The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1847-11-12
The Commercial Crisis In England.

government ought to constitute itself the regulator of thu
industry of nation under the pretext of protection
and the regulator OF its paper currency through the agen
cy OF great central money power the present financial
agony of the most opulent country in the world offers
most instructive lesson and most solemn warning
English commerce and English industry to be fast
approaching dead lock- English credit is shaken to its
centre The merchant with his warehouses crowded with
merchandise and with the ncontestable securities
in his hands, cannot find the of paying his notes
they mature, and sees imminent bankruptcy staring
him in the face. In the stern language Of one of the
leading English journals, the London Morning Chron-
cle of Oct 23d The intense apprehension which host
of failures has created has begun to affect the highest
and soundest quarters of British and the boast
OF solvency longer be made by any man who has
bank notes, their literal equivalent, at his mmed
ate command for long futurity of engagements. Short
bills dock warrants, and bills of adng, almost as
useless in London as they would be at Timbuctoo"
To this complexion have come at last the commerce
and the industry of Englandthe traditional home OF the
system of protection of government interference in mon
etary affairs and in the regulation OF capital and OF industry
How emphatic condemnation does the present state OF
things in England pronounce upon that artificial restrlc
tive system TO which she has chung tenacously, and
out of which much of her present calamity has
grown! How weighty is its admonihon to our
selves, in our more favored position, to maintain a
policy at once free, just, and more natural
to leave capital and and industry to their own
modes of action and development and, instead of pam
perng one great interest and prosrating another by
vicious legislation to restrict government to its just and
proper function Of protecting with equal justice both at
nh Tho tha opd rty
of every citizen
The London Times presents its view of the causes and
nature of the calamity and its of confidence in any
interference of the government to alleviate it, as follows
Now, the British nation is at this moment exactly in that
which ought make it poor. Every man. every fam
y every workhouse, every hospital every school, every
town, every county, has had pay very much for
bread and during the last welvcmonth than it usually
does. Every household in the country has been
disturbed by the extraordinary figure of the Bread -four
and meat items. During the twelvemonth quantity OF
food, varousy estimated at 900 and ELS 00O
has been brought into the country This has been paid for
either in manufactures in money in bills yet to come
due already dishonoed AS to manufactures we have
much less of them than usual AS to bills, not
few have been dshonored, and many are ousandng-hat
is we are considerably in debt As to money there is
doubt immense quantity has made its way into foreign
hands, as inevitable under these circumstances The
result is that the nation is, just now exceedingly poor
The deputaon of the Liverpool merchants and bankers
coming from the second port in the empire and that
involved in the most serious disasters, has ordinary
claim sympathy and respect They ask for adj.
vance the credit of the country
The conclusion came to on that most disagreeabe
and discedtable subject applies to this instance Any
advance the credit of the nation any boon which gov
eminent besow cannot possibly be an addition to the
capital Of the country 1t only be Encouragement
violent disturbance of the natural ORDER for the sake of
few favored persons classes In fact the nation poor
All are poor. AL must bear it they The weaker
be left that fate from which is. unfortunately
impossible them without throwing their burden
some other, perhaps equally unable to bear it, The aid
given to one class starves another.
On the other hand, the Morning Chronicle, notwith-
standing the decided tone in which Lord John Russell
expressed to the Liverpool deputaon his unwilngness
hold out them any hope of government interference
their favor yet expresses its conviction that govern
ment will take measures to alleviate the pressure Of
the money market, in these strong terms:
We utterly refuse believe that the government either
decided in the way decide andng quiz
city by to this agony take its 1t is moral
mpossiby that British statesmen should themselves
incompetent to deal with ghtfu commercial and indus
trial panic, which is papaby receivable ESQ much of il
can be called panc into artificial restrictions the
of capital and credit With that simplest of remedies at
hand which the Judgment of practical men Of business
pronounces efectual, and which human creature,
far aware, affects to regard otherwise than
the Bank oil TO issue TWO mil
lions sterling OF notes mercantile securtesWe cannot
think that the responsible rulers of the country will hcs-
That order in council to this effect would be
cordially sanctioned by Parliamenta sanction which,
every ground, would be right apply for immediately
as would be joyuly welcomed by the whole commercial
ministers cannot for moment doubt
Another measure Of relief in addition to instead of
the action OF the Bank of England thus referred to by
the Chronicle is the issue of exchequer bills by the
government, to be loaned upon hypothecaton of mer
chandise or other indsputable security The example
of Mr.. Pitts course similar crisis has been much in
sisted upon We find the following account of that pre-
ceden in the Weekly Freeman's Journal:
We find an example under the regime Of the ilusrious
Pitt at the time chancellor of the British exchequer The
circumstances these: Great financial embarrass-
felt by the commercial and manufacturing in
terests Of England and Scotland A committee of the
House of Commons reported that there deficiency
of circulating medium " that there great dticuy in
procuring the usual advances bills of exchange !; and
things occasoned interruption of the usual
orders to manufacturers; which circumstance, together
with the Eruption of the means by which they
abled make their weekly payments, tended to prevent
the employment of number of persons engaged in diff
ferent manufactures" The committee recomme nded
the interposon of the legislature in ORDER" Sc
the words of the report, = to prevent consequences
of the serious national importance"to interfere
by issuing exohequer bills to be advanced on s'secu
rity" or on property deposited in hands of com.
mssoner their appontees, in Hull, London Bris toll
Glasgow Liverpool and Leith, the amount of fifty per
cent on the value of the property deposited; and this
find embodied in bill founded on the
following resolution, which moved on the 10Th April
I793 by less a than the Right Hon. William Pitt,