It will be seen from this, that while we are anxious to maintain in its integrity the right of the State to receive an equitable proportion of the profits derived from the issue of unrepresented notes, we have no desire to stretch this right so as to bear oppressively upon the interests of the Bank of England. But a closer examination will conclusively show, that the effect of our proposed arrangement, as a whole, would be to leave the present profits of the Bank altogether intact, as the profits arising out of the additional notes which the Bank would be authorized to circulate, would amply cover the governmental charges on the total circulation. The simplest method of establishing this point, will be to compare the actual circulation of unrepresented notes under the Act of 1844 with the probable circulation under the proposed arrangement. And first, to take the average circulation as the standard of comparison. The present average circulation has been shown to be about £8,000,000, and the profits derived from these, at 4 per cent., would be £320,000 annually. Now, under our plan the average circulation would be at least £15,000,000, the gross profit upon which, at 4 per cent., would be £600,000 while the governmental charges would be £11,000,000 at 1 per cent. £110,000 4,000,000 at 2 per cent. 80,000 -------- £190,000 or a total of £190,000 which, deducted from £600,000, would leave a nett profit of £410,000, or considerably more than the present profit on the £8,000,000. A comparison of the maximum circulation of unrepresented notes, again, will fully establish the same conclusion. The present maximum can never exceed about £12,000,000 without imperilling the safety of the Bank; and these £12,000,000, if advanced at 8 per cent., to which the rate of discount under the Act of 1844 has sometimes advanced, would return a profit at the rate of £960,000 per annum. Under the proposed arrangement, on the other hand, the maximum would not improbably, in a case of extreme pressure, be £22,000,000, or even £24,000,000; and the gross profit on £24,000,000, at the same rate, viz., 8 per cent., would be at the rate of £1,920,000 per annum. On these the governmental charges would be £11,000,000 at 1 per cent., £110,000. 11,000,000 at 2 per cent., 220,000. 2,000,000 at 4 per cent., 80,000. ----------- --------- £24,000,000 £410,000