But these were not the only evils. In September, 1824, it was said, “Another thing, in the shape of a Poyais loan, has been brought into the market.” Great as the excitement was, there were not many disposed to risk their money; but those who did were persons who had saved a small amount, which, though insufficient to live upon, was sufficient to excite a desire for more. By this class a considerable sum was advanced; and the ruin which fell upon them was tremendous. Their despair was loud, but useless. The Poyais loan was an epoch from which many dated for the remainder of their lives; and the figure of one of these unhappy speculators must still be familiar to some readers, as she wandered daily through the offices of the Bank of England, and the purlieus of the Stock Exchange, exposed to all the annoyances which fall upon those who earn their bread in the public thoroughfares. The Poyais scrip was destined to a lower employment still. It was used during the mania for foreign loans in 1836, as a mode of jobbing, the turn in which, suited to the pockets of those who dealt in it, varied from a halfpenny to a penny, according to the demand.
Emigration received a great shock; and “to be served like the Poyais settlers” was a common excuse of the poor and unthinking. If, however, the Stock Exchange proved indirectly injurious to the great cause in this instance, one of its members has done more towards its assistance than is often effected by individual exertion. The efforts of Mr. Benjamin Boyd will form an important chapter in some future history of our Australian colonies; as, from his determined energy, an impulse has been given to emigration which no future official supineness can eradicate.
Steam-navigation to Australia is greatly desirable; and governments which, as the present volume proves, often lavish their money unworthily, should at least be ready to assist in achieving so great and beneficial a fact. All local objections are overcome. The difficulty of the “barrier reef” is proved to be an idle dream; and the time will yet arrive when men will wonder that a few thousand pounds should for years have retarded steam-navigation to colonies important alike to the commerce, the comfort, and the civilization of England. The writer gives the following, to show that the few words he has said are not unsupported:—
“We unhesitatingly and confidently reply, that for all this the colony has to thank Mr. Benjamin Boyd. With this gentleman solely the movement originated; by him and his family it has been maintained and supported. To this cause Mr. Boyd has devoted his individual labor; he has lavished his wealth on it; he has enlisted in it the activity and talent of his own relations, and that of their numerous and influential friends; he has supplied them with information and advice, and urged on their flagging zeal, when requisite, up to the formation of the Colonization Society, and the commencement of the Colonization Crusade now in progress. And in this course he has persevered, in spite of obstacles cast in his way by the colonists themselves, in spite of obloquy and ridicule from men who were to benefit by his exertions, but on whose ignorance and supineness his stirring activity was a bitter and ceaseless censure.”
CHAPTER XV.
Loan to Guatemala.—-Dispute concerning it.—Greek Loan.—Its Mismanagement.—Asserted Jobbing.—Mr. Hume.—Dr. Bowring.—Quarterly Review.—Proposed Tax on Transfers.
Guatemala was a further specimen of loan-making. According to custom, Barclay & Co. announced that they were appointed agents to the above state, and were prepared to receive tenders for a loan to the amount of £1,500,000. The house of Powles & Co. stood highest on the list; and it was publicly stated that their offer of sixty-eight per cent. was accepted. The first payment was to be made on the 22d of September, 1825; and should either of the instalments not be paid, those previously received were to be forfeited. The price was considered low; and Mr. Alderman Thompson took £10,000 of the loan, at an advance of five per cent., paying £4000 as a deposit to Barclay & Co., as the agents. When the sixth instalment became due, Powles & Co. advised Mr. Thompson not to pay it, as a serious disagreement had arisen between the government of Guatemala and their agents.
It appeared that Barclay & Co. had induced Powles & Co. to allow their names to appear as contractors for the whole, while Barclays were the real possessors of a million of that stock, the whole of which they publicly announced had been taken by Powles. The news, however, reached South America; and the government, indignant at this conduct, repudiated the acts of Barclay, refusing to pay any dividend on the loan. Under these circumstances, the purchaser declined to pay any more instalments, and Barclay declared the previous deposits to be forfeited.
Mr. Thompson appealed to the courts of law; but law and equity rarely go hand in hand. The defendants contended that six per cent. was usurious; the justice of the case was one thing, but international law was another; and it was, therefore, a triumph,—but one which few would envy,—when the Vice-Chancellor “confessed that the case appeared such as would entitle the plaintiff to the equitable relief prayed; but, as contracts for loans were illegal if the contractors were at war with an ally of England, it could not be entertained as a subject of suit.”