To proceed still further, we think it no less expedient that whenever our currency system shall undergo revision, that revision shall be made as complete as practicable. And if so, we do not see how the subject of the country banks of issue can escape consideration. The advantages of having a single bank of issue are now so generally admitted that the chief, if not the only difficulty which would be likely to obstruct the question would be that relating to the mode of protecting the country banks from any unnecessary loss arising from the deprivation of their privilege. And of several methods in which this might be accomplished, we think by far the best and simplest would be that of allowing the present banks of issue to retain the privilege for a certain equitable number of years, on the single condition of gradually diminishing their issues, on such a plan that they would altogether cease at the expiration of the stipulated period. The question of the number of years that should be allowed is a matter of detail; but, for our part, we consider that ten would be amply sufficient for this purpose. The gradual substitution of Bank of England paper for the notes withdrawn would present no difficulty; as all that would be necessary is, that the Bank of England should be permitted to increase its normal issues on equitable conditions in proportion as the country notes diminished, until, at the expiration of the stipulated period, the former would have totally replaced the latter. We see no objection, therefore, either of principle or of practice, to any of the leading features of the plan we have just propounded: and so far as the minuter details are concerned, we think they might safely be entrusted to the care of any intelligent body of public men who would honestly endeavour to carry the principles themselves into execution. THE END. Transcriber’s Notes Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained. Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences of inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed. A vertical white blemish near the left margin partly-obscured the text of many page images. Transcribers were able to reconstruct the affected words, but the line also went through the second digit of some numbers, particularly in multiple occurrences of what was judged to be “£11,000,000”. It is possible that the correct value for some of those was “£14,000,000”. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Paper Currency of England Dispassionately Considered, by John Haslam