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im THEI.EADER. [No, 308, Saturday.
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THE CURRENCY QUESTION. JPriniiplesofCvp-...
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MISCELLANIES. IT seems to be Mr. Bonn's ...
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
A Mission To The Crimea. Krim-Girai, Ipi...
a & ea ^ shawl , wound picturesquely round b « r glossy , thickly-braided hair , which gave her an irresistible air of coquetry , considerably heightened by a tight-fitting dress , slowing to advantage her beautiful figure ; and her neck and bosom were adorned by costly jewels , which threw around her a blaze of light . ^ She was singing and dancing to the sound of the guitar , and displayed such bewitching grace and archness , that at last Krini-Girai , unable to contain hisfeelings , sprang down from the balcony , giving utterance to them in loud imprecations . He liirried from the spot , swearing that he would speedily be revenged . On LIs way home , he vented his rage on some Tartar soldiers , whom he found asleep on their post , with long pipes in their mouths , close to their dromedaries . He roused some of these animals by striking them with the flat blade of Ms sword , so that they suddenly rose with a great noise , throwing the soldiers who lay asleep at their sides to a considerable distance . A fearful laughfrom Krim-Girai , usual with him in moments of great excitement , followed this disturbance ; he then vanished in the darkness , and took the road back to the Castle .
Thus it happened that the great Khan , Krin > Girai , was disgusted with the Prussians , and , like a Japanese , because one had offended him , expelled all . He himself suffered vieissitudesj was dethroned , and exiled . During the next war between the Porte and Russia , he was , however , reinstated , and took the field with his brave , fierce , pillaging Tartars . Marching across the steppes , they encountered a curious danger : — One morning , upon striking their tents , it was discovered that they had unwittingly been pitched on the frozen surface of a lake , and that if they had remained there much longer , the ice , which was very far from being strong , would have given Way , so that the whole army must have been engulfed .
We promise all readers , fatigued * by the oft-told tale of Russian wars , a « tfe gratification from the perusal of Theodore Mundtfs narrative . It is a bookthat wiU first surprise and then delight them . Nor , as far as we can judge , does the picturesque colouring encroach upon romance—upon any ^ their i'omante than that which belongs to history .
Im Thei.Eader. [No, 308, Saturday.
im THEI . EADER . [ No , 308 , Saturday .
The Currency Question. Jpriniiplesofcvp-...
THE CURRENCY QUESTION . JPriniiplesofCvp-ency . Means of Ensuring tTniformiiy of Value andAdequacyofSimply By EdwinSSlh Longmans . A tERY general expectation is entertained that Parliament will necessarily oe called upon by the executive to modify the existing law regulating the cnrrencysthe Bank Charter Act of 1844 . That there is such a necessity in & e . ptesent year more ; than in any other we do not believe . The Bank < 3 hayter Act rests upon a perfectly sound principle . It did but establish one part icular standard b y which to- measure other values . A unit of value iri the abstract is nothing , you rnnst fix upon some tangible article as a starting point for the comparison of other things , and no advantage is gaine"d by lowering that standard when comparative scarcity makes other things dear , or when some derangement of the market depreciates the property of the seller . No real relief can be given by lowering the standard of value , as little as by reducing the foot to ten inches when the recruiting sergeant finds tall men getting scarce ; the military standard or price is then lowered , but the length of twelve inches is still called a foot . Those who ask for elasticity