Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1878-12-21

ting the hazard mSerlying upon analo-
gous data in snch-a aase. yei concludes
that the auguries Of experience are not
uniavorable.
1t MAS in the Year ll9l that the Bank
Of England suspended specie payments
The highest premium on ,gold. was
reached in lsl3 when. il commanded
forty percent. in5isl6 il ruled under
one per cent And in one year there-
after, 1917, after y suspension OF twenty,
years, the Bank gave notice OF its inten-
ton to pay OF IFS notes ef within certain
date.
The San then proceeds to inquire;
.,lrsNow what was the amount Of the
banks paper then outstanding, and
what resources were Forthcoming 10 re,
deem itP In February, 1877 the total
liabilities OF the hank on its notes OF
issue and deposits were Slsl,O oo,o 600.
At the same date there were hi the
vaults some Sts,0O0, 900, which SIX
months later had increased to upward
Of as. 200. 100. But most Of this accrni-
ulsted coin was in the shape OF deposits,
and the bank had no available capital
for the redemption Of legal tenders be-
yond It's accrued profits, which did not
aggregate more than few mil
lions of pounds sterling. Owing
To } the ~ commercial embarrass-
ments which followed the premature
b resolution to resume, great part OF the
deposits were drawn out, and by Febrli-
AIRY. 1919, the tssin in the vaults had
dwindled to about 20,000,OO0, and the
price of gold had sprung up to over six
per cent. Ii was considered certain
that continuance OF specie payments
would speedily exhaust the bank, and
accordingly Parliament interposed, ab-
solutely forbidding any further effort
for the present in that direction. Thus
the first resumption experiment on the
part OF the Bank OF England ended IN
signal failure, Am 80 saaE g. rul
Much moro complete and wary pre-
paration preceded the next attempt to
return to specie payments. No sooner
was the restriction act at 1919 passed
than the bank began to contract It's Is
sues, and the reduction vi it, liabilities
in four wears did not iall short OF So-,r
100000. One result Of this policy was
new decline in the price Of gold,
which finally touched par, where II H..
NAMED for some two years prior to the
final accomplishment of resumption.
On the lst Of May, ISL,
the hank again began to pay its
notes In coin, thus anticipating
by Just two years the time
fixed by parliament. At this time the
note circulation was in round numbers
500, ZOO, 600, and the deposits had
shrunk to $4,000, 0Oo, while to offset
these liabilities the vaults contained up
ward at S56, 100000 The result Of this
second experiment, where resources
were more shrewdly graduated to de-
mands, representing, indeed, al
most fifty per cent OF the
whole Indebtedness, is sufficiently
we'll known. Notwithstanding much
financial disturbance, and II heavy drain
of specie which set in, and which by
the end of 1925 had lowered the sum
left in the vaults to, about five million
dollars, the Bank of England maintained
unfiinchiugly its purpose Of rcsump-
ton. The gold standard was peima-
nently restored, and within twelve
month the long season OF dependency
and disaster had given way To an era III
prosperity and confidence. Sd "t