The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-09-04 00:00:00

chief nieret of ..or inquiries. we &Amid test eseerteisber the
goad tad sifoer was driven mu of ciretsioliers, and had its place
supplied be a paper-money ; far, unless we get at a clear view
of this. it w:11 wet 1.. impossible fnr as to reason witisfac-
ford alma toe mean* of briuging gold aid sneer back egad.
WC circulation.
&ape people suppose. that paper shrift made a Part of the
cureenety. or common money. of England. They seem to re-
posed the Bonk of FA/gland as being as old as the Church .•
Eatiolloi.-at least. and some of thee i appear to have full' as
wawa veneration for it. The truth he boomer, that the Bank.
of Fawned is a mere hena.' idstitutiou, arising out tot causes
hawing pother& tairaralone„ or supernatural aboat them; and
that• both the oatitutiotion.la he agents with carry it on, are as-
pawl II as any other thin • and arty other men. in this or id any
-there. Ussery. TOSE 131Nli, as it is railed. had its oalela Ist
Hie year Ism . ; that I. belittled and si thorn vests age; and it
wen* that ete them Kin:, Witiose 111. w lin had caw*
• from lintland, had liegtin ewer igoinst France, and, wresting
asoney to curry it on, an act oval passed (which act out the 40th
of ila bib year of his reign) to invite pelee to make voluntary
advances to the goversemein of the stint of 1,500.000 pallads.
and for Securing the paroling of the interest, and also far sects:,
ring the vele.• mere of the pronetpni, fare were laid moo
beer, ale. and other liquors. Upon conditina of 11,201/.1601. of
this !money b -jug side .need, within a errtaia time, the subscri-
bersto the loan were to be incorporated; nod, Its the money
wits advance.? its due time, the incorporation took place, and
the lenders of the money were formed Into a trading Cow-
pony. r.lll " riff% Got KIt%OR AND COMPANY Or rite
BANK or FM GLA N n." Us ui tie, when snore, ani more,..aul
Wore loons-% hid here borrowed liy the goserionent, in this
way of enortAre,.e teem the taxes, there grew up a thipe'ealled
Mss- Storks, or the Funds (of tt hich we yt ill speak Itereefter)
bet the Bail Compliot remained sunder its ',tininess.- woe,
and, R%thr debt us- 'the notino increased, this Coanpany increas-
ed In rteltes and in consequence.
• )nu see, ;Ind it is well worthy of your attention, the
Tl:ink tad its rise in roar and Leta-aliou. But, we must reserve
tette-tenon? th:s serf fur other occasioio, and go on with tins
lags rte. how gold cud 'floc,. haat bug driven out o f circulidion
pt this cmintr%, or. in other words, bow it came to pass, tUat
sn lowa p .pen-rnoiwy got :.dual. .
The Act of Parlimeent. which I have just referred to, points
Olt the manner its which the Bank Compant shall carry as
their trade, and the artletes in w:eich they shall trade., allow-
jog them, a, ongst ut....r things, to trade in gold, sitter, bills
Erechenee. Red other things, seder certain restrietioase
hut. as to whet are coiled ague notes, the •Cuoipany was ss{
empoweretito lathe any such, to Any other way,. or upon any
other fo.otere, than tnefei;. peootissory unites, fur the amount
of wbi It, ia tbe e .in of the countiy, they- were liable to he
wed se.d arrested. Having, hoarser, a create credit than
ens other inolitidu or co iipany of individual*, the Bank
coonepaii. iss non'. to a greater amount ; and, which. was
wort . .g n leiglaisl, they were made payable, not to
tuts pe+son, oi his order, send not as any particular
line ;t,ti to be.!rer, nwJ uo demand; Throe chotraeteria-
ties. u lic,s distieosished the. prninissory notes of the Bank
f rasa ..11 other proinissore notes, tave the people greater comb-
d ace in them ; and. .is the Bank Company were always ready
1.. pay the notes in Geld and Silver, wheat presented for pay-
mat, the notes became, rs time, to be looked upon as being as
goad as told ;wasp er. Hence Caine all our country • sayings
go.,d as the [link;" As solid as the Bank;" and the
like. Yet. Atte 8414 woe, as we hareseeteSaertly a company
of to ;!;11 f..resed into an assoeiati m ,of traders ; and
the+ notes nothine more than wrillen promises to pay the bear-s
yr so much .nosey in gold or silver.
, Ice used to ,have other savings rebind the Bank; such as,
As rich at the Batik All It. geld in the Bank;; and
each Wm, always cenveying a laninn, that the Busk was a
place. and a place, too.
