Family settlements are mostly made on the secu- 

 rity of land ; for a long period there was no other 

 means of making provision for the young arid the 

 helpless: and in the flourishing periods of agricul- 

 ture, the interest was paid with punctuality ; of late, 

 however, the widows and orphans, whose incomes 

 were deemed free from risk, have become victims to 

 the general depression of the value of the produce of 

 the soil. 



The Jews, with all their characteristic shrewdness 

 and sagacity, have become, in many instances, from 

 mere necessity, mortgagees. When the debts of 

 proprietors accumulated, and the price of produce 

 fell, the monied men were often induced to secure 

 themselves, as well as they could, by accepting 

 of mortgages where no payment could be obtained. 



The representation here given, is abundantly con- 

 firmed by the proceedings adopted in the Diet when 

 assembled in May last. The two houses, consisting 

 almost exclusively of Landed Proprietors, settled a 

 Plan to administer relief, which received the Empe- 

 ror's sanction. 



A National Bank is to be established, in which 

 Landowners who are in debt, whether on mortgage 

 or on simple contracts, may deposit a schedule of 

 their estates, and a valuation of them : this valuation 

 is to be made by themselves, and it is calculated it 

 will not be made too high, because, as the present 

 land tax is collected on the income, and future im- 

 posts are to be levied according to this valuation, few 

 will be induced to give in more than the true value. 

 On the valuation, an annual interest is to be paid to 

 the Bank, at the rate of six per cent, for twenty-eight 

 years. This is to be considered as interest at the rate 

 of four per cent. ; and two per cent, is to form the 

 means of discharging, by compound interest, the 

 principal in twenty-eight years. The Bank, on re- 

 ceiving the documents, is to deliver to the proprietors 

 its debentures or certificates ; which, twenty per cent. 



