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Leader (1850-1860), 19th December 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1209

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  • Departments (4)
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      Untitled Article

      There is no learned man but will confess he hat much profited by reading controversies , his 3 ease awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , i be profitable for him to read , why should it not , a leaal . betolerableforhiaadveraary to writer—Milton .

      Untitled Article

      OUJt MONETARY SYSTEM . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ' ) Sib , —I know how valuable space must be with you at the opening of the Session , but will you allow me briefly to ask a few questions on the subject of our currency ? The income of the kingdom is estimated by M'Culloch at 370 millions , and this must be a very moderate estimate . Now , why should 10 millions , more or less , abstracted from this , either in American shortcomings , foreign wars , or home speculation , alter the value of all the rest , produce pan ic , and check trade , by the usual credit being denied or doubling its customary price ?

      If we over-import , and turn the exchange against U » , why should not the importer find the gold to pay the balance required ? or if people over-trade and orer-speculate , why , in these cases any more than the former , must the whole country be called upon to pay the penalty ? Could no system be devised by which the penalty should fall upon the offenders only ? If we lose 10 millions by potato rot , or bad harvest , and we aro obliged to send that amount abroad to purchase food , -we Burely ought to produce tqotmta replace the deficiency ; why then is all production stopped till the gold is brought back by the sale of bankrupt or depreciated stocks , &c ? Why should money , the representative of produce

      the medium of exchange , be made so scarce by legal enactment , that under exceptional and peculiar circumstances , or indeed under any circumstances , banks and houses who have 25 s . and 30 s . in the pound should be obliged to stop for the want of it ? Lastly , and in fact , why must the convertibility of labour and produce be always sacrificed to the convertibility of the note ? Doubtless , the answer to all these questions is very easy , on one supposition . If gold is the only standard of value , if it is the only money , or proper medium of exchange , then it must be kept in the country at all cost , at every sacrifice , and we must be governed by the exchange , and the

      industry of the country made secondary to such exchange . But does such necessity really exist ? The Bank now issues fourteen millions of notes on Government security , and these are as valuable as those that are really convertible ; and their value does not depend upon their supposed convertibility into gold —few think of that—but -they rise and fall as they are scarce or plentiful in relation to produce , or to the current demand . " What can "be bought or sold with each particular portion ( or 57 . note ) ( rises or ) falls in exact proportion to the increase ( or decrease ) of the whole . " labour , or the

      cost of production , is the only real and natural standard or measure of value , and production is the first thing we have to care for . Do we not then require a Monetary System that shall foster , rather than constantly check , healthy , sound , and legitimate trade ? and , if we thus took care of production , might not the exchanges safely be left to take care of themselves , and the gold to come back in the natural way . without forcing ? for , under such circumstances , we should be certain to import as much gold as the wants of the country required , and those who wanted it would have to pay for it , and not the country at large . . . . . ¦ ' .. " ' .. . - . ' ¦ . . : ¦'

      It is taken for granted by most , if not all writers on monetary science , that a metallic currency is the only sound one ; that gold or silver is necessary as a standard of value , and that together they constitute the best media of exchange . . To both of these propositions I dissent . In barbarous times , in unsettled countries , it may be so , but at the present time , as compared to what we might have , and in relation to our wants , gold , as the medium of exchange , seems to me a wretchedly bungling and worn-out contrivance . As a standard of value , gold is said to be the best ' yard measure , " bushel , ' &c ., but a standard of value and a measure of quantity are entirely different things . This is illustrated in the difference

      between the Declared and Official value of our exports and imports . A yard , or bushel , is a fixed quantity , but a standard value is a fixed relationship of one thing to another . Thus , if the pound sterling-, the ' mere unit of calculation * was equal to three bushels of wheat , or five yards o cloth , or four of silk , or fifty of cotton , &c , this is the relative value that ouglit to be maintained , and not that of the pound sterling to a quarter of an ounce of gold . By maintaining the latter relationship is that , the gold standard—as gold cannot be made to increase as fast as wheat , cloth , silk , cotton , &c , the holders of gold , —that is , all who live on fixed incomes—are benefited at the expense of the producers . Mill tells us that there is an African tribe that calculate the value of

      things in a sort of money of account , called macutes . They say , one thing is worth ten macutes , another fifteen , another twenty , but tliat there is no real thing called a macute ; it is a conventional unit , for the more convenient comparison of things with one another . Now , if I were asked the oft-repeated question " What is a pound ? " I should say merely a macute . No doubt this abstract idea could scarcely be got within the compass of the material faculties of our members of Parliament , and they would laugh consumedly . '

      Now as to gold as currency . In these civilized times , the facilities that good banking establishments afford render money almost unnecessary on ordinary occasions ; the country—and , indeed , the whole commercial world—becomes one vast clearinghouse . But this ordinary quiet state of things is liable to sudden derangement on account of bnd harvests , over-speculation , want of confidence , &c , and then the money is again wanted , and that so immediately , that it hns now been proved that gold cannot be made to adapt itself to the demand with sufficient despatch . The foreign exchanges—that is , the foreign

      trade in gold—works too slowly , as our oft-recurring monetary difficulties show . If the State inside the money—that is , the medium of exchange—the legal tender , it might bo much more suddenly and correctly adapted to the wants of the trading community , and that by known and recognized laws , and not by discretionary powers of administration . The foreign exchanges ywe them time , act correctly-enough , and we could then afford to give them time , and they might safely , and without any anxiety on our parts , be left to the bullion dealers , as silver and tlie corn and cotton trade are now left to their respective dealera . —I am , sir , faithfully yours , Chmuu Umat .

