curtail their issues by not renewing dis- should be called to it as early as possible. counts; but the moment they took exche- The Chancellor of the Exchequer obquer bills, they could have no control over served, that he had no objection to reply the re-issue of bank-notes, because it most explicitly to the question of the was a rule with the Bank never to sell right hon. gentleman, and he was ready exchequer bills. When in the possession to admit that the House and the public of the Bank they were merely good to were entitled to the fullest information Show what their debts and what their which it was in his power and consistent assets were; for, as he had said, it was with his duty to afford. With regard to a rule with the Bank, when exchequer the immediate subject of the right hon. bills once came into their possession, gentleman's inquiry, he had not the never to sell them again. Indeed it might smallest hesitation in declaring, that it be doubted whether they had a right to was the intention of his majesty's ministers sell; for they were prohibited from that the repayment to the Bank of the "dealing in government securities." Un- loan of six millions should be made in less he found that proper measures were money, and not in exchequer bills taken, he should move for papers, from [Hear, hear!]. Upon the other more week to week, to see what were the general subject which had been adverted issues of the Bank-simply with a view to, although not now before the House, to ascertain, whether they were taking he was desirous of making one or two obthose steps which afforded the only se- servations. If it should become necescurity to the country for their returning sary to propose to parliament the postto the wholesome state of things-of ponement of the resumption of cash paypaying in cash, without which, all their ments, it would not be from any purpose of finance committee reports would not be consulting the convenience of government, one whit more serviceable to them than but would be submitted on grounds perthe Arabian Nights Entertainments, or fectly distinct. He could not agree that the story of Aladdin's Lamp. It was his it was desirable at the present moment sincere belief, that the Bank really de- to reduce the issues of the notes of the sired to return to cash payments; but, Bank of England; and he considered the on the other hand, he knew there was a repayment of the six millions in money powerful body, who cared nothing for the as expedient, not to enable the Bank to interests of the country-who wished lessen their paper in that proportion, merely the continuance of such a state which appeared to be the view of the of things as might be most favourable for right hon. gentleman, but to enable them their speculations-to whom nothing was to extend accommodation to trade, and so beneficial as the leaving every thing in to support the commercial interests of a state of continued fluctuation. He the country. It was upon this consideracalled, however, on every man who was tion that he should probably feel it his not a gambler or a speculator, to consider duty to propose some arrangement for the the consequences of a continuance of the final repayment of this loan. Much had present system, and to see, in the third been already saved by the arrangement year of peace, how the Bank might re-made originally, and the present rate of insume cash payments. It ought to be the terest would cause a saving to the country object of the greatest anxiety and vigi- of not less than one million out of the six lance to see that the Bank trod in the steps millions composing the loan. The right likely to lead to cash payments. He hon. gentleman, he believed, had done no begged pardon of the House, but this was more than justice to the Bank, in expresone of the most important subjects to sing his conviction that they were sinwhich its attention could be turned. cerely desirous of resuming their ordinary Were we to be the only country in Eu- course of payments; but the interests of rope to which the stigma attached-for the public, and the security of commerce, it was a great stigma on a country to re- might, in a particular state of things, form main in that state with respect to our a very reasonable ground for the interfecurrency in which we now were. He im-rence of parliament, to delay the period plored them not to consider this as a party question, or as having been taken up by him in a party spirit. Feeling so anxiously as he did on this subject, he was desirous that the attention of the House at which that resumption should take place. The subject was not, however, now under consideration, and he should not, therefore, enter into any argument upon the different points involved in it with respect to which questions might be raised, but he begged leave to re-state, that whether the resumption of payments in cash on the part of the Bank of England should commence in the present year or be delayed till the ensuing, the measures of government would be equally directed to forward and encourage it. Mr. Tierney thought the right hon. gentleman's explanation perfectly satisfactory as far as related to the repayment of the six millions in money to the Bank because it would enable the Bank to do what in his opinion they ought to do-reduce the amount of their issues; but he had witnessed, with great dismay, the sort of levity with which the right hon. gentleman treated the very serious question whether the Bank was to return to its regular payments this year or the next. He was glad to hear that it was not the convenience of government which it was intended to consult; but that the understood ground upon which the House might expect, that some measure for extending the time at which the currency was to be restored to its proper state, I would be proposed, was, that great loans were to be advanced by individuals in this country to foreign powers. The nature of