§ Mr. Huskissonsaid, the House had received a great number of petitions, praying that no alteration should be made in the currency of Scotland, and it now became his duty to present one of a different description. The petition which he held in his hand pointed out the great benefit which Scotland would derive, if the same system, with respect to the currency, which prevailed in England, were applied to the former country. It was not necessary, nor would it be regular, to enter at present into the argument of the petitioners, which appeared to him to be very forcible. They particularly applied them- 156 selves to the agriculturists of that part of the united kingdom, and demanded whether their best interests would not be served by avoiding those fluctuations of price which must necessarily occur, until the present system was put an end to. He would offer no opinion on the subject, as it was at present under consideration in a committee of that House; but should merely discharge his duty by presenting the petition. It was from the town of Dunse, and was signed by 120 respectable inhabitants.
The petition was then read, setting forth, "That it appears to the petitioners that where the medium of exchange in any country consists entirely or principally of Bank-notes, a power is possessed by the issuers of these notes to increase or diminish the circulation at their option; a power which may seriously affect the fortune of every individual in the state, and which, therefore, ought not to be possessed by any set of men whatever; and late experience has too clearly shown that while, in the period of confidence, such a state of circulation gives every facility to overextended and gambling speculation, so upon the occurrence of panic and embarrassment, the country is left without the means of carrying on its regular business, and distress is thereby greatly augmented; that the political and commercial circumstances of recent times have been accompanied with more sudden and extensive vicissitudes in private fortunes than were ever before witnessed, and the daily sight of great and rapidly acquired wealth stimulated the sanguine to venture every thing in hopes of the same success, and the salutary disgrace that used to attend bankruptcy having almost entirely lost its restraining effect, from its unfortunate frequency, even the most cautious and considerate were hurried along by the prevailing current; the petitioners believe that these evils were much increased, and have been continued, by the fluctuations of the currency; that the petitioners, although removed from the great commercial and manufacturing districts, have yet not only felt the swell caused by the distant storm, but in the agricultural county in which they reside have seen many instances of the bad effects of the variations in the price of the produce of land, and the occasional extension and contraction of accommodation by the banks, by which speculators who were engaged in extensive improvements, and who appeared to 157 be in the way of realizing fortunes, were suddenly ruined by the credit upon which they depended being recalled; and the unsteadiness of prices, and the spirit of speculation, encouraged, if not engendered, by a paper currency, have reduced many of the tenants in different parts of Scotland to a state of precarious dependence on the indulgence of their landlords, a state of things by no means desirable for either party; that the petitioners are aware that improvement has been accelerated by a paper currency, but without attempting to show that a less rapid improvement might have been desirable, they are satisfied that every inquiring mind will perceive that such rapidity of progress would be dearly purchased by the sacrifice of the proverbial prudence, economy, and patient industry of the inhabitants of that country; that a metallic currency, which is the only true representative of value, by being the representative of the labour by which it is procured, can never increase nor diminish with such rapidity as to affect the prosperity of the country, and a return to this currency would, in the opinion of the petitioners, be a means of lessening those evils already experienced, as well as of avoiding others, which, though hitherto little known to the people of Scotland, would, should such occur in the present state of the circulating medium, overwhelm the whole population, and which, therefore, it is one of the first duties of a wise legislature to prevent; that for these and other reasons the petitioners view with much satisfaction the steps already taken by the House to restore a metallic currency in England, and with full confidence in the wisdom and caution of the House, pray, that similar measures may be extended to Scotland in such time and manner as to the House may seem meet."
§ Ordered to lie on the table.