Bank Of England.
The Times, 1824-03-19T00:00:00

Yesterday a half-yearly (eneral Court was held at the Bank of Endlnd, to consider of a dividend. The GoVEIRNOa then read the resolution of the Court of Direc. tors that the dividend upon Bank stock for the hdlf-year ending on the Sih of April next, should he 4 per cent., and proposed it for the adop tion of the Court of Proprietors. .' r. NATHANIEL GUNDRIY rose to repeat the ouposition which he h:d given at former Courts, against any declarati6n of a dividend, withoyut the prcvinus exaaminationi of the Bank acconrits of profit, &ec, upon which alone such dividend could be founllded. The vene- sable proprietor relpeated the various efforts he had unsuccessfully made to obtain these accounts, and a_rain pitt in a written de- mand for them, signed by himself and two other proprietors of Bank stuck. The GOVERNOR read this requisition, which was dated " Ricb tnond, ?March 9th," and said that he had only to repeat to the ve- eraible proprietor the aame answer which he had received on for- iner occasions to the same reqr.est. The proposition had been repeatedly put in form to the Court of Pronrietors, and rejected by them : until, thercfore, they adopted a different decision, and re- voked their dissent, the Court of Directors .had only to pursue the course which they already deemed proper, and wvithhold the accounts which Mr. Gundry had demanded. (HIcar, hear.) Mr. GUN DRy." Then I am to understand that the Court of Directors refuse to producethe accounts." The GovER aon'-. No. Sir; they obey the wishes of the Court of Proprietors in ntt prodtcing them. They shall be foTthcoming whenever they -r-e called for by a majority of this Court." tHear.) A PnoPs-TiTOR, whose name we understood to be HARRS, of Marylebo-.e, then put in another Tequisition, in a similar form to 4r. G3'nd.-y's. and demandinga balance sheet of the Bank accounts. - .r. GuErDRY then groposed, aWs an amtendment upon the original question, that the dividnd be 5 per cent, instead of 4 per cent. A PstOPs'ISSOR condemned the repeated attempts of Air. Gun. dr to interpoc o'ojections which were regularly overruled. SSt GoiDRY warmly insisted upon the propriety of the course he had taken, antl called upon the secretary to rend one of the by- laws under the charter, which (on being reat) stated that the " halff yearly coarts were to be held, to judge of a dividend according to their geveral shares and proportions of stock." Ile would ask how they were to know ' their several shares and proportions," unless the, accounts were forthcoming? They were assembled, he niust con- tend, to taikc into cnsideratiox the state and condition of the affairs of the corporation, and they could not do So without information upon details. It was a farce-it was absurdity antd folls, to call a Court of Proprietors in this manner to consider of a dividend, and to wiithhold from them at the sanie time the only means of iudgirg what the amount of that dividend ought to be. The venerable pro- prietor then read a variety of extracts from a pamphlet upon Bank ffairt, bhich he said had been a long time in circulation, and which most properly and most legally, as he averred, pointed out, tbat there geeral courts were held " for the twof9ld purpose- first, of considering their general affairs, and next their dividend." He repeated his question, how could they do either one or the other. in the absence of proper information ? He would take the sense of the Conut again and ag.ain upon the matter. The by-law positively enjoined, zc;cording to its true spirit and intention, that they should inquire into the Bank affairs. For a long time the by-law had, as the writer of the pamphlet truly stated, become a dead letter : and formerlv the notices for convening the General Courts expressly set fbrth, that they were called hoth for the 2cnertl and the spetific con- sideration; but of late years the Court of Directors had thought p ro- per to alter the form of the advertisements, and circumscribe their import. The Directors wanted to keep them in the dark upon the .rea state of their own affairs, and it was that conduct sn their part, which in the year 1797 led to what ir. Gren fell had!emnphaticaUl call. md, i the Etouse of Commons," the catastrophe"' of the suspension of their cash payments. He wanted to show the distant proprietors the righta they had by law-rights of which they were now ifnorant- and to induce them to come forward and insist upon obtainihg that information which the law empowered them to demand. H e then refer- red to thesat of the 7th Anne, c. 7, in support of his proposition that the accounts ought to he forthroming pTevious to tlls declaratios of div-idend. The act expressly -aid that the dRividend should he formed uipon the amount of thneir profitn : ow was that to be asta certsined? Hea ,,in,nthel ac an ea inthebebalfofhehpy. hl-,b fore whom he hoed tthair Poeedings would par, in review,denoand. ed an aceunot of the Bsn'k affairsi. ir. Youre, rose to fder. Ihe ami ther wse ere two motions be. fort ethem b one that the Pividend be4 per et,e and the other for .5 per cent. The venerable prvprietor happeready made all hIs ob. sevations, and the qitestion ougetht tobe put. Mr.cS. DLu XON lail th tt Mtir. Gusidryh was addressing individuals rnore in the wavof priathe conversatiw ohan according to tire e3taU bht ed rles of debate.en It was a so1tofbytplay. b r 3lr. GtY-r (oYfinsaited that1 he wntisn oifeth, and proceeded to red everil odthr extracts.