, 1875-04-16

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80 THE BARK OF EHGLAND.
,Thu letter Of Sir FnASCta fl1ScEa, of Canl-
dn, published in yeator,lay' i TRIBUNE, suggests
that :thb United States should provide M
Of England, which, he claims, is substantial
ly q part Of tho British Government. Tho
| fac.a Of tho organization mud character of
TINT bank negative the assumption TINT 1t Is
my moro Governmental machine tlau are
our own National Danks, and the circulation
Of the Dank Of England falls far short Of
acrving tho purpose for which currency Is
| needed, or clnimca to be needed, III tho
| United Statcs Tho Bank OF England be
longs 10 stockholders, ,-privato persons, aud
not shnre is owned by tho British Govern-
mcnt. It Is spoken Of III England aa " Bank
Company" Tho Bank Of England WIS cs-
tabIished in 1904, with Il capital, subscribed
in shares, cqunl to $U,O0O,000. This capital
was increased at intcryaln, until, In 1876, It
was fixed ut ST., 7G5, ,ooo. Tho bnnk has thc
management Of tho public debt Of
England, for which it is paid. It mikes now
loans, pays tho interest, relecnls maturing
loans, and generally tralsacts Nil business re-
lating to tho national debt. Tho Government
lnakes 1t public depository, just as our M
tionnl ba1fzs nro 1natle by law. In 1914, the
"1ssuo Department." Of tho banls was 1nade
n separate brunch Of lilo bank, mud keeps its
| accounts with tic banls on tho following
basis: Tl,at the 1ssno Department shn1l fur
,lish tho bank with notes, first receiving from
tho bank Government bonds to the nmount
Of tlfteon millions Of pounds also MI tho
gold coin nnd gold md silver bullion not re-
4uircd by it in its business :; aud tho nlnount
Of notoa issled to the bank shall not exceed
tho val,lo Of these securities and of tho gold.
| It will DO sccn that for every pound sterling
! of notes issscd beyond tho fifteen millions of
| pounds national bond securities, the bank
must havc m equal amount OF gold, md these
| notes must be rudee1ncd on demand in coin.
| On tho 10th Of October, 1872, tue statement
of the Issue Department showed tho follow
| ing fncts:
aovernmens securities. ell olsioo o
TotE1 s;su1l1!cs. i,ouo, ,o5o
Cold aud 1,J-s. 'so
Total securities: 93t 33s,7go
Amount OF notes outssndIuu.. 3i33t,tao
| This amount Of notes is given to tho ban!s,
and is used in It's banking department; in
addition, it hns public and other deposits be-
! sides its capital, and with these does its dis
4 count and other bank business. The out
standing circulation Of other banks in the
| Kinglo1n at the salne date wns $17,G13, ,551,
or about half TINT Of the Danl of England.
It will bo seen TINT there is much similarity
in tho Governmental regulations Of the issue
| of bank notes by tho Bau1; of England
and by our National Banks. Tho Bauk Of
England Is authorized to ISSUE seventy mill
ions Of dollars Of notes upon the deposit Of
| Government securities; but for all notes ip
excess Of tint sum tliero must bo deposit,
dollar for dollar, in gold. Under our syste,n,
tho banks nro authorized to issue notes to 30
per cent Of tho Government securities de-
posted, tho notoa rodeomablo OIL demand in
Government notes, which aro not redeomnble
in anything. But, SO for as tho banks are
rcgulated and controlled by the Governments,
tic connection ia tho salno in both countries,
no more and no less.
Tie aggregate circulation Of tho Bank
Of England is, In round numbers, $l75,-
000, ,00O,- against which the bauk holds
500, ,o0o, 900 in coin. The aggregate. circu-
lation Of Treasury notes end bap}s notes in
the United statos is $3.50, ,000, 600. Sir FnAs.
Gle H1scKs proposes TINT TIM circulation shalt
DO wholly Governmental; that 1t DO secured
by MI equal amount Of public securities, Of
which $25U, ,000, 900 bo converted Into gold,
and that tho Government undertake. to keep
the whole amount convertible into coin on
| t1emnnd