The Sun. — 1844-03-26 (London, England)

GLADSTONE—the Cosmo " Priscus," as  Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from SHORT'S ironworks, Lanarkshire, praying that females might be allowed to resume their labour in the iron and stone works in Scotland. He at the same time adverted to the Factory Bill before the other House, and condemned the conduct of those parties who wished to restrict the industry of the poor. Men, he said, who would legislate so as to give twelve hours' wages for ten hours' work, did not know what they were talking about. The Bishop of EXETER moved for copies of all correspondence from the Poor-law Commissioners relative to the case of MARY MILLER, who committed suicide in the Penzance union. After a few , remarks from Lord WIIARNCLIFEE, the motion was withdrawn, and the House adjourned. In the House of Commons, a division took place on the second reading of the Harrowgate and Knaresborough Railway. Mr. LAwsoN moved the second reading, and Mr. B. DENISON opposed it in the usual form. The second reading was carried by a majority of seven. After the presentation of petitions, Mr. MAcAuLAr gave notice that, soon after Easter, he should submit resolutions to the House, relative to the late transactions in Gwalior.  Mr. HUME gave notice that, before the Commons Inclosure Bill went into Committee, he should move that it be read that day six months. In answer to a question from Mr. FERRAN)), Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he would postpone the further consideration of the Poor-law Amendment Bill till after Easter.  hands of the Bank; direction, but does not revert to ' • the cause of those consequences : " These results may in a great measure be imputed to the nature and objects of THE CONFLICTING INTERESTS which are intrusted to the care and management of the Bank Directors—viz., the public interests on the one hand, and those of the Bank on the other. To preserve public confidence, and to regulate the currency of the country, as well as our foreign commercial intercourse, IT IS NECESSARY that a considerable stock of bullion should at all times be held by the Bank, sufficient to meet any exigency that might arise either from panic at home, or excessive speculative importations from abroad, the last exceeding our ordinary means for payment, and requiring provision to be made for the deficiency in the precious metals." Mr. GLADSTONE'S view of these "conflicting interests," between the public and the Bank—always, be it observed, in NECESSARY antagonism, whenever the bullion price of gold in the market is higher than the Mint price—is confirmed by a passage in the speech of no less an authority than the framer of that very Act of 1819 himself! The present Sir ROBERT PEEL, in his memorable speech, on moving the Currency Resolutions (24th May, 1819), quoted from the report of the proceedings which had taken place at the Bank, four days previously, a paragraph, in which the Directors submitted to the Government, among other things, the following considerations :—" They feel themselves obliged, by the new situation in which they have been placed by the Bank Restriction Act of 1797, to bear in mind, not less their duties to the establishment over which they preside, than their duties to the community at large." And, in commenting on these expressions, the Right Hon. Gentleman said he felt that this assertion was a melancholy truth. He asked the House to relieve the Bank from the duty which had thus been thrown upon it. A strong impression was made upon his mind as to the necessity for relieving it from the duty of attending to the concerns of the country at large. It was the duty of Parliament, and not of the Bank, to take care of the pecuniary and commercial concerns of the nation generally. He certainly thought it was the duty of the Legislature to endeavour, by great exertion, to resume that duty which had thus been delegated to the Bank.  it were, of his age and country—are entitled, of course, to the most profound attention. From small beginnings he has risen, by his own strong intellect, intuitive sagacity, and unwearied energy (all animated by the most intrepid spirit of mercantile enterprise that could found and amass a princely fortune) to the very highest rank in his profession—a profession assuredly foremost among the institutions which social civilization has yet devised for the benefit of all mankind. He has conferred honour and distinction, in his own perion and by his own eminent talents for private and public business, on that4great seat of commercial opulence and adventure, already illustrious by the fame of its ROSCOE ; and he has recorded his own name, influence, and connexions, side by side with those other British establishments whose wealth, liberality, and honour are to be heard of even in the remotest regions in every quarter of the globe, to which our flag has ever been carried. It is not, therefore, without diffidence that we shall venture to record our dissent from some of the views which are announced by such authority ; and we may feel the greater difficulty in doing so because we are not permitted to assume that these views are modified to any extent, by the accident of his son's high and important connexion with her MAJEsTY's Government, at the head of which we find the right honourable sponsor for the Bill of 1819. In a letter from the gentleman of whom we are writing,—Mr. GLADSTONE, senior,— published in Monday's Times, we extract, in fairness, a passage that sets at rest all doubt about his own individual responsibility for the views in question :  " I think it my duty thus to declare that I had no communication on the subject of them with my son or with any Member of the Government, directly or indirectly, or indeed with any other person previous to doing so ; they are the fruits of the experience of a long commercial life; and under impressions of the importance of their object, I ventured to submit them to the public under my sole responsibility, however underserving of confidence they probably may appear to many. I ought also to add, that I am wholly unacquainted with the views and intentions of the Government in connection with this subject."  We therefore take the proposition as Mr. JOHN GLADSTONE'S only ; and truth and conviction compel us to repudiate some of them. Mr.