Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03
Bank of England Breaks Silence
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

every three months in the London
Gazette. -
The Parliament which passed the act
requiring this publication apparently
was not made up very largely of bank
erS, for the items specified, while i'm
portant, were by no means complete.
In fact. only four items were called for
and only four furnished, to wit, the
circulation, deposits, securities and bull
lion. And the two former items, con-
shutting the liabilities. and the latter
two, constituting the assets. did not
balance. The Bank of England actually
was solvent, capital and surplus and
many other times being left wholly out
of the statement merely because they
had not been called for.
That is what the Midland Bank
means by it's statement, quoted above,
that the bank followed the principle
of never speaking unless spoken to, and
even then in the fewest possible words.
It is an interesting speculation as 20
whether the 1888 act of Parliament re-
curing this first publication OF an
inkling of the Bank of England's posi-
ton was not prompted by American ex-
perience. 1t will be recalled that at pre-
cisely this time Andrew Jackson, As
President of the United States, was in.
the midst of his struggle with the Bank
of the United States which, 1t was
charged, tried to dictate to Congress
and otherwise overshadow by the imam
cial power the course of government
Former Reports Revealed Little.
Before long it was realized that thu
meager report published quarterly re.
garding the Bank of England did no.
help any one very much. So in 1874 q
new act was passed requiring weekly
publication, but leaving to the bank it
self. to considerable extent, the choice
Of what items it should make public.
Up to 1878 the reports were fairly good,
although still meager, but from that
date the bank discontinued reporting
the amount of bankers balances held
and the volume of temporary accommo-
dations-two highly important items.
In other words, the bank stopped tell
ing how. much money 1t had on deposit
to insure its solidity and how much
money It had lent.
For half century that condition con-
tinued, the public actually knowing
less about the condition of the bank
than prior to 1878. Not until now has
the Bank of England altered its policy.
Without any act of Parliament making
1t mandatory, the bank has suddenly
come forward with fairly full account
of its condition. This report is made
public at fixed hour every Thursday.
The new statement shows the amount
of notes in circulation. the amount the
government owes the bank, securities
held, capital and surplus, deposits. loans
and discounts, coin and bullion held
and practically all other needful items.
Even now the report does not give
one-tenth the information the Federal
Reserve Banks OF the United States give
to the public each week.
England is a conservative nation and
the Bank of England the most conserva-
tive of English institutions. The reason
for the long reticence of the Bank of
England was the belief that the country
would be far better off if the public did
not know the ups and downs of the
bank. Speculation would be encouraged
by frequent reports. At periods when
the bank was in a strained condition,
general public knowledge might bring
about financial situation highly SUBJ
versive to the solyency of the institution.
whereas. If nobody were alarmed, the
period would be tided over. Again, If it
were shown that the bank was In an
extraordinarily good condition, an UNI
warranted boom might be started.