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THE BANK OF ENGLAND.

BY MERCATOR.

The story of the establishment of the Bank of England, and its subsequent remarkable career, has been so often related-and with so much ability and in such ample detail-that to attempt any new narrative of the subject may appear, in the opinion of a pretty large and enlightened class, more tedious and trite than a twice or even a thrice told tale, and quite a work of supererogation. What the few have learned and are familiar with, they think to answer all useful puposes, particularly if it be thought that the spread of knowledge would tend to inconvenience or danger. There is, however, an old adage that there are two ways of telling a story, and from the experience of most persons-with statesmen, historians, lawyers and witnesses-they would be apt to arrive at the conclusion that there are far more; and we may therefore reasonably obtain pardon if we have fallen into the error of believing that we might be able to give a brief and plain account of the Bank of England, from the period it was founded down to the present time, interspersed with some observations and reflections of our own, which, if displaying no striking quality, may have the merit of leading such readers as are familiar with the subject into a path hitherto untrodden by them, and inducing them to contemplate the narrative from a new point of view. There is, however, a vast multitude-and it is to it we chiefly address ourselves-composing not only thousands, but millions, who are as ignorant of the Bank of England as they are of the invention of pounds, shillings and pence by William the Conqueror, and to whom, we trust, what we shall feel it our duty to recount, will be as interesting and serviceable as it will undoubtedly be novel.

There is no question that, sometime previous to the starting of the Bank of England, all classes, but more especeially the commercial class, required greater facilities in obtaining monetary accommodation than it was possible to procure under the existing state of things; and various plans had been proposed by projectors, in numerous pamphlets, tracts, and other publications, for the establishment of a national bank, which attracted much attention, and was received with considerable favor. The accommodation which the goldsmiths, who were then the only persons engaged in the business of banking in the country, had it in their power to afford, was so inadequate to meet the growing demands of commerce, and they were, moreover, in the habit of applying "the screw "--to use a modern phrase well understood-with much severity, that a general desire prevailed for the abolition of this growing monopoly.

If the Bank of England had started into existence to supply this want, and had confined itself to assist and extend commercial enterprise, by a judicious employment of the enormous capital at its command, it would have been a real national blessing, and its founders would have been entitled to be regarded as benefactors of their country. But such was, un

fortunately, not the case, and the bank, which was recommended to public patronage and support, as the means of securing for trade and commerce substantial advantages, by an extinction of monopoly, and an equitable reduction of interest, became itself one of the most grievous and withering monopolies with which the country has ever been cursed, and an

engine in the hands of avaricious men to wring extortionate profits from the industrial classes of society. When James II., at the revolution of 1688, which Hallam, a distinguished constitutional historian, denies to have been a glorious one, left his throne vacant for his ungrateful and undutiful nephew and son-in law, William III, and his unnatural daughter. Mary Stuart, the affairs of the kingdom were in a happy and prosperous condition. The burdens were light upon the people, a tax-gatherer was almost unknown in England, a circumstance which will excite little surprise when were collect that the national debt, which now amounts to about 900,000,000l, at the clo-e of the reign of the sovereign who was exiled for his attachment to Popery and the Jesuits, though an Archbishop of Canterbury, and a large section of the clergy preferred to be reduced to in digence rather than take the oath of allegiance to his successor, did not exceed the modest proportion of 664,2631.

William Patterson, the projector and founder of the Bank of England, was a native of Scotland, and born in Traillflatt, in the county of Dumfries. He was educated for the church, and afterwards pursued for a length of time a course of life inconsistent with the profession for which he was intended. He was engaged in the Darien scheme, and was evidently a person of adventurous spirit and fertile imaginatio-just one of the class who are qualified by boldness, industry, perseverance, and originality, to become the pioneers in great social and political changes. He, however, does not deserve much credit upon the score of originality for having proposed the establishment of a Bank of England, as we had only to look to Hamburg, Amsterdam, Venice, and Genoa-where banking institutions, similar to the one he contemplated founding, existed and flourished-to find models for his guidance. After Patterson generated his scheme, he became little more than an instrument in the hands of an intriguing and unscrupulous man, named Michael Godfrey, who was one of the creatures of William 3d, and was appointed by him to the office of first Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England. The advocates of the scheme supported it upon political and commercial grounds, and among the most ardent of its champions, we find in the front rank Michael Godfrey, stating in a pamphlet that some "pretended to dislike the Bank only for fear that it should afford their majesties the supplies required to be raised," and after complaining that all the company of oppressors" were tortioners and usurors, were never so attacked as they were likely to be by it." The course pursued by the Bank of England for more than 150 years has not tended to fulfil this prediction.

Smollet observes that the project had been recommended to the ministry for the following reasons: That it would rescue the nation out of the hands of extortioners, lower interest, raise the value of land, revive public credit, extend circulation, improve commerce, facilitate the annual supplies, and connect the people more closely to the government. The opponents of the movement, including the Goldsmiths and the Tory party -with more truth and reason-justified their resistance to it, upon the ground that the proposed Bank would become a monopoly, and engross the whole money of the kingdom, that it might be employed to the worst purposes of arbitrary power, that it would weaken commerce by tempting people to withdraw their money from trade, that it would enable brokers and jobbers to prey upon their fellow creatures, that it would encourage frauds and gaming, and corrupt the morals of the nation.