- fom the p jsmphie which heotad bn uotedh to ;thor, thatt hieBank flirectdt.A had not' done their cduty. It ms by lendi.-ig Mr. Pitt 1mill16ts afte) *'Million,z;Vty were obligedtoG stop cash-paytents on the 26th of Februa r,t17hea castrophe which neverw ould have happened if they ad lnent obliged regularly to produe thetir aeccounts.- lIe conidermned their 'whoe etubequent procoedin gtheir,alten4rations inbthe dividen4ithefr uniform rnlaIaneCeo the production ofzdocuinents, and above aUl their borne of 25 per-cent? won-after 181, -when theyhadeswisted ha incezese of dividend of & ivatead o016 per cent,. Mlr. PAY,;E (of Bath) would be sorry if the veneretble:hiwotietor qsite.h ourt.,tnder-An ide that justice hed na~ beern dols to hiseo-osilos, ~tbugl li nieatlaent, and. he. was sure the venes~lpensinwi ouldhinself,upon reflectiiter, algo lanlent, the ~n~eg~int wbihs e hA.b~ribetrayed4 boith in lis t'pe,ebhes asipublar~d~tseri ponths sbjct.:'The Court, of Dmrectora ~LI ec.sefsed o podue th~ acouts,; th~ey had mdrel~ subiujte th qnadn t th CurtofPro?rletoMs who ban EAecIC1eA that tle- aeamt& ought htot t5 Lt. .Aittishsd, hlicl the Court of Ditectors were merely, arting 4nk obedience,t to cht re- corded decision. It was urtf4j'r to say tlhit tbey wililely withbeld frOmn tllat Court, information which th'e Court.itself had depided against receiving. Hlear, hear.) He lamented xhbat the vene-able proprietor, wbh.hau.` as he once saldy-received a legal education, should have mis3alefi the legal effect of she charter, which did leave to the disciretion of the Court of Directors the executive inanage-. meit of their affairs, of couirse. subjt;ct to the approbation otf that Court. When thtat Court did not give specifeic nstructions, the Di- rectors were bound by the tenour of the charter and the bv-laws to act UPon their own discretioni, and that was the course whilch. they hiad inivariably pursued. le admittea. thst every proprietor had a righlt to propound any question be pleased to the oovei;ror ; but it was for tMe Court and not for the individual, to.decide, wvhether the information so called Yor shiould be imperatively given. Hie tbooka review of the condu,ct of the Court of Directors, bestowed upoin them his warme3t commendation, and insisted that on all muomentous questions they had consulted the Coqurt of Proprie- tOts. It was thierefore, tooi much to call their meetings a farce. Hie contenidea that the Directors -were the stipendiary managers Of their afflAirs,and of course liable to the supervision -of tihat court,as a body : the Directors imust necessarily, previousi to . dlividend, exa- miine the general accounits; andI uples% there was some reason for withholdling from thiemi the usual confidence, he coLuld not see why a diafrenrt course shbould he followed now from all other occasions. Hie felt for the honour Of both courtsi. If the Directors did wrong, let thlem he specifically chiarged, and removed, if necessary. (I-ear.) Mir. MASITsssRn (as we uinderstood) wished to ask the enlutisel for thle Bank to 3a wvhether the proprietors were not, accordinxg to the by-law eRditled3to demand the production of the accounts Air. K.N-DI.EF JAcKsoN; said, that in the absence of hist learned frendI (AIr. Siergeant Bosanquet), who was nowv stittingjuidicially on circuit, he could inform the lion, gentlemian that the courts of lawv had solemnly decidedt, that until the iiajority of the Court of Pro- prietors had determaintill upon calliniz for accounts, the Court of Di- rectors were justified in refusing thiem. M~r.AIAs,siTEn said, thatt hehad afew questtions to put to certain menmbers ;of the Court of Diteestor.. HeMhd listof the Directors in 1816, anti also in the year 18-23,and he observied, by-comprng bothi, that as the d,ividends' decreased, %o did the amount of=soc Of these Directir,sfrom haig four stars each (a star means a 1,0001. share) in 1616 they elr f to two stare in 1023. How wast this to 122 Miconnted o6r ?. 