The Washington herald., 1913-10-03

rCoDyrisht. 1913 b. 4. y Jacohs0nl
II the bank notes issued by the "Old
Lady of Thresdneedle Street (the
Bank OF EnGland) had been gifted with
The power of speech, they might have
given innumerable tales OF romance,
tragedy. and adventure TO the world.
Here is an example: There is pre-
served in the Bank OF England library
A e. note with these words written
on it: IF this note gets into the hands
of John Dear, OF LOnChill, near Car
Isle, his brother Andrew is a prisoner
in Algiers." This notification was
copied into a Carlisle newspaper. and
John Dear thus became aware of The
whereabouts Of his lOng-lost brother.
Among other curiosities in the bank
library there is a bank note dated 18th
Nber. 1899" for 1855. This is the old
est bank note known to be in exist
ence. In appearance and design it Is
very similar TO the present day notes
Another interesting note is one for
fl 900, which Lord COchrane paid as
fine, imposed upon him for his al
legged connection with the fraud Of
raising the public funds. 1t is in
dorsed with these words: Ny health
having suffered by long and close con-
fnement, and my oppressors having
resolved to deprive me of my property
and life I submit to robbery to pro-
tect myself from murder, in the hope
that l shall live to bring the delin-
0uents to justice-COChrane. Grated
chamber Kings Bench Prison, July,
1915"
One of the most unique notes in the
bank collection is one for f25. which
was presented and honorrd Ill years
after it had been issued.
The largest amount for which the
Bank of England note has been issued
is fI,OOO.OOO. There are only four of
these million-pound notes in existence
One is preserved in the library of the
bank, another is in the possession of
the Rothschild family, a third is
owned by Messrs. COutts, the bankers,
and the fourth is in the hands of the
descendants of Samuel Rogers, the
poet.
I happen to know the history Of the
million pound Bank OF England note,
made out to the Rothschilds, for l saw
it in the private office Of Lord James
RothschlId in the bank of n. NJ. ROths-
child & Sons. in st. Swithin's Lane, An
gel Court. 1t was in the year OF the
financial panic, known the world over as
BLACK Friday" and the Bank of Eng
land, after superhuman efforts 10 stem
the tide by throwing ready money into
the breach to save commerce and IN
dustry from threatened bankruptCCy, at
last had to refuse help to the Liverpool
banks, despite urgent appeal. The latter
then sent a delegation TO Queen Victoria,
who, after A conference with the gov
crnors of the Bank of England, sent for
Lord Rothschild. the only banker whose
resources, owing to his great interna-
tional connections. had not been handi-
capped.
Rothschild was well awars that the
Queen had millions of pounds safely in
vested, and did not mince his words.
He was perfectly willing to step into
the breach" he said, 'if her majesty
would do her share, which, as sover-
eign of the country. it was her duty
to do
1t is well known that Queen Victoria
was rather misery. She had something
like 100000 900 in different banks on the
Continent as a nest egg for her large
family. Rothschild, of course, was aware
of this through his branch houses at
Frankfort, Paris, and Vienna. He did
not hesitate to avert a national disaster
but he was determined that the queen
was to do her share.
The result was that the Bank OF Eng
land that very day received in gold and
Of G2,OOO,OOO one half of which on ac-
count OF Queen Victoria in the form OF
drafts on the Credit Lyonnaise, Paris,
and the Preussische Haupt Bank, Ber
lin.
But there is a sequel to this story OF
forced loan. While Rothschild received
a fl.O00,OOO bank note which read: THE
Bank of England will pay to n. M
Rothschild & Sons 6, 10000 on presenta-
tion," just like any other legal tender, the
Queen asked for and received a note
specially written to her order plus per
cent interest" Rothschild scorned to
profit through the country's critical con-
dition. The Queen had no such scruples,
and as a result got her money back so
soon as the financial atmosphere IN
Throgmorton, Lombard, and Thread
needle Streets had cleared.
In the production of their notes the
Bank of England's chief aim is to issue
a tender which it will be impossible for
anybody TO counterfeit. Toward this end
all the parts of the note, paper. water
mark. ink, engraving, and printing are
prepared and done in a special and as
far as possible secret manner. At the