Proposed legal Restrictions on Country Banks. 4Q5» 



Jillle or no real capita] ; and, as their one- 

 ])oimd notes seldom find their waj- fb 

 London, (even if made payable thcro,)jof 

 course it is their interest to keep as many 

 of them in circulation as possible ; hence, 

 whenever a banker knows that money 

 is wanted as a remittauce to Londoit 

 he willdiseonnt no bills, and throw every 

 obstacle in the Avay of the party who re^ 

 qnires negotiable paper: for instancd, 1 

 have known persons who have been iii 



1S16.] 



their own money. In looking into the 

 affiiirs of most, if not all, the banks that 

 have failed, wc find them mined by too 

 extensive speculations, and that with the 

 resources of their neighbonrs; but this 

 view of the subject w ill not exhibit one 

 hilf of the injiuy suffered by tfje trading 

 j^art of the coinmunity. .Wliat mer- 

 chant, &c. who only trade's to the extent 



of his own capital, can stand in tompeti- 

 tioii with these men, or meet thc^m in any 



mavk:t; look at the state of Wolver- 

 hampton, Dudley, Bilstort-, and the parts 

 adjacent j see the distress tiiat prevails io 

 conseqnence of one bankei' monopo- 

 lizing all the trade nearly, in those parts 

 of the country; aud" against wJiom (at 

 one period) scarcely any other trader 

 could stand. Look at the bankers who 

 failed at Boston, Liiicohishire ; and you 

 will find that they were ship-builders or 

 owners, merchants, corn-factors, brevi- 

 ers, tfrofeers, drapers, and almost every 

 bu,siness that requires a large capital; and 

 Hpw was this-phad thev resources of their 

 flwn? No siich t!!rt%;— their fnfnous 

 SnbciTlatJons were built upon paper 

 ^dit, and supported by the united in- 

 terests of others, ^^ho had lodg6d mblicj 

 •Wi'rti theni for iheir own security. Va- 

 rious other evils, arisHig from bankers 

 piirsuing other trades, i^ii*lit here be di- 

 lated' upon, strch 'ii their being ac- 

 S'bfainted with 'the cotniexions of other 

 "Adesirlen, their profffs and losses, &c. 

 indeed a thousand things migVit be no- 

 l?ccd; but, as I would not extend this 

 jWper to an unusual length, I shall pro- 

 ceed to make a few remarks u\nm the 

 giecohd article, viz. that of bankers ma- 

 fcirtg all their r^otes payable in Loiidon. 

 It is truly pitiable to see tiic degrading 

 pitch to which" the banking .system is 

 talleOr at Jcastin most parts of tJie couii- 

 trji;. five or ten pound notes payaljlc in 

 London arc now us scarce as guineas 

 were a few years since, and it is a com- 

 mon practice, with bankers to issue only 

 »ue-pouud notes. 



If you take tlu: mogt negotiable draft 

 to a bank for discount, you arc imme- 

 diately asked. What do yoii want for it? 

 II' you say large notes, or something nc- 

 e^otiable in Loiidoii, the ansNter is, 

 ** We cannot diseoimt Ihis bill; wc are 

 •bliijed to discount as little as possible." 

 But say that their own small notes will 

 do, and they will diseonnt your bill, and 

 be obliged to you. Tiic rca.son of soch a 

 pfocfcdins; is obvious; they maintain a 

 very indiflbrenf credit with thfe London 

 kjmkers, in con«e<juence of possessing 



Mo\ruLT Mac. No, 281. 



•iL -u.ii. ' - •..-, I',. :■ III-,' 'I'fni 



the hal>it of giving their acceptances, 

 at two or three months' date for goods 

 which they have purchased, and, prior tb 

 their ftilliilg due, have taken the most re- 

 spectable drafts to a bank, in short to 

 several banks, and none would discount 

 tiiem for him. Again, when he has 

 taken in a quantity of different bankers' 

 notes, they would take none but their 

 own ; and, after selecting these, because 

 tliey knew he wanted to remit, and of 

 course required as large notes as pos- 

 sible, tiiey would only give him one- 

 ponnd notes of the Bank of Eiiglatid, 

 which they knew he could not riiuut 

 without considerab,le..c\'pencc. Now', it 

 not tliis .scaudalous treatmeut, and ought 

 they not to a.l'ord every ;tccomnioilation 

 to persons who want money to remit, es- 

 pecially in exchange for their owu notes? 

 ft is a melancholy fact, thst there is tto 

 money (except comWry iiotis)'iti most 

 parts of the kingdom ; aiid when, through 

 poverty or ill-will, they t'huse to with* 

 hold exchange for their own notes, ot 

 those of other bankers, and refuse to dis- 

 count good bills for suitable paper io 

 remit, what endless mischief they may 

 occasion! I have no doubt that tlt» 

 dreadful state of the circulating me* 

 dium has been the rtiiu of thousands in 

 this country, and these evils will cOn*- 

 tinne while country bankers are allowed 

 to i-ssue so extensively one-pouud note* 

 not payable in London. It is somewhat 

 amusing to observe the tricks resorted 

 to, that people may prefer their notes ta^ 

 those of the Bank cif England. I havai 

 been in the habit of presenting a quan-i 

 tity of the latter. With other notes, atth« 

 banks, and have generally foujid th<^ 

 bankers object to one or more of thai 

 Bank of England uOtcs as being forged j 

 bnt, when a<ike(l how they knew this, it, 

 was too great a mystery to be divulged I 

 I once thought that this profound se-? 

 cret was only known to country bankers; 

 bnf, strange to relate, I have taken uotet 

 that have biH?n refused at one place to \ 

 second, wliero these Eiave been taken, 

 and some others rej^'ctcd, I have also 

 HGf takc'H 



