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Leader (1850-1860), 21st November 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 12, There is nothing so revolutionary, becau...

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      1116 The Leader, [No. 400, November 21,1...

      1116 THE LEADER , [ No . 400 , November 21 , 1857 .

      Notices To Corb,E8poitdents. Several Com...

      NOTICES TO CORB , E 8 POItDENTS . Several commuaications unavoidably stand over . 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 the merits of the communication . No notice oau be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion innst be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . Wo cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

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      Saturday, Novembe R, 21, 1857.

      SATURDAY , NOVEMBE R , 21 , 1857 .

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      There Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Becau...

      There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unSatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the-world is hy the very law of iU creation in eternal progress . —Dit . ABiroxp .

      What Is The Bank Charter Act ? Wha.T Is ...

      WHAT IS THE BANK CHARTER ACT ? Wha . t is this law that it has been found necessary to relax ? What is the nature of this Act that is supposed by som e to have pressed with so much severity on a large portion of the commercial coin munity ? We 4-u ^ . it + Vi « fr . tx-a simll he doinsr erood service 1 «^ - ¦ ¦ —•¦ -

      If A , m ^ J UUUV . ¦ » V w —•»» — — . — — ^^ q . > iF we answer these inquiries—if we put t ur readers in possession of a simple statement of the facts of the case , in order rthat they may "be prepared with the materials to form an opinion on the arguments * that will be presented on both sides of the ¦ question . Mueh will no doubt be said on the subject by men ' steeped in ignorance to the very lips , ' but an acquaintance with the leadinp / nrincinles of the Act that now regulates

      our money matters will enable our iriends to separate the wheat from the chaff , and to keep their mind clear amidst the bewilderment of words that constantly attends discussions on the currency . . ¦ .. The violation of the law of 1844 consists in this : Bank-notes to a larger amount have been issued , under direct instructions from the Government , than the Act permits ; and ot jor

      it is to grant a tJill indemnity uu . s excessive issue that Parliament is now called together . , Up to 1844 , the Bank of England had power to issue any amount of notes they thought proper ; they were not compelled by lawto keep anyfixed amount of bullion reserve . Ui 11111 i i / i

      l l OW LI 1 C 3 1 B 0 UO CJL IL » V--. » . » . v . > j J"J ^^»»* j . ••»« distinctly restricted ; a total is fixed , beyond which not even a 51 . note can be sent forth . The present system has been well described as * automatic '—no discretion is allowed- —the amount of issue is regulated as certainly by machinery as the making of the paper ^ and 4-1 ia nnn ^ nn nffUa nnfoa A nrl fill S mfifthlTlfil V i Hi WL lrf \ S — -w ¦ f

      ^ ^ ^ ^^ ¦ / ^ n m ^ J t P M * ^^ » ^ S ** J •• ^ U »* ^* m * w m m * »^ — *^ — — - -- — — is of the simplest kind . A few words _ will explain it . The Bank are permitted to issue notes for 14 , 475 , 00 OZ . without any gold to j represent them ; any notes they create beyond these figures must be represented by a corre- ' sponding amount of gold in the vaults of the Issue department . In the Bank ' s account for the week ending 11 th inat ., which wo subjoin , the amount of bullion was C , G 66 3 065 Z ., which added to 14 , 475 , 00 OZ ., makes a total of noteB issued of 21 , 14 . 1 , 065 / . * When the store of ? Issue Department . £ £ £ Notes issued 21 , 141 , 005 Government debt 11 , 015 , 100 Other Securities 8 , 459 , 000 U . , 000 Gold coin nnd bullion 6 , 660 , 065 21 , 141 , 065

      gold increases , the bank-notes increase ; when I gold is withdrawn , the bank-notes diminish j pro tanto . The circulation varies just as would be the case if our money were all metallic : it increases when , the balance of trade being in our favour , gold flows into the country ; it decreases when the foreigner takes his balance in specie , or when , from any political or financial cause , gold is withdrawn from the Bank to supply a popular want . Before we pass from this part of the subject , let us explain why the sum of 14 * , 475 , 0 O 0 Z . was fixed for the issue of notes which do not represent bullion . The sum was originally fixed at 14 , 000 , 0002 ., the 475 , OO 0 L was added subsequently in accordance with one of the provisions of the Act to which we need not , for the moment , more particularly refer . Fourteen millions is the lowest sum of money that had been in the hands ' , of . the public- —it was considered the smallest amount with wliieh they could transact their every-day business—in fact , that . under no conceivable circumstance could society go on with less ready money than the above ; and in consequence , that it would be all but impossible that so many bank-notes could be presented for payment as to leave less than fourteen millions in the pockets , the tills , and the iron-chests of the busy English w ^ r-l rl "Wp dwfi ll nn this feature of the

      question , because this amount has now been exceeded und er Government sanction , and because the propriety of permanently exteuding this limit will , no doubt , be one of the leading subjects brought under consideration . ' .. ' . . - ¦' . : ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ '¦ -. ¦ ' ¦ . ¦¦ ¦ -. ¦ ¦ ' .. ¦ m # ; ¦ : . . . ¦ .- ¦ . ¦ ¦ .- ¦¦ ¦ In corroboration of this opinion , that fourteen millions might safely be issued on securities , we may here state that the amount of notes in circulation is very rarely below

