The Sun. — 1861-04-04 (London, England)

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.  " Suspend the Act of 1844, and the Bank rate of discount will fall to 3 per cent." SlR,—Allow me to call the attention of the public to the annexed prophetic warning, published by me in the " Bankers' Circular" May, 1857. Had it been attended to the panic of November, 1857, which was instantly stepped by the suspertsion of the Act of 1844, might have been avertfed. The serious monetary pressure produced by natural causes would have run its course; but the panic, arising from the apprehension of a deficiency of legal tender money to the direct liabilities to pay money, created by the Act of 1844, a panic entailing ruin to thousands, and the depreciation of property to the amount of hundreds of thousands of pounds, would have been prevented.  Again I would reiterate the remedy which for twelve years I have been urgently recommending as the antidote to the baneful operations of the Act of 1844.  If the legitimate fruits of that Act, manifested by the panics of 1847 and 1857, with the present minimum bank rate of discount at 8 per cent., whilst money at Amsterdam and Berlin is at 3 per cent., at Hamburg 2-1, and at Frankfort 1 per cent-, will not open the eyes of the commercial community to its suicidal effects, then it behoves its opponents to make use of the power of suspending the Act, which they have in their own hands. Let the London Bankers, Discounters, and Merchants, who are more independent of its influence than those in the country, demand gold for their Bank notes, when the Act of 1844 must again be suspended, as in the Panic of 1847 and 1857, and the like results will follow—a rapid fall in the rate of discount, the revival of commerce, and ample employment for the working classes. To expect relief in any other way is hopeless : the public are dumb-founded on the subject ; for notwithstanding the present extraordinary monetary pressure, and the woeful experience of past years, they stir not. Were it otherwise, and the country sufficiently aroused to obtain another Parliamentary inquiry by a Committee of the House of Commons, what greater hope of relief could be expected than from the previous Committees which sat in 1848 and 1857 ?  On the Committee of 1857, consisting of twentyfive members appointed to try, with closed doors, the cause of the Public v. the Bank Monopoly, there were—  2 Directors of the Bank of England. 2 Members, selected expressly to watch over the interests of the Joint Stock and Private Issue in Bankers.  3 Bankers, besides the Bank Directors. 4 Members, who had already committed themselves in support of the Act by having voted for it in the committee of 1848.  Amongst these was the Hon. E. Cardwell, who succeeded Sir G. C. Lewis as chairman, whose strong bias in favour of the Act was palpably manifested in his treatment of the witnesses. He requested the Leeds Chamber of Commerce to depute some one to give evidence before the committee ; and they accordingly, after passing resolutions calling for the abolition of the restricting and essential principle of the Act, and for a discretionary power to be given to the directors of the Bank to issue one pound notes, appointed Mr. John Smith, of the banking firm of Messrs. Beckett and Co., to appear on their behalf. • Mr. Cardwell sought an interview with Mr. Smith previous to his examination ; what passed at that interview was never made public, and Mr. Smith does not feel at liberty to say,— but this we know from the printed report of the evidence, that not one question was put by Mr. Cardwell as chairman, to elicit and record in the minutes of the committee the resolution of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce. What hope, then, is there left for any relief from the Act, save from the mercantile community compelling its suspen, sion by their own influence? Were this accomplished, the directors of the Bank of England would have the same liberty as before of issuing any proportion of notes to gold they thought prudent ; and were they now to issue 3 to 1 (in the monetary pressure of 1839 they issued 7 to 1) the Bank reserve, which governs their rate of discount,would be L 16,000,000 in stead of .E 6,000,000 and the rate of discount, according to their rule, would be 3 per cent. instead of 8 per cent. And were one pound notes issued to serve as substitutes for sovereigns, gold would be set at liberty sufficient to satisfy our own requirements as well as those of France and other countries. I remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, HAMER. STANSFELD. Highfield, Windermere, March 12, 1861. 

Article type: NotIncident