of money to those who have no capital and no credit?  I contend that this is a state of things that ought not to exist in any country.  Persons who really possess credit, can raise money at the present moment with every facility that is reasonable or proper.  But, undoubtedly, those who have no credit, are deprived of the facilities of borrowing money, which they formerly enjoyed, because there is no longer a large class of persons dealing in one-pound notes, to assist them in carrying on their speculations.  This is the real state of the case.  It was this situation of affairs that gave rise, and justly gave rise, to the measure of 1826—­a measure which, I trust, that Parliament will persevere in, for the purpose of placing the country in a proper state.  It has been said truly, that nothing is so desirable as to see the country carrying on its mercantile transactions with a paper currency founded on, and supported by, a metallic basis.  Now, your Lordships must be aware, that is exactly the sort of currency which the country has got at present; and, in proportion as the country goes on conquering its difficulties—­the existence of that currency still being continued—­we shall see prosperity daily revive, and we shall see mercantile transactions carried on as they ought to be, without any mixture of those ruinous speculations, to which so much of the prevailing distress must be attributed.  But, my Lords, the noble Lord in tracing out the sources of this distress, has omitted one of the great causes of it.  He has not adverted to the immense loss of capital which has been sustained by the country during the last six or eight years, in consequence of loans to foreign powers—­of which neither principal or interest has been paid, nor ever will, in my opinion, be paid.  The noble Lord has not adverted to the effect which that loss of capital must have produced, with respect to the employment of industry in all parts of the country.  In the next place, the noble Lord has not adverted to the effect which those loans must have had on the trade and manufactures of the country, in consequence of the glut in foreign markets, occasioned by the forced exportation of goods on account of such transactions.  In most instances, my Lords, no returns were made on account of those goods, and even when returns were made, they were of the most unsatisfactory description.  The noble Lord has not adverted to the fact, that these returns, when any were received, came home in the shape of interest, and did not, of course, require any demand or export from this country.  Surely all these things should be considered, when the noble Lord speaks of the distress the country is labouring under.  That distress has fallen not only on the manufacturing and commercial interests, but also on those who have encouraged and embarked in the various schemes and speculations which have done the country so much mischief.

May 26, 1829.

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