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silver coin, plate, or bullion, of silver, in mass, molten, or alloyed, or any manufacture of silver, be permitted to be brought to the Mint, in pursuance to any proclamation, to be issued by his Majesty, and melted and coined into current silver coin of this kingdom, of a standard, in fineness, of eleven ounces two penny weights of fine silver, and eighteen penny weights of alloy, in the pound troy, and in weight, after the rate of sixty-six shillings, to every pound troy; and that there be delivered a sum in silver coins, after the rate of sixty-two shillings of the standard fineness and weight aforesaid, for every pound of silver so bought; and that, for the defalcation or diminution, and for the charge for assaying coinage, and waste in coinage, there be retained at the Mint, the sum of four shillings for every pound troy of such silver, which shall be brought as aforesaid.

"That it is expedient, that the silver coin of the realm, heretofore coined and now current, be permitted to be brought to the Mint, and exchanged for new silver coin, according to the denomination for which such old

silver coin shall have heretofore passed.

"That provision be made for defraying the loss arising from the deficiency and re-coinage of the silver coin of the realm, and also the charges and expenses of melting down, casting, and assaying, and re-coining the same, and all other expenses incident thereto.

"That it is expedient, that provision be made for regulating the currency of the gold and silver coins of this realm."

After some observations from different members, the resolutions were agreed to.

The silver coinage bill was brought in, and read a second time in the House of Commons on June 7th. It is not necessary to enter into the debate on this occasion, as it appears to have passed the House without opposition.

The Earl of Lauderdale moved in the House of Lords for a committee on the state of the currency, which was negatived.

The coinage bill being read a third time on June 21st, the noble lord entered a long protest against it.

VOL. LVIII.

[F]

CHAPTER

CHAPTER VI.

The Budget.

THE House of Commons have stances, he thought most advisa

ing on May 27th, resolved itself into a committee of Ways and Means, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that in rising to submit to the committee the general provisions which he had thought it necessary to make for the service of the year, he found it impossible to disguise the fact, that the proposition with which he should conclude, grew out of the circumstance of the House having judged it wise to take a course different from that which he had thought it his duty to recommend. The nature of the arrangements for the service of the year were necessarily much altered by the rejection of the property tax; but whatever pain he might feel that the House had determined against that line of conduct which in his opinion would have been most beneficial to the country, it was nevertheless his duty to bow to their decision, and to submit to them the ways and means which remained, for meeting the supplies necessarily demanded for the service of the year. He should do this with the most sincere desire that the result might be such as to leave the House nothing to regret. He should explain the reasons which had influenced him in making those arrangements, which, under existing circum

ble, and furnish that general view of the subject, which, indeed, without a dereliction of his duty he could not omit, and which, from the situation he had the honour to hold, he might, perhaps, be thought more competent to supply than any other person. In doing this, he had the satisfaction to know, that the statement he should have to submit to the committee would be upon the whole consolatory, as he should not be under the necessity of presenting to them any discouraging view of the state of public credit, and as the country was amply possessed of the means of meeting that expenditure which the public service demanded.

Before he proceeded to take a general view of the supplies and ways and means of the year, it would be proper for him to call the attention of the committee to the more immediate object of the resolutions which he should have the honour to submit to them, which arose out of a proposition communicated to him in a letter which he had received from the Bank of England, and which had been laid before the House. For the course pursued in this instance two precedents had occurred within no great distance of time from each other. One was the proposition made by the

Bauk,

Bank, June 13, 1781, concerning the renewal of their charter, which had been referred to a committee of ways and means; and the other was a communication, dated Feb. 19, 1800, respecting the advance of a sum for the public service, connected with a similar proposition for the extension of the charter for a further term of years, which had been disposed of in a similar way. The first resolution which he should have to move was, that the committee should approve and accept the proposition of the bank of England, for granting an advance of 3,000,000l. at three per cent. interest, accompanied with a condition, that the corporation should be permitted to extend their capital by an addition of one-fourth, or 25 per cent., with a further proposition that their promissory notes should continue to be received in all payments made on account of the public revenue. The permission which it was in contemplation to grant them, allowing them to augment their capital, which was at present fixed at about eleven millions and a half, to between 14 and 15,000,000l., was, in truth, only allowing them to divide something less than 8,000,0001. of their own money among their proprietors, on condition that they should advance the sum of 3,000,000l. for the public service, at an interest of three per cent. This was an advantage of considerable importance to the public. When it was necessary that money should be borrowed for the nation, it was not to be doubted that it was no inconsiderable benefit to be enabled to obtain so

large a sum as 3,000,000l. paying only three per cent. interest. It was only necessary to consider whether this proposition was accompanied with any condition that could be viewed as objectionable. The principal subject for consideration was the proposed augmentation of the capital. To him, this appeared not only free from objection, but that which was in itself very desirable. Since the capital of the Bank was fixed at eleven millions and a half, a great increase of bank paper had taken place; it was therefore proper that their capital should be increased, to give the holders of their notes additional security. Such an augmentation of their capital as they now of themselves proposed, he was of opinion, if not necessary, was at least as desirable for the public as for the Bank. If this was, as he considered it to be, advantageous for the public, he did not see that any objection could be made to the mode in which the Bank proposed to employ that sum. If the corporation had (as it had been said they had) a large sum of undivided profits in their hands, he did not know that they could do better than divide it among their proprietors on equitable terms, and add it to their capital.