in the standard of value would expect to get tall men by giving the recruiting sergeant a caoutchouc foot rule . The proposals for establishing a paper Currency m lieu of metallic amount to nothing more than substituting paper ior . gpld as the . standard ; and since paper is a commodity much more variable in quality * in . density , and in intrinsic worth , it forms a very indifferent standard * . as any man . may find by going about for a single day to make tmrcbases with sheets of paper . A government stamp declaring paper to be worth a pound when nobody would give a pound for it , is simple waste of outlay . On the other hand , there is undeniable force in the representation that the medium of exchange is , in certain cases , far too limited in quantity . It is necessary to have the standard of value definitively fixed ; but if transactions are very numerous , the representatives of value must bear some proportion to the business done ; if not , business will either rem « in untransactedfor want of the instrument to effect exchanges , or dealers will resort to the cumbrous and losing operation of barter . Let us imagine the extreme case uvwnich only a single sovereign should remain in the country : it would still V * ^ u ndara ° < value as ever ; but as dealers could not get hold of il ^ lal ,, ^ l' f T han £ hKad > real P rices would * U ™ the endeavour to push sales , and with plenty of commodities in store , people SSi ^ S i ^ *™? *™ * ? th ? Y **™ Poor , from the impossibility of & would
« £ * . 7 » - purcnasing the thing they wanted . To supply them S ^ J ^ ST of am ^ ria /* be to supply them ™ th a veiy bad currency , and it would totally destroy the standard of value , but perhaps that would not be so serious a calamity as the being reduced to barter from the w" 25 ? f i i' We have nwer fceen educed to a single sovereign , Si , " V 6 7 *! ^ K ° w coin > with convert * , not incon ' it ^ itL note % and Wlth a »« W » « ttPl > lemental circulation consisting of the credit paper of commerce ; but in ti « nCS of difficulty this credit-paper fails to act as a circulating mfedium , because want of cotofldence dewives it of its nfl ttoen
currency , a we always have a proposal to relax the Bank Charter—in « 52 Z 2 \? ^ sf cenfrce the standard of value for the purpose of obtaining the %££ n ^ T ^ ? r" J the ^ we fails at the very moment when it is SS / f ^ n- the- othe r hand , there are instances which show tin * the I ^? h « Hth « II * Til * l ^ % ««<* from the medium of exchange . Jl * Jf ™ commutatttw » 8 > tfhe standard of value ia n bushel of corn ; and in SSCr ^? Seat ed or adopted . No one proposes , however , Wt ^ t ?* f ^ the !*** C (> mw »» t ^ on » shall be paid in corn : they are paid tSStJu S Sr , < orn ' Mon - ey , fhtt ., is the medium of SmSfiuSISft ? ^ iT * *•»*** <* vaW-facts which prove that -SSRt e «^ J $ . ? if diWItt ™ V be di * tin
quan-It appears from these returns , that twice in each year , viz ., in Mav and i , November , the bank-note circulation receives a eudden and extensive auementi tion , amounting to 15 , 20 , 25 , or even 30 per cent , upon the whole quantity previously in use . Such additional notes , however , being wanted for a shAr ? time only , return at the end of some ten days into the bankers' chests almost «« suddenly as they issued forth . m The explanation of this remarkable phenomenon is , that the chief Scottish Law Terms occur at these times ; when by the custom of the country rents aiS paid , and most other engagements of the larger kind , as those " arising from con veyances , mortgages , annuities , & c , are brought to completion . The wholo country is , therefore , during these two . short periods of time in a perfect hur ^ T burly of paying and receiving ; and hence the sudden and perfectly icqitimJL demand for an increased supply of currency at the commencement of everv such period , and " when the hurlyburly ' s done , " the equally sudden cessation of such demand .
