it
might be objected that this was an important change in our
system, bet looking at the rapid communication between all
parts of the country and London, he could not see that this
change would be attended with any danger; but when he saw
the effects that had been produced by sudden panics, he thought
that this part of the plan would be productive of much good.—
The next change which be should propose applied not only to
the Bank of England, but to all the commerce of the country.
It would be an advantage to the Bank that it should have the
power of checking the circulation by other means than by re-
fusing to discount, which they had done when the value of
money was greater than the interest allowed by law. He pro-
posed, therefore, to make a change, to a certain extent, in the
usury laws, by exempting all bills which had not more than
three months to run from the operation of those laws. He was
aware that very strong objections existed to the entire repeal
of the usury laws; but those who entertained such opinions
need not be alarmed at the partial repeal which he now.pro-
used. It might be said that this would be open to great eva-
sion; but surely those laws were open to evasion at present,
(hear, hear,) and he was sure that this partial repeal would
not add much, if anything at all, to such evasion. (Hear, hear.)
He would now call the attention of the house to thejerms of
what he might call the bargain made with the Badt by the
government; and first he would state that the whole of the debt
due from the country to the Bank was £14,600,000. Now, it
was evident that it was not necessary that the whole of that
sum should be locked up to give security to the country with
relation to the Bank. He would not, therefore, propose to re-
duce the debt much; but it was necessary that it should be re-
duced something, because it had the effect of making, the bar-
gain with the Bank dearer to the government than it otherwise
would be. They (the Bank) complained that they lost 1 per
cent. upon the whole amount of the debt due by the govern-
ment. He did not think the loss was so much; but it was cer-
tain that it was some loss : and in all the transactions with the
government, they charged it as a loss for which the public
ought to pay. Another point was, theta the interest of money
should rise to be much higher than at present, it would give the
Bank an advantage to have the claim for so large an amount;
but there would be much less difficulty in arranging part of it
now, when'the interest of money was low. He proposed to
pay the Bank 25 per cent. off their debt. This would leave the
debt of the government to them about £11,000,000, and he was
sure no one would say that that vas not ample security to the

