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THR ' GTJRRENiCY ¦QX7ESTI0!KF
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MISCELLANIES . It seems to bo Mr . Bohn ' s design to save all good books from oblivion . In his various " Libraries" he translates or reprints the best authors of all ages and nations . They maybe unpopular ; but as " Standards" or " Classics , " they inevitably appeal-, in compact volumes , well-printed , well-edited , \ vejl-bounu with " H . G . Bohn" or i ' the title page . By such a profusion pouring from York-st * eet criticism is overwhelmed . We have no time to consider the new prefaces , new notes , or new readings of tiie York-street editors . If we give our right hand to welcome Demosthenes our left must be ready for QuintUian-, if wo decline their edition of Gibbon ., we must be thankful for their edition of Roacoc : Sozoraen and Evaariua are scarcelv " to hand , their edition of Roacoc $ Sozoraen and Evagriua are scarcely " to hand ,
before the Golden Ass and the Scandalous Chronicle win us awny . Who then , can ask , for more than a register of Mr . Bolm ' s publications ? If w ° must enlarge upon the good , they are all good ; if upon the best , it is difficult to select them . Since we pointed out the old , romances rich with the fruit ot Grecian fancy , a library has accumulated $ QuintUian' ' e Institutes of Oratory , translated by the Rev . J . S . Wataon , ; a volume of the elegant and credulous Pliny ' s Natural History ; a series of Burke " s Letters and Qratiw 9 , of Addison ' a Essays , of Profeasor Smythe ' s L , cctures , and Stookard ' s Exposition of Agricultural Chemistry . These are valuable ' editions , deserving a permanent place in every well-assorted collection . While reprints are under notice , we must remind our public that fiallarn ' s Histories , medicoval , constitutional , and literary , are being
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cTered shawl , wound picturesquely round her glossy , thickly-braided hair , which gave' her an irresistible air of coquetry , considerably heightened by a tight-fitting ' dress , showing 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 his feelings , sprang down from the balcony , giving utterance to them in loud imprecations . He hurried from the spot , swearing that he would speedily be revenged . On his 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 bis 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 laugh from Krim-Girai , usual with him in moments of great excitement , followed this disturbance ; he then vanished in the darkness , and took the road hack to the Casfcle .
Thus it happened that the great Khan , Krim-Girai , was disgusted with the Prussians , and , like a Japanese , because one had offended him , expelled all He himself suffered vicissitudes , was dethroned , and exiled . During the next war between the Porte and Russia , he was , however , reinstated , and t 6 ok the field with his brave , fierce , pillaging Tartars . Marching across the steppes , they encountered a curious danger : — One morning , upon striking then . * tents , it was discovered that they had tmwittingly 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 giveia way , so that the whole army must have been engulfed . We promise all readers , fatigued Vby the oft-told tale of Russian wars , a rare gratification from the perusal of Theodore Mundt's narrative . It is a bbdkvtliatv ^^^ n ^ ' si ^ ijse ' a&d th ' eti delight ' them . Nor , as far as we can Jttdgeydces' the picturesque colouring encroach upon romance—upon any « ther rdikMoacfe than that ^ ^ tvIlicB belbngs to history .
Thr ' Gtjrrenicy ¦Qx7esti0!Kf
It appears from these returns , that twice in each year , viz ., in May and in November , the bank-note circulation receives a sudden and extensive autnaenta tion , amounting to 15 , 20 , 25 , or even 30 per cent , upon the whole quanfcitw previously in use . Such additional notes , however , being wanted for a short time only , return at the end of some ten days into the banters' chests almost as suddenly as they issued forth . 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 are paid , and most other engagements of the larger kind , as those arising ' from conveyances , mortgages , annuities , &c , are brought to completion . The whole country is , therefore , during these two short periods of time in a perfect hurly burly of paying and receiving ; and hence the sudden ajid perfectly legitimate demand for an increased supply of currency at the commencement of every such period , and " when the hurlyburl / 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 bankers bring to the ground all the currency which is made use of in completing the very large dealings which there take place ; and at the end of the fair they carry it all away with them . 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 not wo-rk out . Practically , he proposes to leave the standard of value untouched , and whereas Peel asked , " What is a pound ? " Mr . Hill will leave the pound as Peel left it . Nor does he propose to declare banknotes inconvertible , which simply renders them immaiketable . Something is wanted besides either of those expedients , and , in some respects , different fromtbetns sometting which can be called into activity when more " currency " is immediately required , and which can , without loss > be laid on the shelf . Another quality in bills of exchange is suggestive : —
JNo real rehet ^ 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 gettmg scarce ; the military standard or price is tben lowered , but the length Of twelve niches is still called a foot . Those wlo 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 in lien of metallic amount to nothing more than substituting paper for gold as the standard ; and since paper is a commodity much more variable mqualiiy , indensity , and in intrinsic worth , it forms a very indifferent standaEd -as any man . may find by going about for a single day to make purchases 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 . ic is to standard
; v THRCJUHHENCY QUESTION ; JPHnaplespf Currency . Means of Ensuring Uniformity of Value and Adequacy of Supply ¦ ¦ . &J -fcawmHill .: Longmans . a iVisip general expectation is entertained that Parliament will necessarily » e called upon by the executive to modify the existing law regulating the imrrenc ^ the Bank Charter Act of 1844 . That there is such a necessity in the present year more than in any other we do not believe . The Bank Gharter Act rests upon a perfectly sound principle . It did but establish one particular standaidby which to measure other values . A unit of value in the abstract is nothing , you must fix upon some tangible article as a starting point for . the comparison of other things , and no advantage is gained 1 > y Ipwerm ^ that standard when comparative scarcity makes other things dear , or When some derangement of the market depreciates the fcrouertv of the seller .
