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    Untitled Article

    His very means must begin to be failing : the many prizes that have been taken , North and South , cannot but daunt his monied classes ; the difficulties of raising cash are already exhibited in St . Petersburg ; while , on the other hand , England , aow his chief enemy , rejoices , notwithstanding the war , in a constant creation of wealth . It is surprising to observe how comparatively little the war has paralysed twide . &k > dou&pfcfccause England and France , *^ thi | ibie concurrence mOB the

    European Powers , have taken wise steps to « WBure freedom and security for cdatmerce . That Russiawjias ^ ge « l » in this . cofliofery is tolerably notoilius . vfHi ^ ther or n 6 V certain honourable and noble , persons in Parliament are to be counted amongst the conscious ageats-ef ^ hat Power , we « te * ot ia ©* r , feat certainly * berjr « te doing their best to serve its ptirposeB . The Chancellor of the Exchequer has proposed a plan of

    providing for the war which is honest , Straightforward , and in its majn principles , we . think , correct . It is possiWe ^ tha * Mr . Gladstone v ^^^ SSj ^ ftii ^^^ ' ^^ lt ^ iSia of his 'budget ^ an ^ L jWe . poittteSl ^ ostt exceptions last week . But the feeling m . « U ; pjrets ^* he ^ cotmtryr , —the failure of ende ^ voars * o get ^« n agitation against him ' ^^ ie't ^^^ aid : &e wifliryghess of every class to mTet itsliatiilities wiibiout ¦ % murmur , —proves { hat the ^ t& ^ t ^ fM&lm ^ &tfo Mr . Gladstone in his desire to . prqvidefox tlie 4 WH ^ aadsomely :, 4 o ^ n « et tiy& expenseS-at oncts , and to do so without kam >

    i » fci ^ % e ^ bperiiifii ( SBs > of trade . One instrument ' fo *| Mnr 6 l ^ he . l ^ tt condition is the iBxehe ^ uer-; | i ^ P ^ isfe (^^ Jw ^^ fers : entirely f ^ om-. a y ^^^ vc ^ af ^ mtiaryr sense . ^ MEr . lyftsan showed oil . 3 % | t ^ jy | a ^ it ^ e ^ enormoas amount of money : -wei ^^^^ P&fyg ;* & £ § $ *' sbiunder > . ^ e ¦ ' ^ P&yiagjm a rbiogii calculation fourteen millions ^^ afW ^ eai ^ r a | i&t > fi&h Pit * agceed to ^ i ^ tenci ^ tTiatfke had incutrei in order to induce tTafe > iiOnie < cr classes fcrl $ t'imn % dve ihe money tliat % l ? 4 i 5 Sratft ; % oa ^ 0 wrag ! nve sfiUlingsv it may " be bsu : 9 , at one perldd , he pretended tolncur a debt of a Sovereign-- ^ paying a premium of 15 s . "WbTOft lie Waijf wanted " 5 s ., and we are ^ paying ( % r 1 &l « £ t ^ o 1 fii ^^ 1 ^ awas so popular in the ^ 5 % , Wl ^ ff $% the ^ ity agreed mth the IGrovornmeu t in to la

    o ^ the'da ^ ftroclainninor a dehirfoi ? n « A «« o ^ thea ^ iiiprotolain ^ ing to a deluded ^ people as almost Uivitre . ^ The * e is , however , a party in Parliament which cares not much about yin-&if ? i&Ing jttBiScQ , wliieii ^ retends to care someSiing feriSie'hon ^ jiir df Engiatfd , hut cares , above all I 3 ttngs , tcifimvppet'fbe present ^ Ministry , i » order , ifjKfcsible , to Tender the seats of office vacan / Wd'to slip iritothem . That party found in Mr .

    ^ homas'Bftrifig , a ^ leaBant-spoken financial member , witib an hereditary 'City name , to act as its * flag ifc Biockading Mr . Gladstone ; and thus , on tsnfiftoriday nignt , Mr : Thomas Raring moved an ajtnehamefft to declare that no -more Exchequertorida should be issued . Even ihe House of Commons , easy-going assemblage as it is , refused ate "assent to the great Opposition financier by 290 lo 186

    . . ' -Amongst other proceedings in Parliament which remain to be noticed , the most important is Sir William Clay's " fluke " on the subject of church-* tftes : he ! bas obtained leave by 129 to 02 to taring in a billfor < thelr total abolition . The heir of toe House xjf Deuby , on the same occasion , declared his adhesion to the total removal of church-rates without substitute ; having almost simultaneously declared to the Anti-knowledge Tax Association that he is for the total removal * if t l * 8 tffiSmp tax on "newspaDers .