'le te Direct3rs) had of course better in- Iformation of what wasgigo than aMy body else, and miight act Iaccordlingly. The nme f h Directors hec would read. Mlr. flar. i man, instead of having 4 starS as in 1816, had now only 2 ; Mr. .James Camipbell fell fromi 4 to 3, and tisen to 2; AIr. Geo. Dorrieni from 41Lo2; M r. Thiom-as Langley from 4 to 2 ; Mfr. Manning. from 4 to 2; Mr. Charles Pole, from a long pole became a short Polle (a laugh)...froin 4 to 2 also, after pocketing the 25 per cent, bonus M Ar. Samuiel T'hornton fromi 4 to 2 ; Mir, Whbit- more fromi 4 to 2 ; aind Mlr. Samuel Kare, the Blank Solicitor, w,hp, thouigh not a Director,must be supposedl to have grod informs. toion, from I to 2 also. How did thtis happen ? Trhis bonus ,vas the cause whiy they were niow obliged to reduce their dividlend, and the Directors had'the beniefit of all the good times, lie should have turnedi ou' such Directors. To the honour of MNr. AMellish be it spokern, (and hie wishedl him to remain a perpetuial Director), he stil retained his4 stars. (Hear, and alaugh.) Ai r. HARastAsj hoped that, after the insinuations whichi hadl just been levelled by the proprietor whbo had sat down, lie s~:ould be al- lo1wed to say a Pew words. (Ihear, hiear.) lie had hardly thought- it possible that in a Court where he was surrounded by so many wvho hadl long known him, it shoald have been necesarv for hiim to have sail one word in justitication of his modec of doing business. (liouud cries of hiear.) Btitas the remark, had been made, he owedI it to his lowricharacter to give itsareply. The fact,tlhen, was t~iis-...that lie had heldl two shares of 1,0001. eschi to qualify hiimselt Ps a Director ; and wheni called to the chair, he had merely doubled his sharet~, asi it was incumbent uipot- him to do, to fill the offiee; but wvhen that necessity ceased, he had soldI his two additionial shares to a gentlemian tben iin his eve, and front whom he would be niow glad to take the?m back upon the saine terims he hiad disposed of thzem to hirn. TI,iis was his answer for hiimself, ant ihe believed lie could give precisely the saint answer for every otlier Director who hadi been namnedby that proprietor. (Cries of"Hear.") Alr. MIEsLLrSU tdi'claiiued the exclusive complimrnt whichi the proprietor had p aid him, anid sLaid that lie hadi never, exterit when in the chatr (and titen inertly to iiiake up his qualification), hield more than the amount of stockc necessary to qualify himi fnr a Di- rectorshiip. Hie only, nowv held that aniouint, the otlher 2.0001. being for parties to whom he acted as trustee. (Ihear, hear.) Mr. MANNING thoughit it unnecessary to add hiis disclaimer to that of his hon. friends : but ws a notion -did pevail elsewhere, and perhaps it now aitd then might be supposed to have some influencee in the Hloure of Commons, thait the Bank Directors wvere large holders of fstock, he would declare fromn his experience of being a Director for 34 years, that he hadl always found the uitmost delicacy used by the Directors, and their Governors, to confine their amounto'f Batik stock to the sum, necessary for making up their qualifications. Ile would not say miore, nor co-uld he say less, in reply to the ho- nouirable proprietor's insinuation. (Heat.) Mr. UsIAStLES Por.EI repeated, in the saine wordis as the pre- cedling Directors, his disclaimer of' having held more stock than for his qualification. He warmly complained of the unmanlv ioke of the proprietor, when he talked of "1 a long and a shiort polo.-' Mr. -JOHN~ PEATUSE and IVr. LANOGLEY severally deitied hav- ing held miore than their necessary qualifications. Ailr. M1ASSIT Er, said, that hie had brouight no charge; he hadl mnerely, compared thie lists, of 1816 and 1823, and asked for atn expla- niation of the difference between themn. Mr. YouN-G coin lam'red Of' the serious waste of time whichb lhad takeri ilaCe by tIe introduction of irrelevaiit matter, antI con- curred in the hiighi character which suchi Directors as Air, Hiar- man so well deserved. But when the proprietors were calledi togethier to considler of the amount of" their dlividend, it became their duity ifor themselves, and in behalf of othrra for whomn they were coneerned, not hastily to yieldl a blind acquiescencec to the proposition of the Court of Dirictors. Surely they ouglit to receive some information before they were called poon to reduce, from timne to time, their rare of interest. The Dirlcfors hadl often, he thought, taken upon their owni responsibility the adoption ot measures hicih they Ought rather, in the first instance,to have sub. initted so the consideration or'the Court of' Proprietors: for instance, the deviation from the usual mode of applying their capital, bvlend. ing ouit on mortgage. That warsa subiect which had two very large sies on one side, it necessarily affordea great accommodation to the'c ln doed interest; buit, on the other, who could secure them a charter for the continuance of peace ? XVlio could secure the harvests ?There were many points to he considered, both asi to the mode of the investiture and its amount. If largely given. there must necessarily be a greater increase of paper circsilation, and a powerful