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

SECOND REPORT,
VON CONINIITTZI ON THI ►UBLIC IITINDT•
TURB, SIC. 07 Tilt UNITS° CIN6DUN.

THE BANK OF ENGLAND.

The Cminittee, appointed to examine and consi-
(l.l. wh regulaions and checks have been esra
Wished. to order to control the several branches
of ,be Public Expenditure in Great Britain and
Ireland; and h•ivi tar the same have been (Sec-
ti.ai ; and what further measures can lie adopted
fir reducing any p ot of the said Expenditu.e, or
diminishing Ole amount of Salaries and Emu-
la ;nuts, without detriment to the Public Ser-

Tice ;
Directed their earliest inquiries to the manage-
ment of the P.it)lic Debt, which the Committee no
Finance in 1797. p tinted out as the first of jea under
the Head of Expenditure, in their XlVth report.
Tee Annual Charge is of no inconsideranle magne-
t.' !e; and tlw following observations are intended
a.) ;hew how how far it may admit of reduaion.
r ite of allowance settled,in 1786 has not been
'trim! since ; but no documents are preserved at
the treasury, or the bank, containing any calcula-
tions upon which it was founded. I'he proposal
was made by Mr. Pitt, under general considerati-
ons of the increased amount at the debt, and a re-
liance on the disposition of .‘ the bank to give every
reasonable accommodation to toe public." 'l'6-
time at which the agreemeot was concluded. ;Nord
ing a prnspea of continued peace, could present
no expeaation of a speedy Augmentation of the
debt, much less of such an augnaentAtion as has
since been incurred.
Whatever may have been the computation upon
which the bargain was concluded. it is to be observ-
ed that the lowest rate at which a part of the debt
was then managed (being 3601. per million) was
not adopted as tile standard; and consequently,
upon the annuities created in 172 u, an inconsider,-
Ide increase of expense accrued in equalzt..g the
whole, while upon every other part of the debt, a
large saving was effeeted by reducing the allowance
horn 5621. I Os. to 4501. far each million.
The management of the public ;nods differs so
materially in praftice from ail other mercantile or
banking tratontaions, that it is not easy to establish
a stied iaory cri:erion for fixing the commission at
which so extensive and complicaied a concern ought
to brondueted ; but there are two instances. use
same in kind, and differing only in degree, winch
deserve attention, as they tend to throe sortie light
upon the subjea.
The first of these is that of the South-`i,ta Com-
pany, which continues to manes- its own poruou of
evilest according to the original allowances, the ar.
sangements with the bank in 1786, not having been
extended to this company, a circumstance which at-
traSei the notice of the Ceminittee on FIII4IILe.
(XIV. II .) who remarked, that, whether any 'te-
ther redo Rion can or ought to be malt in this rate
of allowance," was a point for tew wisdom of
parliament to decide."
Upon the part of the debt which forms the Smith-
Sea Stock, the rate of charge is not uniform. The
proportion of 5d21. )3..61 to each million, obtains
vah regard to the greater part, and the ellowance
upon the remainder bears the proportion of 564i.10s
rich million. The whole expense of met, ,ging
tin concern by the company was, in the y- a: e,d-
ing sth January 1807, 10,7271. of which 3,t1921.
was paid to the sub and deputy govetnors and di-
teflon', in number twenty-an:iv, and 4,7351. to the
clerks and otracers, in number thirty-s.t. rn • sum
annually paid by the public to the south-Sea C'm-
pany, is 14,7131.105. 6d. and about 701 more tor
tee. and allowances to the cashier 'rhe oportimi
which the salard.s of the clerks bears to the whole
expenditure deserves notice, and also the great num-
ber cf the diiiraors, almost equal to those who
superintend the extensive business of the bank.
The second example occurs in the more recent
agreement made with the bank of Ireland, by sta-
tute 40 Geo. 111. cap 3. in which the precise allow-
ances then and now given to the bank of England,
were Lard as the standard for managing the Irish
debt, though the Jet of Inland did n it, in that
veer. equal tile capital of the South-Sea Company,
being between 21 and 22 mil.tons.
The management of the public debt in America
may also afford some illosti. hots of this 'Oka,
thougo it differs in one maerial respe'l, from the
business transaitted by the ba.ll: of England, insi•
much as the banks of the United States Us,-
&Make mei ely the payment of the dividends, the
transfers being made at t.c puotic offices of the
Government. Upon this account, and Flom the
limited number of stockholders (who do not ex.
steed 15,003) their trouble, expense. and risk.
scarcely admit of comparison with the hank of Eng-
L,nd. The American banks transaa this business
free of all expense to the Government ; the ba-
lances left in their hands, which are used for their
advantage (like those deposited with any private
banker) being considered as a sufficient convert:-
Litton.

Assuming as an incontrovertible proposition, ap-
plicable to all mercantile concerns, ilia-, in ~roperl-
ion as the scale of business becomes enlarged, the
rate of commission may be reduced. and that a mo-
&rate commission upon a large business produces a
greater propartionate profit than a higher rate upon
onemore confined, it is obvious that a charge of al-
lowance, which may be reasonable upon 20 or 25
millions, becomes profuse and extravagant tapes
live or six hundred millions.

'l'he adlual progress of the debt comes next to be
considered, which, on the sth January, 1786, was
224,102.4241. and the charges ot management were
then (accor,ling to the reduced scale at allowances)
100.8401. On the sth January, 1797, the year in
which the Committee on Finance reported, the prin-
cipal of debt unredeemed was 279,892,4441. the
charges ol management upon which, so in as con-
cerned the bank, were 115,8+31-
Oil the hill January, IWO, the year of the renewal
of the charter, the p►incipal of debt unredeemed
was 376,181,8011. and the charges of management,
received by the bank, were 170,0531.
The debt, unredeemed on the sth January 1807 s
was 150,441,8141. and the charges of management,
received by the bank, were 265,11 i SI. to which must
he added 5,6871. on account of the Austrian Loan,
to ~ling to the same rate cd commission. Ihe al-
lowame at 40001. towards the expenses of the House,
'log 44 the original allowance of 1,8981. on