A new Spanish Loan is gos...
The Times, 1824-10-18T00:00:00

A new Spanish L'oan is gossippedi about for the hundred and fiftieth time, and we have no hesitation in pronounc- ing it to he a hundred and fiftieth bubble. It is said, that the contract in the present instanice providles for c' the bonds being sold by commission." That, if authentic, is a pretty clear proof what sort of a loan has been negotiated. lVThy should the bonds be sold " by comnmission ?" The reason is, that there are in trtmth no con.ractors-and that not a shilling's worth of " the bonds" has been yet sub- scribedl For by any capitalist whatever. When a loan has been really " contsacted" for, the contractors alvways bar- gain, that if the borrowing Government will secure to theim sulch a rate of interest, and such a mode of repaving the principal, tney, the contractors, will undertake to advance to the Government so i'any hundred thousands, er so many millions of money. That is usually the substance of a loan contract. But what is this Royal Spanish method of raising the wind ? Does any bodly zIndertake to procure a single dollar for FERDINAND ? No, the undertaking is all the otlher way. Instead of the lender pledging himnself to advance money upon certain terms, or on any teirns, for this faithless monarch, he-the man wYho wants to bor- row-proposes to send his notes by waggon-loads into the market, and he " undertakes" to allow a per centage to each one of his own agents who may be clever cQnough to hoax the public out of their mouey, by passing off, in ever such small quantities, the contents of the aforesaid waggons. Why, who is there that may not concl-dde a loan contract as complete and effective as this ? What swindler may not whisper to his gang, " Run away, and put ofT in all di- " rections as many of our flash notes as you can find " fools to take, and keep 5s. in evcry pound you cheat " them of?" This, though a novel kind of loan.mak. ing to the rest of Europe,. is, with King FERDI- NAND, a somewhat stale device. He tried it in the case of M. GUEBHAiti. Did that succeed ? On the contrary, it is notorious that this projector, with the solemn "contraot" for a "1 Royal Spanish loan" in his pocket, rould not raise 3i. in the British market, and but a pitiful sum among the Paris merchants, of whom the few that did subscribe their names were tempted to do so by the ground- less hope of a secret guarantee from the French Govern- ment. Since the days of GuEBIsARD, Spanish credit has sunk from the freezingpoinit to somnething under Zero. To wave the sulject of loanss " raised by commission," which assume it as a certainty that no contract exists, we proceetd to state, that ont the present occasion no respectable house in London is a party to, or is even aware of, any contract for a loan of money to Spain. Nor, should such a contract be taken in Paris, can it be by men of credit in tlhat capital ; for no great transactioII in the nature of loan is attemnpted, withlout a communica- tion between the capitalists on both sides the Chaninel. Either, thenl, the whole story is, according to our first hy- pothesis, a fabrication, or if a contract has taken place, there is not character enough among the parties signing it to ensure the sale of a single bonId upon the Exchangc of London or Paris. IThere seems no doubt that Englandl and France have unite(d in strong representations to FEKDINANI) upoII the necessity of retrieving Spanish credit. Both kingdoms have demands uponi the Government of Spain, which, while her finances continue in their actual state of disorder andl destitution, it is physically impossible for her to satisfy. The British creditors are clamorous for pay, and the debt to France accumulates every hour. Mf. ZEA B1ERASUDEZ, has been severely pressed from both these quarters; but by the latest accounts from Madrid. it is said tbat BERiUmuEZ after several visits to the Escurial, and as many attempts uponi the head anid heart of FERDtNAND, utterly failed to penetrate either, and despairetl of bringing the financial chaos of the country into any practicable form. T he remedy, if-a remedy for such evils can be found, must be searched for in a representative Government, whichl alone will be able to encounter with the priesthood, and to render the natural resources of thekingdom conducive to its permainent relief. Nor are some surmises wanting, that a disposition prevails among the least violent chiefs and members of the two opposing parties to bring about this blessed consumma- tion. The extremity of evil begins, it is affirmed, to work its own cure. The partisans of indiscretion on onie side, and of iniquity on the other, have not found their account in cither, and show reciprocally signs of yielding to their fate. That England shoul(d secretly eRcourage these first buddings and quickenings of a national spirit in contrast withf that of pure fanaticism amongst the Spaniards, we are not reluctant to credit. The Government of CHARI.FS X. likewise must feel an interest in the return to order throughout Spain, proportioned to that depth of embar- rassment into which tbe invasion of that inhappy counitry has plunged itsperpetrators;and advisers. The actual state of the Spanish Peninsula, the wretlchedness that reigns tbere, its obvious cause, and its apprehended consequences to other nationis, offer a grand example of retributivc jus- tice, which we trust will not be lost to those who imme- diately want it. With the countenance of France and( Eingland to their conciliatory project, we should hope the more moderate of the Spaniards may succeedi ina re-esta- blishing peace, the first element of national convalescence and( prosperity.