70] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



restrictions contained in several 

 acts of his present majesty on 

 payments of cash by the Bank of 

 England." 



Mr. Tierney rose to make a 

 number of remarks upon the 

 speech of the right hon. gentle- 

 man ; but as they were chiefly of 

 a digressive character, we shall 

 not, for the present, take them 

 into consideration. He concluded 

 with saying, that witliout some 

 inquiry, the right hon. gentleman 

 could not with decency require 

 the assent of the House to his 

 plan ; nor would Mr. Pitt, with 

 all his confidence in himself, 

 have ventured to demand it 

 under such circumstances. 



Mr. Grenfdl shortly considered 

 the many pretexts by which the 

 chancellor of the exchequer had 

 been induced to prolong the Res- 

 triction act; and particularly 

 noticed the three reasons which 

 he brought for the measure, all 

 which he treated as futile. 



The motion of the chancellor 

 of the exchecquer was at length 

 agreed to ; after which the House 

 resumed, and leave was also given 

 to bring in two bills ; the first, 

 " For farther continuing an act 

 of the 44th of the king, to con- 

 tinue the Restrictions contained 

 in several acts of his present 

 majesty on Payments of Cash by 

 the Bank of England ;'' the second, 

 " To authorize Bankers in Eng- 

 land and Ireland, to issue and 

 circulate Promissory Notes se- 

 cured upon a Deposit of Public 

 Funds, or other government secu- 

 rities.'' 



On April 10th the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer brought in the 

 Bank Restriction Continuance 

 bill. On the motion that it be 



read a first time, Sir C. Monck 

 wished to be informed whether 

 the sums paid into the Bank of 

 England by the different saving 

 banks, and amounting in all to 

 657,000/., and on which exche- 

 quer bills had been issued, were 

 included in the sum of 1,800,000/. 

 The chancellor of the exchequer 

 assured him that the money which 

 came from the saving banks was 

 not at all connected with that 

 sum, but was quite a separate 

 account. 



The bill was then read a first 

 time. 



Mr. Grenfcll said, that as he 

 considered this as a measure for 

 establishing a permanent paper 

 currency in time of peace, he 

 wished to know whether it was 

 in the contemplation of the 

 chancellor of the exchequer to 

 take any steps for securing to 

 the public any share of the vast 

 profits which the Bank of England 

 received from this system. 



The Chancellor of the Exche' 

 quer said, he was of opinion, as 

 he had always been, that it would 

 not be consistent with the honour 

 and welfare of the country, to 

 make itself a partner in any 

 profits which the Bank of Eng- 

 land happened to derive from the 

 restriction. 



The Chancellor of the Exche- 

 quer brought in a bill " to autho- 

 rize Bankers in England and Ire- 

 land to issue and circulate Pro- 

 missory Notes, secured upon a 

 Deposit of Public Funds, or 

 other Government Securities." 

 The bill was read a first time. 

 On the question that it be read a 

 second time. 



Sir J. Netvport said, he was 

 confident that no notes would be 



issuec} 