    - The defeat on the second reading of the Oaths 3 ^ 1 . ifi no * , ^ however , a - " fluke" in * iny sense . Mwp | eters plaj < ed aT 4 ish and difficult game , giving J » J » Hppoaentasome " points ; " . and Sir Prodeniok £ J ^ g ° has succeeded in making his number , £ ee to 6 - paro > In fact » Lo ™ Johai tried to Wjft $ fc . tbo many at one coup , and , like other skilful t ^«^ M > <> the < game by a hair ' s breadth . It £ A ° Pe reinMjhod tbat wuerea 8 la 8 t yoaT the Jew Kill was * simple mea » ure , and succeeded as such , this year the real liberals of the Cabinet L'Ouercmsly proposed to include » great , many other

    persons besides Jews . They proposed a root-andbranch reftmn of the oaths of Parliament . The Opposition raised the old "No Popery" war-cry , and found it as useful as ever . Ministers are routed % y their liberalism . Mr . Disraeli , the mystery ^ ttian , 41 « vte 8 < 3 &wst but at > hors Cathoh ' cs ; to frustnifce tne lattdrTie sacrificed the former . Prindfe Albert inas knocked the Challis statue on the ^ bead . A reporf of the proceedings which h&d * 1 lffeen . taken for &k& statue ftradnfaere

    for-TOH * ed to : * he Prin ^ s ^ Beduestmg th « % l £ biHHir and t ^ mtagt mf his cwtosed . ' " He cotR-teo « % and a * l | ength ^ l ; oninien 1 » 4 on Ikhe proposal ,-jail suggWited a « l | ie best , fHiuaongBt ; several mojhtai , that the e ^ MiUkm ^ hcrtjW-be « eommemorat « l ^ % y * ke estfWptnment oftfcwr tfTWWfefling schohwffips , represerftin » its four grand divisions . The prizes to be publicly competed for ; himself contributing towards its pecotnary success . The "proposition is ^ wotthy the gentleman and tne Prince- € onsort .

    Untitled Article

    PARLIAMENT W TffiE WEEK . The week opened wrth a pitched battle between the Ministry mod the Opposition on the debsteable ^ ndutad of ^ nance . The pretext fc * the contest ^ was the'prttposltaon'ttf' Mr . Gladstone Ho ralsrcrnrc fi iey Tiy ExchequerSbdndssot ly Exchequer-bills ; Mr . Baring and Mr . DisraeH « dt ^ ing ( the occasion to arraign the ^ hole df 30 t . ^ Glaastoae's financial career . There was some cdn ^^ rsatiou at the ^ ut-set &s to whether Government were not breaking faith with the Opposition In fhe order 6 T proceeding ' , in winch t > 0 tli sides rafeitttefflned fhey wer * ISight . flu cKHmnltt ^ of Ways and Means ' Mr . Glabstoitb movea simply three

    re-- ^ lutio ^ ft Wri ^ lffl , without Tnafeng ^ a speech . Mr . Tho * a 8 Blaiso . prefaced his amendment by a long Speech , scaTcelytobcliiag upon the merits ^ the qttestiont » efdre the ^ House , 'lJut attac * iog i the ^ hdte # nan-^ dialTJolicy of'the Government . Other GhaneelioM of -the Exctoeauer Aad had , he said , difficulties Jo contend with even in times of peace , "but Mr . Gladstone's difficulties are of his own making . 'His mea-: « nre « j however ^ had not been judicious ? > 4 hey uverd ill-ad ^ sised i iwauting in prudence and caution , ^ uxd therefore unsuccessful . Although 6 urrouhdcd by a eon ' steilation of departed 'ChancdlloRT of the Exchequer , and with the ^ wbole --eecret history of finance

    before him , . y-et r Me . -Gladstone -had neither been guided nor warned bj their experience . Last . year , % hen ihere was a regular efflux of gold from the ^ ank of IBnglana , when the Bask was * aisdag tiie Tateiof ^ discount , 3 * £ r . G ^ ladstone chose the time ( to x « - > 4 uce JEhe interest on Exchequer-bills . Was that done under the conviction that the higher fate of inteieirti "WAij 'onihjr temporary , or purposely to Yectaee 4 be ?« BM ) unt' 3 W Exchequer-bills afloat ? Confidence could ( only bevjEnadntained . by the- ^ maintenance of ra &ir rate of interest . But , not content with a reduce tion in "February , when June came a further reduction took place ; and Mr . 'Gladstone was forced to