these loans was no secret to any body: and could the right hon. gentleman entertain a doubt that the money of which they consisted was at the present moment going out of the country, or that the contractors were not already availing themselves of the high price of stocks, in order to make large remittances at the most favourable rate? Without mentioning names, he might allude, by way of example, to a certain individual, with whom he had no doubt the right hon. gentleman was extremely well acquainted, and who would scarcely suffer the present opportunity to pass by him unobserved. He apprehended that this course of things would continue to go on, and that before the five months which still remained previous to the expiration of the present restriction had elapsed, the whole amount of the loans might be transferred. In that case, to postpone the resumption would be to provide against a danger that no longer existed. The right hon. gentleman shook his head; it was possible that the right hon. gentleman might be right, and that he himself might be deceived; but to take an instance which was notorious-the loan of three millions to Prussia-were he one of the lenders, he should be (VOL. XXXVII. ) strongly inclined to take advantage of the present state of the funds. What he understood from the declarations of the chancellor of the exchequer was, that nothing existed in the internal or external situation of political affairs which created any obstacle to the restoration of the old circulating medium. The whole question therefore became narrowed to this point, (for it was evident that there was no ground for the appointment of a committee to inquire whether the Bank was or was not prepared to pay)-could a foreign loan. operate of itself unfavourably on the price of gold in this country? He was satisfied that it could not, and his conviction was the stronger from looking at the operation of the two great loans to Austria in 1795 and 1798, which loans produced no such effect. What he desired to see was, the Bank liberal in their accommodation, but still cautious in their issue of paper: he. desired to see the gold coinage again in circulation: and if in three months after that event, the Mint price of gold was not equal to its market price, he would pledge himself never again to trouble the House on this subject-a circumstance which he had no doubt would give them infinite satisfaction. [a laugh] Mr. F. Lewis said, he must avow him. self to be extremely anxious to see the circulating medium of the country replaced as soon as possible on its only secure basis. The facts which had come with in his own knowledge had convinced him, that if. there was any difficulty or inconvenience in resuming our ancient and natural currency, those difficulties would be enhanced, and not diminished, by any additional delay. In the discussion of this subject, he feared the operation of the country banks was not in general sufficiently attended to. It was not easy to discover the causes which regulated the extent of their issues. It would, however, be found, upon inquiry, that in as short a period as two years and a half twenty-five millions of country bank notes had been withdrawn from circulation. He would leave it to the House to judge of the effect which this must have produced upon individual credit, and upon all the transactions arising out of the internal commerce of the country. He called upon every member of the House to inquire in his own district and neighbourhood, and he would venture to say, that the result of that inquiry would correspond with his own, and would show that the paper so suddenly withdrawn (P) was now re-issuing with no less rapidity. Could it be doubted for a moment, that these transitions must have a most material influence upon the prices of all commodities, or that it was not of vast importance for the House to pause and deliberate well, before they adopted any measure which might favour the continuance of these fluctuations? He believed it impossible to point out any reason why the whole, or a much larger amount of country paper, would not be thrown into circulation, unless the Bank of England exercised its control over every other, by issuing no paper which was not immediately convertible into gold. The interest of commerce, no doubt, required an adequate circulation of paper, but the misfortune was, that as the circulation increased the depreciation of paper followed, and such must be the consequence while the restriction upon the Bank continued. Should this restriction continue for two years longer, he could not allow himself to describe the distress which was but too likely to ensue. He knew that, on the other hand, the issue of paper was neces sary for the purposes of commercial accommodation and to facilitate the transfer of property: but, on the other hand, such an issue as that which he deprecated threatened to shake every other description of property in the country, both landed and funded. To obviate such a menacing evil, he intreated the House and his majesty's ministers to consider seriously the necessity of removing the restriction upon cash payments by the Bank. Lord Castlereagh said, he did not rise with a view to press the discussion of a question which could not, indeed, be fairly or fully entered into until his right hon. friend should bring forward the measure which would naturally raise that discussion. But in reference to some observations which had fallen from the right hon. gentleman, he thought it proper to assure the right hon. gentleman, as well as the House, that it was the anxious wish of his majesty's ministers that the Bank should resume its payments in cash, and that the country should return to its ordinary and wholesome circulation. But looking to the subject in the view taken by the right hon. gentleman himself, he would ask, whether it could be the wish of that right hon. gentleman, or of any of those