The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-09-08
THE BANK Of ENGLAND
MOST WEALTHY INSTITUTION IN
THE WORLD.
Foreign Monarchs Prefer to Entrust 1t
With Their Savings, to Patronizing
Their own Banks.

On July q the most wonderful old
lady in the world will celebrate her
2O6th birthday. She is the Old Lady of
Threadneedle estreet, known otherwise
as the Bank of England. She has been
parsonage of most exemplary habits
who has never used up her energy by
trying experiments or bustling about,
who has departed as little as possible
from her customs of 200 years ago, and
who is consequently little fussy, rath-
err quaint, and tremendously interesting.
All of England lives on her money, and
IL she should suddenly "go broke"
there would be the greatest financial
panic throughout the world that any
one now living ever saw. And a fact
not generally known is that in the crash
European monarchs would find their
hard-earned savings swept away, for
the Bank of England contains at this
moment more royal fortunes put away
for rainy day than any other institu-
ton. The bank is the center and heart
of London geographically and politlc-
ally as well as financially, and, of
course, it has been described almost as
many times as there are American tour
lists in London today. But there are
queer phases of its existence that are
not so public, for the famous Old Lady
is remarkable for her secretiveness. One
of the most interesting of these myster-
les is this department for crowned
heads. For all the public knows there
may be somewhere within the dim re-
cesses of the squat old building a room
designated Safe deposit vaults for
kings and queens only" There might
as well be, for the bank probably makes
more money out of it's royal depositors
than it does out of private individuals
When things were at their worst in
! Spain, after the Spanish American war,
was over, Queen Christina hurried over
/ 70, 1,A g Il, L.
| vate fortune that she could spare. The
| fact that she had been making deposits
there ever since she became queen re-
| gent was discovered when her bankbood
was stolen from one of her confidential
| couriers, while he was on the way back
| from England. II was a similar pre-
caution that makes the eX- Empress Eu-
| genie extremely rich for the Emperor
Napoleon III, foreseeing trouble, hust-
led over to the Bank of England a good
| many million dollars just before the
! Franco German war broke out. The
| Old Lady of Threadneedle street has al
! so been the good fairy of the Empress
| Frederick of Germany, who had to live
| on precious little while she was crown
| princess, for the old emperor was not
| lavish. The moment that Frederick be-
| came emperor he began making heavy
I deposits in Threadneedle street in his
| wife's behalf, knowing that he had not
| long to live and that their son, the pres
| ent emperor would not be particularly
| generous with his mother. When the
empress of Austria was murdered it
was discovered that nearly the whole
| of her vast fortune was in the possess
sion of the Bank of England. 1t is said
that the king and queen of Italy have
big separate accounts at this bank and
the car of Russia could draw his check
| for a few odd millions. Nearly all of
his fathers savings were kept there,
and the Car Alexander II deposited
$40 ,0O0, 900 there to provide for his NOR
ganic wife and her children.
Many persons have a vague impress
sion that the Bank of England is a
government institution, but the govern
ment runs vast public bank of it's own
under the management or the postoffice
department, and does business with the
Bank of England much as if the chan
cellor were plain John Smith. But the
Bank of England is more solid than the
government itself, or than the other
governments of Europe, if one may
| judge from the number of it's royal de-
positors, who prefer it to home institu-
tons when their own personal pennies
are concerned. Anyone can open an
account with the Bank of England, If
he is equal to the conditions, but that
is a pretty big ''if." The Old Lady won t
bother with little accounts at all, and
side of royalty, at any rate-whose
financial reputation is at all shady,
whatever his wealth may be. You must
be introduced by several people of the
highest repute, and be able to show an
absolutely clear certificate of character.
The cashier of an American company
that does tremendous business over
here told the writer today that In a
year he had seen less than a dozen
checks drawn on the Bank of England.
You must have a balance of 81, 500 to
open a private account and a corpora
ton must have $25,000 The bank is not
fond of inquisitive visitors, and the
tourist is excluded, unless he can bring
a personal letter of Introduction from
a London banker to the governor of the
Bank of England, and even then there
are inner mysteries he may not pene-
trate. The prison like appearance of
the outside of this great windowIess,
one-story building is scarcely less for
bidding than it's interior, except in one
or two places. After you have passed
the outer wall, crossed a court and
dived into the bank building proper, you
have more than ever the sensation of
being in a great fortress.
PRINCE DAVID.