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Leader (1850-1860), 24th July 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 710, --- . . . • - # ^tlultC 2lu lUt0V I *

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    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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      Untitled Article

      A PEEMANBNT ENLARGEMENT OF " THE LEADER , " BY THE ADDITION OF EIGHT PAGES ( ONE-THIRD MORE ) , DEVOTED TO COMMERCIAL INFORMATION AND THUS ADVOCACY OF MERCANTILE INTERESTS , IS MADE THIS DAY .

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      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . Subscribers not duly receiving this paper are requested to forward notice thereof to the office , and immediate steps will be taken to rectify any neglect , by communicating with the newsvendors in the respective districts .

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      THE REPORT OF THE BANK ACT COMMITTEE . lur 1848 a committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the commercial convulsion of 184-7 , and the supejision of the Act of 1844 then ordered , following this precedent , the late Whig Ministers proposed a similar inquiry into the " distress" of 185 f and the similar suspension of the Act of 1844 , and the House of Commons gave its consent . Instead , however , of appointing a committee expressly for this purpose , the House referred it , at the instance of Sit G . Cornewall Lewis , to the committee first appointed in 1857 j and renewed in the present session to inquire into the operation of the Bank Acts . The public entertained a notion that the paper circulation had

      something to do with variations in the rate of discount , and therefore the committee was required to investigate how far " the issue of bank notes payable on demand" had affected" the commercial distress . The two subjects were undoubtedly connected in the public mind , but now that the conv mittee nominally appointed to inquire into the Bank Acts has made its report , and we find this to be chiefly taken up by remarks on the commercial distress , we regret that each subject was not referred to a special committee . Neither investigation is complete , and those who wish to learn either the true causes of commercial convulsions , or the real effects of our banking laws , will have to seek elsewhere than in the ' Report from the Select Committee on the Bank Acts . "

      In thus imposing double duties on one committee , the late Chancellor of the Exchequer was probably influenced by personal rather than public considerations . Between him and the then Secretary to the Treasury there iras , as is manifest by the evidence taken in 1857 and published , a great diflerencp of opinion concerning the operation of the Bank Acts , and the Chancellor could hardly hope to obtain from the committee a report favourable to his own views . His subordinate believes himself to be versed

      m the subject , is pledged by his writings to very strong opinions , and had proved before the committee , by his manner of questioning Lord Overatone , and by that noble Lord ' s remarks , that he was not likely to make a public sacrifice of his personal views , on this very important point , to his official relations . Sir G . C . Lewis , though heavy in manner , has an astute intellect , and probubl y contemplated avoiding a contention with Mr . Wilson , sure to be discreditable to the Government , nud perhaps injurious to himself , by smothering the

      inquiry into the Bank Acts by the moro immediately interesting inquiry into tlio " causes of the recent commercial distress . " Whether this be the explanation or not of his reasons for hardening one committee , before it had half coinplct cd its appoint ed work , with an inquiry into a different subject , the effect is , that tlio report now niado by the committee on the "Bunk Acts refers much more to the temporary matter of commercial distress thrown on it iu the present session , than to the permanent and

      had come from Australia and California , and howmuch silver had been sent to India and China ¦ ve knew , too , the wonderful progress of our trade- -we knew the whole history of the variations in t lie-Bank circulation and m the rate of discountknew all about banks failing in America , beghmln ^ - with the Ohio Life and Trust Company ; knew of the failures of banks at Liverpool , Glasgow , and Newcastle ; knew of the failure of discount and mercantile houses in Londoa and other places ; knew tlie enormous amount of their transactions ] and had had their balance-sheets under our eves ; and we knew , too , -what had occurred in Hamfnu-g and Vienna ; and we knew all about open credits and reckless ' advance ' s . All these events have been

      regreater question it was originally appointed Io examine . The divarication is the more to be regretted because the researches of the committee have throwii very little additional light to that we before possessed on the causes of commercial distress and none whatever on the source of the false calculations and excess of credit which are at the bottom of all commercial convulsions . Credit is now essential to trade , and what we require is toknow the causes of its excesses , and be able to restrain them . Before the committee began its labours we knew pretty accurately how much "old

      peatedly described , and the narration of the committee is not so spirited as to increase our interest in them ; and we must be utterly ignorant if it add much to our knowledge . Some information lias been obtained from the Bank parlour , and we aremade acquainted with the opinions of the Bank Directors . Even , without it we were ready to state that , during tlie . emergency when . everything : depended ^ on the Bank , this Corporation acted with vigour and discretion . The comm it tee howeyer , as if ^ afraid of assuming : the responsibility of a single positive opinion , says " it appears to your committee that the proceedings of the Bank vere

      not ' characterized-by any want of foresight - or vigour . " This defence , though , excessively tame , implies an accusation ; none was made by the public , whatever may have been said in the committee . The Bank is the creature of the law , which it has only too faithfully administered ^ and if it ' s operations were in any way embarrassing to commerce , the law which dictates them must be blamed- In truth , the law was impugned , the law was on trial , not the Bank , and the committee appointed expressly to investigate its effects should have shown ,

