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1142 V HE LEADE E,. [No. 401, November 3...
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INDIAN RELIEF FUND. The Indian Relief Fu...
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PAYMENT OH? THE INDIAN DAMAGES. In the p...
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MIL C0NINGHAM AT BRIGHTON. "We do not un...
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A\ * ¦> /?-*;¦ M (©CHI (ibOtltini* r
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... w C tW THIS DEPARTMENT, AS ALL OPINI...
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There 13 no learned man but will confess...
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THE MONETARY CRISIS AND THE BANK OF ENGL...
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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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A Venerable Convert. "Out Of The Depths ...
¦ who had exhausted honour , who had outlived dynasties , \ y \ ho had refused to wear the mantle of justice under a law-breakerthat he should recant is a shame to France and no honour to the Empire . We do not Begrudge the Empire the allegiance of M . Dupiev
1142 V He Leade E,. [No. 401, November 3...
1142 V HE LEADE E ,. [ No . 401 , November 38 . . 185 * .
Indian Relief Fund. The Indian Relief Fu...
INDIAN RELIEF FUND . The Indian Relief Fund progresses favourably , and promises soon to rival the splendid proportions of the Crimean collection . From a report just issued , we find that a sum exceeding 280 , 7492 . has already been subscribed , and . that out of this amount 54 , 477 / . 13 s . 9 d . has been remitted to Tarious places in India without delay , whilst power to draw bills to the amount of 19 , 0002 . has been also forwarded to the authorities at Calcutta , Bombay , and Lahore . We may further add -that 10852 . have been distributed in this country in the shape of loans , and 1793 Z . 9 s . 7 d . in donations . The greater p ortion of the money has naturally flowed into Calcutta as being the capital of Bengal , and the place of shelter to which the principal sufferers from the mutiny would most probably resort . To Iiucknow , 51702 . 10 s . has been sent ; to Bombay—independently of
the sum the committee organized there is at liberty to raise—7249 Z . 14 s . Id . ; to Agra , 10 , 3572 .-, whilst we are glad to find that the asylum at Kusowlee has been voted 10002 . In addition to the remittances already on their ¦ way to India , the sum of 50002 . goes out by the next noailj entrusted to the Gtavernor-General , to be transmitted to Delhi for the relief of the sufferers in the various stations
of that territory . The greatest economy seems to have been observed in the operations of the committee . The whole amount of salaries hitherto paid is noted down at 1671 . 6 s . 7 d . ; while the miscellaneous expenses have been 510 ? . 7 s . 7 d . It is true the charge for advertisements shows a large figure , rising to no less than 30982 . 0 s . Id . ; but publicity has been a natural stimulus of the subscription . Advertisements on . a large scale have been essential to the success of the
-Fund-committee and the satisfaction of the subscribers . We make no comment upon the generous promptitude with which all classes of the community have come to the relief of their suffering and mourning fellowcountrymen in the East ; we only trust the impulse of British charity will not cease until the work is complete , and a fair prospect held out that the distress of Anglo-Indian widows , orphans , and destitute will , as far as lies iu human aid , be adequately relieved .
Payment Oh? The Indian Damages. In The P...
PAYMENT OH ? THE INDIAN DAMAGES . In the paper on the 'Payment of the Indian Damages , ' in our last number , we made a very . serious blunder , unaccountable , if everybody does not remember the hallucinations which may seize upon the most vigilant mind . "We reckoned fhat the cost of 50 , 000 soldiers landed in India , at 1002 . a piece , would amount to 5 OO , 000 Z ., whereas it should have been 5 , 000 , 0002 . It happened luckily that the whole force of our argument would have "been strengthened tenfold by takingrthe
proper figures . In that paper we indicated the means by which India might be made to pay with advantage to herself and without injustice s good government would render theiand more profitable . But there are some means by which immediate revenues might be obtained without injury to India , with direct advantage to this country , and with the effect of immediately counterbalancing the new debt . One is the extension of railways . Regarding tlio whole amount invested in Indian railways as a loan . —and it could be
obtained for that purpose on reasonable terms —it is almost self-evident that the revenue derivable from the railways themselves forms a very small part of the advantage derived to India and its Government . The rail fare can never be more than a per-centage on the business transacted by the railway . Another source still more prompt would be a boon to ladia in the shape of an improved circulating medium . We allude to such a reform of the
currency laws as would render gold a legal tender , and would , upon that basis , pmt in circulation a fair proportion of State paper . In this country , with a population of only 30 , 000 , 000 , something like 14 , 000 , 0002 . was assumed as the capital against which a portion of the paper currency might issue V why not embody the expenses of the Indian war in a similar debt , and let the paper issued against it float in India , a new expansion of her monetary system / and immediate payment to us for the expenses we have incurred .
