The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-09 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS

CITY, TUESDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The meeting of the Bank Proprietors held
this morning to consider the propositions of Government
relative to the new charter, was less numerously attended
than might have been anticipated, probably owing to
the shortness of the notice, it only having appeared on
Saturday, and all country bankers, who form a large
class of parties interested in Bank stock, would be too
much 'engaged in their own coneerns to have much time
to bestow upon this. The room was, however, tolerably
lull. As most of those present had read the outline of
the project as given in the Morning Papers, the chief
objects of curiosity with them evidently .were to learn
whether the Directors approved of it, and whether in
the course of the negotiation they had been able to make
any
lnlgy pnras veryoposed.
long, but it might be collected from it that the Directors
had
attempted
hoeve successfulrn m correspondence
Government
stand
read before wci
tof
or treducetheir
the
exclusiveann ua annual
privilegesllowaneel
ot to
eb: paidthan
120,000 L, the sum fixed and paid under the present
charter, but without success. It appears also that Mr.
the rimgeientl
Goulburn originally intimated that he would expect 'a
lower rate of interest than 3 per cent. on the 11,000,000 L,
the capital of the Bank lent to the Government. This
was strongly objected to, and the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer gave way on that particular point. In the gene-
al discussion of this morning there was very little to
otice, most of the Proprietors evidently serving them-
lves for the adjourned. meeting on Molt LAU" whoa
ey will have fortified thenzielvesiby aea id 'pernitil of
the correspondence, which is ordered to be printed and
distributed forthwith.

In general the feeling was sufficiently amicable. The
only blow aimed at the Board of Directors was a com-
plaint of the manner in which the elections to seats at
that Board take place, and also of the system of rota-
tion, by which each member arrives at the chair in suc-
cession. There was an evident desire on the part of the
Proprietors, that the new charter should contain provi-
sions to remedy these defects ; that the election of Di-
rectors should not be, as it is at present. a mere form ;
and that the Directors themselves should elect that
member of their body to the chair who should be found
best qualified, and should retain him there as long as
the interests of the corporation required. This
would assimilate it to the Bank of France, the constitu-
tion of which has been found to work so well.
As far as regards the quoted value of Bank Stock,
there is nothing to indicate whether the Proprietors
think themselves in a better position or not than they
were before the present communication. Yesterday it
left off at 1951 to 6, to-day at 195 to 7, the widened
margin showing the caution of the jobbers in protecting
themselves against heavy sales.
lIERALD.—On the details of the proposed banking
arrangements opinion will, we believe, be found more
uniform than could have been expected from the variety
and power of the interests that will be affected by the
change. We have every reason to believe that the joint-
stock banks, and particularly those in London, will • be
perfectly satisfied with the proposed alterations ih the
law, and that they will in consequence offer no opposi-
tion to the progress of the measure through Parliament.
There will be some grumbling amongst the private banks
of issue, but even there it will by no means be general.
simply because they expected that their interest would
not have met with so much consideration in the Pre- •
mier's plan. They will, therefore, remain quiescent be-
cause they expected that their situation would hayo
been worse.

One point will, we believe, be raised by the issuing
banks, namely, that it will not be fair to tie them down
to the average circulation of the last two years is artittx-
imum, on the ground that it has been below the general
average in the ordinary state of trade. This objection,
and some others of a similar eharacter, aro, however, of.
such minor consideration, that we need not chiral upon
them at present. As the special separate weekly re-
turns will show the precise situation of every individual
bank, it is calculated that the exposure will lead to "the
extinction of many small concerns, or their amalgams_
Lion with others, so that the general tendency of the
measure will be towards concentration.
The feeling in the commercial circles we may state,
without qualification, is decidedly favourable. When
the system is once in proper working order, it is ex-
pected to produce greater stability in trade, and throw
impediments in the way of gambling speculation which
will not be easily surmounted.
The deputies from the joint-stock banks meet to-
morrow, but we are given to understand that they will
call a general meeting of the whole body fur some day
next week, without at present expressing any opinion of
their own.
As for the banking interest in Scotland, we may safely
predict that they are perfectly content to be let alone
for the present, and in this view we have as little doubt
that the great body of the people will concur. We cannot
however, say so much for Ireland, for there the general
feeling is, we believe, precisely the reverse, and from the
banking statistics which we exhibited in our last, it
cannot be said to be without very cogent reasons.
We have given what we believe to be a fair view of
the first impressions produced by the currency measure
of Ministers, and if they are altered on further con-
sideration, we shall notice the changes of opinion as
they occur.