New-York daily tribune., 1858-08-23


Parisment Wa hastily called together IN conse-
quence Of tie suspension Of the Bank Charter Act,
which, by letter Of Nov. r. in the midst Of the mo-
retary panic tie Premier ard the Chancellor OF
the Excht quer had assumed TIE responsibility OF
decreeing. The Indemnity bill once passed, Par
Lament adjourned, leaving behiud a select Commit
tee appointed /" to Inquire into the operations Of the
Bark act. Of 134 aud lei5 as well as into the
"causes CT tie recent commercial distress The
Committee hsd, il fact, sat siDca the beginning of
lc57 end had already published two heavy volumes,
ore of evidence, the o.ber appendix both relating
to the operations and effects Of the Bank Acts Of
Ie44-45. Its labors were almost forgotten when
the occurrerce of the commercial crisis recalled I.
to LIFE and afforded it 81 additional element OF
"i1quiry." In the two heavy volumes to which We
have referred, trade, Just tSo months before It's
tremendous collapse, wss declared TO be "sound
AID safe" AZ to the working Of Sir Robert
Peels Bank Act, Lord OTerstone expressed himself
before the Committee, on July II, l.57, in .he.e
rather ditbyrambc strains
"By strict ard prompt sdherencs" he saii 80
the principles Of the sct Of 1874 everything has passed
OF with regularity snd ease the monetary system ia
sa'e ard unshsken the prosperity OF tee country
uncispu'ed the public confidence 10 the wisdom OF the
act Of 1871 s daily gaining strength; and ifhe Commit
tee wish for further practical Illustration OF the sound
Of the principle which II rests or OF the bens.
fetal resu which It las insured the true and euti-
Cient answer 10 the Committee is Look arouud you
lock at the prese of trade Ct the country .oCk
at the contentmsnt Of the people look at the weath
and prosperity which every osss of the country pre-
sents ard then havrg done 60 me C1mnlttee may Do
with TIE contiI Of act under which those re-
suits have been developed.
Six months later the same Committee had 10 con-
gratulate Government upon having suspended this
very same sc,
The Committee numbered among its members
not less than i7e Ch.rcellors or ex-Chancellors
Of the Exche quer, viz: Mr. Dsrss Sir G. c.
Lewis, Mr. Gladstone, Sir Charles Wood, and Sir
Francis Barring backed By Dir. Wilson aud Mr.
CardwelI, tSo men lopg accustomed to hnd brains
for Ministers Of Finance Beside these all the
msgrates Of the English beaurOcracy hsd been
added 10 T. In fact il mustered about two dozen
strong, and was q remarkable cOnclsye Of financial
ard economical wisdom. The questions to be de-
cded were, first, the principles Of the bshh act OF
lc4i; secondly, the Influence on commercial crises
Of the issue OF bank. notes, payable on demand;
and, lastly, the general causes Of tie recent dis
tIess. We propo,e, succnctly, TO review the
answers given to these diferen. questions.
Sir Robert Peel tie Parliamentary godfather
and Lord OyeTs.Ole, TIE scientific father, of the
act Of l3i4, which prohibited the Bank Of England
from issuing notes beyond the amount Of tli,-
500, 900, save On the security of bullion, hsstered
themselves they had prevented such prsssures snd
panics as had periodically occurred from ISIS to
lS4i. Twice IN ten years their expectation has
been bsflled despite the extraordinary and unex.
pested a:d afforded 10 the working OF the act by the
great gold discoveries. In l547 and 1857, as is
.hoWn by the evidence laid before the Committee,
the pancs were even ofa more intense and destruc-
tive character than any ever witnessed before
Twice, in l547 and 1857, the Government had ts
infringe the bank act in order to save the bank and
the monetary world revolving around il.
The Committee, il would appear, had to decide
on very simple alternative. Ether the periodical
violation of the law BY the Government WAS right
ard then the law must be wrong, or the law WAS
right and then the Government ought to be inter.
dicted from arbitrarily tamperiDg with il. But
will il be believed that the Committee hiss con.
,riyed 10 simultaneously vindcate the perpetuity of
the law ard the periodical recurrence of ts infrac.
ton Laws have usually been designed to circun-
scribe the Discretionary power Of Government.
Here, on the contrary, the law seems orly contin-
ued in order to continue to the Executive the dis.
cretonsry power Of overriding il. The Govern.
melt letter, authorizing the Bank of England 70
neet tie demands for discount and advances
upon .pproysd securities beyond the limits
OF tie circulation prescribed BY the Ac. Of
l.44, was issued or Nov. l2; but up TO the
throw into circulation about bali million Of notes
beyond TIE legal margin. On Nov. 90, the Illegal
surplus circulation had risen to about million.
Wha. other proof va. wanted Of the miscnieyous
futii.y Of Sir Robert Peel's attempt at "regu.
.Iatipg' the currercyl Tie COMMITTEE are quite
right in affirming that no syssem Of currency csn
..ecure . commercial country against the conse-
"qusnces Of is OWE impvu,ence." But this sage
remark Is rot to the point. The question WAS,
rather, whether the monetary panic, which forms
opI, one phase Of tie commercial crisis, may or
msy rot be srtfcially aggravated by legislative
epactmehts
In justification Of the Bank Act, tas Committee
ssy;
"Thsuar object Of tas Legislator ia qrestior was
to secure the ysristor OF the pager cur
,sIov of the siom according TO tee sane laws By
With auefallc ci,clla,ion would vary No ons coz
tsrSs thst Ike otieC. had been s..airei.'
Vsrsusrk in the frat place that the Committee
decline 70 state their opinion as to the laws by
which ue.Iiic ejaculation would vary; because
thew we,e afraid they would no: be abe to arr'e
at ary conclusion without much diasfetes ef
..op;rior." In the opinion Of the bDllionsss, led