    enter the market and -to purchaae a , 247 , 000 / . worth of JExe ; he < nierr-bill 8—between May" and Septeiribertp ; "bolster up the Exchequer-bills by the use of the savings-bank money— 3 , O 0 O , OO 0 / - worth of EKchequer-bulg came in foi caBh ; and l ; 2 G 0 j 000 / . werecontverted into the funded debt—ra permanent addition to the national debt . Another point on which Mr . Gladstone seemeS to apprehend censure was the con--version scheme , into which Mr . Baring entered with great jrelwh , and -which he condemned , contending that Mr . Gladstone had been warned sufficiently at the time , and ougfht not to have attempted that -operation . A thirS point was the question of the

    balances at rthe Bank , and Mr . Baring laid down ithe mile that the Government should be prepared to discharge the payment of the dividends on the day on which the Bank is called upon to pay them . Passing ( from the ^ ast he came to the present position ^ of the finances erf the ctxuntry . Here lie made a ^ great parade of hia desire to reduce the fanded debt—of the duty of every finance minister to reduce it by establishing a surplus to that end . ; adroitly urging here and there , at the same time , that "the heavy charge of a war like the present ought not to be placed upon capital alone by direct taxation , and making out that , although Mr . Gladstone showed so much aversion to a loan , yet he had adopted that very measure , only in its most inconvenient form , by asking the

    committee to permit him to borrow for five years . A " loan" is " money lent , to bo repaid or returned in some way or other . " Mr . Gladstone wanted six millions , and said he borrowed thorn in anticipation of the incoming taxes ; but was not that a loan ? It was a loan which would have to be paid off at a definite time , without power of renewal , and would puzzle some future Chancellor of the Exchequer perhaps to pay it , who would talk of Mr . Gladstone as Mr . Gladstone had talked of Mr . Pitt . What Mr . Gladstone really wanted was about 3 . ! 5 O () , () 0 O / ., why then ask for 6 , 000 , 000 / . P Had ho not used his balances , had bo not placod the market in peculiar oircumstances , that monoy might easily have been obtained from Exchequer-bills , without any addition

    to the national deit . If you take a loan , exclaimed Mr . Baring , let it actually be a loan . Had Mr Gladstone the assurance of success ? He said he -was engaged in a struggle with the moneyed power of the ^ unt ry—a moneyed power he portrayed as aljffays ^ mauouB £ ot war . " It ni | jjbt % e allowed that , at some period of our historv -tljtfkanfawwukd « apitalists of the city of London had rea l *« h * iro « te % e « vu ; e to tbe State . The right hon . gentleman " h . owevWy «« nMdMed them as vamp ires , who fed upon the vitakfof ^»* 6 ililiry . Mr . Pitt , the right Ion . gentleman confiaa 4 ^ "vmt- ^ mfy called * heaTen-born' in the city beca * 8 ethc | toade taps ; and he might be heaven-born on the tMfflfte ttaifttfens . ' Well , but had it never occurred to the tright Siontjijentlemaa that if the epithet of * heaven-born * > vvhiitemmm $ , im ^ Sn Very « extraordinary as conning from the

    mm ^ Exci ^ mm ^ really bfcd its origin there , it might ba ¦ Cause Jlr . Wttitad alwkjtt been successful ? and , perhaps ^ the right hon / geitleman cotiW not claim the term in that sense . % Cheers 4 n < d laughter . ) Ifc / had been Mr . Baring ' s lot to have ~ T « rtne dealings with those connected with tbe moneyed powers of this country , and he did not believe them , to be « o bad , -so powerful , nor yet so useless as the right hon . -gentleiban said . He had tried to excite an odium against the colossal , and £ as lie called them ) the gigantic fortune s which they had made . With what a pleasure , then , most fhe rl < jh ~ t hon . gentleman have doubled their income-tax —* ( laughter )—and witk- ^ pbat ^ a pride and satisfaction must the country know 4 bat there were -colossal fortunes which could taeet our increased taxation and expenditure I T 5 ut itbwe-moneyed men "were n » t so powerful aB the right hon .

