-o4 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 
the amount allowed the Bank to be issued against securities In- 
creases from time to time as it absorbs the issue which lapses with 
the Provincial Banks. 
_ The Bank by this Act had to pay for all gold bullion of stand- 
ard weight and fineness which was presented to it £3.17.9 per 
ounce. The English mint coins gold bullion free and pays 
‘£3.17.103 per ounce for gold of standard weight and fineness, but, 
as a matter of fact, all bullion passes through the Bank of Ene- 
land, as the depositor can immediately get the equivalent of the 
amount of gold bullion deposited with the Bank at the above 
specified rate. In this way the depositor immediately realizes 
upon his deposit, which thus enables him to more than make up 
the difference which he would receive from the mint, as consider- 
able time must elapse before he obtains returns from the mint. The 
Bank sells this gold from time to time when the market is favor- 
alle, and this profit, together with the 13d. is only a fair profit 
for the transaction. 
The ebb and flow of gold in the issue department is quite 
immaterial to that department. If gold is presented the Bank 
issues its circulation in lieu of the same, and, if the notes of the 
Bank are presented to the issue departinent, the Bank pays out 
the gold which has been deposited with it. This, of course, is al- 
together apart from the reserve held by the banking department, 
which, of course, has to be kept up at a very high standard at all 
hazards. 
The principal functions of the Bank of England are three: 
First, it carries the balance of the Government; secondly, it is 
the bankers’ bank, and thirdly, it carries accounts of individuals 
and corporations, but on no deposits of any kind whatsoever does 
it allow anv interest. 
The huge capital which the Bank possesses gives the greatest 
stability to the institution; but, from the shareholders’ point of 
view it is not as profitable as some of the great Joint Stock Banks 
of England. The dividend which it pays ranges from eight to 
ten per cent. It competitors pay very much larger dividends on 
account of carrying a larger line of deposits which they attract 
