We are fully aware that some eminent public men in England have long been, and perhaps still are, averse to the issue of small notes; but we cannot discover much force in the reasons which they advance for justifying their apprehensions. It is not unfrequently assumed, for instance, that the issue of such notes would necessarily lead to a great increase of forgeries; as they would be likely to pass into the hands of persons who could not have much experience in the detection of counterfeit paper. This objection owes its whole force to the defectiveness of the present system. If all the present banks of issue were allowed to issue small notes there can be little doubt that such permission would lead to extensive forgeries, as the numberless descriptions of such notes that would be in circulation, would be quite sufficient to baffle the discernment of even the most experienced persons. But if the privilege of issue were withdrawn from all its present possessors except the Bank of England, and if the latter were allowed to issue small notes, which would in that case be the only small notes that could ever become disseminated amongst the public, there is not the slightest reason to suppose that this would have any other effect than that of reducing the attempts at forgery to the very smallest minimum. It has likewise been objected, that inasmuch as such notes would come into the possession of a lower class of persons than those who can ever now receive paper money, a class liable to be seized by panic in times of pressure, the effect would probably be to increase the dangers of the Bank in periods of difficulty. Whatever influence this consideration may have in respect to an increased issue of unrepresented notes, it is altogether void of weight as opposed to the extension of bullion notes. For as we have already seen, an increase of bullion notes implies a corresponding increase of treasure in the Bank, for the payment of those notes, and the invariable effect of an increase of bullion is to augment the confidence of the public in the Bank’s security. And even supposing the very improbable occurrence of a run upon the Bank to the full extent of the additional bullion notes that might have been sent into circulation, the only injurious result that this could have, would be the reduction of the treasure in the custody of the Bank to the same amount as it originally held previously to making the extended issues. But lastly, it has also been advanced, that inasmuch as small notes could be directly employed in the payment of wages, any increase in their issue during periods of speculation would exercise an injurious influence in stimulating excessive production. Like the preceding, however, this objection is exclusively applicable to the unrepresented issues. For, as bullion notes are only the representatives of treasure that is actually retained in the coffers of the Bank, and which either consists of or