      Untitled Article

      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . "Wilare again compelled , by the extraordinary pressure of ™ . St'SPS m ? £ ® especially of literary matter , to omit our Portfolio' tMs week .

      Untitled Article

      THE CURRENCY DEBATES . The Houses of Parliament completed their preliminary session on Saturday last , having effected all that was absolutely necessary for tliem to do . It is seldom that ao much real business is achieved so promptly ; but our legislators were anxious to get home for theu Ctmstmas holidays , so they finished theu vvork and broke up on Saturday for the vacation , which , will terminate on Thursday the 4 th of February . *

      Our readers will be glad to know exactly what has been done , and what has been said , on the deeply interesting question of the Currency . Few of them will have liad the leisure to wade through the whole of the speeches , and still fewer will have analyzed what was said . No small amount of labour is required to pick up the few graius of gold

      to be found here and there , amidst the masses of verbiage and palaver that lie scattered about the Currency Diggings . "We think it will , therefore , be acceptable to them , to present a clear and succinct statement of the results of the debate—and to bring before them the subjects that await further investigation and discussion .

      In the first place , the Government has obtained its Bill of Indemnity for having advised the Bank of Bnglaud to break the law , and that , wealthy and powerful corporatio n is not only excused for having obeyed the established authorities by disobej r ing the law , but it haa received the permission of the Crown , the Lords , and the Commons to go ou violating-, until the 1 st of March , 1858 , the Act which confers its charter—only one condition being imposed—viz ., that so long as it exceeds the legal issues it shall charge ten per cent , at least , for its advances .

      Next , the House of Commons lias agreed to a resolution re-appointing the committee that sat last year to inquire generally into the laws that regulate our currency . A great mass of valuable evidence was then collected , some of the most able and distinguished men were examined—men of all shades and classes , from the peer to the builder—including

      merchants , bankers , bill-brokers , bank directors—practical men and theorists—were examined and cross-examined by acute and experienced members of the House of Commons , by politicians eminently versed in the mysteries of finance . But the committee made no roporfc , for the investigation of the subject referred to them was incomplete , and they recommended that the inquiry should bo

      Untitled Article

      • Leadeb Office , Saturday , December 19 . THE CONTINENT . Thr Bank of France has reduced its discount on commercial bills to six per cent ., uniformly from and after yesterday ( Friday ) . A message from the King of Belgium has been communicated to the Chambers , to the effect that the Princess , wife to the heir to the crown , is in a condition which holds forth hopes of a continuation of the dynasty . M . Pelisaier , French Commissioner in Turkey for settling the frontiers on the Asiatic side , is about to return to France . Sir Henry Bulwer , English Commissioner at Bucharest , is also preparing to take his departure . The commercial crisis is continuing at Constantinople . The meeting of the Spanish Cortes is postponed to the 10 th of January , when the Queen will open the session in person . t ______ Sik Henrt Ems . —At a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries on Thursday night , Mr . Hawkins , Vice-President , in the chair , a letter addressed by Sir Henry Ellis , director of the society , to Earl Stanhope , President , was read by the secretary . The communication v « s one which took the members generally quite by surprise , inasmuch ss it announced the resignation of Sir Henry Ellis both of ihe office of director and of his official scat at the council . Baiiavat Accidents . —A serious collision has occurred upon the Shields , Surideriand , and Newcastle branch of the North Eastern Railway . About four o ' clock in the afternoon , a coal-train broke down about half a mile on the Gateshead side of the Brockley Whins station , and the four o ' clock train from "Newcastle , Gateshead , and Pelau Main , with passengers from the two first-named towns , and from the south for Shields and Sunderland , ran with , fearful impetus into the obstruction , throwing its own engine off the line , and bringing all the passenger-carriages together with very considerable violence . Several passengers were a good deal hurt , but there were no fatal cases . —A girl , the other day , while travelling in a railway carriage from Grantham to Sedgebrook , endeavoured , it is supposed , to get a glance at her house in passing . The door flew open , and she dropped on the line . When picked up , she was insensible , and she continues in a very doubtful state . The Ship Hannah , laden with guano , has foundered off the Azores . The crew took to the boats , and were rescued by another vessel . An Educational Fbajschise . —A memorial in favour of an educational franchise , signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Lord Brougham , and a vast number of persons of political and literary distinction and of various shades of opinion , has been forwarded to Lord Palmerston . ¦ .

      Untitled Article

      No . 404 ., December 19 , 1857 . ] THE LEAPEU . 1209

      Untitled Article

      Ai RoBrasoir . —Our sympathies are entirely with the class t w «!? w hk co ^ pondent belongs , and we deeply regret that so much soffennj ? should be occasioned to them by « n ? fi ? ft f enta - ^ ^ end ' s fallacy seem to be the poss lbility of an internal currency having no intrinsic value .

      Untitled Article

      Several communications unavoidably stand over . N Sj ? ° l lce c - £ * akeu » ' anonymous correspondence . Whatevexis intended forinsertiou must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , T ) ut as a guarantee of his good faith We cannot undertake to return rejected communications

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      Untitled Article

      SATURDAY , DECEMBER 19 , 1857 .

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      Untitled Article

      ... ?• • . ¦ ¦ ¦ . . . . There is nothing bo reyolutionary , because there is nothing- so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed-when all the world iabythevery law of its creationin eternal progress . —Db . Aenold .

      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 19, 1857, page 1209, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2222/page/9/