:,;:114Nk► 7'7'74l‘'‘.
NSUNE 4, 1333:_

public. In this arrangement there was an evident and impor-
tant benefit to the Ban proprietors, and he might in justice
demand from them a good sum for it. He knew that he might
demand a larger amount, but he thought that the public would
have no reason to be dissatisfied with the amount which the
directors of the Bank consented to give—namely £120,000 a-
year, to be deducted from the sum allowed by the public for the
management of the public debt. At former renewals of the charter
the Bank paid for the renewal, either by a sum of money or by
lending,,money to the government at a, leduced rate of interest
—thus, by lending at 3 per cent. when the legal rate was 5.
He had the option of taking a fixed sum, or a certain share in
the profits of the Bank, but he thought it better that the coun-
try should receive a fixed sum, than that the public should have a
certain share of the profits of the Bank. (Hear, hear.) The
amount thus given by the.Banki spread over the whole period
of 21 years, should the charter continue so long, would be
£2,500,000 which was inure than the Bank had paid for the
renewal of any former charter. (Hear, hear.) He would
now come to another, and a most important part, which related
to the banking system of the country generally. He proposed
that every banking company of more than six partners should
be a joint stock company, such company to be established by
charter. In this he uid not mean to interfere with the forma-
tion of such companies but he thought it essential to the
commercial welfare of the country that such banks should be
established on sound principles. It was not intended that this
should apply to any banks already in existence, but he would
give to such banks the option of applying for a charter within
a time to be limited. [I he chartered banks would be subject to
certain regulations, but none which would not be found advan-
tageous to themselves as well as to the country. He would not
propose that joint-stock banks should be banks of issue. It
was well known that these joint-stock banks were of two sorts—
some issued their own notes, and others transacted -their busi-
ness in the notes of the Bank of England. But banks were
prevented from issuing notes payable in London for less than
£5O. In the plan he proposed joint-stock banks might exist
Within the 65 miles if they used the paper of the Bank, of Eng,
land. He would also propose that government should have the
power of refusing the grant of charters to companies applying
far them. This, for obvious reasons, was- necessary; as• rt
would lead to mischief if all who thought proper to apply
for such charters were to get them as a matter of course.
The conditions on which he proposed that government should
grant charters to those joint stock banks were the following:—
first, that the partners in those joint stock banks should have
half of their subscribed capital paid up, and deposited either
in the government funds or some equally good securities. (Hear,
hear.) He further proposed that the partners in those joint
stock banks shouldle liable to an unlimited responsibility. He
thought that it was but right that where those joint stock banks
would have the power of issuing their own notes, they should
be liable to unlimited responsibility. (Hear, hear.) He fur-
ther proposed that the corporation of the bank, as such, should
not hold any shares in it. He understood that in joint stock
concerns hitherto such a mode had been resorted to for thepur-
pose of multiplying the shares, and it was to meet that that
this condition was intended. He lastly proposed, that the
accounts of the bank should be yearly audited and published.
With respect to the course which he would propose to adopt
as to joint stock banks that did not issue notes, it was
plain that they stood upon different grounds from the joint
stock banks that possessed the power of issuing their own
notes. The public certainly were concerned in the sta-
bility and good, management of them, but much less than
they were in the stability and good management of banks issuing
their own notes. (Hear.) He proposed in their case, as the
conditions ou which charters should be granted to them, that
one quarter of their subscribed capital, instead of one half, as
required in the instance of joint stock banks issuing notes,
should be paid up and deposited as before,—that their shares
should not be less than £lOO each,—and that the partners in
such banks should be only liable to a responsibility to the
amount of their shares. He also proposed that the corporations
of those banks should not, as such, hold any shares in those
banks. It would be seen from these propositions that he pro-
posed to give great advantages to banks not issuing notes over
those that issued their own notes. These were the conditions
which he proposed with regard to those banks. In a case
where a charter was to be granted, it must be at the discretion
of the government to decide whether the amount of capital sub,
scribed was a sufficient amount for the locality in which the bank
in question was situated. As the amount of capita! which would
be sufficient in an agricultural district would not be sufficient
in a great manufacturing district, it must be left at the discretion
of the government to determine whether the amount of capital
subscribed was sufficient, and whether the charter asked for
should be granted. He hoped, however, that every proper fa-
cility would be given to the establishment of such banks. He
did not intend with respect to private banks, contradisguished
from joint stock banking companies, to interfere in any way in
the management of their concerns. It appeared to him very
desirable that by some means or other a better mode for estimat-
ing the circulation of the country banks should be established
than existed at present. It was essential to the good manage-
ment of those banks, on which the whole circulation of the
country depended, that the amount of their notes in circulation
should be accurately known. It was for that purpose, and with
a view to effect that object, he proposed that those country
banks, instead of having the option, as now enjoyed by the Bank
of England, of making a composition for the stamp duty payable
on the gross amount of their notes issued, should be compelled
to pay 7s. per cent. stamp duty upon the notes which they issued.
A distinguishing feature of this plan was, that it would enable the
government to know at all times the exact amount of country
bankers' notes in circulation. He thought that no real or sub-
stantial evil could happen in the case of a country banker
from such an arrangement; and, further, he was of opinion that
it was desirable to know, not only the amount of each country
banker's paper in circulation, but also theamount of his general
assets to meet the demands upon him. He did not by any
means desire to expose the affairs of individual bankers, for
though he thought it desirable to make the affairs of joint stock
banks known to the public, he did not consider it expedient to
extend the principle to the case of private individuals keeping
banks, who, with every certainty of ultimate solvency, might be
ruined by an exposure of their affairs under certain peculiar cir-
cumstances. He proposed that a statement of the accounts of
each individual bank should be sent up to London as a strictly
confidential paper, which was not to be published in a separate
form; but, the accounts being* added together, the total result
would be given to the public periodically. These were the
grounds of the propositions which he felt it his duty to
submit to the committee on this important subject. He
certainly did wish that the tendency of the present measure
should be (as he doubted not it would be found) to extend the
issue of Bank of England paper. Further, he was ready to ad-
mit that he did think it would be a safer and more secure prin-
ciple (if a banking system were now for the first time to be
established) to have only one bank of issue ; but in the present
state of things that was impracticable, and the utmost extent to
which any prudent man could be induced to go consisted in en-
couraging—without compulsory measures, which he (Lord Al-
thorp) had not used—the establishment of banks which should
not issue their own paper. He disclaimed the use of any com-
pulsion whatsoever, but he had endeavoured, by the tendency
of his measures, to make it the interest of individuals to esta-
blish joint stock banks that could not issue their own paper,
but that of the Bank of England. He had now stated all with
which he thought it necessary to trouble the house. He had
informed the house last night that it was not his intention to
ask for a vote on any of the resolutions on the present occasion ;
he should, therefore, content himself with placing the resolutions
in the hands of the chairman :•72-

