THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



35 



trade principles, and their progressive application to the 

 couQQierci'il h-gislatioa of this country, from the year 

 1820 to the present lime ; on the effects of free trade on 

 general pricea ; and on its progress in foreign countries, 

 especially in France." 



We have neither room nor time to go into lliis ques- 

 tion, but we strongly recommend those of our readers 

 who have the opportunity, to peruse for themselves this 

 part of the work, which contains much matter for reflec- 

 tion. No one now bilieves or hopes that we shall ever 

 be able to return to the former system . More than this, 

 it is now perfectly obvious that the great foreign nations 

 of Europe must very soon prepare to follow Ihe example 

 of England, however distasteful it may be to them. 

 Symptoms of such a change have already appeared in 

 some at least of the legislative bodies of the Continent, 

 who are becoming aware of the disadvantages under 

 which, they labour in their commercial relations under 

 the exclusive system. 



We come to " Part 5, On the Management and Policy 

 of the Bank of England during the period 1844-46, with 

 special reference to the operation of the Bank Charter 

 Act of 1844." This part, which consists of 27 sections, 

 was published by Mr. Tooke in a separate form early in 

 the year 1856, in consequence of the monetary pressure 

 at tbe close of the previous year, and has therefore al- 

 ready been before the public a considerable time. In 

 other respects the subject is so wide and so abstruse as 

 to preclude the possibility of doing it justice here. 

 That the operations of the Bank of England, frequently 

 forced by legislation, have a material, and sometimes 

 most injurious influence on prices, no one who has at all 

 watched the proceedings of that establishment entertains 

 a doubt; and it is probable that nothing but a complete 

 revision and remodelling of its management will rectify 

 the evils, or afford relief and security to our monetary 

 system. The frequent occurrence of panics, only miti- 

 gated by the prudent combination of the private bankers, 

 is a subject that demands enquiry as to how far the laws 

 relating to and restricting the Wank of England have to do 

 with them ? Certain it is, that whilst we have no right 

 to look for absolute wisdom in the proceedings of a large 

 commercial establishment like that of the Bank of Eng- 

 land — for such it essentially is — the individual members 

 of which frequently have interests of their own at variance 

 with those of the public, that public has a just right to 

 see that the evil necessarily attendant upon tin imperfect 

 system, is not aggravated by legislative restrictions. 

 These often cause the commerce of the country to alternate 

 between the zenith of prosperity and the nadir of mone- 

 tary distress. With these remaiks we may leave our 

 readers to the pamphlet itself.* 



Part 6 contains 29 sections oa " the policy pursued 

 in France since 1848 by (he P.epublic, the Presidency, 

 and the Empire, with reference to the management of 

 the Bank of France, and the formation of institutions of 

 credit, with an outline of the general financial measures 



* On the Bank Charter Act of 18 i4, its Priuciples and 

 Operalioii ; with Suggestions for an Improved AdmiuistratioiL 

 of the Bank of England. By Thomas Tooke. Lonsmaus, 

 1856, pp. 179. The preface is dated December 17th, 1855. 



which have been adopted." This part is of a similar 

 character with Part 5, and is even more abstruse and less 

 interesting to the general reader, although far otherwise 

 to the political economist. There is, however, a dept/i 

 in the policy and proceedings of the financial authorities 

 of France, which defies the comprehension of ordinary 

 minds to fathoia. Stiil less is it possible to divine 

 what will be the result of the policy now being pursued 

 by tbe Government and the Bank of France ; but we 

 know that there arc misgivings in some competent quar- 

 ters as to the safety or permanence of the French finan- 

 cial scheme— it can scarcely be called a system— vihich 

 nothing but a " run of national good luck" would have 

 kept afloat so long. The very immorality of the policy 

 pursued, such as absolutely reduces the Bureau de Finance 

 to a gambling house, is sufficient eventually to ensure its 

 destruction ; and woe be to France when the bubble 

 bursts. We have every reason to believe that the pre- 

 sent ruler of the French people is better qualified, in 

 regard to decision of character and tact, for govern- 

 ing that volatile people than any other man living. 

 But what is morally wrong can never be politically 

 right. Unfortunately, with these useful qualities are 

 associated others of so exceptionable a character, as to 

 weaken the stability of his position and imperil the most 

 important interests of the nation. After all the mighty 

 changes which that nation has undergone the last seventy 

 years, no reflecting man can contemplate without dis- 

 may the possibility of another convulsion, which would 

 shake to its foundation the whole social fabric, not only 

 of France, but of every nation in continental Europe. 

 The question of prices of the necessaries of life, which 

 has occupied so greatly the attention of Napoleon, is in 

 itself a mere bagatelle, compared with the higher in- 

 terests involved in his policy, so far ignored by him or 

 kept in the back-ground for a more convenient season. 



Let us now proceed with our notice of Part 7 — 

 " On the order, extent, and character of the changes 

 which have been produced during the nine years 1848- 

 5''>, by the aevr supplies of gold from California and 

 Australia." 



Mr. Tooke has designedly kept this question until the 

 last ; not because it is the least of those causes which 

 have been promoting the prosperity and well-being of 

 this and other countries, but " because, more than any 

 other, it has modified in the most powerful degree the 

 economical and commercial history of the last nine 

 years." It is very probable, indeed, that, but for the 

 influx of gold, the other great movements that have 

 been discussed would have been in imminent danger of 

 failure, and that its occurrence alone enabled the nation 

 to sustain those enormous calls upon it which have 

 taken place in that period. 



We have already, in our first notice, anticipated this 

 part of the subject to a certain extent ; but we consider 

 it of so much importance, that we have no scruple in 

 going over again a part of what we then stated. 



The history of gold and silver in these volumes carries 

 us back to the period of the discovery of the Mexican and 

 Peruvian stores of the precious metals. The quantity 

 received from those saurces from that period (say 1530) 



1^ 9. 