who thought with him, to place the Bank, by a premature removal of the restriction, in such a predicament as might That suggest the necessity of again renewing that restriction, or of urging the Bank to withhold that degree of accommodation which was essential to the commercial interests of the country? Now, in case a foreign loan of such a magnitude should be contracted as would threaten the exportation of a considerable quantity of bullion, would not parliament owe it to the country to continue, or if discontinued, to renew the restriction, as a matter of paramount necessity? It was to be apprehended, that foreign loans of this nature might be contracted, over which the counsels of the country could have no control-with which, indeed, it would be highly improper in those counsels at all to interfere. He did not mean a loan of three or four millions to this or that particular power, but loans of such an extent as could not yet be ascertained, and therefore ministers were not yet prepared to open the case to parliament. there was nothing in the internal situation or the foreign relations of the country to prevent the Bank from resuming its payments in cash, he was quite ready to admit. There was, indeed, nothing in our foreign relations which threatened, in the slightest degree, the disturbance of our pacific connexion; but yet it was material to provide, that the financial measures of foreign states should not be allowed to embarrass this country, by placing the Bank in such a situation as might compel it to refuse the usual facilities to our different commercial transactions. He denied that government in any degree interposed to promote loans to foreign states. It was for the contractors for those loans to act according to their own discretion, but he hoped that the people of this country would deliberate with caution upon the investment of their capital in foreign funds. He did not mean that the discretion of individuals in the disposition of their property should in any degree be controlled, but it would be well for capitalists to consider what they were about. There was, no doubt, at present, a great temptation to British capitalists; for it was known, that while money could be had in this country on exchequer bills, at so low a rate of interest as two per cent, at least four times that rate of interest might be had in foreign states. It was to be apprehended, therefore, that capital, which naturally sought the most productive employment, would be transferred to a considerable amount; and it was for parliament to guard against the conse- | ters had not the intention to which he had quences of that transfer upon the treasures alluded. If it should be declared, that of the Bank. From such transfer, indeed, the provisions in the treaties to which he should the apprehended loans take place, had referred, were owing to special cirthe exchange would rise against this coun- cumstances, not likely again to occur, and try, and, in consequence, the transporta- that the case was not to form a precedent tion of the precious metals would natu- upon future treaties, great good would be rally take place. Under such circum- done. It was extremely desirable, indeed, stances then, he put it to the House, whe- to remove the delusion which prevailed ther it would be wise to remove the re- on this point, for too many persons were striction upon the issue of cash by the at present disposed to conclude from the Bank? But he would assure the right treaties alluded to, that the faith of gohon. gentleman and the House, that his vernment was pledged to procure the remajesty's ministers had no disposition to storation of any property they might incontinue that restriction, unless a strong vest in foreign funds, and especially in case were made out. He was ready to the funds of that country with which we go along with the right hon. gentleman had been lately at war. in deprecating the consequences of the increased issue of paper by the provincial banks; but, on the other hand, it was to be considered whether the Bank should be reduced to the necessity of starving the circulation of the country, or limiting that degree of accommodation which was essential to every branch of our commercial industry. Ministers would, in his view, be highly culpable, if they sought the triumph of clinging to a principle, without considering the case to which that principle was to be applied. They were, as they ought to be, highly solicitous for the removal of the restriction upon the Bank, but it was their duty to consider the circumstances under which that removal should take place. The noble lord concluded with assuring the House, that ministers were not at all disposed to continue the restriction upon the Bank, on any ground or principle of expediency from year to year, and that they would not propose or accede to the continuance of that restriction unless a distinct and special case was made out to justify the measure. Mr. Hammersley expressed a hope that ministers would not be found to have any intention of giving any encouragement to the proposed loans to foreign states, or to the investment of British capital in foreign funds. He was sorry to understand that such encouragement was inferred from certain provisions in the treaties of 1814 and 1815, as he himself had calculated at the time those treaties were concluded; he meant with regard to the reimbursement of British subjects who had lost the property they had vested in the French funds. A distinct declaration from the noble lords upon this subject, would be of considerable utility, especially if minis Lord Castlereagh said, that he had no difficulty in stating that the debts alluded to in the treaties of 1814 and 15, stood upon particular grounds, and that therefore they formed the subject of a special provision in those treaties. By the treaty with France in 1787, it was covenanted, that in the event of war, every British