The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-03-26

ing of Parliament, that the question of the
renewal of the Charter Of the I;arl; of Enr
land, would be one Of the most important OF
the session, and would give rise to IN angry
and pro:ractcd debate bctween the defenders
of the Charter lis it exists ut present, (includ-
ng the Govrrnmcni.) and those who recon-
mend It's repeal or very extensive ,noditica-
ton. \ motion OF which the Chancellor orlhe
Exchcqucr gave early notice, PROPOSING that
the charter DC rcicr,cl to Il select committee
ut the House Of Commons to inquire and
report, SD far from meeting with any oppo.
sition OF Il serious character, WIS readily
ad"ric'! hy the House, although the effect
OF this motion will be to shell the question
for the present session, an,! enable the
ministry, ryy,,-conmilted TO tie maintenance
OF I'LL the most important features Of the
existing cEartrr.--io escape from what WIS
supposed to be Il serious difficulty in their
path.
In in,rodurin. his motion, Sir G.. Curnc-
Well Lewis, to cunc.liatc those who :ul,o-
cate lary" extension "l the B.uk note
is>uc l"yond the limits im,,o>c, by Sir
l:obcrt l'c" said tina, the cApr,lrrcv Of an
extension to lil2 amount Of .cI. 5000
might probably hc cnr,<l.lercd by the com
miltc", but that it VA, not the desire or n-
tcntion oi the government to consent to
ANY material mobilization Of the act of
1911. l'v ,'!i, act, the Bank of En-..,l
is allowed To i>>,,r notes to the amount of
100000 upon securities, Of which the
government loan Of ,cli,Olj,l00 forms Il
part. For every note issued beyond that
sum, tl;c Bank must have Hm equal amount
Of the precious mcias in lis vaults, thus
ensuring the perfect convc,tibili,v of the
paper money into tie amomnt .f s,mcic
which 1t represents OH lis face, and main
tanning its par value. To show the wisdom
and necessity Of thi, restriction, and 10 re-
futc the arguments of those WHO pretend
that it operates injuriplisly upon the inter
c,ts Of Legitimate tra!c, it is only necessary
to refer 10 the period from 1908 to 1910,
when, owing T." the excessive i>>,,c Of paper
currency, the Bank OF England notes were
ut discount, us compared with gold, rang
ing from eight to thirteen ami half per
cent. SiEce llic legislation Of Sir Francis
il"rncr i'll 1910, AMI Tie Subsequent i'm
provcl!cnis Of Sir Robert Peel in 1919 and
ISL, Diminishing and restricting :!:t paper
circulation, the par value Of the Dank note
has hccn always maintained, AMI that too.
i'll times OF usual difficulty. II is argued
hy l'i"Sc who oppose the provisions of the
Bank Charter, that ii the private drI~si,ors
Of the Bank of England I,a,l demanded the
return OF their deposits in specie in 1871
the year oi the great financial .risis-;hc
i'ank must have stopped payment, because,
in October Of that year, it had lrnt away
lis own capital us well as that of lis cu,to.
lncrs to the extent of about thirty millions,
While its reserve had dwinllc,l down to less
than II million and hall. liut SO l;,r from
proving that this state oftllines endangered
'he controvcrtbiIily of the bank note, it
proves exactly to th" reverse. The issuc Of
notes at that period WAS Ca, 100000, and
;hc bullion in the Golfers Of the issue Dc-
portmemt-was .cS,OOO,OOO, Which with the
ia 100000, issue! on government securi-
lies, completely covered the to,a! issue OF
paper; so, HAT il the Daniing Department,
like any other private concern had failed,
the promise to pay Oh The E,ce Of the notes
was perfectly safe from dishonor. This is
al that Sir Robert lecs Lill seeks to re-
strict, and the success cf The provision ma
king the banking and issue departments
entirely distinct, is amply proved 10y the
severe trial to whipIl it was subjected at that
period Of extraordinary pressure. The
Bank Act puts no restriction on the cur
rency-gold and silver--in wlliclE~ alone
debts can be paid. 1t is open to the Bank
of England as it is 10 any other body or in.
|'d!vidnal, to Guy as nch bullion as it can
got; and have II coincI into soverciyns and
:0y''""S5S, ""t iShu iLs iiWuey us IL pIC;lScS.
tits clearly not the province of government
TO interierewitl currency or credit; but it
is distinctly 4.l,s duty of the government
mot -to'saneion; tie extensigpof fictitious
'currehey; a1dassadi,, by allowing pieces ol
paper losrepressht capital wbicl, has no real
existence. While free trade in the precious
metalssexist, t4e; equality Gctwcc,, the real
money ip circulation, and the trade, ,weall,
Jand toraIatid" of;a'c dob"ay Will bergcn.
sersliy pressryc,la There arc- times, nc
<ldnkr whenythe ametdaef speculative Ell.
ttezrrise exseedf the. fsshs Of International
4 t.espitsl slsand when n aafgs issue Of papei
1inoaey might bsatsorbedsby tho circufa
siSn without any special dasssgs, .and .wlrst
y lieaga specie payments are tosbs mad,
sHtsabreA 1eders with small capital feel SO
.Evefsiy tlle. pressure. Of tlle>present restric
siizxl..ySSS.ss. t.tS y. -. -: ..a>i . - sts