918] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



bullion committee sat upwards of 

 two years ago, gold was at 4/. 10*. 

 arj ounce, but was at present 5/. 5*. 

 an ounce, so that the depreciation 

 of paper was 35 per cent. The 

 obligation to take paper at its 

 Dominal value was therefore an 

 enormous violation of property, by 

 which all classes were losers ex- 

 cept the Bank. As the measure 

 had produced such mischievous 

 consequences, and there was dan- 

 ger that the depreciation might go 

 still further, he wished time might 

 be given for reconsidering the sub- 

 ject, and he moved that, instead of 

 the words " be now read a second 

 time," there be inserted that it " be 

 read a second time on the 3rd of 

 February." In the debate which 

 ensued, much of the ground was 

 again gone over which had been 

 taken at the first passing of the 

 bill. One of the most material 

 circumstances which occurred was 

 a question put by Mr. Ponsonby 

 to the Chancellor of the Exche- 

 quer, what price he gave for bills 

 to remit abroad ? which for some 

 time he declined to answer; but 

 at length he said 67 pence per 

 milrea. In answer to a com- 

 plaint of an excessive issue of pa- 

 per currency by the bank, Mr. 

 Manning stated that the amount 

 yesterday was 22| millions, where- 

 as in July and August 1810 it was 

 near 25 millions. The general 

 opinion in the house seemed to 

 be that the measure, however 

 objectionable in its principles, 

 was at this time necessary; and 

 on a division, the Second read- 

 ing was carried by 129 against 

 19. 



On the bringinpr up of the re- 

 port of the gold coin bill, De- 



cember 11th, Mr. Whitbread, in 

 order, he said, to bring the matter 

 to a test, moved the rescinding the 

 third resolution of May last, which 

 stated the opinion of the Chancel- 

 lor of the Exchequer, " that in all 

 cases wherein coin might be used 

 for legal purposes, the promissory 

 notes of the bank of England, and 

 guineas, were, in public estimation, 

 considered equivalent, and were 

 generally so accepted." Upon this 

 motion the house divided. Noes 

 63 ; Ayes 26— Majority against it 



Mr. Huskisson then rose, and 

 said, that if the observations of 

 the Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 were correct, they must go to this 

 length — that the paper currency 

 could not fail under these condi- 

 tions ; 1. that the coin should re- 

 main under a determinate weight 

 and value as fixed by the royal au- 

 thority : 2. that the paper curren- 

 cy should exactly correspond with 

 the coin according to its denomina- 

 tion : 3. that the law should be 

 re-enacted making it penal to 

 doubt the equivalency of the two 

 sorts of currency. Thus then, if 

 paper currency should fall so low 

 as that a nominal thousand pound's 

 worth would buy only a quartern 

 loaf, still coin should retain its re- 

 lative value to the paper, and it 

 should be penal to make any diffe- 

 rence between them. But it was 

 impossible that any legislative act 

 should establish such an equaliza- 

 tion. He had been informed that 

 government had sent a great num- 

 ber of bank notes to Canada for 

 the payment of our troops and 

 otlicr establishments in that pro- 

 vince, and that, being estimatetl 

 according to their real value, they 



were 



