A PASSING CLOUD.
SUPERFICIAL observers of current events have got the notion that there is some deep-rooted error in the political economy of the country. "We see," they say, "that the population of Eng- land is laborious and hardy ; that their thewes and sinews are at the service of intelligent and industrious men, anxious for wealth and the comforts and luxuries which money alone can procure ; that annually a greater and greater quantity of desirable things are produced ; that for the last seven years, with one exception, the harvests have been abundant; that there are more ships, ma- nufactures, houses, horses, sheep, and cattle, better roads and canals, larger towns, and more people in England and Scotland, than there ever were before ; and Ireland is not so troublesome by any means as she has been, and will be again—just at present the fine peasantry are lulled by the O'CONNELL spell, and their productive powers are more on the stretch than usual. Yet we find, notwithstanding all these elements and evidences of comfort and prosperity, that every class of society is more than uneasy— nay, that whole masses of the population are kept by charity only from starvation. Now the conclusion is, that this our economical condition is unnatural. Labour, intelligence, and capital in abun- dance, cannot secure to Englishmen the solid comforts which the poorest inhabitants of America enjoy."
Such is the reasoning of empirics—of theorists and political economists : some of them go further, and even venture to assert that these embarrassments and distresses will occur more fre- quently as the productive powers of the country corporeal and intellectual, and as capital increase, unless a mighty change be effected—unless the field of employment for capital and labour be extended by emigration, and by the abolition of the gigantic mono- poly of the British landowners.
But listen to a practical man—one who has gained experience by the actual inspection of sugar hogsheads, and is learned in rum and molasses. Sir Jonal RAE Rain, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, assures the House of Commons that the country is only under " a passing cloud:' People only fancy that the mischief is serious and weighty : it is trilling—pasgtIre—and need not give any thinking person the slightest uneasiness. It is gratifying to have this comfort from a practical man, who knows what he is about, and is a Governor of the Bank. Worthy inha- bitants of Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, and Paisley, do not disquiet yourselves. Starve and beg a little longer. Your imagination leads you into strange mistakes. You suppose that you are undergoing severe affliction : nonsense—'tis only " a passing. cloud." The sun of prosperity is about to burst upon
you with renewed splendour. Feast on the anticipation of its rays. Sir JOHN RAE REID has the Government and the majority of the House of Commons with him; for, thank God, Ministers and Members are for the most part practical men; and it is a consolation to know, that when Mr. SPRING Rid:opens his budget, there will not be a word about the repeal of the Corn-laws, or Emigration, or Free Trade ; and that as to any interference with the Bank of England's system (!) of controlling (!) the currency, it will be scouted. The speenlatists and theorists may try to raake out that BIDDLE has diddled the Directors ; and that it is in the power of the Government of any country, with which we trade extensively, to derange our currency by an arbitrary action on its own circulation or coinage ;—these things will be said, but then practical men of the JOHN RAE REID stamp will quash all such nonsense by the manly denial of the existence of any serious or permanent evil. The country is only under" a passing cloud." Fortunate it is for the country that practical persons rule the roast.
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