The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-24 00:00:00

Ind thus supersed
would inconvenie

e the necessity for a special commission,
ntly alter all the arrangements of the whole

On the motion for the house resolving itself into committee
on the poor law amendment bill,
Mr. C. BULLER called the altention of the house to the
recent proclamation respecting the depreciation of the gold
coinage, and declared his strong disapprobation of the course
pursued by the government. The loss of weight on the gold
coinage was owing to fair wear and tear, and should not be
suffered to fall upon the accidental holders, particularly as
the loss to the public would not have exceeded £90,000, the
deficient gold coin in circulation being estimated at six mil-
lions, and, as was stated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the depreciation not exceeding one and a half per cent. He
dwelt upon the period of distress at which this loss was
thrown on the holders of gold coin, as being singularly un-
happy, and condemned the government for issuing light gold
by their agents while they were calling it in by the proclama-
tion which had been issued. He understood it to be a fact,
that light sovereigns were issued in one part of the Bank of
England which when taken to another part were refused as
being short of weight. He was of opinion that all the ad-
vantage to be derived from the new tariff in a whole year
would not compensate for the mischief done by this measure
in the course of one fortnight.
The. CHANCELLOR of the EXCHERUER thought this a most
inconvenient mode of bringing forward a discussion upon
such a subject. It would have been better had the public
been more frequently warned upon this subject, and he took
blame to himself that he had not done so when last in office.
The longer the delay the greater became the deficiency in the
coinage, and the greater the evil to the holders. In fact the
government had received some intimations respecting the
depreciation of the coinage which rendered the interference of
the executive absolutely necessary, and if they had not taken
advantage of the moment, he had reason to believe that an
equally advantageous opportunity might not again present
itself.
Mr. HAwEs condemned the conduct of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, in thus discrediting the value of the gold
coin, without making any previous inquiry, without pro-
viding any facilities of exchange, or any remedy for the evil
which such a proceeding must necessarily entail. He also
contended that the loss accruing from the wear and tear of
the coin should be borne by the public and not by the holders.
Mr. F. T. BARTNG said, considering the state of the ex-
changes, and the flow of gold into this country, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer ought not to have delayed very long
adopting some step with respect to the depreciation of the
coinage. It was to be remembered also, that it was the duty
of the government to give notice to the whole public at the
same time, and it might easily happen that in selecting a fa-
vourable time to do this, the government might find itself
unable to provide all the facilities that they could very easily
do if they were not thus limited in time by more powerful
considerations. _ _