Lombard Street: A Description of the Money MarketBagehot, Walter
History
Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market
Bagehot, Walter
Banks and banking -- England -- London; Banks and banking -- Great Britain; Finance -- England -- London; Finance -- Great Britain
Mr. Moxon continued--Whether the bad debts were large or small, he
thought it was desirable that they should all know what was their
actual amount. They had been told at their last meeting that the
Bank held a great many railway debentures; and he should like to
know whether any of those debentures came from railway companies
that had since been unable to meet their obligations. He understood
that a portion of their property was locked up in advances made on
account of the Thames Embankment, and in other ways which did not
leave the money available for general banking and commercial
purposes; and if that were so, he should express his disapproval of
such a policy. There was another important point to which he wished
to advert. He was anxious to know what was the aggregate balance of
the joint stock banks in the Bank of England. He feared that some
time or other the joint stock banks would be in a position to
command perhaps the stoppage of the Bank of England. If that were
not so, the sooner the public were full & informed upon the point the
better. But if ten or twelve joint stock banks had large balances in
the Bank of England, and if the Bank balances were to run very low,
people would naturally begin to suspect that the joint stock banks
had more power over the Bank of England than they ought to have. He
wished further to ask whether the directors had of late taken into
consideration the expediency of paying interest on deposits. He
believed that under their present mode of carrying on their business
they were foregoing large profits which they might receive with
advantage to themselves and to the public; and he would recommend
that they should undertake the custody of securities after the
system adopted by the Bank of France. In conclusion, he proposed to
move three resolutions, for the purpose of providing, first, that a
list of all the proprietors of Bank stock should be printed, with a
separate entry of the names of all those persons not entitled to
vote from the smallness of their stock, or from the shortness of
time during which they held it; secondly, that a copy of the charter
of the Bank, with the rules, orders, and bye-laws passed for the
good government of their corporation, should be printed for the use
of the shareholders; and thirdly, that auditors should be appointed
to make detailed audits of their accounts.
Mr. Gerstenberg recommended that the directors should take some step
for the purpose of preventing the spread of such erroneous notions
as that which lately prevailed on the Continent, that the Bank was
about to suspend specie payments.
Mr. W. Botly said he wished to see the directors taking into their
consideration the expediency of allowing interest on deposits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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