STATE PAPERS. 



459 



The balances with Europealone 

 in favour of Great Britain, as ex- 

 hibited in this imperfect statement, 

 are not far from corresponding 

 witlithegeneral and more accurate 

 balancesbeforegiven. The favour- 

 able balance of 1809, with Europe 

 alone, if computed according to 

 the actual value, would be much 

 more considerable than the value 

 of the same year, in the former 

 general statement. 



A favourable balance of trade 

 on the face of the account of ex- 



follows, that there cannot be, for 

 any long period, either a highly 

 favourable or unfavourable ba- 

 lance of trade; for the balance no 

 sooner affects the price of bills, 

 than the price of bills, by its re- 

 action on the state of trade, pro- 

 motes an equalization of commer- 

 cial exports and imports. Your 

 committee have here considered 

 cash and bullion as forming a part 

 of the general mass of export or 

 imported articles, and as transfer- 

 red according to the state both of 



portsandimports, presented annu- the supply and the demand; form- 

 ally to parliament, is a very pro- ing, however, under certain cir- 

 bable consequence of large drafts cumstances, and especially in the 

 on government for foreign ex- case of great fluctuations in the 

 penditure ; an augmentation of general commerce, a peculiarly 

 exports, and a diminution of commodious remittance, 

 imports, being promoted, and From the foregoing reasonings 

 even enforced, by the means of relative to the state of the ex- 

 such drafts. For if the supply of changes, your committee find it 

 bills drawn abroad, either by the difficult to resist an inference that 



agents of government, or by indi- 

 viduals, is disproportionate to the 

 demand, the price of them in 

 foreign money falls, until it is so 

 low as to invite purchasers ; and 

 the purchasers, who are generally 

 foreigners, not wishing to transfer 

 their property permanently to 

 England, have a reference to the 

 terms on which the bills on England 

 will purchase those British com- 

 modities which are in demand, 

 either in their own countrj', or in 

 intermedialeplaces,wiih which the 

 account may be adjusted. Thus, 

 the price of the bills being re- 



a portion at least of the great fall 

 which the exchanges lately suffer- 

 ed, must have resulted not from 

 the state of trade, but from a 

 change in the relative value of our 

 domestic currency. But when this 

 deduction is joined with that which 

 your committee have stated, re- 

 specting the change in the market 

 price of gold, that inference ap- 

 pears to be demonstrated. 



In consequence of the opinion 

 which your committee entertain, 

 that, in the present artificial condi- 

 tion of the circulating medium of 

 this country, it is most important 



gulaied in some degree by that of to watch the foreignexchangesand. 



British commodities, and continu- the market price of gold, your 



ing to full till it becomes so low as committee were desirous to learn, 



to be likely to afford a profit on whether the directors of the Bank 



the purchase and exportation of of England held the same opinion, 



these commodities, an actual ex- and derived from it a practical rule 



porlation nearly proportionate to fortliecontrolof their circulation; 



the amount of the bills drawn and particularly whether, in the 



caa scarcely fail to take place. It course of the last y^ar, the great 