      nineteen millions , and that even now—at this moment of unexampled pressure—when the Bank rate is ten per cenb . —the amount of banknotes actually in use is fully twenty millions—or six millions beyond the sum which the Act of 184 * 4 conceived that the public would at all times absolutely require . To all intents and purposes , therefore , the amount of inonev varies just as it would if metallic init is

      the currency were all , ana w called the convertibility of the -bank-note is ensured ; that is , each holder of a bank-note feels confident that it is of precisely the same value as the gold it represents , and that he can at any time , by presenting it in Threadneedle-street , exchange it for the i . i if * O 1 _!~ "I . rt . ll « -t « i fr-tfht * * % - * / -vnriir -i u rillf" . hich ui iniv

      metal itseir , oi w » pM ^ - " ^ . ; ^ ««« the sign and token . The leading principle of the Act of 1844 was , then , the introduction of a restriction in the paper currency , with a view to ensure the convertibility of the bank-note . Up to that time , the Bank of England were not rej _ . 1 1 .. lnav * -i-V \ r \ C-M l ' actnOQ " \ % 7 A »» f > Tl /' ir .

      uniformly guided by any distinctive principle , nor had they the power of controlling the ; amount of paper in circulation ; for it frequently hajipened that at the very time when the Bank of England diminished their issues I from motives of prudence , the country banks , whose issues also were entirely uncontrolled by law , increased their note circulation , and thus counteracted the action of the Bank . In consequence , the note circulation wasfrPiniiftnt . lv altogether out of nroDortion to the

      amount of bullion ; and in August , 18 : 39 , the Bank of England found herself in the alarming position of having only 2 , 40 O , O 00 Z . in her coffers . Wo say alarming , since the convertibility of our paper currency was then endangered . By way of comparison , we may remind our readers that the bullion in the Bank at this moment ( when monoy matters are so urgent that Parliament must assemble

      I before Christmas to take them into immediate consideration ) is 7 , 170 , 0002 . —a most satisfactory contrast , and one calculated to encourage the unduly desponding . To avoid all confusion , let us add that the 7 , 170 , 000 ? . consists of 6 , 6 (> 6 , bOOZ . mentioned in the above account , and 504 j 000 / . in the ' banking department . The two sums must be added together in order to institute the comparison . We must reserve for a future occasion the remaining portion of the Bank accounts , or what is called the ' Banking Department . ' One of the distinctive features of the Act of 1844 is the separation of •' the Issue and the Banking departments—the former .-being as .. utterly distinct from the latter as if its business were transacted at the Treasury , Whitehall , wliilo the Banking department is carried on in Tlircadncedle-street . Meanwhile we leave our readers to digest the facts now laid before them in the simplest possible manner— -divested as much as possible of all technical and ' shop' terms—and , entreating them to bear always in mind these ' few particulars as some of the essential elements of the question , we shall next-week take up tlie remainder of the subject , - . in order that they may be fully prepared , before Parliament meets , to follow all the reasonings that will , be adduced on a question , beyond all others , ; of vital impoxtiinco .

      The Military Position In India. The Poin...

      THE MILITARY POSITION IN INDIA . The point : around which the insurrection now revolves is . Liicknow . - A decisive victory there , disorganizing the rebel forcesnot simply driving them off to drift in other directions—would leave little more than a succession ot scattered districts to be pacified in detail . Except in Oude , the rebellion nowhere continues formidable , although it may

      continue mischievous and uithcult to suppress for months to come . It is there that the enemy is gathering up his strength for a last resistance , and it is there that the supreme effort must be made . "We are without the means of ascertaining w-ith much precision the relative capacity of the column under General ' - LLvvelock . The army opposed to him is variously estimated at from i ! . i .. ^ iX l ' t-,. 4-U / -Mit ! on < l iy » i- » ii ' "P rvVlmlilv Liiivi ^ ««

      Ln Ull ty Lv / 111 L < y uuuuL * »» w » .. --. -. > - ^ ~> — j thirty thousand * represents the whole . They do not seem to be largely provided with artillery or ammunition . On the other hand , it is not exactly known whether General OuTiiAM remained at Lucknow or fell back to Cawnpore , the fifty-three miles of rood lirinn- hohivpi » n boiiicr rcnorted tii awarming

      witlfliostile bands , engaged in throwing up a succession of entrenchments . But it may be inferred that the garrison has been at least doubled , if not trebled , by the event of the 25 th of September . This seems to reduce the question to one of supplies , since we have nn ffi-nmiik for believincr that the powers ot

      attack possessed by the besiegers had been multiplied , in a corresponding ratio They were unable to dislodge an exhausted five hundred ; then docs it follow that they imiafc necessarily bout down the opposition of a thousand , with fresh artillery , provisions , and promises of i in mediate reinforcement ? Clearly nob ; unless disasters happen , the probabilities ot which are not explained , the situation ot the English at Lucknow ia one to inspiro coniidence . Oi \ o fact , at loast , is indisputable in

      connexion with tho Oudo mutineers . HM-y have been expelled from every position they have hitherto attempted to hold against any determined attack by a far inferior body ot troops , and for five months they have been kept out of Lucknow by tho intrepidity ot a half-starved and attenuated garrison , encumbered with a thousand women , children , invalids . As to tho chances of relict , tl » o

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 21, 1857, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21111857/page/12/