ilr4‘

house to sr here till Christmas next. (A laugh.) It Oil
greatly to be regretted that their time should have been wasted
upon measures of much less consequence, so that when a great
measure like the present was brought forward, it must be dis'
posed of in a hurry, as it was physically impossible for 119 n:
members to continue to sit for the period required for its du!.
consideration and discussion. (Hear.) It was, however, 9,
great importance that with respect to that part of the noble
lord's plan which regarded the internal circulation of the coup-
try, and the country banks, some time should be given to the
persons connected with that circulation to
pronounce their
opinion upon it. 'Without entering generally into the question!
he could not refrain from offering the observations which he hila
now addressed to the house.
After acme observations from Mr. Grote, Mr. I. Smith, Mr•
Hume, and Colonel Torrens,
Lord ALTHORP moved that the chairman report progress and
ask leave to sit again.
Mr. GROTE inquired when it was intended to resume the
discussion. •

Lord ALTHORP replied on Monday se'nnight.
The house having resumed, Mr. BARING moved that the!
be laid on the table copies of the correspondence which hal,
taken place between the Government and the Bank of Englasiu
on the subject of the renewal of the charter.
Lord ALTHORP stated that the correspondence was I'Bl
voluminous, and not material for the elucidation of the ques-
tion.

That it was the opinion of the committee that it was expe-
dient to continue to the Bank of England for a limited period
the enjoyment of certain privileges now vested by law in that
corporation, subject to provisions to be hereafter made.
'1 hat provided the Bank of England continued liable as at
present to defray in the current coin of the realm all its exist-
ing engagements, it was expedient that its promissory notes
should be constituted a legal tender for sums of £5 and upwards.
That one-fourth part of the debt at present due by the public
to the Bank be repaid during the-present session ofTarliament.
That the allowances to the Bank on the management of the
national debt, and other public business, be continued, subject
to an annual deduction of £120,000 from the remuneration at
present assigned for that purpose.
That the laws restricting the interest of money to 5 per cent.
be repealed, so far as concerned bills not having more than three
months to run before they become due. _