      if it could , that the law was " not characterized by want of foresight . " The conduct of the Legislature in passing the act of 1844 and other similar acts interfering with trade was to be investigated , and though tlie tribunal was a part of itself , an honest exposition of the effects of the law might have enabled tlie public to form correct conclusions . It was more self-satisfactory , however , for the committee to investigate the errors of individual bankers and merchants than tlie consequences of crude legislation , and the latter were put aside to luxuriate in the former . Tlie committee found so

      much to blame in the conduct of the fallen lianks , the suspended merchants , and open credits , that it had not time to examine the consequences of ( lie law . In this session it ha 3 occupied itself , apparently , only -with the malversations of mercantile men , and has done nothing to complete the inquiry left imperfect ; at the close of 1 S 57 , and satisfy tho public that tlie general condemnation of our banking and currency laws is erroneous . On the iimportant subject the committee was appointed to investigate it seems afraid to express any opinion . Tho evidence it has taken " is interesting , " it says , "in the highest degree , " but "it involves subjects of controversy" on which "the committee differed , " and therefore it has " arrived at no conclusion . " It docs not even rely on itself M . t • « 1 1 1 I ? 1 A ¦ V Jfc for the inion that the welfarein times of

      * ^ * op " public , commercial disaster , requires the maintenance of an adequate supply of bullion in the Bank , " but says this is the opinion of Mr . Tookc , Mr . Newmarch , Lord Overstone , and others . The committee says , too , that " the opinion of tho present Bank directors is strongly in favour of maintaining the Act of 1844 . " Its own opinion to a similar oll ' cct is anything but strong or decided . "It appcavs to your committee that no mischief will result from fit least a temporary continuance of tlio present state of things . " The Bank Acts , therefore , arc merely to be tolerated for the moment , not honoured and preserved as wise legislulioii ; and the public receives from the committee- the additional information , apparently to console it fur

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      710 T H : E LEADER . [ No , 435 , Jtjlt 24 ,, 1858 .

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      No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence ^ "Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by tho name and address of tho writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of tho merits of the communication . "We cannot undertake to return , rejected communications .

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      Untitled Article

      SATURDAY , JULY 24 , 1858 .

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      ? There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . — -Dk . Arnold .

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      Established for the purpose of advocating the principles and accelerating the progress of the advanced Liberal party , " The Leader" has so far accomplished its mission as to have secured a wide and influential circle of readers and supporters as respects Politics and Literature . The want of an Independent and Impartial Commercial Organ has , however , long been felt in the Mercantile and Trading Circles , and the Conductors of k Thb Lbabee , " at the suggestion off a large and highly influential Body of Commercial Hen of the City of London and Manufacturing Districts , desiring to enlarge the sphere of its influence and usefulness , have INCREASED ITS SIZE EIGHT PAGES , THUS ADDING A COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT , SUPPLIED "WITH SPECIAL INFORMATION FROM EXCLUSIVE AND TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES . THIS ADDITION affords ample space for detailed , and accurate information upon the condition of Commerce at home and abroad ; for a correct weekly view of the state and tendency of the various Markets , and of the Banking and Monetary interests generally , also for the publication , when required , of the Board of Trade Returns in the most concise and intelligible form ; and generally for the advocacy of Mercantile interests . Tariff Keform , consistent yith the true prin ^ ciples of 1 Tb . ee Trade ; untiring opposition to class protection , in such form as to assure . Foreign Countries that England has no jealousy of their Commerce and Manufactures ; a Spirit of Perfect Independence , and a fearless advocacy of the great truths of Political Economy , in all its branches—Fiscal , Monetary , and Legislative—will be the guiding principles advocated in . the Mercantile section ot the enlarged Paper . A Department of tlie Faper is occupied by a Journal of Indian Progress , opening to the friends of Indian advancement the means of advocating English Settlement , Railways , lliver Navigation , Irrigation , Cotton , and the various questions most essential for the welfare of India , and now exciting such deep interest in the public mind . The real interests of our South African Colonies , now so rapidly advancing under Parliamentary Government , will also be duly represented in pur columns . It will also bo perceived tliat special attention haa been bestowed upon the Mercantile Marine , and the interests of a profession of such growing importance , and tho advancement of which is ol anch vital consequence to our mercantile interests , will claim earnest attention . "While thus adding entirely new features , there "Will be NO ALTERATION IN TUB POLITICAL , LITERARY , A . KD artistio poiitiqn , which lias liitlicrto secured to the paper its high position ; but , on the contrary , efforts will he made to add Io the interest and efficiency of cuch department , by procuring additional sources of iul ' onmitioii both at homo and abroad ; and by every means that a liberal outlay can command .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 24, 1858, page 710, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2252/page/14/