PUBLIC STOCKS. 



745 



negotiated by stock brokers, who are well known 

 to the book-keepers ; and cases of imposition are, 

 in fact, very uncommon. Moreover, the direction 

 of all the traffic in stocks is committed to the bank 

 of England. The registry books are arranged 

 alphabetically, and distributed into several cham- 

 bers, which are marked with the initial letters and 

 syllables of the books they contain. Thus every 

 one can easily find the place of the book which 

 contains his account. The payment of the divi- 

 dends, which occurs at an appointed day, semi- 

 annually, is completed in fourteen days. 



II. French Rentes and public Certificates, The 

 national debt of France was formerly far greater 

 than that of Britain. After the death of Louis 

 XIV., it was estimated at 3,111,000,000 livres 

 (about 123,000,000), when Britain had a debt of 

 only about 45,000,000 sterling, both reckoned 

 according to their nominal capital. But the rela- 

 tive amounts are now wholly changed. The nomi- 

 nal capital of the national debt of Britain was, in 

 1823, about thirteen and two-thirds that of France. 

 France reckons its debt, however, not according to 

 the amount of the capital borrowed, but only ac- 

 cording to the annual amount of money to be paid, 

 which gives a juster idea of its extent, both king- 

 doms having discharged themselves from the obli- 

 gation to pay back the capital, and being bound to 

 pay merely the interest. Britain, in fact, pays 

 annually to its creditors about three and a. half 

 times what France pays. The nominal amount 

 of the debts of these two states will be found 

 in the table of European states. This is not the 

 place to inquire whether such a difference makes 

 the condition of Britain more unhappy than 

 that of France. We will only remark that the 

 national wealth of Britain during that period has 

 increased in a much greater ratio than the wealth 

 of France, and the British stocks have always borne 

 a, higher price than the French ; for, while the 

 French five per cent, stocks are worth but ninety- 

 seven per cent., the British are commonly worth 

 145. If we carefully examine the history of the 

 national debt of France, we cannot help wondering 

 how the French stocks stand so high as they do. 

 Immediately upon the death of Louis XIV., the 

 regent reduced the borrowed capital and the inter- 

 est arbitrarily, and without consulting the creditors, 

 one third ; and both debt and interest still contin- 

 ued to be paid as irregularly as ever. In this state 

 of tilings, Law (q. v. ), a Scotch projector, prom- 

 ised to cancel the public debt with paper. But this 

 project embarrassed the finances of the kingdom 

 more than ever. Various measures were taken, 

 each more fallacious than the preceding, to improve 

 the state of the treasury, and to diminish the. na- 

 tional debt. They were designed to quiet the 

 clamours of the public creditors, without giving 

 them any thing but the consolation that they should 

 not lose the whole of their demands. The- revolu- 

 tion for a long time put an end to all claims, and 

 almost wholly destroyed the value of the stocks; so 

 that, when Bonaparte was in Egypt, a rente of five 

 francs might be purchased for ten, five, and even 

 three francs. In 1798, a new disposition was made 

 of the public debt. All the claims of the emigrants 

 were cancelled; two-thirds were struck off from the 

 remainder of the debt ; and the third which was 

 left was changed into five per cent, annuities, called 

 tiers consolides, which compose a large part of the 

 present stocks. They amounted, in 1798, to 

 302,000 francs * a-year. Since that period, num- 



* For the value in Sterling money of the various coins meu 

 tioned in this article, tei the article I'oim. 



erous additions have been made to the debt by sub- 

 sequent loans, so that, in 1822, 178,364,560 francs 

 were annually required for the discharge of the 

 perpetual and funded rentes. But there are many 

 unfunded rentes to be paid besides ; and the sinking 

 fund consumes 40,000,000 francs every year. In 

 1822, therefore, the whole amount of the annual 

 rentes was 228,864,500 francs, exclusive of four 

 millions newly created for the Spanish war. During 

 the last war, the rentes were again paid irregularly, 

 and the arrears accumulated. These and other 

 debts, which were contracted in the course of the 

 war, were paid in obligations bearing five per cent, 

 interest, and to be discharged at their full nominal 

 value, within five years from 1821. These obliga- 

 tions are called reconnaissances de liquidation, and 

 are likewise transferable. The nominal amount of 

 those remaining due in 1828, was about 300 million 

 francs. At present, France seems to be very punc- 

 tual in the payment of its rentes ; and therefore the 

 French stocks', of late years, have brought a high 

 price, and did so, in fact, even during the reign of 

 Napoleon. The economical regulations for liqui- 

 dating claims for the payment of interest and prin- 

 cipal are a good imitation of the measures of Bri- 

 tain, so far as relates to the funded five per cent. 

 rentes. They are all registered together in the 

 grand livre des dettes publiques, after the manner 

 of the books of the bank of England. Each stock- 

 holder has a distinct leaf for every rente he pos- 

 sesses. The dividends of the five per cent, annui- 

 ties are paid twice a year, March 22 and September 

 22. The amount paid is stamped on the back of 

 the certificate, and the owner of it gives a receipt. 

 The dividends can be paid not merely in Paris, but 

 likewise in the provincial towns. Owners who 

 cannot receive their dividends personally, and are 

 unwilling to let their certificates go out of their 

 hands, appoint a special attorney to receive what 

 is due, who is furnished with a certified copy of the 

 original certificate. Besides the consolidated five 

 per cent, inscriptions, there are other stocks in 

 France, of various kinds, with which an important 

 traffic is carried on, and which are subject to differ- 

 ent regulations. They include, 1. the before-men- 

 tioned reconnaissances de liquidation. 2. Bank 

 stocks. The shares in the bank of France are 

 90,000, each of the value of 12,000 francs, paying 

 yearly sixty francs at least. If the profits do not 

 yield this amount in any particular year, it is made 

 up from the reserved fund. These stocks are 

 transferable. In 1822, they were twenty-five per 

 cent, above their nominal value. 3. The obliga- 

 tions of the city of Paris. The city of Paris was 

 authorized, in 1816, to create stock to the amount 

 of 1,500,000 francs, to defray the expenses of the 

 city. The sale was but small during that troubled 

 period, and the city was therefore afterwards em- 

 powered to issue 33,000 certificates worth 1000 

 francs each, and payable to the holder, to be dis- 

 charged within twelve years, ending July 1, 1829. 

 These certificates bear an interest of six per cent, a 

 year, to be paid quarterly. 4. Another kind of 

 paper often found in the market consists of actiens 

 des ponts. They are issued by a company which 

 has built three bridges over the Seine, and com- 

 prise 3780 shares, at 1000 francs each. The divi- 

 dends are fixed every year at a meeting of the pro- 

 prietors. The amount is regulated by the income 

 of the bridges, which is all divided among the 

 shareholders, except one thirtieth. This thir- 

 tieth is distributed into three parts, of which one 

 goes to the support of the bridges, and the others 

 form a capital to pay off the stocks. Besides, 

 there is a multitude of shares of insurance eompa- 



