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them in the form of a demand for gold in point of fact, the Bank had completely withdrawn their small notes from circulation three years earlier than the period limited by law; they had possessed the power of issuing them for three years past, and yet had never exercised it, till last December, and then, too, not for their own emolument, but for the public benefit, and to stop the progress of the growing panic. Besides, it ought never to be forgotten that the Bank had made great efforts to establish a metallic circulation all over the kingdom, and had frequently brought large quantities of gold into the country-although it had returned, like the dove to the ark, finding no place of rest amid the deluge of paper money. These three facts, therefore, the recal of the one-pound notes by the Bank, when they might have kept them out for a longer period; the non-issue of them for three years, when they might have is sued them; and their recorded efforts to supply the country with an adequate and well-established gold currency, furnished a sufficient guarantee, upon which to found as competent a judgment as the human mind could form of the probable course of human conduct.

The clause was then adopted by a majority of 187 to 24.

Various clauses were proposed in the committee. Mr. Maberly having moved as an amendment, "That the Bank do monthly publish an account of all notes issued by them in the preceding month, to the last day inclusive," the chancellor of the Exchequer was inclined to agree to it, in so far as the small notes were concerned, but could not consent to the imposition of

such an injunction in regard to their other notes. Mr. Hume immediately declared that he would interrupt the business of the committee by moving that the chairman report progress, and ask leave to sit again; and he told the chancellor of the Exchequer, that, unless some provision to the purport of that recommended by Mr. Maberly were introduced into the bill, he might be assured that it would not be allowed to pass yet for a week. In vain his own friends urged him not to persist in this unusual procedure, and Mr. Huskisson suggested to him the propriety of rather bringing in a bill to amend the bill now before the House, than interrupting it in its present stage. Mr. Hume answered them all with the observation, that they probably were not aware that he intended to propose the introduc tion of five new clauses into the bill, and to take the sense of the House upon every one of them. His motion was lost by a large majority, but as he still persisted in pressing his clause upon the committee, the chancellor of the Exchequer for the second time consented to an adjournment.

On the 27th of February, be fore the House went, for a third time, into a committee on the bill, Mr. Hume stated the nature of the additional provisions which he wished introduced into it. He protested in toto against the sup pression of the small notes, because, if they were withdrawn from the circulation, they would require to be replaced by bullion; and, by so much, said he, would the capital of the country be reduced, and the power of giving employment to labour taken from individuals. If, argued Mr. Hume, the arguments in favour of the measure be good

for any thing, they should not have stopped at the small notes, but ought to have prohibited all notes, of whatever amount; not seeing that a metallic currency must be very differently affected by a paper currency of the same, or nearly the same denomination, which could supply its place; and by a paper currency of a denomination so much higher as necessarily to require the assistance of the metal for the ordinary purposes of life. It was in vain, he averred, to endeavour to impart solidity to banks, or security to their customers, unless one measure were adopted

a

measure the non-adoption of which by ministers would leave upon them the responsibility of all the misery which might in future be produced by bank failures. This measure was, to compel every banker to make deposits, in the hands of parliamentary commissioners, equal to the amount of his issues. For the first year the deposit might be confined to the amount of his one and two pound notes; for the second, to the amount of his fivepound, along with the former; and, in the third, it should be extended to the whole amount of his notes in circulation. If, on presenting a note at a country banker's, he refused to pay it, the refusal ought to be certified by the nearest magistrate, and the commissioners should be authorized thereupon to sell a portion of the deposits in their hands, to discharge the claim. He, therefore, moved "That it be an instruction to the committee to provide for requiring from banks deposits (to be lodged in the Exchequer, or other proper office) equal in amount to the amount of promissory notes payable on demand, issued by them respectively."

