The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-24 00:00:00

BANK OF ENGLAND RETURNS.

The London Gazette of Friday week contained the first
return under the New Bank Act of the last session, show-
ing the position of the Bank of England for the week
ending on Saturday the 7th of September. This retura
is divided into two distinct branches of Issue Department
and Banking Department, in conformity with the provi-
sions of the act. The public are at length furnished with
all the information they can require for a complete under-
standing of the position of the Bank and the circulation.
In 1833, whe t the first returns were published, it may be
with truth asserted, that the principle only of publicitY
was conceded ; for the returns themselves, being involved
in the intricacies of three-monthly averages. were nearly
useless for practical purposes. The act of 1841 certainly
corrected this deficiency as far as regards the circulation
and bullion, but omitted to make any alteration in several
other important items. The present returns, from their
minute subdivisions, may perhaps appear to some to err
on the other side, more especially at the commencement,
when there are no antecedent averages of equal detail to
compare with them. The sum total of the two returns
being much larger than those hitherto published, may
also lead many persons into the error of supposing that
the recent alterations in the Bank Charter have been the
means of greatly increasing the circulation of the country'.
For this reason, and from there being no previous returns
of sufficient accuracy to compare with the new one, it is
proposed, on the present occasion, to give a description
of the various items, and to suggest such combination
and comparisons as are considered essential, either when
referring the present to the previous returns, or the sub-
sequent new returns with each other. For the purpose of
reference, we insert the last return of the Bank of Eng-
land, published un the 10th of August, 1844, merely pre-
mising that this is not an actual return, but an average of
the preceding thirteen weeks :
Circulation £21,324,000 I Securities .... £22,908,000
Deposits ..

Total liabilities £35,-114.000 I Total assets .. £38,487,000
'raking the items in the order in which they are now
published, the first appears in the Issue Department as
" Notes Issued," £28,351,295. Now, if a comparison is
to be made with former returns, those notes only must
be taken from the new accounts which are really with the
public ; and to arrive at this sum we must deduct from
the above amount the £8,175,025, which is the amount of
notes in the possession of the Banking Department, as
shown in Use second of the new returns. This leaves
£20,176,270 for the amount of notes in circulation, show-
ing a decrease as compared with the last average. The
great apparent increase in the amount of notes issued is,
therefore, no real addition to the circulation ; for the
issuing department mereiy returns to the banking depart-
ment in the shape of notes the amount which is an equiva-
lent for the excess of capital giving up to the issuing
branch. Under the old system, if the holders of deposits
wished to draw out their funds, the Bank had the power
of making notes to pay them, which became added to the
notes in circulation ; and their issue of the notes in reserve
will, under the new arrangement, only effect the same
thing. In either case the result is, that more notes are
in the hands of the public, without alteration in the amount
of securities. In both cases also, if the Bank preferred
to sell securities to the amount of the demand for deposits,
the total notes actually in circulation would remain the
same. On the other side of the account in the issue de-
partment, we have the item of £11,015,100, being the
debt due from the Government to the Bank. This now
forms a portion of the basis of the circulation. The Bank
having given up this and other securities and bullion to
the amount altogether of £28,351,295, will clearly explain
the amount of notes issued, which being greater by
£8,175,025 than the sum in the hands of the public, this
difference is returned to the banking branch to provide
for deposits and other purposes. The sum called " other
securities" amounting to £2,981,900 will be found, if
added to the £11,015,100. to form the exact £14,000,000
allowed to be issued by the new act of Parliament. To
compare the present statement of securities with former
returns, we must form the following table :
From the issue department
From the banking department (Go-
vernment securities) ..
Ditto, other securities

. 14,554,834
7,835,616

£25,375,350
The last published return states the securities to be
only £22,908,000, showing a large increase, which is not
easily comprehended. This is connected with the only
obscure points in the returns. From the last returns the
liabilities were stated to be £35,414,000, and the assets
£38,487,000, showing a surplus, or rest, of £3,073,000.
Now this rest, added to the original debt due from the
Government, that is,.£ll,ols,loo,amounts t0.C14,088,10
and this would appear to be all the capital possessed b 9
the Bank after realizing all their securities and paying
their debts, and which could be divided among the share-
holders ; but in the new returns we find not only the rest
put down at £3,564.729, but the proprietors' capital 11
stated to be £14,553,000, or more than it was estimated
when the rest was included. This part of the subject re-
quires some explanation. With regard to the bullion the,
best method for the present will be to add the amount
held by the banking department to that held by the
issue department, before comparing it with precedi
cbi neegs
acproyem: ipoaadrsse.dt h
weßi
tuahtme(w)auhcnhetn whenever the
rb,ul
ltiloi newins
will
returns shat
branch always be maintained at a moderate in tin'eo
h. y sending in notes to the issuing department if there
is a demand for gold, and versa in the opposite case'
By the present return the amount of bullion i5X15,209,0v'
showing a slight decrease as compared with the precedniel
period. The public and private deposits must he add
together for a comparison with former returns under the
old system. At a future period the two species of ac,
counts may be compared separately. it must be her(
observed, that we do not possess any correct accounts 0
the former amounts of the deposits, this item having beet
left out of the returns under the act of 1831, and only
published in the old useless form of three-monthly acct
and inconvenience. The present return of the depostr,
rages. This is, however, only a temporary cause of err.°.,
gives a total of £12,275,157, showing a decrease as alb
pared with the former average of about 13,800,000. 18!„
the exception, therefore, of the remarkable apparent 113,
crease in the securities, there appears to be no very c°
t ben
ks
el
ng-
siderable variation in the currency from the last return.