The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-11-20

aDu nence sne secretary Of State holds in his
~ e '"' .iioy, Can he remain IN
- .,nes he recognize the comfy of
e. -ens Who now tells the President that
sustaining his Secretary he is strengthening
his Administration?
There is another feature Of the case which
should not be overlooked. The Secretary of
the Treasury came into the controversy as an
eleventh hour volunteer. He staked his polti-
cal capital upon the result OF the war. He had
little to lossrhut that little is gone. He was
an adventurer taking rank, but without skill.
He embarked in bad cause, and has now the
nfamy of defeat and disgrace. He, too is in
the Cabinet. Can he remain there? Can he
add strength to the administration-giv it
character, assure its SUGGEST To say he can is
to impeach the President of positive imbecility
and more positive weakness to turn the go
vernment into common vagrant, below friend
ship, beneath enmity. Does the Secretary Of
the Treasury acknowledge the comfy of Anne
rican politics?
The American people and gentlemen, every
where, will look with interest upon the discus
sion of this question OF courtesy in politics, by
William L. Marcy and James Guthrie.
The Decimal System In Coins, Weights
| and Measures.
During the month of April, in the present
year, a select committee was appointed in the
| House Of Commons. on the motion of Mr.. Will
liam Brown, the we'll known member and banker
of Liverpool. to take into consideration, and
report to the house. the practcability and ad-
vantsges or otherwise, that that would arise
from adopting decimal system of coinage"
The committee was composed of fifteen men,
bers, among whom were Mr.. Tufwell, Mr.. Ball,
Mr.. Matthew Forster, Lord Stanley, (who, as
Mr.. Stanley, recently travelled in the United
States) Viscount Goderich, Mr.. J. 3. Smith.
Sir VIM. Clay, Mr. Dunlap, Mr.. Kinnaird, and
Sir w. Jollifie
| They had some fifteen sittings, and examined
twenty-nine witnesses, and their report with
the evidence in full appended thereto, filling
one hundred and eighty folio pages. presents
much more Of interest and value for our mercan-
tile classes and indeed for our community in
general, than usually belongs to parliamentary
blue books. The thoroughness of the investi-
CATION into the subject submitted to them, might
be advantag eously adopted by our own Con-
| gressonal committees The first gentleman
summoned as witness was Mr.. Hankey, late
governor of the Bank of England who was ex-
amined at great length and who, in referenceto
| the purchase or sale of bullion, declared that
more complicated system than that lately in
use, and one more fraught with incidents to err
ror, could hardly be conceived. Three elements
| entered into the consideratien-the weight, cal
culated in troy pounds and ounces, penny
weights and grains; next. the quality of the
gold, subdiyided by carats and it's eghths and
lastly, the element Of pounds, shillings pence,
and farthings.
The great inconvenience of this system in
duced Mr.. Hankey to invent system OF deci-
nal tables discarding altogether the pound
troy. and using simply decimals Of the ounce
| which have since come into general use and lc-
| galized as regards the new weight by act of
Parliament By the adoption Of a decimal coin
| age. all calculations in bullion would be ex-
| tremely smplifed.
| The next witness was Mr.. Jas. Laurie, engaged
| n the wine trade and the author of Universal
| Exchange Tables" who testified as to the sim
mense disadvantage" from~ the want Of deci-
NAL system in regard to foreign exchange, and
the effect of change upon the custom duties.
| Sir Charles VIM. Farley. X. G. B., Lieutenant
| General in the Royal Engineers, and the au-
thor of a work on weight, measure, and money,
recommended that the pound sterling be re-
| tanned at the mint, and divided into thousand
equal parts, and that the mode Of reckoning be
| by the pound and the tenth, hundredth and thou
sandth Of pound.
Professor George Biddell, acting Astronomer
Royal. and chairman Of the commission for gu
perintending the construction Of standards of
weights and measures, which has not yet made
its report, gave it as his opinion, that an altera
ton in the value of the pound would unhinge
every estimate and every contract in England,
while the matters dependent on the penny were
insignificant. even to the lowest classes. He re-
commended, in the event Of the decimal system
being adopted, gold coins-sovereign and half
sovereign; silver coins--one of two hun
lar one of one hundred mills the present
English form or two shilling piece and one Of
fifty mills, OF one shilling; one Of twenty-five
or thirty mills, and one of ten mills. He re-
marked, that if gold were adopted as the stand
ard of value by other countries, it would be
| possible to make such international arrange
ments as would make the coin Of different coun-
tries interchangeable at a fixed rate.
Sir John Hcrshell, master of the mint. con-
1rmed the statement that the present monetary
system Of England was very irregular, and gave
rise to great labor and liability to error in the
keeping Of accounts, and recommended dsci-
NAL coinage as the only substitute The first
step should be to famliarizc the public with
the idea and denominations of the system. The
forms and halfnorins should have upon them
the number Of the mills they represent. About
70O000,00o pieces would require recoining and
some time would be necessary to complete SO ex-