It was, indeed, to this improvidence in supplying funds to meet the demands for the navy that the South-Sea Company owed its origin. So largely had the unpaid sailors’ tickets increased, that nine millions were unprovided for. Cash was scarce, the holders were clamorous, and Parliament, as a premium for forbearance, erected them into that body which ended so disastrously for the commercial interests of England. In 1730, a loan of £400,000 was attempted for the Emperor of Germany. ’Change Alley was ready to advance it on sufficient interest and sound security; but Sir Robert Walpole brought in a bill to prohibit his Majesty’s subjects and others resident in the kingdom from advancing money to any foreign state, without license from the king under his privy seal. The opposition experienced by the minister was very strong. The great city commoner spoke against the bill, and it required all the power of Sir Robert Walpole to counterbalance the influence of Sir John Barnard in a matter pertaining to business. It was very natural that men’s minds should be turned to that portion of the town which, ever and anon, gave signal symptoms of great frauds, great gains, and great gambling; and Sir John Barnard endeavoured, in 1732, to draw the attention of the House of Commons to the dealings and the doings of the Stock Exchange. It had, even at this early period, a complete and organized system. The expresses of its rich members came from every court in Europe, and beat—as the expresses of jobbers always have—the messengers of the government. Sir Robert Walpole not only declared this, but with great _naïveté_ added, “It is because they are better paid and better appointed.” The very fact that brokers did beat the government despatches was regarded as a crime; and the public continued, year by year, to pour its maledictions on the frequenters of ’Change Alley.