necessary nave me of value definitively fixed ; but if transactions are very numerous , the representatives of value musfbear some proportion to the business done ; if not , business will either remain untransaetedfqr . want ; Q f the instrument to effect exchanges , or dealers wilt resort to the cumbrous and losing operation of barter , Let us imagine the extreme case m which only a smgle sovereignr should remain in the country : it would still be as good a standard of value as ever ; but as dealers could not get hold of 11 * ° i — ? ] S ?» goods would hang on hand , real prices would fall in the en 4 eavourj ; o push sales , and with plenty of commodities in store , people W ? v Z . 1 sara <* P osition ** # they were poor , from the impossibility of selling , their own wares or purchasing the thing they wanted . To supply them mth a currency of amgnats would be to supply them with a very bad currency , and it would totally destroy the standard of value , but perhaps that would apt , bo , so serious a calamity as the being reduced to barter from the want of accessible money . We have never been brought to that pass since 1
n ' T ^' v ' T ^ ^ T we nave nerer been reduced to a single sovereign , hut have , had a very large supply o £ gold conx , with convertible , not iticony ^ b ^ nptea , and with a large supplemental circulation consisting of the S ?«*?! T * f ™ * *™' > * " * in tiraes * «> f difficulty this credifc-pape ? fails to SS ™ , f !! S medium , because want of confidence deprives it of its ewrency > , and then wealways have a proposal to relax the Bank Charter—in SST , the T Standard of value for the purpose of obtaining the 28 ? 522 r # * % *• ¦ ¦ *¦****»¦ W » the vepy moment when It i 8 rao ^ wanted . Vn tfa * otheu hand , there are instances which show that the UC be
Tifft ? ^ ° T * ?** & <* ¥ ^» tmct from the medium of exchange . Iajthe . ^ be commutations , the standard of value i * a bushel of corn ; and in gPaj ^^ orn rents ^ e advocated or adopted . No one proposes , however , SSaP ^** ? £ ? f lthe C ( Mnm » tation 3 . shall be paid in com : they aro paid SSSE- 'IL *!* ? T i prico of cora < Mon « y » * N , « the medium of SS ^ iA tt ° ^ the »*»» dliwl of value-facts which prove that m $ 3 $ 8 £ ^ ft ?^ m m ^ di 8 tin < * commodities . It is to a great SSffi ^' sovereign and the bank note , and there is in that veiSbtenS £ if $ >** y ™ S <^ ct of convortibility : the paper being eonvmS ^ sW ' ^ j'iHi W Wr ? P *¦ ti > corn heing convertible i ! uto money * and " fiwVftS'SS ^ iStl ?^ - *^ 8 tandard ? f VGluo <»» ld « wn absolutely titq ^ nheVe WW'ttSSiSES ™ ^!?* * S * ' ! * triable quantities ; and somotw ^^ JS ^ OT ^^ Sf ^ intIie w ™ - * r A * 4 " B * vcb jnataTrtccs ' i' ^—
¦ 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 ; on the other hand , whenever " money becomes tight , " the iiparded l > ills 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 instrument , 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 anaong 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 hx mini T r'T-ivise that Governmcut sliould prepare and issue , under the authority of Parliament , an adequate amount of in * terest-bearioig securities , almost identical with Exchequer-bills ,- and that these he made a leg / al tender for their principal sum , together with their accumulated hi ' terest up to the day of tender , according to a Table to be printed upon ( lie face tif each bill .
The mode of issue to be thus : — -Once per week , or once per month , as may be found mos-t convenient to the public , a prescribed amount of the bills to be disposed of by tender ; the tenders to be made wpon the rate qf 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 rat « of issue should be so ordered , that shortly after the completion of the issue of the amount intended to t > e kept afloat , the earlier bills would fcegin to fall due ; and ia order to provide the means for taking them , up , further sales
must go on continuously ; so many hills ( and no more ) being sold , week by week , or month by month , as would be required for this purpose . These bills might be issued in comparatively small numbers at firs-t , and in simple sums , say of , £ 100 or ^ 50 . We must , however , refer to Mr . Hill ' s volume for a complete account of the proposal . It appears to us to fulfil his promise , and suggest a plan b y which the standard of value , as it was left by Peel , should remain abaolutely undisturbed , while the medium of exchange would be " elastic , " and would accommodate itself to the demands of the time .
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162 T H E L E A P E R . [ No , Sgg ^ j ^ trRBAT ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 16, 1856, page 162, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2128/page/18/
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