1804.] 
éhange now fubfifting between the two 
countries; and when they confider tie 
Jength of time that it has continued, and 
its progreffive rife beyond every thing be- 
fore experienced, and alfo that it is unfa- 
vourable, not to the debtor but to the 
creditor country, they are led to the con- 
wlafion, that the balance of debt, fo far 
as it has operated, has tended to lower an 
exchange, rendered unfavourable to Ireland 
by other cautes. 
Thefe caufes your Committee will now 
proceed to inveftigate, which leads them 
to the fecond part of their arrangement, 
and they will take up the fubje&t from the 
time of the Reftriftion Act in 1797, 
This act originated in England, from 
Englith confiderations only; and your 
Committee donot mean to enguire into, 
souch leis to doubt, the policy or even the 
neceflity of its adoption; they will only 
obferve, that it did not arife in Ireland 
from any confideration of the circumftan- 
ces of that country, but was enacted there 
as a meafure fuppoled heceiry to refult 
from its being enaéted ia England; they 
do not find that it was preceded in Ireland 
by any enquir¥ into the ftate of that king- 
dom; the exchange was at the time, and 
had been for a long-continued period’ b?2- 
fore, regularly in its favour; there was 
of courfe no reafon to apprehend a drain 
of {pecie from thence, and therefore a fe- 
parate confideration of that country would 
probably not have fuggefted or juitified 
the meafure; there had not been any a- 
darming demand on the bank there as in 
England, nor did the bank of Ireland ap- 
prebend any as the bank of England did, 
on the contrary the favourable exchange 
was bringing in fpecie; and fo fatisfied 
were the direStors of the Englifh bank cf 
there being ne apprehenfion of a drain of 
fpecie trom Ireland, that in their evidence 
before a committee of the Lords, in1997, 
they ftated their alarms of a drain irom 
England into Ireland ; and their fears even 
of a loan being then negociated in Eng- 
land for the ufe of Treland, are exprefled 
in terms of repeated anxiety. In Febcu- 
ary, 1797, the month when the reftriétion 
was impofed, their court refoived, ** That 
fuch a loan would neceffarily endanger the 
fafety of the bank of England, by the 
large drains of cafh which it mutt occa- 
fion for the remittance of that fum to Ire- 
land.’ 
Under thefe circumftances, the reftric- 
tion paffed in Ireland; and to the confe- 
“quinces of it your Committee muf attri- 
‘bute the unfavourable exchange, and all the 
igh and progreflive advances of she rate. 
| Report of the Committee on the State of Ireland. BS 
It compelled the bank to refrain from 
fending into circulation gold, the only 
coramon medium between the countries— 
it gave occafion to the great iffue of paper 
which followed, to replace the gold fo” 
withdrawn; and removed, at the fame 
time, the bef and moft effective check a. 
gainft the depreciation of that paper, 
namely, its convertibility into gold at the 
will of the holder. It tended to encourage 
an unlimited and over-abundant iffue, by 
releafing the bank from perforining thei 
engagements, and by taking away from 
them the former criterion, namely, the 
diminution of their gold, which they were » 
accuftomed to look to for judging when 
their paper became exceflive ; it promoted 
a new and unreftrained.trade in paper curs 
rency, aad excited individuals to fpecula- 
tions, which interfered with the fleady na- 
tural rates of exchange; the number of 
Ipeculators fo encouraged, contributed to 
raife the price of bills on England, which 
being paid forin depreciated paper, the 
rate of exchange rofe proportionably. 
Other evil confequences followed, which 
tended, in a further degree, to affift in 
depreciating the paper; forgeries were 
multrplied, particularly of the {maller 
notes fuoftiiuted for gold; additional fil- 
ver currency became neceflary, and as it 
was not fupplied by the mint, its place 
was either filled by fmall notes, even as. 
low as 6d, without the checks againit for- 
gery attending thofe of larger value; or 
bafe coin.was fabricated and forced inte 
circulation. 
The natural and conftant effect of an 
unfavourable exchange remedying itfelf by 
diminifhing the iffue ef paper, was alfa 
countera€ted by this meafure; for when 
exchange is fo unfavourable to a country 
as to draw gold out of it, it is obvious, 
that, for every guinea drawn out of the 
bank, an equal amount of paper muft be 
dawn out of circulation to be paid for the 
guineas; the re-iflue of paper to that a- 
mount muft be prevented, by the decreale 
of the ftock pf {pecie; the fame caufe will 
moft probably induce the dire¢tors to di. 
minifh their difcounts, fo that the quan- 
tity of paper becomes diminifhed by a ftill 
greater amount than the gold drawn out of 
the bank, in confequence of the unfavours 
able exchange. 
Such has been the natural practice of 
banks previous to the reftrigtion; Mr 
Colville ftates it in very clear and forci~ 
ble terms, as to the bank of Ireland, 
Prior to 1797, they limited the amount cf. 
their iffues as exchange rofe. If prudence 
had net diftated fuch a courfe, neceflity 
Pm would 