It was difficult to see what con

nection a provision like this had with a bill, whose only object was to secure the gradual withdrawing of notes of a certain kind; the purpose of the latter was to restore a metallic circulation by a partial expulsion of paper; the purpose of the former was to secure the reign of paper, to the expulsion of the precious metals. But this was not the only objection to which the provision was obnoxious. Its effect would be, to deter prudent persons from engaging in the banking business, for the whole amount of their capital would be locked up, and unproductive; and, as the banks were to enjoy no particular privileges, it was scarcely reasonable to impose upon them so severe, and so injurious a restriction. The example of Scotland, even with an extensive issue of small notes, proved that such security was not necessary. The experience of 1822 proved that few men would be disposed to establish banks on such a principle; and the bill, by compelling bankers always to have a large portion of their capital in gold, and to watch the occasions when gold might be required from them, was a much better security than consigning their real capital to inactivity. Lastly, it would put an end to deposit banks, that is, to almost every bank in the kingdom. Existing deposits would be withdrawn, and no new deposits would be made, because the real wealth of the banker was, in case of misfortune, to be applied to the payment of the holders of the banker's notes, and the makers of deposits were to be thrown back exclusively upon the mere fragments of his fortune, whilst the holders of his notes were secured in full payment -a distinction between creditors, equally unjust and impolitic. Mr.

Hume found only eight members to join him, the motion being rejected by a majority of 120 to 9. An amendment to the effect that the Bank of England should make regular returns of the whole amount of their paper in circulation, and another, that the holders of country notes should have summary process of execution for their amount by the warrant of a magistrate, were equally unsuccessful; but a clause was added, providing, that from the 5th April, 1829, all notes under 201. should be payable in specie at the places where they bore to have been issued. On the third reading, however, the extension of time in favour of the Bank of England, was again opposed; clauses, giving summary process on notes, and requiring from all bankers a monthly return to government of the whole amount of their issues, were again pressed, and again negatived; and, on the 7th of March, the bill passed, by a majority as large as that which had introduced it.

In the House of Lords, the opposition to the bill was less pertinacious than it had encountered in the House of Commons; and the grounds, on which it was attacked and defended in the former, were precisely those which had formed the topics of discussion in the latter. The earl of Carnarvon alone, who moved, on the second reading, that the bill should be read again that day six months (a motion which was negatived without a division) stated a new reason why an actual gold circulation ought to be kept as far from our doors as possible; viz. that a return to it would bring back the highwaymen of Bagshot and Hounslow. There was, he said, a much greater

temptation to commit robbery in the case of gold, than in the case of paper, because there were much greater facilities for escaping detection. It was easy to understand that there could not be so strong an inducement to crime, when the currency consisted in notes numbered, and signed with a known name, without which they had no value, as when it consisted of gold coin, which it was impossible to identify. This view of the noble lord was not original, for it had been enforced, with much humour, in certain celebrated letters which appeared about this time directed against the extension of the bill to Scotland. It was likewise worth considering, that the forgery of the small notes was a danger of the same kind, and one which had rendered necessary the sacrifice of, at least, as many lives to the law, as the more daring_depredations of former times. But, finally, the connection, as cause effect, between the disappearance of guineas, and the disappearance of highwaymen, was more whimsical than real. "I once,"

and

said lord Liverpool, "when I was a boy, suffered from a highwayman, and lost all the money I had upon me. It is, therefore, natural, that I should be as much alive to this danger as the noble earl: but still, with all my early associations, I cannot help thinking, that, if that danger must revive with a return to a metallic currency, it would have been felt during the last four or five years; for, during all that time, their lordships had been going about the metropolis and its vicinity, not with notes, but with sovereigns, in their pockets. The almost total extinction of highway robberies was to be attributed to the only thing which could either

for any thing, they should not have stopped at the small notes, but ought to have prohibited all notes, of whatever amount; not seeing that a metallic currency must be very differently affected by a paper currency of the same, or nearly the same denomination, which could supply its place; and by a paper currency of a denomination so much higher as necessarily to require the assistance of the metal for the ordinary purposes of life. It was in vain, he averred, to endeavour to impart solidity to banks, or security to their customers, unless one measure were adopted a measure the non-adoption of which by ministers would leave upon them the responsibility of all the misery which might in future be produced by bank failures. This measure was, to compel every banker to make deposits, in the hands of parliamentary commissioners, equal to the amount of his issues. For the first year the deposit might be confined to the amount of his one and two pound notes; for the second, to the amount of his fivepound, along with the former; and, in the third, it should be extended to the whole amount of his notes in circulation. If, on presenting a note at a country banker's, he refused to pay it, the refusal ought to be certified by the nearest magistrate, and the commissioners should be authorized thereupon to sell a portion of the deposits in their hands, to discharge the claim. He, therefore, moved "That it be an instruction to the committee to provide for requiring from banks deposits (to be lodged in the Exchequer, or other proper office) equal in amount to the amount of promissory notes payable on demand, issued by them respectively."