additional stimtilus gien to speculation. They ought to exercise their power fmutpligcpital with the utmost-caution andt prudlene, fromieoraonun the artificial value of proper. ty, for m-onev difeeintarepc in its inifluence from every- tlhing else. Ile wishe htta or hail been convened b.efore the Directors had reduiced the rate of interest ; it had considerably altered the value of moniey, and in the event of' war they- could not be too cautious how they tamperedl withi that value : thlere wvas a rumiour abroad that they mneant to reduce the rate of interest from four to three per cent. Hic disliked these changes at the present critical mo. insist, when, Under the notion of a free tradle and now prioci. plea, miachilnery was to bc exported artisanis to be allowed to emigrate, under what lie beliet'ea would be fouind to be a mis4taken notion..t.hat reciproralI advantages would fromi thence return) from other states. He doubted such a result, and fear. ed that the end would be, that thnis counitry would beobli.-ed to compete with others withthie disadv,antag-es ofa h-avy debt,heavy- taxes, a large part of thec population inadequately emiployed, and ain incereased price of food. If the Bank, hail a superabiundance of ca- pital, wh-iich they could not profitably emnployf, why not throw it hack into the handIs of the Proprietors, and let' individuals employ it ? "'Car, hear.) Ile wishedi to ark what amount of capital the Bank liad leInt on mortgage, aud the largest as well as smallest sum given in anyv case ? Thne GovrnNon, replied, that by, the act of WVilliam and Mary, one of the very object-. for whiceh the Bank, had been ins:ituted was "to provide for the encouragemient of lending money on land," so that thiere was no departure I'rons priniciple in their lending moiety on mortgage. (Hear.) The sum the Bank had 4~ipulated to lend in morteages war nut to exceed 2.500,0001. The lowest samn advanced was10,0001., and the highest, he believ,ed, 300,0001. The rate of in-' terest, was 4 per cent,t withi power to tIme parties to reduce the debt in suma of not less than 5,0001. each, at six mnouths' notice. AIr. YovNG said it was of great importance to kniovw wht had been, dluring the last 2 years, the increase of their paper isses By the parliamientary accounit:, there hiad been an inciease of 'between 3 11000001. and 4,000,0001. . the present amiount was stated at 2i,00'0,0001. The Govxas- on replied, that at the time of the dividtends there war always a great fliuctuation in the amotont of their paper circula - ~foti; but on this daY lie believedl it 'was between 18,000,0001. sand 19,000,0001. AIr. YouNGq then asked, whether it was in time contemplation of thie Court of Directors4 to lower the rate of interest ? The GovEtNroit. replied, that there was no such- considtrratieti~ before them at present. AIr. YouNG hoped that that Couirt wostldI be convened before any suchi mearewee vT carried into effect. Mr. GuND,Ry again renewedt the consideration of his amend. ment, and Mlr. STr ucKxY declared that he could not, ubtil he $taw the accounts, say whether the dlividend ought to be five or, four A VRPRom.trgos blamed the Court of Proprietors for not calling public meetings elsewhiere to organiZe tlstmodeifapplication for in- formation from the Court oflDi;ectors, which they were irrelevantly, andto the delay of other businests, constantly agitating at the half. yearlv coonrte.lHe was,however, glad to see an approximatio-n between the Directors ansd( Proprietors and he augured frem that a favourable result. He gave notice that be would pursue the course which he now recommendedl to othiers The GOVERN-OR repeated his declaration, that the Court of DiA rectors full recognized the right of the Court of .f'roprietors to c-all for suchl information as they desired in theit collective capacity, andi thein to obtain it. (Hecar, hear.) T'he question was thei put, and all stockholders undler the value of .5001. swere prohibited from voting. There appeared for MIr, Gundry's amendment about 20 hlandsheld up,, and a great umajoriLy against it. tpon the original question beinF subsequently pat, AIr. STUC1CE' -proposed the follovw,ing resolution :--" That in future, before this Court can judge of what dividend it m:ay be pro. per to nmake, it is expedient that the accounts, made up in a mercan- tile way, slhould be laitI before the Court of Pronrietors for their con- sideration." He stated, in support of his proposition, that one of his reasons for proposing the above was, that he was of opinion, in the present state of the funds of tbe Bank, 4 per cent. was more than they could aflord to divide. The motion, after some discussion, in which Mr. RANDLE JACKSO.N objected to the Proposition without a previous notice, was withdrawn, but AMr. -Stucle gave notice that he should propose it next year. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BANK OF ENGLAND.