, 1873-10-08

III tho bank balances Horo run very low, people
would naturally begin to suspect thet tho Joint.
Englaia than" thcy ought to layo. no wished
furt[tor to ask wllother tho Directors bud Of Into
takon into consideration tie oxpotlionoy of pny-
Ing i,'torost OIL deposits. uo beliovol tint uti-
,loss they woro foregoing lnrgc, proflts which
they might rocolvo with advantage 10 them,
Holvoe mud to tho public; and .lio would
Recommend that thoy should undertake tho GUS
tho Dank Of Frnnce., IL conclusion, ho propoecl
10 move throo resolutions, for tho purpose: Of
providing, first that list Of oil tho propriooiB
OF Dank stock should bo printed. with ae1arato
titeil 10 voto from tho snnllnoss Of tl.or htock
or from tho shortnoHa of tilno during which they
hold Il ;>socoudly TINT ooly Of tho ol,artcr OF
tho Bank, with lilo rules, orders, and bylaws
poraliou should 10 printol for tho rBo Of tho
sllarotIoltlcla a1ld thirdly. that auditors should
bo appointed to mako detailed aut'ita Of their
accounts.
roctors should tako Bono stop Tor tho purpose of
provoninE tho spread Of such erro1leonH notions
rs tint which latoly prevailed OIL tho Continent,
tint tho Bauk was about to suspend spocie pay
mente.
MIR. W. Dotly said tint llo wished to SEQ tho
Directors tnkng into tllcir consideration the OK
podiency Of allowing interest OIL deposits.
hfr. AID. Balomons Haid le wished to take tint
opportunity Of atnting that ho believed nothing
could bo moro satisfactory to tho managers ana
shareholders OF joint-stock banla than tic tosti-
mony which tile Governor of tho Bunk of
England had that tlay borne to tho soulld mud
honorable manner III which their business was
conducted. 1t was n1anifcstly desirable that tho
joint-stock bnuka md tho banking interest gem
orally shall work iii harmony with tlIo Dank Of
IIngland and ho sincerely thanked tho Qoyor-
nor Of tho Bank for tue kindly mannor III which
ho Ind alluded to tue nodo in which tic, joint
stock banks had mot tito iato 1nonetary crisis.
Tho Governor Of tho Dank Baid: Before pnt-
] ting tho question for tho declaration of divi-
| do,ld, wish to rofor to QUO or two points tint
haye boon raised by tho gentlemen who have ad-
| dressed tho Court OIL this occasion. Tho most
prominent topic brought undor our notice IL tho
expctllonoy of allowing interest or deposits, and
upon that point I must; aay that heliovo
Il more dangerous innovation could not bo nlndo
| in tho practice Of the Bank Of England. Tho
downfall Of ovorond md Gurnoy, and Of many
othur houses, must bo t:acod to tho policy which
tloy adopted, Of paying interest OIL deposits Mt
! ca}i, whifo thoy wero themselves tempted to in-
| voat tho money SO received in speculations lit
ireland or in America, or Mt the bottom Of tho
sea, whore it WIS not available when moment
| of preBetlro arrived.
NIr. Dot|y said he did not mean deposits OH
| call. -
Tile Governor Of the Bank Of England co,,-
tinucd: That is only matter OF dotal; tho nlnin
question is, whether we ought to pay intorost on
deposits. and of such policy must oxnross my
| outire d1aapproyal. nlr. Moxon has rcforred to
tho amount Of our debt, but, as stated when
took the liberty OF intorrupting him, We could
Vsa ass f 5 1sn ses S} sy s fsr Which as /
bo aaid to have over existed, 1t had
its origin, most probably, IN the vast n1nonnt ad
! vancod by the Bank. It must, however, bo 70.
membered that VIC did not mako our ADVANCES
| without ample security, and tho best proof Of
TINT is tho maryolouBly sma1l amount OF bad
| debts which wc contract. It has noyer been 8
featuro Of tho Dank to state what was the precise
amount of those dobts; but bolieyo that, it !
wore to mention 1t upon the present occasion. 1t
would be found to bo go ircousiderablo that
should hardly obtain crotlonce for the announce.
mont I should have to make. mn convinced
| that our present dividend las hnen >aa honaatly
roalized but it bns beon obtainel by moaus Vi
grent vigilance md 'gseat anxiety On the
part of caeI aud all of your Directors, and will
add that believe you would only diminish tEcir
souso Of responsibility, and Introduce confusion
into tho management Of yo.tr business, if You
were to transfer to auditors tho milking up OF
your accounts. If your Directors dosorye you'
confidence, they aro surely capablo Of performing
TINT duty. and 1t they ia not aeaorvo it you
ought not to continue them in their present
our capital, must observe tliat, with Il4 ,00o.
600 in our hands, wo mist necessarily invest i
in variety Of securities; but there is no grount
for imagining TINT onr money is locked up nut
mercial aiyancea. We advanced III tho space u
three montls tho gum Of E45, ,000,000, aud win
moro than that do yon wnnt? 1t has bcot rec
commended that wo should tako charge Of sccNrl
ties but we l1nvo found it necessary to refus
all securities except tlloao Of our customers, ALI
believe tho custody of accurties is becoming
growing OWL. Will, regard to railway eobeMt
HrcB, do not believe We havo ono OF n doubtful
character. Wo layo 10 dobont,tros except thoa
Of firAt-olass rAlwny companlcs and compa',i'
which we know aro actng wlthin their parla
mentnry limits. Having alluded to those Sub
jects, will now put tho motion tor tito doclara
tion Of the dividend.
/ Tho motion was accordingly put ana unanl
mons]y adopted. .......
Tho Cl,nirman then announced that TINT reBo
luton should DO confirmed by ballot on Tuesin
no1t, inaHnalcl a8 the Bank could not, undor th
provisions Of its act OF parllanent declare otl
, orwiso than in that form dividend higher tin
that which it had distributed during tho procec
| ing half year.
the three resolutions proposed by AIr. A1oxo
wero then read; but thoy woro not put to til
Mr. A,l BalomonB snid that their Go,
ernor had observed that ho thought tho paynle1
, of interest OH deposits was objectionable; NJ!
every ono must Boe that such practice olgt
i not to be adopted by the Bank Of England. u
he took 1t for granted tAat tho Governor did M
moan that lis statement should apply to join
, stock banks, Which lie Ind himself told the
: had conducted their business 80 oreditably ar
/ | 80 sllcceasfully.
n Tho Governor OF tho Bank said thai whnt
: statod was, that such system would bo dungo
: gu. for tho Bank Of England, aud dangerous
Y carriod into effect III tho way contemplated
4 hIr. Moxon.
t Nlr. T., N. I.al1rio said ho understood tho Go
r ornor of tho Bank to Bay that It would bo aal
: goro,,a to talse deposits OIL call, and iu th
U opinion lie concurrel.
: Mr.. AID. salomous aaid TINT he, too, was
II the Hnme opinion.
v On tho motion Of blr. Aid. Salomoua, &c
i onded by Alr. Dotly, yoto Of thanks VI
q passed. to tho Governor mud the Directors +
0 their able and successful management OF Il
J. Bank during the past l!nlf-year, md tho pr
j. ceoainga thon terminated.
Y [9Ir 1Mgellots valuable and timely work CT
+ ho obtaiuol from <3cribnor, Armstrong & IL
+. New York, or their agcnta, lLcssra. lladoy Bro
i Chicago.l
/