100] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



pay 11/. for every 100/. stock, 

 transferred from the 3 per cent 

 into the 3^ per cent stock. The 

 actual difference considered in 

 the light of an annuity between 

 the 3 and the 3^ per cent funds 

 would have been when the offer 

 •was made 13 per cent ; that was 

 supposing the price to be 78. In 

 this offer a fair and free bonus 

 was held out of two per cent; 

 but were it not for the protection 

 to be afforded to the 3i per cents 

 by the purchases of the commis- 

 sioners for the reduction of the 

 national debt, the difference would 

 indeed be extremely small. The 

 public would be a gainer on the 

 whole transaction of 3,000,000/. 

 He had also been encouraged to 

 make the present experiment, 

 from the success of an arrange- 

 ment sanctioned by parliament 

 last year for legalising the transfer 

 of 3 per cent stock into the Irish 

 3| per cents, by the sacrifice of a 

 seventh of the capital so trans- 

 ferred. This plan had been acted 

 on last Autumn to the amount of 

 half a million ; a material sum, 

 Considering the circumstances of 

 Ireland. But such transfer mani- 

 festing the willingness of stock- 

 holders to avail themselves of a 

 proposition for the investment of 

 money in a 3| per cent fund, and 

 the Irish proprietors in the British 

 stocks so promptly making the 

 transfer with the view of having 

 their interest paid to them in 

 Dublin, it struck his mind that 

 other holders of the 3 per cents 

 might be equally ready to seek an 

 advanced interest on their capital 

 in London. Hence the present 

 plan was brought forward. In 

 the original notice at the Bank, 

 it had only been stated that a 



subscription would be opened for 

 raising a part of the supply of the 

 year, and it was proposed that 

 the parties transferring their 

 stock should have the option of 

 funding exchequer bills to the 

 extent of double the amount of 

 the money to be paid as the con- 

 sideration for the exchange of 3 

 per cents into a 3f per cent stock. 

 Under this plan 6,000,000/. of 

 stock had been subscribed for 

 transfer within the first three 

 days. 



After this time a farther oppor- 

 tunity was offered by the second 

 notice forfunding exchequer bills 

 to the amount of a sum equal to 

 the stock transferred. This was 

 so much approved of that nearly 

 the whole sum had been raised at 

 the time he was speaking, and 

 thei-e was no doubt of its speedy 

 completion. The addition to the 

 funded debt in consequence of 

 the propositions which he had to 

 submit would be about34,900,000/. 

 of stock, which however would 

 only produce an augmentation of 

 the nominal capital of the public 

 debt beyond the money actually 

 raised to the amount of between 

 four and five millions, being the 

 difference between the above sum 

 of 34,900,000/. and that of 

 30,270,000/. either of money to 

 be paid in, or of unfunded debt 

 reduced. According to the last 

 intelligence from Ireland, he 

 understood that the price of 3 5 

 per cents in that country was 93 ; 

 which bore a full comparative 

 proportion to the English 3 per 

 cents. Apprehensions had been 

 expressed, that the new stock 

 was not likely to be so marketable^ 

 and therefore that it would sink 

 in value. But it would be recol-. 



lected. 



I 



