The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-09-21 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPTE.4IBER 21, 1 8 10.

13ANK OF ENULAND.

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'Yesterday a General Quarictly Court of Proprie-
tors was held. _ _

The Governer of the Bank announced the divi-
dend for the next half year to he five per ;sent.
On his putting the question on the Resolution to
that effect,
Mr. ItANDLT JACKSON
.rOIC,' And said, that he
thought the ciren'mstances of the present times made
it absolutely necessarythatsionte observations shook'
be made in that Court in answer to those which had
been lately directed against the Bank, and the areal
of its notes. It %vetted jo him that nu individual,
or no public holy, should 'sit down quietly under an
tispersotii4character, when they had the means of
removslog pig effect of those aipersione. bego
leave, howerer, to califs; attention of The Coale*
to -this eireninstence; that the report , of Ittel3ol,l
lion Co' tnittee was merely the opinion of the indi.
Wti,l formed that Ceminittee, but that it
had not been yet adepted by the House of. Cum.
mons. The circulation of it was, however, so
extensive, and its notoriety so great, that if it
contained propAtions not only fallacious, but
hick could easily be proved to be fallacious, it
was a justice due to the Bank and to the
Public to expose this fallacy,' Ind to restore to
the Batik the full credit to which it *as justly
its felt the greatest respect for every
thing which emanated from the ' !Louse of Com-
mons ; but still it must be remembered that this was
hut a Committee; and that it had so happened,
that the leading Members of this Committee were
Gentlemen in the habits ofeippesitien to the present
Government. it appeared to him that this Commit-
tee io their report had endeavoured to argue down
the conclusions which would naturally arise from the
evidence before them, and that the opinions which
trey pronounced were directly at war w itle their evi.
deuce. Ile therefore mitisidexed that the Bank was
completely fortified by the very evidence which wall
examined before the Cumnittee," and that they
should not therefore submit to be atifersed by Mire
opinions contrary to the evidefice of the most re.
1, speceable merchants who had been summoned upon
Chid occasion. lie Fertainly did cofteeive the credit
of the Bank. to be identified with the best interests of
olie..puhlic, and lie was prepared to defend it against
all the.attacks which hail lately been directed against
it, It was impossible to read
,this report without
,perceiving that it contained ideas disparaging and
hostile to the Bank ; but he believed that if it were
read with attention, the conclusions would appear
to be ill.toundeJ. In the first place, the Commit-
'tee appear to have aesnmed throtigleout that Bank
paper was depreciated below par. They did not, !tow.
over, state, that the apparent depreciation proceeled
from temporary causes, and was only produced by
the circumstances of the market price of gold hap.
potting to be now higher than the mint price. The
market price of gold in this country is high 'be-
, cause it is high upon the Continent; and while it
' continues so high upon the Continent, it is tit be
supposed that there will be tome parsers, -nho,
iu defence of the law, will run the risk of
Illative.; down the gold coin, in order to obtain
a higher price for 'it as bullion. The question
the 'Committee principally relied upon to prove
the depreciation was, Will 1051. in Bank paper
purchase gold enough market to make an
an hundred guineas ? It certainly would not
do so at the present price of gold,, and they
therefore infer that Bank paper is 1144m:hied.
The evidence, however, of Mr. aerie and other
most respectable witnesses, was directly in oppo.
alien to this conclusion. Mr. Merle said, that if
he hail gold to sell, or gold to buy, at the market,
it would make no manner of difference whether the
payment was in bank-paper or in guineas. He
added, however, that if he was a disloyal man,
who wished to obtain a profit which the laws for.
.hid, by Melting down guineas, in that ease cer-
tainly he should prefer guineas to bank.notes, while
gold is at its present high market price. Mr. Gold-
amid was of the same opinion, and it did appear to him
most important, that the opinians of merchants of
such respectability should be as well known to
the public as the opinions of those Gentlemen
composing the Committee. 'IC they had, how,
ever, put the question in another way, and asked
If corn or woollens were wanted to the value of
1051. would it make soy difference whether, the pay.
mew was in guineas or bank.notes i" To a question
so put, the answer, most certainly be, that it nookd
eel.; and this answer would not sieppert their idea
of derecietion. In this case, as in the former, it'
must be stated that there was no difference be.
tween guineas and hank-auto, except- to those
persons who set the laws of the couotry at de.
fiance, and would venture to run • the risk of
melting down guineas in order to receive the
present market price for the gold. Ile thought
it was by no means stir Prising that a moss ingenious
periodical writer (Mr. Cobbett), should have ex.
ulted at the Report of the Bullion Committee, and'
that he should, in. the moment of his exultation,
have declared that. it gave him more jey than if he
had keen suddenly saluted as Lord of Hampshire.
It was very natural fbr that Ingenious water to
feel that joy which; is commonly felt when any
grave authority comes forward to sanctiuu a dar-
ling project; but he believed that now that Gen.
denten had had time to read the evidence in the
.Report as well as the opinion of the. Committee,
his exultation would be a little abated, and that
he might now be its well contented to he saluted
as Lord of Hampshire. Another inference whtci
the Committee made was, that an excessive is..
sue of bank-notes had increased the prices, of all
the actessaries of fik. wis a conclusion w

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