Mil C0ningham At Brighton. "We Do Not Un...
MIL C 0 NINGHAM AT BRIGHTON . "We do not undertake to support Mr . ConrprGHA . ^ in all his political views ; but by Ms speech at Brighton he has rendered a real service to the Liberal party . The demonstration was the more remarkable inasmuch as Brighton is an aristocratic town , and Mr . Cokingham :, by culture as well as by
association , belongs to the class of society generally averse from , declarations so ont-apoken and courageous . The honourable gentleman , after his reception by his own constituency , might well afford to be rebuked by the Blenkinsop of official High Iiife , especially as lie succeeded in drawing the Government card with respect to the future administration of India . Does an India Bill mean No Reform Bill ?
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... W C Tw This Department, As All Opini...
... w C tW THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , nOWEVElt EXTRKJIK , . ARE ALLOWED AN EXPUKSSIOB , TUB KDITOK . NECESSARILY HOLDS I 11 MSKLF KKSrOKSIlSLK F 01 S SOS E . I
There 13 No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There 13 no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened ^ and his judgment sharpened . If , then . be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable fox . his adversary to write?—Hilton .
The Monetary Crisis And The Bank Of Engl...
THE MONETARY CRISIS AND THE BANK OF ENGLAND . ( To the Editor oj ' theLeader ,, ) Sir , —Atatime of monetary pressure like the present , most people are too apt to work themselves up to the belief that somehow or other the Bank of England is to blame , and that Parliament has but to meet and pass some short acts to set all to rights at once . Now , there is no creative power , no magic in either Parliament or the Bank . They are both mighty institutions in their way . but they can no more create money , or make unsound credit sound , or enable any considerable portion of the vast commerce and manufacturing of this or any other country , to be carried on for any length of time by nion without means , than they can make the printing-machines at the Bank transform the paper they are fed with into sovereigns . There Is no mystery in the present crisis . It has com © , not like that of 1816 , by an exhaustive war , short supplies , and a Corn-law ; nor like that of 1825 , from food l > eing at famine prices , and a consequent sudden drain of gold to buy corn at the moment wherever it might be found ; nor like that of 1837 , from bad harvests , glutted warehouses , protection , starvation of the people , and outflow of bullion to buy bread ; nor like the crisis of 1847 , from a railway mania and a general bursting of
bubbles . With marked distinctness from all these , the existing crisis has come upon us at a period of unexampled abundance . Never in tho world ' s history was there bo rich a harvest housed throughout tho world as in the present year . Our manufacturers have for tho most part been cautioua , our exports and imports have risen enormously , our commerce has been in the main sound , and Australia and California have steadily year on year poured iu upon us their millions of gold .
The present crisis is neither more nor loss than a re-ditcountiny crisis , and it has been brought npon us by a departure on the part of banks and bill-brokers from tho sound principles of real banking-.
