, 1861-11-30

VHk1E1N W Ux1nA
The acthronement and exile Of James II,
the last of the Stuarts, by tho accession Of
William III, ii the revolution Of 16SS, by
no means relieved the British nation from
extraordinary expenses. of which there had
l,ccn such bitter complaints under the
S:rarts. With an exhausted Treasury, and
Tie gcrcrnmcn, in tic Wrctelcd credit
caused by 1he folly, necessity and wicked
ness Of the Sluarts, William had a Tar
rren his hands immediately with Louis
XIV Of France WHO undertook to replace
James upon the throne Of England It was
during this war, and in 1904, that the specu-
la:;yc Scotchman, Vim. Patterson, pro-
1,cs.d the plausible scheme Of the Bank of
England, the plan being TO lend the
Government tho whole capital Of e1,-
2lG,G0o, without shilling to do it
with, excepting an iastallment Of per
cent; or e72 ,o0G, which was paid in by the
TropFieturs. In tile crippled condition Of
tic national e1chcquer, tie scheme found
favor with the King, and was pressed
through Parliament against strong oppo-
sition, By such means as he and the pro-
p,ietors knew very we'll how to employ.
To obtain the majority Of votes in parlia-
mcnt, he made use Of bribery is the his
1o1ica1 record Of William III, generally ex-
pressed. The rate Of interest on the loan
was s per cent Ter annum, or COG 900, and
$4,000 for expense Of management This
Was apparently cheap to government that
had heen in the habit OF sacrificing about 90
per cent, Of the parliamentary allowance
10 anticipate the taxes Il single year; but We
aver that 10 the nation it was the dearest
method Of raising supplies that could pos
silly be adopted, and q ruinous de1u-
SIGN from beginning to end
Ne knoao that, by the nature and innu-
table Law Of value: it deprecated the value
Of money, forced it from the kingdom, and
was thus public and dead loss Of real cap.
ital for the whole sum Of the fictitious cap
ital Of The bank. It was nothing in the
world but fiction, unless, possibly, some
thing was left Of the e772 900, after bribine
members Of Parliament to vote for tic
charter. There was, with this possible ex-
ception, never any such money, value OF
capital in existence as the 81 100000. The
proprietors simply handed their bank notes
E4'o the exchequer, and received e1chequc1
taliics in exchange, q mere matter Of kiting
The tallics were sticks, notched, metho(
Of keeping accounts charcoal scores
milk scores, &c-still III Use in Grca
Britain, if not in this country. It wa:
an exchange Of a bundle Of faggots for {
bundle Of brown paper, the faggots being
split, one half retained in the excheoue
and the other in the bank, the two to b'
matched as voucher of tlae claim Itwa
granted to body Of men, the privilege o
issuing bills payable, without lending capi
tai OF value Of any sort, and charging in
terest On their own debt, reversing the com
mon sense principle Of common justice
dcffauding the public out Of, not the inter
est alone, hut the capital OF principal also
the interest only accruing to the bank, AM
the capital FILLING into the hands Of foreig
nations, by paying the fictitious prices Of
false measure in the exchanges. 1t was
blind method Of securing capital out Of th
people, which they were unwilling to yiel
to taxation. Doubtless it WAS designed t
meet what was supposed to be temporar
cxigency at the time, the charter bein
granted only for eleven years; but
proved to be such an easy method Of final
ceer5ng that il soon became the leadin
principle Of the fiscal policy Of Englant
and has So continued to this day. VIII:
csn he easier than to sign bits Of paper, e,
chang the same with straw cornor
ton, and cheat the public by calling tt
corporation debt money!
There appears to be a perfect hunkerisr
or interruptions devotion to dishone
public policy, peryading the British min
with respect to the Bank Of England. n
single British writer acknowledges Il
fact that ii was founded without capits
unless it be Joseph Hume Adam Smi1
seems to know nothing Of it, and his who
account Of the institution seems to he {
apology rather than a history. Lest tt
reader should be incrcdulous on this poi1
we give the account demanded by, al
presented to the House of Commons VIII,
the Bank first suspended specie paymcn
only two years after its establishment. II
find this in Lawson's History Of Bankin
page ~
"On the 4th December, 1896, the cover
Or and directors Of the bank attended
the tar Of the House Of Commons, al
presented to the house !, statement Of the
affair, rs follows:
DEBTOR.
To EnndrE persons for scaled bank
on!s Standing out .-......-.....- G393 800 10
!o :sul;trs persons on rotes for run
70 money borrowed in Holland ...- $4,000 CO.
1e Interest due on bank bills stand
NJ ~ out. 1S.S76.Q0.
~ oaIance-.-~..-..--- ~, ,315 O..
Total.--.............-. e2, ,1o1 Isl. .1s
cREDTToR.
By ta1lies In eevcra1 parliamentary
b. one half year deficit Of fund md '''''''' 40'
4lc9Uu q annum. 6D,0p1 CO.
~ murGager- pav17s and securities 1N,94B. Is
by cash on hand +35, ,664 01
e. ,1o1 ,1s7, Is
= This item, Gaa5.cei II 1ed Of cash, it appea
was all the bank had IN hand to pay their moi
amounting to e1G51, ,99G los Cd.
The reader acquainted with double ent
accounts, will sec at a glance that the wh<
OF tue capital and reserved profits Of t
i1ailk are included in The balance. e125.3
2s lid. The institution had paid two yea,
dividends Of s per cent each, and. dedu
ing the paid up capital OF e72 600 from ,
balance, there were reserved profits e.
315t2s- lid.
In corroboration Of this statement as
capital, VIC find in the appendix to Fran
History Of the Bank Of England, copy
rare pamphlet published in 1896, by
chael Godfrey, the first deputy goyerno,
which he says: Some find fault with
bank because they have not taken in
whole 81 100000 which was subscribed
they have called in but e7e,Ooo. wbic
more than they now have occasion for. ]
however, they have paid in the exchec
the whole & 100000 before the time
pointed By ACT Of Parliament, aud the
money they have taken in to doitwin,
SO much the more they have Sci
the public, for the rest is left
circulate in trade, 10 be lent on Ian