subject should be allowed one year for the removal of his property from that country, and it was in direct violation of this treaty that the debts alluded to were contracted. Therefore it was pledged by the treaty of Amiens, that those debts should be paid by the French government. The treaties, then, of 1814 and 15, only provided for that which originated with the treaty of 1787, and was sanctioned by the treaty of Amiens. Those claims were indeed of such a nature, that if provision were not made to secure their liquidation, the government which concluded the treaty of 1787, would be exposed to the charge of having entrapped British subjects to invest their property in France. But this formed a special case, and afforded no encouragement to British subjects to vest their property in foreign funds. He was ready, then, to go along with the hon. gentleman, that those who should make such investments had no claim whatever upon the British government, and that in the event of any war, or on the conclusion of any peace, no such transactions would be entitled to the consideration of the British government. It would, indeed, be an extraordinary principle to admit that the government of any nation should have its faith pledged, or its operations regulated, by the spontaneous transactions of individuals. Mr. Hammersley expressed himself perfectly satisfied by the declaration of the noble lord, which would, he had no doubt, serve to dissipate a great deal of mischievous delusion. The Resolutions were then agreed to. HOUSE OF LORDS. Monday, February 9. CON | could not vouch for the truth of these allegations, but they were stated by 26 persons of respectable character, who were most anxious of supporting their statements by evidence at the bar of their lordships' House, or before the com mittee. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Monday, February 9. CHIMNEY SWEEPERS REGULATION BILL.] Mr. Bennet rose, pursuant to notice, to move for leave to bring in a bill for the better regulation of Chimney Sweepers and their Apprentices. It was the object of this bill to put an end to the evil so long, so universally, and so justly complained of, as to the use, or rather abuse, of young children in sweeping chimnies. He felt it unnecessary to enter into any detail upon this subject, as the sufferings endured, and the cruelties in PETITION FROM MANCHESTER CERNING SEDITIOUS PRACTICES]. Lord Holland apologized to their lordships for troubling them with a few words on a subject which he had not the opportunity of bringing regularly before them. A petition had been transmitted to him, in order to be presented to the House, which he regretted to say he had unfortunately mislaid or lost. The petition itself, and the circumstances under which it was to be presented, were of great public importance. It had been the wish of the petitioners, among whom were many highly respectable persons, that it should be presented to their lordships House inflicted, through the practice alluded to, time to be referred to the secret committee. It had been sent to him for that purpose by Mr. Taylor, of Manchester, and he still hoped that he might receive another copy before the committee made their report. He felt it, however, to be his duty, thus publicly to acknowledge his negligence, and express his regret at not being able to comply that day with the wish of the petitioners. Though he had not read the petition which reached him with sufficient attention to recollect its contents, yet, having had access to another petition from the same persons, intended for another place, he was able to state to their lordships its general purport. The allegations it contained were very strong; and coming as they did from persons of respectability, they merited the attention of their lordships. The petitioners stated of their own knowledge, that all the disturbances in that part of the country, and all disorderly proceedings which had attracted the public notice, had been the work of hired spies, informers, and agents of the government. The petitioners had, from their local situation, opportunities of ascertaining the facts they stated, and had made it their business to inquire into and trace the disturbances to their source; but when, in the course of their investigations, they pointed out any individuals as objects of suspicion, they either disappeared from that part of the country, or if carried before magistrates were soon released. He were so fully described in the evidence taken before the committee of the last session, from which committee this bill emanated. The bill was indeed a transcript of that which he had brought forward last year, with the exception only of that provision which related to the total and prompt abolition of the use of climbing boys, and which provision, perhaps, prevented the bill from being carried. He was happy to say that since last year the desire to abolish this odious practice had been expressed at public meetings in all the great towns throughout the country; those meetings unanimously adopting resolutions that the employment of climbing boys ought not to be any longer tolerated, especially as a mechanical instrument was found efficient for the purpose. But who could dissent from these resolutions that had any knowledge of the effects of this barbarous system? Within even the last year, no less than five fatal instances had occurred to show its character. One of these instances in England, and another in Scotland had been attended with circumstances of pe culiarly aggravated cruelty. But the masters, or properly speaking, the owners of the unfortunate children employed in this business were rarely susceptible of the common feelings of humanity; but, even if they were, it would be impossible to have the business done without a sacrifice of those feelings. For, from the manner in which chimneys were constructed, especially in London, where with |