It was difficult to see what con

nection a provision like this had with a bill, whose only object was to secure the gradual withdrawing of notes of a certain kind; the purpose of the latter was to restore a metallic circulation by a partial expulsion of paper; the purpose of the former was to secure the reign of paper, to the expulsion of the precious metals. But this was not the only objection to which the provision was obnoxious. Its effect would be, to deter prudent persons from engaging in the banking business, for the whole amount of their capital would be locked up, and unproductive; and, as the banks were to enjoy no particular privileges, it was scarcely reasonable to impose upon them so severe, and so injurious a restriction. The example of Scotland, even with an extensive issue of small notes, proved that such security was not necessary. The experience of 1822 proved that few men would be disposed to establish banks on such a principle; and the bill, by compelling bankers always to have a large portion of their capital in gold, and to watch the occasions when gold might be required from them, was a much better security than consigning their real capital to inactivity. Lastly, it would put an end to deposit banks, that is, to almost every bank in the kingdom. Existing deposits would be withdrawn, and no new deposits would be made, because the real wealth of the banker was, in case of misfortune, to be applied to the payment of the holders of the banker's notes, and the makers of deposits were to be thrown back exclusively upon the mere fragments of his fortune, whilst the holders of his notes were secured in full payment -a distinction between creditors, equally unjust and impolitic. Mr.

Hume found only eight members to join him, the motion being rejected by a majority of 120 to 9. An amendment to the effect that the Bank of England should make regular returns of the whole amount of their paper in circulation, and another, that the holders of country notes should have summary process of execution for their amount by the warrant of a magistrate, were equally unsuccessful; but a clause was added, providing, that from the 5th April, 1829, all notes under 20l. should be payable in specie at the places where they bore to have been issued. On the third reading, however, the extension of time in favour of the Bank of England, was again opposed; clauses, giving summary process on notes, and requiring from all bankers a monthly return to government of the whole amount of their issues, were again pressed, and again negatived; and, on the 7th of March, the bill passed, by a majority as large as that which had introduced it.

In the House of Lords, the opposition to the bill was less pertinacious than it had encountered in the House of Commons; and the grounds, on which it was attacked and defended in the former, were precisely those which had formed the topics of discussion in the latter. The earl of Carnarvon alone, who moved, on the second reading, that the bill should be read again that day six months (a motion which was negatived without a division) stated a new reason why an actual gold circulation ought to be kept as far from our doors as possible; viz. that a return to it would bring back the highwaymen of Bagshot and Hounslow. There was, he said, a much greater

temptation to commit robbery in the case of gold, than in the case of paper, because there were much greater facilities for escaping detection. It was easy to understand that there could not be so strong an inducement to crime, when the currency consisted in notes numbered, and signed with a known name, without which they had no value, as when it consisted of gold coin, which it was impossible to identify. This view of the noble lord was not original, for it had been enforced, with much humour, in certain celebrated letters which appeared about this time directed against the extension of the bill to Scotland. It was likewise worth considering, that the forgery of the small notes was a danger of the same kind, and one which had rendered necessary the sacrifice of, at least, as many lives to the law, as the more daring_depredations of former times. But, finally, the connection, as cause effect, between the disappearance of guineas, and the disappearance of highwaymen, was more whimsical than real. "I once," said lord Liverpool, "when I was a boy, suffered from a highwayman, and lost all the money I had upon

me.

and

It is, therefore, natural, that I should be as much alive to this danger as the noble earl: but still, with all my early associations, I cannot help thinking, that, if that danger must revive with a return to a metallic currency, it would have been felt during the last four or five years; for, during all that time, their lordships had been going about the metropolis and its vicinity, not with notes, but with sovereigns, in their pockets. The almost total extinction of highway robberies was to be attributed to the only thing which could either

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