The second condition which accompanied their proposition, was, that the Bank promissory notes should continue to be received in payment at the Exchequer. It was well known that for many years their notes had been received in payment, and he doubted not they would have continued to be so taken, if this arrange[F 2]

ment

ment had never been proposed. But it appeared to him it would be an advantage in the event of the resumption of cash payments, as well to the public as the Bank, to guard against any thing like a run upon the latter immediately on its opening. Feeling this, he Feeling this, he should certainly in any case have proposed that their notes should be received for a certain time after the resumption of cash payments. Such a measure he should have held to be necessary, to guard against any traffic on the part of the minor agents of the treasury (though perhaps this was little to be feared) being carried on of an improper nature, who, without such an enactment, might possibly have demanded payment in gold, for the purpose of making a profit, by turning it into paper whenever the exchanges might again become unfavourable. He did not know that any inconvenience would be likely to arise from receiving bank notes at the Exchequer, till the present charter of the Company should expire. If, however, it should be desirable that they should cease to enjoy that privilege, we could put an end to it at any time, by the repayment of the advance. He himself thought there could be no objection to its continuance for the remaining sixteen years of the charter; but if any should, contrary to his expectation, arise, the mode by repayment would, he believed, be found easy. If government, at some time, should deem it expedient no longer to assist the circulation of the bank paper, it would be equitable that the security should exist till the Bank was able to

bring itself back to its former situation by the recovery of their loan.

To him then, the circumstances which he had stated fairly considered, the arrangement seemed to be as free from objection as any that could be submitted to parliament, or that could be devised by any minister of finance. It was to government an important consideration to obtain a loan of 3,000,000l., without resorting to the general money market at a time when it was most desirable to avoid all pressure upon it, and in the reduced rate of interest to be paid on the money so advanced, the public gained at least 60,0001. a year, exclusive of the still more important one of saving all addition to the capital of the debt beyond the money actually advanced. It offered to the Bank security, and sanctioned an honourable extension of their capital, and this was highly beneficial to the proprietors. He thought it might further be observed, that what it was now proposed to sanction, was no more than that which the Bank proprietors had a right to claim at some time or other: the only question therefore was as to the time, circumstances, and mode in which this should take place. On any of these grounds he did not think any fair objection could be urged to the arrangement, and the present seemed in fact as favourable a moment as could be chosen for granting that which at some future period they were entitled to claim.

He should now proceed to the more general statements of the supplies granted for the present

year,

year, and of those which would be still required. The first head was that of the army: 9,665,000l. was the amount for military service already sanctioned by the votes of parliament, from which was to be deducted 1,234,000l. for the troops in France, leaving 8,431,000l., including the expense for Ireland. The accounts of the extraordinary expenses of the army for the preceding year had been some time before the House, and a vote to provide for those of 1816 to the extent of about 1,500,000l. would be speedily proposed. The estimates of the commissariat, &c. were about 480,000l., from which 75,000l. for the army in France were to be deducted. Taking the charges of the barracks at 178,000l., and the storekeeper-general's department at 50,000l., the whole amount of extraordinary services would be 2,133,000l., and the total expense for the military service 10,564,000l. For the navy there had been voted altogether 10,114,000l., from which there was a deduction to be made of the proceeds from the sales of old stores, which amounted to 680,000l., leaving the charge at 9,434,000l. Deducting about 186,0001. for the ordnance service in France, the expense of the ordnance department would be, 1,696,1851. The total original vote was 1,882,000l.-The pressure of public business in the House during the course of the present session, had prevented him from producing an account of the miscellaneous services. He could not just then state their

amount precisely. He had on a former occasion supposed them at 2,000,000l. From what he had learned, he thought they would come to 2,500,000l. or near it. He should therefore assume it at two millions five hundred thousand pounds. To meet the India debt, and expenses incurred in India, a vote of 945,000l. would be proposed. This was necessary, as the East India Company had made pressing representations for repayment of the sums they had advanced. The advances in question had been made to forward those valuable services lately performed by our army in India in the conquest of the French and Dutch possessions. The total amount of the claim of the East India Company, including the estimate of the present year, had been 2,300,0001. Considerable payments had, however, been made by the government to the East India Company, which were to be set against the sum he had mentioned. This done, there appeared to remain due to the Company in January last, about a million and a half. A provision had been made for the sum of 500,000l. in the vote of credit for the last year, and this deducted from the debt due in January reduced the sum to be provided for in the present year to 945,000l., which it would be his duty on a future occasion, to bring more particularly under the consideration of the House. The general statement of the supply for the present year, compared with that for the preceding, was as follows:

SUPPLY.

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