New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1847-10-20

The Foreign News.
The t,dines from Europe wear still an uns'0'a
bic aspect Cston and Bresdstass have e~Pe''
eDced in,hsr and BY most, aoexpec'e' o'i'''
s,oo: and the continued failures % great 'o""'e'
cisl houses give reason to sPPrehend ina, tne enc
y. mn, xs, The depression of the Msnulactnr-
ing i,tere.t il extraordinary, and viii doubtless
exert q, influence upon the markets and the indus
Trial rivalries Of the world.
In such crisis men naturally seek scspegost
for their errors and misfortunesi and We notice
without surprise that the Bank Of England is made
10 bear q large share cf the blame OF the recent
commercial disasters. The Bank, IT Is SAID BY
critics has lent little too much, or 10 little At
one time and too much at another and thus induced
merchants to speculate compelled them to break
We are not 10 position TO Investigate this grave
charge. but presume there is truth at the bot
foa Of it--that 10 TO say, II the baos na' oe'h
m anaged with angelic wisdom and disinterested
ness It might have saved some from the insolvency
which has overaken them but whether the ruin
wolld have been more or less extensive II there
hsd been no such Bank in existence Is not so easily
determined The facility Of borrowing We eli sp
prec,ste aud delight 10 but the necessity OF pay
Jog 10 bard 10 comprehend when the process Is one
OF difficulty. We arc apt then to forget that Banks
are subject TO like Influences with individuals
that seasons Of CONNIE rcsl activity and prosperity
tempt them 10 expand their operations and dis
counts while revulsioDs and calamtes compel
them To- contract their isues and defer every thing
else TO the paramount duty Of meeting their abil-
tiles. IL the Bank OF England shall carry the Cur
rency Of The realm safely through the perils Of
Is47 it will have done much bad it undertaken to
keen down the rate of interest and save every ex
tensivc house from suspension, it would probably
have failed IN its first duty.
But the Commercial troubles Of Britain. thence
radiatipg the globe have their origin Ia causes
far deeper and broader than any matter OF Bank
management or Currency adjustment Their SIG
niicapce 10 not 30 narrowly TO be interpreted. lsl-
mediately, we should say that the destruction by
Potato Rot and kindred vistations Of nearly or
quite one third in amount Of the Harvest OF 1916
equivalent 10 the sweeping out OF existence OF at
least One Hundred Millions Of Dollars worth Of
the National wealth-was the main cause Of the
recent Commercial disasters. Bat behind that lay
apotber--indeed, several Others. The consequent
retrenchmsnt Of Industrial operations IN various
departments of Industry-the diversion OF Labor
To the task Of supplying ar procuring substitutes Tor
the usual staples Of Food-in hunting all over the
globe for Provisions which were often ruined by
exposure and decay before they reached their DIES
tination-- the encouragement and paralysis OF the
Labor hitherto employed IN the Potato Culture
&c--tbese are among the obvious causes which
have involved British Commerce in apprehension
and insolvency.
But behind all these causes lies another and
deeper. which pust yet be looked fairly IN the
face The civilized world and especially those
portions OF it wherein Society has become most
clsnpish aud artificial. is in diseased unwhoe.
some condition The Producing class has become
too lew or too feeble. the merely consuming class
too numerous or too powerful and luxurious For.
although the class of utterly idle and sumptuous
liven IN Great Britain is not numerically large yet
its ownership Of the Soil. the Buildings aud other
hxed Capital is general and so lucrative that 1t
is enabled to riot in extravaganza elsewhere un.
known, and to withdraw a very large portion OF
the dependent millions from productive labor to its
own especial uses The sinews which should
claim and cultivate the waste millions of lri'h
acres are uselessly enclosed in the livery OF Lord
and Lady Bellamare's porters. waters, coachmcn,
ioctmen, &c. &c. Luxury is continually multiply
Ing its wants and ts ministers. Thus while but u
few score thousands are really enabled to live as
they choose without exerton, there are ten times
40 many who eke out a subsistence and even ac-
quire wealth the satellites conveniences of the
noble and aiiuent leaving but a moderate portion
disposable for productive labor and of these one
fourth are habitually idle because employment Is
not Afforded them All around is unimproved land
Sufficient to employ and subsist them all but this
belongs to the oilers in the opposite scale and must
lie unused al their bidding. The landlords will
neither improve II allow those who gladly
would to do 90; and to attempt 1t without their
consent would be a trespass. a misdemesnor. II
not more Asgrsnt crime. So the Productive la
dustry of Great Britain is overland and borne down
by . double incubus Of Aris,ocracy and Pauper
ism-the former idle and extravssaut the latter
constrained to subsist thin diet, but still fear
fully burthensome from its immense and everin
cressine numbers. its general depravi,y. aud its
apathet'c hcpelessness Of any better condition And
90 every man who endeavors in day to live by
his own honest labor In Great Britain has at least
one hesgsr or turnkey fastened to his back, to be
carried aud subsisted through life.
That this state Of things cannot continue. the
commercial disasters of the season furnish addition
alProf That the inevitable change will take the
shspe OF peaceful. gradual benehoent Reform
rather than Of violent ssnguinsry. destructive Rev
ola,ion, oil good men must hope. But let none be
deladed with the fancy tba. the existing ineqesh
ties ci condition the laws that uphold them, can
ooiisst another generation Their doom is fixed
and iss execution csnno, be deferred, much less
evaded.
Csmnserct~l Failures In England.
Among the list OF recent failures IN England,