The mountain Democrat., 1864-07-09
THE nAN:S OF ENGLAND

the plan Of it laid before the Lord Chan
eellor Of the Kingdom, by William PatcT
son, q Scottish merchant. An act of Par
lirnert WeS passed to GegaliXe II On Apsi
26th l6oz, and Commissioners we're sp
pointed 10 receive subscriptions 20 LOAF
Of EI.20o, 900 to he Government ct
per cent. The caree. of this Bank ha
been very chccxered; it has welded i'm
mease power, and has been on the Who'll,
Of vast advantage TO England. Its histo
~ has been published in volume Of con
siderable size and reads Ike . romance
1t enjoys certain privileges, measures tn,
public debt and pays government securi
ties. By afOrding loGns to the govern
ment At moderate rates Of interest it has
saved the nation immense sums, and il
has been the means of rescnng it from
pecuniary difficulties on several trying oc
casions. II has had its u;el, and during
the terrible struggle with Napoleon ia
| 1877, it suspended specie payments by On
order Of the Privy Council; but in doing
| so, notice WAS given that all the notes is
sued were secure. This Suspension il il
said, prevented the ruin Of the ban;., and
it continued unit the peace in 1915. Pc.
riod Of eighteen years, and vas not fully
resumed until 1928. During the vars
with Napoleon, the government borrowed
fj00, ,000, 900, and With o,.;y population
Of fourteen millions in the two Kingdoms
! and four millions in ireland, the annual
revenue reaching she enormous sum oi
472, 900, 900, (About $500, 600. 600. At
the conclusion Of these long wars, the val
ue Of bank paper was l6 per ceut. below
that Of gold; in two years sfterw2rd j:
was only 2 per cent.
Ia 1874, the charter Of the Bank CT Eng
land was renewed through an act passed
under the premiership Of Sir Robert Peel,
the circulation Of its notes to the amount
Of coin and bullion in its vaults and ths
amount Of It's securities. Every note is
sued beyond the sum Of national securi.
ties must Lave its representative in an
equal amount Of bullion. The object Ct
this act vas to prevent the eve. varying
, expansion and contraction CT issues, but
! il has failed to effect this object. This
! bank controls oil the others in Eng|sni,
and its notes are legal tender, except 70
itself Il has distinct issue department
i1r its note, separate Gom its banking
business; the issue here being equal in
amount to the government d,tt owned hy
! the bark, and the gold and silver in i.s
! possession. Its circulation is therefore al.
wSvS contracted rs It's bullion dimini>hrs:
and although this MAS held by SIR Robert
Pee! TO be perfect security against 4.
nancial troubles, it WAS found to Le the
reverse in the crisis cf 1857. when, dur.
ing the month Of October, the Pr;uy
Council permitted the act Of 1874 to be
suspended and al increase oi issue vas
advantaceouS.y allowed.
The Bank Of England Is the greatest
institution Of the kind in the word. The
whole revenue of the government soor
finds its way into it ard is instantly ren
dered available for the demands 0! tht
stats. In all these transactions scarcely
any metallic currency is used the whol,
is effected by parcly banking arrange
ments. The government collector at Liv
! erPool may require 10 transmit iif:y thou
| sand pounds to London, and some rrivste
/ individual may want % trsnSn:t IKE
amorn: to Liverpool from Londcn On the
same day through the Bank Of ENGLAND
! or some other bank. Both transactions
are carried cut by the mere entry in
books and the instructions sent by !ele.
graph or post. The revenue is paid into
the bank OF England at the rate Of ovel
one million pounds weekly; and for Al
the trouble of managing the business, tht
bank receives no other remuneration thar
the use of the government balances, which
vary from nil, the day after the payment
of the dividends, until they accumulate
for another payment; when there is not
sufficient 10 pay the government dividend,
the bank is expected to advance the diff
ference, which is paid out Of the next SC
cruing revenue. This bank is one of the
most convenient, simple and splendid in.
sutUtions ever devised for mRnsging ;he
tinaEces of great nation its affairs hSyt
usually been conducted BY ,ncn ol p;obi
ty ard honor. The b5nk circulation 81
England, Scotland and Ireland in 1880
amounted 10 about forty million pound.
sterling; the button amounted 10 little
over twenty-five million pounds. 1t has
lately been charged sga;nst the manag
mcnt OF this bank that it frequently pro
duceS great and abrupt changes II the
rate Of interest, thereby producing ex-
/ trene fluctuations in mercantile transac
| tiUnS.
| --->
OCRs MINORITY HoyFH>Nv>T.--0nc oi
the popular errors OF cur time is jclici
in the oirnipo;encc Of lna,gri;ies IN ;he
government Of the country. We ilud lhy
i,iea expressed very c'ear!y IN a ate nun
Der of the Solano Herald
| Popular Government is based exclusively w
the Democratic idea of the absolute and oer