The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-09-11 00:00:00

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May be sulqita to clacni!.utiun on the return of peace)
has attraded the attervion of youi Committee no
lees than that of the allowance for the management
of the National ilrSt. The annual interest ca:cu.,
lated Irian them amounts to between 3 and
5:0,0001. hi the cast of a private banker, floating
b dances cannot be considered as prodndive of a
profit equals err nearly equal. to the whole interest
upon them; because, both the charges of the ma-
tiagemen. era, concern, and the interest ln,t by
marntaitaiag ere stock of ready money deemed ne-
cessary for securing the punctuality of current pty-
meats,
operate largely in diminution of sucii prcat ;
but in the case of the Bin:: of E:igland, the charges
belonging to their banking trantadions ith Go-
vernment rr6 t evidently he small in comparison
with the profit no those extensive transadions. the
aggregate balances of public money, in she hands of
the bank, have been shown to admit of n s great
Am:Nations ; nor do they require to be provided
for (especially at the present period) by means of a
albeit of onproditaive money, the notes of the bank
itself being employed to meet any such occasion.
Your Committee therefore are inclin- 3 to consider
a sum equal to five per cent. interest, on the average
Jsalanees in question, to be not tar from the amount
of the profits arising horn this source. There pro-
6rs undoubtedly are intermixed with the other pi oats
of the bank, but their general amount may, without
difficulty, be distinguished and ascertained. Es-
cepting the sum gained by the management of the
public debt, and of loans and letrerits, and by trade
in builion, the whole gain of the bank mat obvi-
ously coast of interest on various sums le';, ; and
the amount of the daily interest so accruing, mast
necessarily bear an ex.& proportion to t.:e total
daily amount of the several funds in chair hands,
dedudion being made for that part only, which is
kept ii.vested in cash and Whoa, these being ths
only unproduaive articles of any moment in which
their funds can be employed.
But as some doubts may he excited by the annex-
. ed evidence, rtspeding Cie reader:live quality of
some of these balances, it seems proper to ester
lolly inn the subject; in doing which, the circum-
stances which acco.npany and follow ',ten augm,nt-
ation of the Government balances, must be minutely
detailed.

Whenever an additieri is made to the amount of
these balances, it is effeffed in general by a pay-
ment into the bank of Their own notes. The netts
so paid in are cancelled. Thus a reduaion tak.re
plae in the circulating notes, and these notes are a
fund, which supplies. in tn.: same manner as the
Government balances, the means of lending a: in-
tereat. Every such reduai n of notes, however,
must be considered as tempor eq. because the main.*
t stance of tis- cii culating bank paper at the access.
tc.n:d, .4 I.zarly the accustomed point. is fel.. by
the bank 'vs and merchants of the metropolis to be
n-cessary to the regularity rf current payments.
Bills exchange are therefore offered to the bank
to be dis:ounted, in such quantity as to restore the
a:Triomf, or nearly the amount of notes cancelled
means of any increase of balances, unless the
bank itself, by dcliveeing out notes in payment for
exchequer bills which they may have bmug r, or for
loans to Government, should have rende ed the ap-
plication for additional disc:wilts annecessary. This
arplic itnrn for additional discounts, on the occasion
of an increase of balances, must indeed ordinarily
precede such increase, aed furnish the AMOS of
effating it.
That the great augmentation of Government
balances in the bank, whit', has taken place since
the year 1797, (an augmentation amounting pro.
bably to seven or eight millions,) has not perma.
nently diminidwd the notes in circulation, is proved
by the annexed account of notes in circulation be-
tween the 7th Feit nary, 1795, and Ist February,
1807, by which it appearss that the notes, exclusive
of 11. and 21. notes, were

On 7 Feb. 1795 . . . 17,970,500
6 Feb. 179 i . . . 11,215,1.00
Anil on 1 Feb. ltio6 . . . 14656,770
Aid 1 Feb. last' . . . 124.4,4130
The flatuation in those twelve years (with the ex-
cel•tinn of a short period preceding the suspensi•.n
of th- cash payments) was only between the sums of
11,559,330, and 13.1345,50U1. to which last-men-
tioned turn they amounted on the 23:h January,
Mil, a period net long subsequent to the day of
paying the dividends, when a mare than ordinary
issue of paper must be supposed to have taken
place. Since therefore each augmentation of the
Government bslaucts, tiinugh it may be at first at-
ten,ted by a diminw ion of 'sank paper. is followed
by a proportiona'e re-issue cf t .at paper, and since,
in return for the paper so re-issued. additional bills
are discounted. additional exchequer bills are
bought, or ad litional loans arc furnished to Go.
vernment. (all articles eqnslly yi•iding interest,) it
failows that those additions which are mad to the
balances must be considered as producing a -..oirc-
sponding increase of hlterest. The proport•..n wiil
be .cast, whenever the notes suppressed are ctaali
restored, provided the quantity of cash and butt. ss
within .6 precisely the lime.
Wnether the cash and bullion in the bank have
been augmented sin-e the same period of 1797, and.
if augmented, whether in any matetial degree, cn
the ground of the increased magnitude cf etc ba-
lances due from the Bank to the Government, it a
question into which your Committee cannot. Iron►
want of documents. particularly enter. They coo.
ceive, however, that it an augmentation of the rasa
and bultio•. be admitted, it must be considered as
ptincipally intended to meet any demand to
the Bank may be caposed by its circulating paper.
■nd especially as a provision tot the payment r
their one and two•ptund notes, the circulation of
which may cease wt enyver the Bank shall bare re-
sawed its payments in cash.

In the evidence upon *leis part of the subjeft, it i
admitted, that the notes or the Bank are proc naive
of profit ; but it appears to he ass imed, mat the
Government bal.o.zrs are only so in proportion 41
they tend to augment th.• amount ut nines; etteas
Your C.amaauet are fully persuaded that both tia-
*Liners and liote, are, and must necmsailly be, pro.
dußiTe.

The funds of the Hank. which are ihe sources of
profit, and wiles constitute the m -azure of the suds
hey have to lend, (suhj 0..1y to 4 deduthon uv
iccount of cash and buloon,) may be classed und
three heads.
Yost, l'he sum terrier.* from their Pr oprients