No. VII.: Resolutions Proposed Concerning the Bank of England by Mr Mellish.
19th Century David Ricardo EnglishThat by the Act of 31 Geo. III. cap. 33, there was allowed to the Bank of England, for the management of the public debt, 450l. per million on the capital stock transferable at the Bank, amounting in the year ending 5th July 1792, to 98,803l. 12s. 5d. on about 219,596,000l. then so transferable; and that by the Act 48 Geo. III. cap. 4, the said allowance was reduced to the rate of 340l. per million on all sums not exceeding 600 millions, and to 300l. per million on all sums exceeding that amount, whereby the Bank was entitled, in the year ending 5th April 1815, to the sum of 241,971l. 4s. 2¼d. on about 726,570,700l. capital stock, and 798l. 3s. 7d. on 2,347,588l., 3 per cents. transferred for life annuities, being an increase of 143,965l. 15s. 4¼d. for management, and an increase of about 509,322,000l. capital stock: Also the Bank was allowed 1000l. for taking in contributions, amounting to 812,500l. on a lottery in the year ending 5th July 1792; and 38,798l. 19s. 2d. for taking in contributions, amounting to 46,585,533l. 6s. 8d. on loans and lotteries in the year ending 5th April 1815.
That it appears, that the Bank, in pursuance of the Act 46 Geo. III. cap. 65, has, from the year 1806 to the present time, made the assessments of the duty on profits arising from property, on the proprietors of the which of the funded debt, transferable at the Bank of England, and has deducted the said duty from each of the several dividend warrants, which in one year, ending 5th April 1815, amounted it number to 563,600; and that this part of the business has been done without any expense to, or charge on, the public.
That in pursuance of the above-mentioned Act, the duties so deducted have from time to time been placed to the “account of the commissioners of the treasury, on account of the said duties,” together with other sums received from the public by virtue of the said Act: part of this money is applied to the payment of certificates of allowances, and the remainder is paid into the Exchequer.
That by virtue of the said Act, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury have made annual allowances, at the rate of 1,250l. per million, upon the amount so placed to the account of the Commissioners of the Treasury at the Bank of England, as a compensation for receiving, paying, and accounting for the same; which allowances, however, have not in any one year exceeded the sum of 3,480l., and upon an average of eight years have amounted annually to 3,154l. only.
The amount of duties received for the year ending 5th April 1814, was 2,784,343l., which, if it had been collected in the usual manner, at an allowance of 5d. per pound, would have cost the public 58,007l.; and the cost for collecting 20,188,293l., being the whole of the duty received from 1806 to 1814, on which allowances have been made, would at the same rate have amounted to 420,589l.
That all monies received by the Bank on account of duties on property are paid into the Exchequer immediately after the receipt thereof: when this circumstance is contrasted with the ordinary progress of monies into the Exchequer, the advantage resulting to the public may be fairly estimated at 2 per cent., which, on the amount of duties for the year ending 5th April 1814, would be 55,686l., and, on the total amount from 1806 to 1814, would be 403,765l.
That the total amount of bank notes and bank post bills in circulation in the years 1795 and 1796 (the latter being the year previous to the restriction on cash payments), and in the year 1814, was as follows:—
That at present, and during many years past, both before and since the renewal of the charter of the Bank, considerable sums of the public money have been deposited with or otherwise placed in the custody of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, who act in this respect as the banker of the public. The average balances of these deposits, both before and after the renewal of the charter, were as follows:—
That it appears from a report ordered to be printed 10th August 1807, from “the Committee on Public Expenditure of the United Kingdom,” that the aggregate amount of balances and deposits of public money in the Bank of England, including bank notes deposited in the Exchequer, made up in four different periods of the quarter ending 5th January 1807, fluctuated between the sums of 11,461,200l. and 12,198,236l.; or, excluding bank notes deposited at the Exchequer, the amount fluctuated between 8,178,536l. and 9,948,400l., the reason for which exclusion is not obvious, as by the Act of 48 Geo. III. cap. 3, the tellers of the Exchequer are authorised to take as securities on monies lodged, either exchequer bills or notes of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. And it also appears, according to accounts laid before this house in the present session of Parliament, that the aggregate amount of such deposits, together with the exchequer bills and bank notes deposited in the chests of the four tellers of the Exchequer, was, on an average, in the year 1814—
L.11,966,371: including bank notes deposited at the Exchequer, amounting to 642,264l, 11,324,107; excluding bank notes deposited at the Exchequer.
That it appears, according to accounts before this house, that the average of the aggregate amount of balances of public money in the hands of the Bank of England, from February 1807 to February 1815, was 5,010,019l.; and that the average of bills and bank notes deposited in the chests of the four tellers of the Exchequer, from August 1807 to April 1815, was 5,968,793l., making together 10,978,812l., being 850,906l. less than the average of the said accounts for one year ending 5th January 1807, as stated in the report of the Committee on the Public Expenditure.
That by the 39 and 40 Geo. III. cap. 28, extending the charter of the Bank for twenty-one years, the Bank advanced to the public 3,000,000l. for six years without interest, and extended the loan of 11,686,800l. for twenty-one years at an interest of 3 per cent. per annum, as a consideration for the privileges, profits, emoluments, benefits, and advantages granted to the Bank by such extension of its charter.
That by the 39 and 40 Geo. III. cap. 28, see. 13, it is enacted, that during the continuance of the charter, the Bank shall enjoy all privileges, profits, emoluments, benefits, and advantages whatsoever, which they now possess and enjoy by virtue of any employment by or on behalf of the public.
That, previously to such renewal of their charter, the Bank was employed as the public banker, in keeping the cash of all the principal departments in the receipt of the public revenue, and in issuing and conducting the public expenditure.
- That whenever the engagements now subsisting between the public and the Bank shall expire, it may be proper to consider the advantages derived by the Bank from its transactions with the public with a view to the adoption of such arrangements as may be consistent with those principles of equity and good faith which ought to prevail in all transactions between the public and the Bank of England
June 26, 1815