Star.
London, England, 1819-05-11 00:00:00

Ittinirej, to prevent 417 tuaterial progress
wade towards a restoratioa of the treasure of
flint to its former amount.l'eotwith,tanding these discourses); eftcusilstantes,
--
,t, itan!: more than doubled iu re doing the
he months of 1815 ; and the Fall is sty pric
I.7'iA and the favourable turn of the Exchanges,
the Directors to raise it, by JanuatT 1617.
- than quadruple what it had been little be.
t' of Ito. At this period the Direetsrs' felt
g:::„,ortit of bring able to comply With the %Ant-
even before the period at which
of Parliament,
9,c;-:,;ction was to expire, that they issued a notice
ti,e •payment in Cash of all the El and t 2 Notes
•late prior to January. 1816. Finding little
'dcn.ii,d for Ca'h in consequence of this notice,
their tteastli e having continued during the coarse
veal- to iilcrease to an amount far exceeding
it Weyer reached, and, with a-few exceptions,
a larger proportion to the extent of their
g' °Lhaa it had ever boe before,
ir the Directors
s rn
„AeJ se:oii notice, in September, 181",
cent in Cash of all Notes beariag date b for the
before the
cidanuary in that year. This raciuure had been
salt! tothe COMMittee to have been undertaken in
that if it proved successful, that is, if the
fold sn tendered were not demanded, a if when
04.ided it remained in the country. the complete
omption of Cash Payments would take place gra-
j,jiv, and as it were insensibly, even prior to she
r,oioa then fixed by Parliament, Iris. the Sth of

I.-
MY, ' • • •
I the month of April, 1817,the efeet of the great
'gn loan; made in that year began to be conside-
ili felt. Between April and October, 1817, the
iclangel took an unfavourable turn, and the price
gold which had, from July, 1816, tto Nlaigh, 1817,
f c.,,,ecti between £3.185. 6d. and £3. 191.6 d. rose
o•oc•Opril and I)ecember, 1817, from £3, 18a.641.
11, Os (id since which date it does not appear by
the (looted prices to have been ever again reduied
ht;o;., Lt. The new gold coinage also began 0 be'
i(saed in July, 1817. The treasure of the Bank was
deed to itsli:k hest amount in the month of October,
pr. There appears to have been no considerable
demand for gold previously to the month of Octo-
ire. The first issue of sovereigns in large quantities
rasin that month. There was a dihunution in the
demand for them in the three succeding months
ut in the month of februery, 1818, the issue of gold
' creased till August in the same year ; and the de-
and luring this period is stated to have arisen de-
ledly for the purpose of exportation. It appears
'on the evidence of Mr. Hannan, that during the
hole of the year 1817, the Bank did not think o ne-
. to make any reduction of its issues, either in
sequence of the effect of the foreign loans upon
e exchanges, or of its payments in gold, made in
informay to the notices above referred to. In fact,
~e average issues •of Bank-notes in 1817 exceedeclby
'1,700,090 that of 1816 ; the average issue of the
•-t six months of 1817 exceeded the average issue of
e first six months of that year by 1:1,870,000 ; and
.is increase, combined with the revival of Country
nks from their previous depression, probably raised
e circulating medium of the kingdom in the last
months of 1817 considerably beyond the amount
which it had stood in the preceding year. .
A great seduction has been made in the issue of
• es of the Bank of England since the commence-
tof the year 1818 ; they had been, on the ave-,
ge of six months from July to December, 1817, at
N 4,210,000; onthe average of six months from
minty to July, 1818, at 47,9,54.,000: from July
• December,lBlB, they were reduced to £26,487,000,
• d have since been further reduced to about twenty-
millions; and during the , last three months of
1818, the issues of .Country Ranks are stated by
ons much conversant with the subject, to have
ertainly not increased, and probably to have decli-
ned; but the price of gold and the state of the ex-
: ges have coetinued to be such as to have drawn

onithe Bank, 'in addition to the gold demanded
previously to March, 1818, =minting to £2,022,000
a further sum of £4,787,000, making in the whole
issue of 1;6,800,000, in consequence chiefly of the
bility with which the Directors had under different
mmstances voluntarily clamed themselves to pay
e fractional parts of dividends, and a certain pro-
• . .

)ortion of their notes in cash. Their treasure vr4s
)1 these drains very considerably :educed; and they
ref still liable, in consequence of the same mea-
ures, to an additional demand for cash to the amount
several millions.

This unfavoutable state of the exchanges and of
e price of gold is:attributed to diligent causes by
*rent Persons examined before the Committee. By
wont to an excess in the circulating medium of the
, by otheri to the effect of the late regular '
ons of the Mint respecting the new silver coinage,
which the proportions between tke relative value
of gold and silver are stated to have been so varied
to hare occasioned the exportation of gold ; by
-.hers it is attributed to the continued
.operation of
fereign loans, to the temptation held. out by a high
:ate of interest to the investment of British capital
foreign funds and foreign speculations,. and to the
-rge purchases of corn from abroad ; a great pro-
;ortion of which is paid for in advance, and must,
-..entfore, in their opinion, have had a material efr
:tct upon the balance of payments, and of course
tpon the exchanges, durins the year 1818..
k is under these circumstances that Parliament is
?lied upon to deliberate, whether it will he most far
t7.e pul lic interest to adhere to the deciion it had
taken in May, 1348 or to allow a further delay for'
'4e preparations necessary to carry this impormmt
:Leasure into.,:xecution, in order, as far as possible,
'• secure its ultimate accomplishment, and at the
(arse time aEord the means .of taking such precut-
:n:ls as may diminish the pressure of whatever pub-
incouvenience may be felt or apprehendnJ. •
?t1..16 ..liiierence of opinion upon almost all the
''''"tioas, whether of theory or of practice, to which
attention of the Committee has been drawn, will
fe'"ici in Lite evidence. Upon one point only there
:s..nearly an unanimous opinion, grounded indeed by
!Llfierent persons upon different lines ot' argument,
but concurring, in Ole same result, viz. that it would
he safe and
,prassicable for the Dank to Amine
,141 Payments ,on the sth fluly, 18191- and as the.
:nnaiiittee see sufficient reason to agree thus far with
e :.•rin.tical result of these opinions, viz. that„.in the
;teof things wiich now exists, there is a neces*l
:o:ne rut the, postp onernent, they need only refer