_ .
That it was expedient that royal charters be granted for the
establishment of joint stock banks within a certain distance
from London.
That all banks should enter into a composition in lieu of
stamp-duties, at present chargeable at the rate of 7s. for every
£lOO issued in notes.
That it was expedient that a bill should be introduced into
Parliament to regulate country banks, the provisions of which
should be such as to encourage joint stock banking companies
in the country to issue the notes of the Bank of England.
The resolutions having been read by the chairman,
Mr. BARING fully concurred in the propriety of the course
taken by the noble lord in not calling for an immediate vote on
his resolutions, which it would be absurd to dismiss without an
opportunity of first hearing what the country at large thought
of the plan. The country bankers would be greatly deceived if
they did not see in the noble lord's resolutions an attempt to get
rid of their paper to a considerable extent, and substitute for it
Bank of England notes. Whether that was a judicious plan or
not, he did not pretend to say. However, that the principle had
been favourably received by a number of country banks was
clear from their present practice. Though the noble lord said,
"far be it from him to resort to compulsory measures," he (Mr.
Baring) suspected that the noble lord would not be unwitting
to accelerate and extend Bank of England issues by a gentle
shove, or that species of Quaker force which would effect his
object, and drive country bank paper out of circulation.—
From the sum of £248,000, at present paid to the Bank for the
management of the public debt £13,000 was to be annually
deducted, but the noble lord did not say whether this deduction
was made
.in consequence of the sum allowed under the old
charter being too great, or as a compensation for granting a
new charter. If the original sum was too Much, they got no-
thing for the new charter. What was the compensation given
by the Bank for the last charter? The Bank lent money to
the Government at 3 per cent., instead of 5 per cent. the mar-
ket rate at the time ; consequently it submitted to an annual
loss of 2 per cent. on £14,600,000, the amount of its capital
loaned to Government. This difference of 2 per cent., which
amounted to £280,000 or £290,000, was a bonus to the public.
What was the value of money now in the city ? Not 3 per
cent. say between 2 and 21-t per cent. It would seem from this,
that, in order to preserve the same proportion of compensation
as formerly, the Bank should now lend its capital at 1 per cent.
As to the chartered banks which the noble lord proposed to
establish, be thought they, never could work well while the law
of partnership remained in its present state. With respect to
partnerships, the French system was infinitely better than ours.
In his opinion the Board of Trade could not do better thau di-
rect its attention to a revision of the law on the subject. The
bon. member proceeded to observe that the noble lord's object
in making the distinction as to the limited and. unlimited res-
ponsibility of banks, accordingly as they were or were not
banks of issue, was evidently with a view to force the circula-
tion of Bank of England notes. The noble lord said that all
those banks should be obliged to pay 7s. per cent. stamp duty
upon the amount of their issues in circulation, and that with
a view to ascertain the en:fount in circulation. Now, he should
like to know how the noble lord would ascertain the amount of
such issues in circulation. Was be to take the account from
the hankers themselves ? The fact was, that this criterion
of the amount. of their issues would be anything but a true
criterion. It would no snore afford a tree criterion of the
amount of notes in circulation, than a property tax would
afford a criterion of the real amount of any individual's pro-
perty. There was one point in the noble lord's arrangement
to which he had personally a great objection, and an.objection
that was founded upon personal experience, not only in this
country, but in other parts of the world. He was aware that
it was an objection which, in the present temper of the times,
and of that house; was likely to meet with little favour there.
It was au Objection to the publicity of the Bank accounts. He
was quite sure that in times of difficulty the means of the
Bank would be limited, and its operations would be cramped;
by its being under the necessity of putting in an appearance
to the country for the purpose of marking its operations.
The noble lord prOposed that the government should have the
power of putting an end to the, charter. Was the bank; on the
other hand, to have a similar power? There was a variety of
points connected with this important subject, which would re-
quire much time for their consideration; and yet it would be
hard to call upon the noble lord to give proper time for their
discussion; fur that would, is point of fact, be calling upon the

The motion was ultimately withdrawn.
Mr. ROBINSON said that in consequence of the events whicb
had recently taken place at Exeter, he wished to know whether
any steps had been taken for the recall of Sir J. Jeflcott? r
Mr. STANLEY replied that Sir J. Jeffcott had gone out
a very short time, but that the earliest opportunity would I,e
taken to communicate with the colony on the subject of his re'
call from the office of judge.
Mr. ROBINSON.—Am 1, then, to understand that he is still to
retain the office until a communication takes place with the
colony ?'
Mr. STANLEY said that it was evident no step could be taken
until the opportunity of communicating with the colony Pre"
sented itself.
Mr. O'CONNELL said he could bear testimony to the charec'
ter of Sir J. Jeffcott. A more able, kind, humane, and excel-
lent man did not, in his opinion, exist.

