22
—
combined
circumstances
these
determine
to
the tide of the metals so strongly into this counthat
try,
most
unusual effort on
veiy
a
Bank, involving" a departure from
.the part of the its
but
nothing-
settled
creased issue of
habits, its
forcing a
in
of the
Bank
Peel's Bill,
any
in-
paper, could have prevented, or
even materially have retarded, such therefore, of
greatly
effort
Instead,
influx.
being requisite on the part
comply with the provisions of Mr.
to
would have required an extraordinary
it
render them operative. *
effort to
* Mr. Ricardo does not appear to ciated this state of things,
mismanagement
me
to
when he charged
have the
sufficiently appre-
Bank
Directors with
and unnecessarily enhanced
in having prematurely
the value of the Currency by their large purchases of gold after the
passing of Mr. Peel's that the Directors
demand
for
purpose.
moved
it
it
effort to
buy gold
;
that they created a
by a designed reduction of their issues for that
Now,
the truth
is,
it
was brought
was a matter of
specific
that they were perfectly passive,
only in the ordinary routine of their business
gold simply as
And
His mode of expression conveys the idea
Bill.
made an
to
them
at or
:
below the Mint
indifference as concerned the
and
they bought price.
amount of the
Currency, whether the gold were taken by the importers to the Mint,
and thence brought in the
directly into circulation as coin, or
Bank Commons, upon
shape of bullion to the
In the House of
were taken
in return for its notes.
a discussion on the subject of the
Currency, 12th June, 1822, Mr, Pearse, (one of the senior Directors of the Bank,)
said, "
That the Honourable Member for Portarlington
(Mr. Ricardo) had charged the Bank with error and indiscretion, in
having become too extensive purchasers of gold, in consequence of the passing of the
Act of 1819.
The
fact was, that the
quite passive in taking the gold from the merchants for their
purchase.
The consequence,
who
however, had
Bank were offered
been,
it
that