New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-25

ter. proposed and carried the Act of 1874.
which requires the Bank OF England to regu-
late its issues strictly by the amount of coin
and bullion in its vaults. III man ever
lived whose views on currency were completely
opposed TO those of Mr.. Williams, that man
was Sir Robert Peel. As for Mr.. Pitt he died
ON the OBI of January. 1906, and hls reputa-
tion 10 Inv no means founded on his abilities
as a iinancier.
IT. The battle of Waterloo was fought on
tbo 1stb Of June. 1915, so that the twenty
" odd voors of paper money during which
England was recovering from the exheustlhg
wars with France are reduced 10 less Inan
sixl Three of these were years Oh great
financial distress. Sec Miss Maruneaus HIS
tory of Dgland. Vol. H. pp oo' 100 gu e ,
TIT. Mr.. Williams speaks of one panic In the
interval between 1877 and ISL we count
four or five, and all of them OF the most do-
structiye kind Nor arc we iei1 III tne darh
"a TO the cause of these panics. ME- hcSu-
loch says: .-, 80,
In 1909 and 1910 the directors OF the''ank Oh Enea"
seep, 70 have lost sight OF every principle ny WINCH
their issues had previously been goVerheu' ino oi'
o,ontv ~ hank notes in circulation when had never
exceeded seyenteen and-ono.haif millions nor i'ho"
abort Of sixteenand onehalf millions IN any ono year
from 1892 to 1sO3 both inclusive was ID Io'' lAi''" y,
~ oo S3 mounds sterling and in 1910 to23'h'41 pounu
sterling-D fcCullochs NotoS To Adiui o"i'n "e"''
of Nations Blacks edition. 1870, p sV7'
I Now SOC tbe consequences. In That very
wear 1910. the collapse of credit was moro
tremendous than had ever before Deeh KNOWN
in 40 short a space of time. The COMMISSIONS
of bankruptcy for the year amounted 10 s'"i4'
In this and the following year Cooooee wioVc'
while IN Newgate Prison, his powerful letters
entitled "Paper against Gold" Mr. WI
liams might learn something from tUaV htt'e
book.
9 In the two following years there was no
imnrovement. Miss Martneau - though N
uo,,on ve think she could have told the
President more about finance than some OF the
hank presidents-says in opening ncr account
of the prOstratOn of 1871 and 1917; NOthihs
| chad becn seen since the beginning OF inc
" century TO compare with the distress OF
" 1911 and 1812.n-(EIistOrY of England, Vol. L.,
chan. W. And she goes on for several pages
r. describe the misery and roting OF the des-
perate laboring population. In those happy
times a woman was hanged for stealing pota-
toes. Abraham Goldsmith, the leading Syndl-
cate banker of the time, shot himself while In
a state of desperation produced by his heavy
losses. an
3. In 1914, 1915, and 1916, no fewer than 24O
country banks stopped payment, and 81 com
missions of bankruptcy were issued against
these institutions, being at the rate OF
one commission against every ten-and-
a-half of tho number of country banks
in 1913. Thousands upon thousands, who
had in 1912 considered themselves anu
ent found they were destitute OF al
real property. We are quoting literally
from Mr.. McCul0ch's notes to Adam Smith
1" Mr.. Francis Horner, the accuracy and extent
90 of whose knowledge on such subjects Will
not be disputed, stated in his place in the
" House of Commons that the destruction of
Country bank paper in 1915 and 1916 had
" given rise TO n universally of wretchedness
" and misery which had never been equalod,
Except perhaps by the breaking up OF the
Mississippi scheme in France"
a. The panic of 1916 was succeeded in little
more than two years by another period OF DIS
tress in 1SlS-10 For all account of it see Miss
Martineaus History (VOl. H., p. 22D, and
Tooke's History of Prices (Vol. H., D. ny. The
trouble extended to the United States, and
there were extensive failures in New York,
Charleston, and the Southern ports. owing to a
decline Of forty per cent i'll the price OF cot
ton at Liverpool.
5. In 1920 and 1921 there was great agricul-
tural Distress owing TO the low price OF wheat.
Miss Martineau says: "The rcstlessness of
"the country under agricultural distress was
ain those days perpetual, as commercial dis
"tress was frequently recurring evil"
". From the year 1897 to 1903, the issues
of the Bank of England were regulated with
comparative prudence, but from 1903 to 1920,
they followed the plan now recommended to
us by Mr.. Williams. We have above just
touched on the most prominent characteristics
of what Mr.. Williams calls the most prosperous
period in England's history! There are other
errors which we have not space to notice
as they deserve. Lord King, for instance, by
no means consented to receive bank notes as
legal tender For a true picture of England
during this happy period, see Sydney Smiths
introduction to the volume containing selec-
ton OF his contributions to The Edinburgh
Repieu, Cobbett's works, and other cotem-
pOrary writings.