The great cattle fair , " the Falkirk Tryst , " presents a similar scene , upon a smaller scale , but even still more sharply defined ; for the bankera bring to the ground all the currency which is made use of in completing the very large dealings which there take place j and at the end of the fair they carry it all awav with them . J From a consideration of these facts springs Mr . Hill ' s proposal . He does not propose to interfere with the standard of value as it was left by Peel . He indicates a preference for a mixed alloy of gold and silver , as being more stable in value than either of the metals alone ; but the introduction , of that idea will rather tend to expose his book to animadversion , by introducing a new and much disputed question which was not essential , and which he does network out . Practically , he proposes to leave the standard of value unto \ icheds and whereas Peel asked , " What is a pound ? " Mr . Hill will leave the pound as Peel left it . -NTor does he propose to declare banknotes inconvertible , which simply renders them unmarketable . Something is wanted besides either of those expedients , and , in some respects , different from them ; something whieh can be called into activity when more " currency ' * is immediately requiredj and which can , without loss , be laid on the sbelf . Another quality in bills of exchange is suggestive :
Whenever " money becomes a drug ; , " bills of exchange are largely laid aside to gather interest as investments , to the great relief of the circulation ( and of the community ) , then suffering from the evils of monetary repletion oil the other hand , whenever " money becomes tight / ' the hoarded bills are largely brought forth , and used as auxiliary money , to the great relief of the circulation ( and of the community ) , then suffering from the evils of monetary insufficiency . This would answer if only bills of exchange could always command confidence like sovereigns or bank-notes , and if they were a legal tender . Mr Gladstone ' s " Exchequer note "bore some resemblance to the kind of iustrutnent , but that was not , any more than the bill of exchange , a legal tender It is remarkable , however , how much at times of pressure the market has been relieved by an advance in the rate of interest borne by out-standing Exchequer-bills . The reason was that the Exchequer-bills were brought up to the level of the market ; they floated , and became current as auxiliaries among the manifold forms of instruments of exchange . We are now in a position to understand the plan proposed by Mr . Hill : —
Bearing all these considerations in mind , I propose that Government should prepare and issue , under the authority of Parliament , an adequate amount of iitr terest .-hewing securities , almost identical with Exchequer-bills "; and that these he made a legal tender for their principal sum , together toith their accumulated interest uy > to the day of tender , accordant / to a Table to be printed upon the face of each hill . The mode of issue to be thus : —Once per week , or once per month , as may he found most convenient to the public , a prescribed amount of the bills to be disposed of by tender ; the tenders to be made -upon tite rate of interest , and not upon the principal sum ; and to be sent in a few days beforehand , in order to give the department entrusted with the management of the business time to prepare the bills at the accepted rate of interest .
The rate of issue should be so ordered , that shortly after the completion of the issue of the amount intended to "be kept afloat , the earlier bills would begiu to fall due ; and in order to provide the means for talcing them up , further sales mniBt go on continuously ; so many bills ( and no more ) "being sold , week by weet , or month by month , as would be required for this purpose . These bills might be issued in comparatively small numbers at first , and in simple sums , say of . £ 100 or £$ > 0 . We must , however , refer to Mr . Hill ' s volumefor a complete account of the proposal . It appears to us to fulfil his promise , and suggest a plan by winch the standard oi value , as it was loft by Peel , should remain absolutely undisturbed , while the medium of exchange would be " elastic , " and would accommodate itself to the demands of the time .
Miscellanies. It Seems To Be Mr. Bonn's ...
MISCELLANIES . IT seems to be Mr . Bonn ' s design to save all good books from oblivion . In his various a Libraries" ho translates or reprints the best authors of all ages and nations . They maybe unpopular ; but as " Standards" or " Classics , " they inevitably appear , in compact volumes , wcll-printcd 3 well-edited , \ vcll-l ) ounu with " H . 0 . Bohn" on the title page . By such a profusion pouring from York-street criticism is overwhelmed . We have no time to consider the new prefaces , new notes , or new readings of the York-street editors . If we give our right hand to welcome Demosthenes our left must ; be ready for Quintilian ; if we decline their edition of Gibbon , we must bo thankful for their edition of Roaeoo j Sozomen and Evagrius arc scarcely " to band , " before the Who
Golden Ass and the Scandalous Chronicle win us away . then , can ask , for more than a register of Mr . Bohn ' a publications ? If wo must enlarge upon the good , they arc all good ; if upon the beat , it is difficult to select them . Since we pointed out the old romances rich with the fruit of Grecian fancy , a library has acqumulated ; Quintilian ^ Institutes of Oratory , translated by the Rev . J . S . Watson ; a volume of the dopant and credulous Pliny * s Natural History ; a series of Burke * a Letters ana Orations , of Addison ' s Essays , of Professor Smythe ' s Lectures , and Stock ' ard's Exposition of Agricultural Chemistry . These arc valuable editions , deserving a pormttnent place in every well-assorted collection . While reprints are winder notice , wo must remind our public that Hallam ' s Histories , meuitoval , constitutional , and literary , arc l > e » " 8
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 16, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16021856/page/18/
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