A Banker ' s legitimate business is to keep in per feet security , so that they shall be ready at demand the deposits of his customers . ' It does not follow the deposits are to be locked un in the bank safe , and that the bank is to become a hoarding-house , but it does follow that the moneys so entrusted to the bank are not to be advanced in enormous sums to individuals , nor to be lent upon securities that in a commercial crisis cannot be realized at once , or become absolutely inconvertible and for the time valueless . '
Bankers—some hold to it still—used to consider themselves bound to have a . positive knowledge of the soundness of the parties upon whose bills they advanced the money of their customers . They discounted , in fact , within the circle of their own acquaintance ; * hey gave legitimate help to legitimate trading , they distributed the help fairly ; and they kept besides a sufficient reserve to make them easy about the demands of their depositors . Of course , on this system no large interest , if any interest at all , could be allowed upon deposits j and fortunes were not to lse made in a few years . Gradually , however , has grown up a totally different system , and , under stress of unhealthy competition , T ) ankhi {| has been driven from its safe and honest course . The banks and bill-brokers ha . vn
become the upholders of fictitious credit , and the finders of capital for the conduct of enormous businesses hymen of no means . Instead of discounts belonging to real trade , they keep afloat millions upon millions of bills that represent no value whatever ; and uphold a rotten competition , that robs fair traders of their rightful profits , and involves honest men in the ruin of rogues . The joint-stock banks keep Mttle or no reserve of their customers' money : it is out pn mortgage , out on ships , out on loans afc fixed periods , out on bills , out on call with the billbrokers . By these shifts they pay large dividends , and run large risks , at the peril of their shareholders and depositors .
Surely no one imagines that the Liverpool Borough Bank , the Western of Scotland , the City of Glasgow , the Staffordshire and "Wolverhampton , or the Northumberland and Durham district bank , have been compelled to close their doors from losses in the true business of banking . Xt is not as bankers , but as traders , as money-lenders , as builders of ships and warehouses , as pushers of trade and stampers of worthless Mils for bankrupts or penniless men , that they have failed . The closing of their doors comes of a career of dishonesty as bankers deserving exposure and punishment , and the non-exposure of which , more than the failure of the banks , is a public calamity .
Bat how is it all this goes on so long ? How is ifc the bills of Cole , Davidson , and Gordon , of Sadgiove and Raggy of Banes , Hopperton , and a thousand othermen of fraud and of straw , professional bill acceptors and professional signers of imaginary names , pass current in the commercial ¦ w orld at all ? Does it not come of the fact that the joint-stock banks and the bill-brokers either do not or cannot exercise the due supervision of bankers into the condition of parties for whom they discount , and that the Bank of England is expected , in times of pressure to r & -discount without question , ;\ s firstclass bills , all that come from the banks or billbrokers ; and is not the cure plain enough , that the Bank shall make it a rule to charge an ADDITIONAL ONES PER CENT . ON ALL UK-DISCOUNTS ? This
would , no doubt , be a heavy blow to the business of bill-broking , which is in reality a business without capital , upheld , on the one hand , by money at call , that is , the money of depositors in all the banks in all parts of tho country sent up daily to Lotnliardstreet to be advanced on bills , and as to vast numbers of which Lombard-street can know nothing , and upheld , on the other hand , by the re-diicount whenever needed of these brokers' bills by the Uank of England . This re-discount system once checked , tho joint-stock banks must of necessity , as the demand on the part of tho bill-broker ^ would become lesB , keep a larger proportion of their customers money in hand , and must discount less , as they will no longer be enabled under any circumstances , without additional cost , to trade upon tho money of the Bank of . England .
Tins check upon re-discounts is therefore the legitimate remedy against the recurrence of such a state of things as we aro now happily passing through . Whether the Bank of England will venture upon it , unless under special enactment , 13 another matter . There need , however , be no diluculty in enacting that such a difference of charge upon re-discounts must in future precede any relaxation on the part of Government of the Hank Act . Even this would , compel tho joint-stock bankers and bill-brokers to look a little more before them than they have douc of late . But in any case tno remedy for a flood of unsubstantial bills , and for tno mischievous competition set up by unsound credit ) ia assuredly not in tho issue of moro bank-notes . A aui , sir , Your obedient servant , XV *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 28, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28111857/page/14/
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