Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-12-07

,svate pvtcrv A ANY IN the city Our assortuent
,re, end every other reqn iie ere such 40 10 eavs
nothing 10 be desired 10 ensos rs To fusn b a. well
executed book wott, circusrs. posters, aud s'hs
Jobs, - can b. prin,ei We invite any having com
msnis 10 give our ofbce trial
The "suspensfon" of Bank of England.
Some Of our exchanges are cndeay-
oring to draw consolation from the fact
that the British ministry recently found
il Necessary to suspend portion of the
act chartering the Bank Of England,
upon which they base slightly fala-
cious argument TO show that our
American banks arc not the only mis-
managed institution in the world. Even
if the late order in council permitted
the bank to suspend specie payments,
we don't see how that would better
the condition of our Yankee shaving
shops, or warrant the public in placing
But, the poor consolation Of a suspen
sion of specie payments by the mann
moth British regulator is denied to
the apologists for our weekly, and
dropping "moncy" mills. The Bank
of England is not authorized, nor do
It's directors desire to suspend specie
payments; they profess to be able and
willing to redeem their notes, pound
for pound. The Bank is divided into
two departments-thc issue and the
general banking. The issue depart
ment employs some fl5,O0O,O00 gov
eminent securities AS a basis for the
circulation, as well as most all the bull
lion Of the whole establishment only
five or six hundred thousand pounds
being retained in the general banking
department, and that merely for con
yenience in change. The notes OF the
issue are legal tender in the banking
department. According to the pre-
vailing opinion among bankers, notes
are sufficiently, not To say perfectly,
secdrc, when the specie basis is one
third of the paper issue. Now, at the
time of the suspension Of one OF the
provisions Of the Bank charter act, the
amount of notes issued was f22 ,422,-
900, to meet which, the bank had near
ly tS,000,0Oo in gold coin and bullion
and between fIl,OO0,0OO and fl5,-
100000 in Government and otlc
curltics, from which it appears tnAs
the bank had specie basis Of fully
equal to one third of the total amount
of notes issued. The was no "run"
upon the Bank for specie, as no doubt
of its ability to redeem il az,
ed, but the run" was f ii, ia =
tions. for discounts. The issue depart
ment was firm, and unassailcd; it was
the general banking department tina,
felt the pressure, and to whose relief tho
ministry came. The merchants were
clamorous for &C, ommodations; they
haa 49, --.-" hills which they fcl,
compelled to turn into monev at al
most any price. The banking depart
ment has generally relied on its re-
serve of notes to afford extraordinary
discounts, but owning to our American
difficulties, the embarrassments of the
Scotch and Irish banks, to which insti-
tutlons j: had extended assistance, and
other causes, the reserve of notes was
completely exhausted, and the depart
ment began to find it impossible to
ray its depositors, and furnish the re-
quircd accommodations The bullion
was all locked up in the issue depart
mcnt, from which it could not be with
drawn, as about % per cent of its notes
were not in the hands Of the public ;
the reserve Of notes was exhausted the
commercial community loud in their
call fol- discounts-and the bank with
ont means to accommodate. The Gov
eminent, therefore, came to the rescue
and suspending a portion of the bank
charter act, permitted the bank to is
sue notes to any extent it may think
warranted by the necessity of the occa-
sion, without regard to the usual one
third specie basis. In order, however,
to check speculation which might fol-
low from extremely liberal accommoda-
tions, the rate of discount is fixed at 10
per cent-a rate rarely, very rarely ex-
acted in England. 1t is by no means Ger.
tain that the Bank will availiitseIf of the
facilities rendered, for it is believed that
the call for discounts, which originated
in panic, will cease when it is evident
that the Bank can afford accommoda-
ton to any extent. 1t will be seen
from these facts tina. the Bank did not
suspend, and that the ministry did not,
after the manner Of our Legislatures,
legallze suspension. The Bank OF
England has the privilege OF dong, in
an emergency what our banks arc do
ing all the time-in fair weather as
a