COLONIAL SLAVERY.
The order of the day having been read for the resumption
the debate on colonial slavery, and the house having resolve'
itself into a committee thereupon,
Mr. GODSON rose for the purpose of expressing his sent
ments upon the proposed measure of Government. Ile a° e
nutted that no doubt could exist as to the question of the tio
having arrived at which emancipation had become imperative"
The proposition he would first of all set out with was this—that
the Parliament of England had no right to supersede_ the
thority of the local assemblies of our colonies. Had that house:
for instance, any power to delegate to the Assembly ofJamaies'
He denied that. it ever possessed such power. This positioo
was illustrated by the parallel instance of the conduct of the
States of America before the separation, which never re°4-
nised the authority of the English Parliament to interfere 11
their internal management, and when obedience was attempt;
to be enforced, answered the demands made upon them, not bi
compliance, but by presenting the bayonet. This position Otis
also strengthened by the charter granted by Charles 11., which
did not require the acts of the legislatures of the colonies to he'
confirmed by the Parliament of England, but by the King on f'
The people of Jamaica had always resisted any attempts to e 0"
croach upon their undoubted rights by the Parliament of El:
land ; and a measure like the present, he was sure, the Englis,
government would never have ventured to-apply to Scotian'
or Ireland before the union, but they were emboldened td
force it upon the colonies only because they were weak a°
could offer but little resistance. He hoped, however, the sense
of justice which distinguished Englishmen would operate to
prevent the consummation of so flagrant an act, and that the);
„„
would pause before they recognized the principle that power
constituted right. He trusted that house would never come i"
such a decision. In considering the question as to whether th,,
e
West India possessions were property or not property, he cow"
not help remarking that the right hon. Secretary for the Colo'
nies had carefully abstained from denying the affirmative of tI3O
proposition. He (Mr. Godson) contended that they were Prys
perty in the strictest sense. The hon. member then proceeded
to contend that slaves were property, and in support of his ar"
gument quoted the decision of Chief Justice Holt, and nine
other judges, in reply to a demand from the King in Councils
that " negroes were merchandise." In 1760 the plantel
wished to get rid of the slave trade, but Great Britain said tha
she Could not suffer them to put aside a traffic which was 0
generally lucrative to the empire. Thus it was evident that the
principle of slavery had been fostered by the mother counts);
For his own part he was willing to admit that the system st,
wrong from the beginning to the end, but it was for those vm.;
had invested it with all the attributes of property to abolish
with safety and honesty. (Hear, hear.) He considered thea
plan proposed by the government to be impracticable. It soul
be impossible to attempt to carry it into effect without having
4,000 stipendiary magistrates in the colonies. What would O'l'P,
labourers of England think when they saw that by this plan 5
was considered that a man who worked 7% hours
entitled to a house and garden without payment of rent, be'
sides food and raiment? And this, too, at a time when teri
hours was proposed as the maximum of the labour of infants:
It had been asserted by the right hon. gentleman that there WO
no saving-banks in Jamaica. That was true; but a savior
bank had been established at Montego, and had only been gives
up because not a single negro had ever come forward to mate
a deposit in it. The right hon. gentleman bad also said that th
number of negroes had decreased in proportion as the quantil
of sugar had increased, thereby producing an impression in
country that the planters had inhumanly worked their slaves t.er
death in order to nbtain a larger quantity of sugar from the'
estates. Now, he asserted that there was not the slightest folio'
dation for this position, and entered into some details to pro
that his assertion could not be contradicted. The right hol3;
gentleman had also denied that the depreciated value of estate
in Jamaica was occasioned by the agitation of this slave queet;
Lion in England. Now, of what use was such a denial, whe
it was known that ever since the year 1823, in which year 0'.3
agitation commenced, estates had not been saleable in the OW
nies? He (Mr. Godson) likewise complained that the right l'oe,;
gentleman had always referred to extreme cases to create °-
impression against the planters, and that he had entirely ove r
looked the meritorious exertions of such colonies as haildooe
their duty. The right hon. secretary_ proposed to raise the dojo;
on sugar from 245. to 275. per cwt. Now, that additional an
of 3s. would produce to the country a revenue of £600,000, all
a penny a- pound on coffee would produce £lOO,OOO more. N°":
ought not the house in common justice to give the West Indian";
from whose property this revenue was to be raised, and vibos;
estates would be rendered almost valueless by this plans ,
sum equal to that which at 3 per cent. interest would prodo4
£700,000 annually ? He contended that such a sum, wive
amounted to £20,000,000, ought to be giien them as a COol_.;
pensation for the loss which they would sustain, and as Y
inducement to them not to resist the law which involved that
.
in utter ruin. The resolution with which he intended to cos"
elude would embrace four distinct propositions—First of sr
it would grant immediate emancipation to the negro; seconl
it would enable your resolutions to work well in practice 'cc!
conciliating the prejudices of the planters; thirdly-, it w° 11,h
provide a fund for the raising of a capital of £20,000,000, wi,_
l
he would pay to the colonists as a compensation ; and fourthly'
it would pledge the house to lend £10,000,000 to the planter
on the security of the colonies themselves. The hon. geo,tia
man then moved a resolution to the effect which we have 3!"-0
stated; but we are sorry to state that the constant interrurt'".,,
which he met with in the course of his speech prevented
from collecting the precise words in which Isis resolution

couched.
Mr. Tancred, Mr. Buckingham, and Col. Davies then ad'
dressed the Speaker, after which,
Mr. O'CONNELL moved that the debate be then (I o'clocU)
adjourned till Monday. Agreed to.
Adjourned at a quarter past one o'clock.