Thus advocated and denounced, the scheme was submitted to the Privy Council, and fully discussed in the presence of Queen Mary. The King, her husband, was absent at the time, but he was made acquainted with its details, and approved of it because he perceived that it would afford him the means of raising large sums of money to prosecute the war, in which he was engaged against France. Willian, however, with that habitual caution and foresight, for which he was distinguished, aware of the hostility which prevailed towards the measure, instead of introducing it boldly and prominently-to borrow the words of an able financial authority-smuggled it at the tail of an act of Parliament for raising money generally and in the preamble this statute is described, as a means for securing certain recompenses and advantages to such persons as should voluntary udvance the sum of fifteen hundred thousand pounds, to enable their majesties to carry on the war against France.

By the act of 5 William & Mary, it was declared that a royal char er should be granted, under the title of "The Governor & Company of the Bank of England," to such persons as should voluntarily advance a loan of £1,200,000 to the Government, at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum interest, and £4 per cent. for management. This amount was to be subject to redemption, if Parliament should think it expedient to cancel it, by giving twelve months' notice after the 1st August, 1705-but, instead of repaying it, the debt has from time to time enormously increased, and it remains unredeemned to the present day. There was still £300,000 of the £1,500,000 deficient, and this was also to be raised by subscription, each subscriber receiving an annuity for one, two or three lives upon the following terms: Every subscriber who advanced £100 on one life, was to receive an annuity of £14; on two lives, an annuity of £12 for every £100 advanced; and on three lives, an annuity of £10 for every £100. There was a provision in the act that in case the sum of 1,500,000l. was not raised before October, 1694, the deficiency was to be made up by a loan at 8 per cent. In the space of ten days the entire amount was advanced, and 25 per cent. of the money paid down, and on the 27th July, 1694, the charter was duly signed and sealed. The Bank then immediately commenced operations in Grocers' Hall, and consisted of a governor, a deputy governor, and a proprietary of holders of capital stock.

The property qualification of a Governer was, and still is, that he should possess 4,000l. on his own right; for a Deputy Governor, 3,000; for a Director, not less than 2,000l. of the stock of the corporation; and every elector was obliged to have 500l. capital stock to entitle him to one vote. It is a remarkable circumstance-just as if the Governor of this corporation of money dealers would not be likely to take care of his own interest and that of his associates-that he was required to make the following oath, which each of his successors has been obliged, down to the present time, also to do upon entering upon office:

“I, A. B——————, being nominated or elected to be Governor of the company of the Bank of England, do promise and swear that I will, to the utmost of my power, and by all lawful ways and means, endeavor to support and maintain the body politic of fellowship of the Governor and company of the Bank of England, and the liberties and privileges thereof; and that in the execution of the said office of Governor, I will faithfully and honestly demean myself, according to the best of my skill and understanding, so help me God."

It is difficult to reconcile this oath, which the chief officer of a national monetary institution is even now required to take, with a passage in the charter, wherein it is stated that the bank was established with a view of promoting the public good and benefit of the people.

In glancing at the history of the bank and consulting the testimony of distinguished individuals and numerous commercial bodies in the kingdom, it will be found that, in observing the letter and the spirit of this oath, the Governors of the Bank of England have, in numerous instances, inflicted serious injury upon society. We have now seen the bank fairly started, having lent its capital of 1,200,000l. at the handsome remuneration of 100,000l., to be paid annually for the loan.

FOREIGN TRADE AT NEW YORK FOR MAY.

The official Custom House figures showing the foreign trade at the port of New York for May have just been furnished. We trust that many years (?) will not elapse before some way will be found of making up these returns earlier, so that they can possess a little more present interest. The figures now made public enable us to bring down our tables to the close of the eleventh month of the fiscal year, and we give in comparison the same periods of previous years.

IMPORTS.

For the month of May, as our readers have seen from our weekly tabl the imports were very large, being in fact this year more than twice the amount for May, 1865. The following are the impo ts for May of each of the last three years:

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From the above it will be seen that the total goods thrown on the market during each year in May was as follows:

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The total imports for the first five months of the year are as below:

FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FOR THE FIVE MONTHS FROM JANUARY 1ST.

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It will be noticed that the increase this year in imports is considerably more than 100 per cent., being $65,156 1,73 in 1865 and $140,666,379 in 1866. This is for the

five months since January 1. If now we add the figures since July 1, we have as follows:

FOREIGN IMPORTS AND AMOUNT MARKETED AT NEW YORK FOR ELEVEN MONTHS.

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In the foregoing we have not only given the total imports each month, but also a column showing the total amount thrown on the market.

WAREHOUSE MOVEMENT.

This year, about one half of the imports ($13,902,407) were entered for warehousing, but as $1,246,288 was re-exported in bond, and $3,450,591 were withdrawn for consumption, the increase for the month in stock is only about three millions. Below we give a statement of the warehouse movement for May, with the stock on hand June 1:

WAREHOUSE MOVEMENT AT NEW YORK IN MAY.

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On account of a large proportion of the imports being entered for warehousing, the duties collected are not in proportion to the increased imp rts. The following table gives the Custom's receipts at this port for the eleven months:

RECEIPTS FOR CUSTOMS AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK.

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The exports this year during the month of May have also been in excess of previous years, given in our comparati e table. It should be remembered, however, that they are recorded at their market currency value, while the imports are given in their in voiced gold value, without freight and duty being added. The following will show the comparative exparts from this port for the month of May :

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