472 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



by a liberality in the issue of Bank 

 of England paper, proportioned to 

 the urgency of the particular occa- 

 sion. Under such circumstances, 

 it belongs to the bank to take like- 

 wise into their own consideration, 

 how far it may be practicable, con- 

 sistently with a due regard to the 

 immediate interests of the public 

 service, rather to reduce their pa- 

 per by a gradual reduction of their 

 advances to government, than by 

 too suddenly abridging the dis- 

 counts to the merchants. 



II. Before your committee pro- 

 ceed to detail what they have col- 

 lected with respect to the amount 

 of country bank paper, they must 

 observe, that so long as the cash 

 payments ot" the bank are suspend- 

 ed, the whole paper of the coun- 

 try bankers is a superstructure 

 raised upon the foundation of the 

 paper of the Bank of England. 

 The same check, which the con- 

 vertibility into specie, under a 

 better system provides against the 

 excess of anj' part of the paper 

 circulation, is, during the present 

 system, provided against an excess 

 of country bank paper, by its con- 

 vertibility into Bank of England 

 paper. If an excess of paper be 

 issued in a country district, while 

 the London circulation does not 

 exceed its due proportion, there 



will be a local rise of prices in 

 that country district, but prices 

 in London will remain as before. 

 Those who have the country pa- 

 per in their hands will prefer buy- 

 ing in London where things are 

 cheaper, and will therefore return 

 thatcountry paper upon thebanker 

 who issued it, and will demand 

 from him Bank of England notes, 

 or bills upon London ; and thus, 

 the excess of country paper being 

 continually returned upon the 

 issuers for Bank of England paper, 

 the quantity of the latter necessa- 

 rily and effectually limits the quan- 

 tity of the former. This is illus-. 

 trated by the account which has 

 been already given of the excess, 

 and subsequent limitation, of the 

 paper of the Scotch banks, about 

 the year 1763. If the Bank of 

 England paper itself should at any 

 time, during the suspensionof cash 

 payments, be issued to excess, a 

 corresponding excess maybe issued 

 of country bank paper, which will 

 not be checked ; the foundation 

 being enlarged, the superstructure 

 admits of a proportionate exten- 

 sion. And thus, under such a 

 system, the excess of Bank of 

 England paper will produce its 

 effect upon prices not merely in 

 the ratio of its own increase, but 

 in a much higher proportion. 



Number of Country Bank Notes exceeding 21. 9.s. each stamped in the years 

 ended the loth of October 1808, and 10th of October 1S09, respectively. 



Exceeding 11. 2s. and not exceeding 51. 5s. 

 Exceeding 51. 5s. and not exceeding 20/... 

 Exceeding 20/. and not exceeding 30/. . . 

 Exceeding 30/. and not exceeding 50/. . . 

 Exceeding 50/. and not exceeding 100/. . . 



1808. 



No. 

 666,071 

 198,4.73 



1809. 



No. 

 922,073 

 380,006 



2,425 

 674. 



2,611 