.ev lorre there *ere great heaps of mu-
ne t As Item et the Coompany.were readyeend willing to pay,
tend did aettedly pay. their notes is gold and silver, tria3 those
vetoes. who wished to have gold and silver, it is clear that
tat-se opt..ions of the people, relative to the Batik, were nut
elt.e.,etioer untowided ; for, though so hit of paper, or of any
thing which has no value in itself, can )e, in fact, so gaud as a
bat of cold ; gill, if it trill, it any tooment. whenever the holder
Meuse , bring him gold or oilier to tnesmorant written upon it, it
14 very nearly mood ,u gold and ; and, at the tame efts hitch
we are siwaking, thi. was the.ease With Ogees/006story ergeslof
the Routh Company. Bole it -mast be evident, that 4%0b5,0h
,ie tanapapi wear ;Tay, .at the time now referred to, to pay
Illctratrileo is rail said silver, they '.sad sever in their money
' ea' is nsuMeieney of gold and silver to pay olf all their motes,
ff tsiey had bees; presented all at once. This must be evident
*every man; because, if the Bank Company kept locked
qv as much ;old and silver as their notes amounted to, key
could get nothLig by issuing their woes, and might full
ar well here sent out their gold arid silver. A farmer.
for instance, who is geeerally using a :lunched putoods of
tabs y t s pay his worksen, might lead the hundred
µminds Asa get interest for it, if he could persuade his work-
two to take premissory owes of his own drawiug iustead of
netee-y, and, if he were stint, that these p Sleety motes
• oulti nut be brought in for payrarot ; but, if this was not
tier case, he would be eoffire.elled to keep the hundred pound'
de hi. drawee ready to give those who did not like to keep his
prom:more noses; mod, in such case, it is clear, that theown-
noy Mould he of no use to.him, and that he might fell as well
h sve n use of his notes eut. Just so with the Bank Compan,
wan, as no time, could have in hand . old and silver enough to
yes id' oil their notes at wires stew is'ns this t errssary US king
as lee towels* iegarded those notes as tieing equally good with
gold satin silver. 11111, It is clear, that this opinion of the good-
ness of the e play's runt's, or rather, this feeling- of eJejt-
dance, or, still more pooptirly. perhaps, the nfrsence of all sus-
&he, with reyect to them...must. In a great degree, deeriet
up a the quastily of notes see*. lhelreeletiose, -tampered With•
yise qu.auit yof gold and sliver wea in circulatiton. A l first, Ili:
quantity or motes was very small indent; the hicrease of this
tumidity was, for the first twenty years, very sloW ;lend,
tbmszh sit herniae e'tore rapid is the next twenty years, the
qp unity doses not appear to have been large till the tsar which
took place is. 1733, I.efore which lime the Bank Company put
opt no notes under 0 pounds in ansouet. Then it was that they
bum Ito put out 13 p sod suite., and rtflerviarits, hut during
tLc same oar, 10 pound motes. Doting all this time, lisa!a, in
every war, bad been made by hiegosernmeat. That is to say,
the goverumem had borrowed money of indivel.eals. in the
tame ways abeve-mentiooed, in the year 16i'4, when tioeqi's
tent nf loons. and stock', aril fands*was begun. 'Floe money thus
horroo ed was never paid off, hut was suffered to remain at in-
terest, and was, ash is now, called the N arse e A L I; EST. tite
interest uptm whieto is :emu:elle paid out. of the taxes raised
upon the people.. As this debt went on increasing, the b ink-
is.tes went on increasing. as. indeed, it is evident t ney must,
seein4 that the i•iterest of the Debt was, es it still is and must

be, paid,bi York-wotes.
It is not simply the quantity of bank.notits, that are put nut
into circulation, w hich will excite alarm as to their solidity ;
hut, it is Clot quantity, if it be great, compared with the quan-
tity of gold awl silver, oven in circulation. If, as the bank-
lintel increased, the circulatiag guild auii silver had is creased an
the same prn%i nano ; then, indeed, bank-nates %mild still
have retained t:n•,r mual cre,i3; people would still have had
ine same r►mfikrnre in them. lint, thi- could not he. From
the nature of things it could not be. The raw.: of the increase
of the bank-antes, was, the increase of interest upon the
National Debt; and, as it grew nut of an operation occasioned
by pti.erty, it would have been strange indeed had it been use-
conspanied with a circumstance, which would hove been an
iotileatiou of riches. Without, however, shipping