New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-07
TIE BANK OF ENGLAND.

Our present troubles may be chiefly accounted
for by the specuations and decentralization en-
gendered by excessive issues of irredeemable
paper money, our reckless and thoroughly un-
sound habits of banking, and finally by q
babyish dependence upon those children in
the woods, President Grant and his Secretary
of the Treasury. The condition of things in
London, though not as hopeful as could be
wished presents q sharp contrast to that
which has laid us upon our backs. We think
it will be found instructive to examine lit
tie closely into the differences between the
English and American systems of currency
and banking.
1t is tolcrably we'll known that in England
no paper money circulates of less denomination
than five pounds twenty-five dollars). Every
thing below that is gold and silver. In Scot
land the banks are allowed to issue notes as
small as one pound, but the entire bank cir
culaton is not large in either country. For
the last week of September the average circu-
lation of the English private banks was
$13,OO00OO, of the English joint stock banks
S12, 100000, of the Scotch banks $27, 900 900,
and of the Irish banks $32,0OO,000; total bank
note circulation of the United Kingdom, ex-
elusive of that of the Bank of England,
$S4,OOO,0O0, or less than double the amount of
our ten, fifteen, twenty-five, and fifty cent
fractional currency! Blythe last return received
by mail, the circulation of the Bank of En-
gland was S170,OO0,000, of which $75,OOO,OO0 is
secured by Government debt and other
securities, and the other 100000 issued
against an equal amount of gold coin and
bullion. The amount which is issued against
securities is rigidly limited to SIS, 100000 while
the remainder varies in exact correspondence
with the gold coin and bullion left on deposit
with the Bank. In fact, neither the Govern
ment nor the Bank of England has any con-
troll over the note circulation. The tissue
department" as it is called, is entirely separate
from the banking department, and is obliged
by law to give its notes for gold coin or
bullion at fixed price, and to redeem Its notes
in coin on demand The money of Great Brit
ain, therefore, consists of about two hundred
and fifty million dollars Of paper and probably
four hundred millions in coin. Excluding from
the paper the one hundred millions issued by
the Bank of England against gold coin and
bullion, the proportion is one hundred and
fifty million dollars of bank notes and four
hundred million dollars in coin. Our money
consists of seven hundred and fifty million
dollars of iIredeemable paper, about fifty
million dollars in coin in private hands, and
fifty millions more locked up in the Treasury.
We found no argument on these figures to
prove the redundancy of the currency Of the
United States, but we beg our readers to OBJ
serve that the money of the most prosperous
and wealthy nation in the world IS composed
of twO-thirds coin to One.third bank notes.
We are no advocates of = cast iron reserve
We think the reserve OF bank should
be kept for use and not for ornament. Tho
trouble with our finance is and always has
been that the banks have neve. kept suf
iciently large reserve. They bave never been
able to stand pressure They take mems
money and undertake TO repay it at any
moment on demand, but they deliberately put
themselves in position which makes it inn
possible for them to keep their word. II is oil
very well to say that il everybody wants
money at the same instant 1t is im-
possible to pay everybody, yet there is
still o difference between keeping on