    gentleman thought . They did lut r ^ fitt ^ st jwiblic opinion they were but tbeaonddle menitcho dealt = Wtween thosenvho had burgfiiand thosc ^ nrho rhad anwilljfartunes ^ they were'but the representatives ^ of-public opmion | 'tii ^ t' ^ e « eason why the -fight hon . geirfleman formd that they Jhafl not aided him was really because he bad not given "them anything ^ Me % * ny 1 > oa 7 vaii |« d'to ? btty . ^© feeer * Ha ( n « Na «^ ftler . ) The right hon . gentleman - said , ' I am-afraid to make their fortunes by the financidl 4 | M& £ ioii 8 > d £ "the jGWv « rnment . ' Why , those who had dissented from theright bon . gentleman ' s ¦ p lans "were ^ ftte 'hteji who % ^ ct muadowfeir TWtuues— : th < jse who had taken his ¦ moneywithotEttakuig . hiastock . " ( Chetrt and laughter . ^ <

    With all its power there is one thing the House of Commons cannot do—make a man buy what lie does * not want . &em « B told that this was » ^ ote of want of coa-^ fideoee . Wiry , ia that way , . anything might be diatorted into a vo 4 e of want of confidence . Budgets had been taken back before—the income-tax was wrested from h ^ rQ . Errerpo ^ ra Administration , but he didmot reBigm . -The whole pith of bis speech lagr in the . peroration .

    " Se bad voted for the laxes which had been proposed , not because there might not be very fair objections tajcen to them , but because he wished not to'throw'impedhnents in the way of the Gcvernment-with regard sto ^ aaation ; bat his vote aow-was . » wautof confidence in the schemes which had been failures . It was a"vote of want of confidence in measures which ibad 4 een made abrattive i * y Who imad way in which they had ieen . pat ^ ortli . It was & vote of want of confidence in the ' idea' that in fouror six years they would be able ^ to 'pay off this 'stock . 'It was a vote bywhichhe called , upon the Government'to say what they really wanted . If they wanted a loan let them have a loan , but on thenown responsibility . Tf they wanted -taxes let "them come boldly forward and propose itaxea . But ( don't -let £ hem go on

    aratatrag the , pubLc credit , irritating the feeling out of doors , % these constant marring , meddling charges—these plans which excited distrust . and -got them 'so little money . 1 The Government must not thiuk they could play this game like any other game , and as one in which , when they had made a bad move , they could take -it back and 'play it again . Financial mistakes were . national misfortunes . ( Xoutf cheers . ) Financial failures were like calamities , and a series of failures was fraught with danger to the credit of this country . ( Loud cries of IHear *) It was a great power . to possess . this credit . The Government bad called upon the energies of the people , had heavily taxed the resources of the eowntry , -mid the people had responded to their call ; but within their reaoh was a still more powerful arm—that of the national credit . This arm had achieved and could still achieve wonders ; but while it was powerful ,

    it was at the came time most sensitive . Under the guidance of a careful , a judicious , a prudent , an experienc ed hand it could defy , uncrushed and uninjured , the heaviest assaults which could'be made Against it ; but if benestfh the touch-of a meddling , fidgetting , irritating pressure , it might shrink into impotence , and close itself against its employment for purposes of national utility . ( Cheers . ) JHe called on them , then , not to avoid loans , but he called on them to avoid this constant tampering with , their balances—this constant attempt to do something new , something novel , something strange . It was with those feelings , and because he wished for himself to enter bis protest against the continuance of this system , that he ventured to move as an amendment the resolution of which he had given notice , ' That it is not art ; present expedient to authorise any further isBue of Exchequer-bonds with the encragemont of repayment within the

    next six years . ' " ( Loud cheers . ) Mr . Wilson- replied to this onslaught , entering at once into the controversy , and dealing with the subjects of debate as they arose . First , the balances : he showed by a reference to three years that , from the manner in which the accounts of the Government were kejpt at tbe Bank , there had always been on any day a much larger sum in the Hank than what appeared . Thus , in 1850 there was an apparent surplus of 1 , 200 , 000 / . only ; but Teally the cusli m the Bank was 0 / 256 , 000 / . In 1852 the surplus only appeared to be 10 , 000 / . ; "but the uiiuimuni balance on any one day in the October quarter of lb ^ 'i was

    Untitled Article

    482 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 27, 1854, page 482, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2040/page/2/