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Capital, Currency, and Banking; A Ser. of Articles Publ. in the Economist
Capital Currency and Banking A Ser of Articles Publ in the Economist Author:James Wilson General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1847 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CAPITAL, CURRENCY, AND BANKING. ARTICLE I. The Bank Act of 1844. -- System of Barter. -- A Standard of Value. -- Introduction of Money. -- What is a Pound .' -- Banks of Deposit. -- March 8, 1845. We think it will be generally conceded that Sir Robert Peel's currency measure of last year, was not subjected to that discussion, either in Parliament or by the press, that we might fairly have expected, considering its vital importance to the country at large, as well as the powerful private interests which it was calculated immediately to affect. This probably arose from the fact, that the abstract principles of currency and banking had really attracted the consideration of a very small number of individuals. It was equally apparent in the House of Commons, and in the country at large, when the Minister produced his measure, that men generally were totally unprepared to give any intelligible assent to, or dissent from, the fundamental principles on which it was based. This was evident in a remarkable degree in the House of Commons. Sir Robert Peel himself, and most members who spoke in those debates, and some who, on the occasion, "rushed into print," supported the measure by views so palpably erroneous, as to prove, beyond any doubt, that they had a very imperfect notion of the fundamental principles on which they were proceeding. The discussions of last year, however, have at least had the effect of drawing a considerable degree of attention to the subject in the interval; and though we fear no very great progress has yet been made in clearing away the popular errors and mystifications in which the s...« less