_Curious Forgery.—Its Discovery.—Loan of 1796.—Its
Management.—French Revolution and its Effect.—List of Subsidies to
Foreign Powers.—Removal of Business from ’Change Alley.—Erection
of the present Stock Exchange.—Loyalty Loan.—Preliminaries of
Peace.—Its Effect.—Hoax on the Stock Exchange.—War renewed.—Great
Fraud on the Jobbers.—Its Discovery.—Rights of Stock-brokers._
On the 2d of November, 1793, as Mr. Martin, broker of ’Change
Alley, was occupied in his business, he was applied to by a young
man of somewhat effeminate appearance and of good address, to sell
£16,000 scrip. As Mr. Martin was explaining to the applicant that an
introduction was necessary, a Mr. Lyons, also a member of the Alley,
esteemed a reputable person, passed, and the young man, to remove
Mr. Martin’s doubts, immediately pointed to Mr. Lyons, as thoroughly
aware of his respectability. The latter, on being questioned, said
he knew the stranger intimately, at the same time expressing his
dissatisfaction at not being employed by him. The introduction was
sufficient for Mr. Martin, and he sold that day £10,000 out of the
£16,000 intrusted to his care. The seller, by some curious chance, or
for some subtle reason, did not make his appearance to receive the
proceeds, nor did he leave an address to which it might be sent. On
the following morning, however, Mr. Martin received a visit from him
at his private residence; but, on being informed that the whole of
the stock was not sold, his demand for payment was delayed. The day
on which the remainder of the scrip was disposed of was a holiday at
the Bank, and from this simple circumstance arose the discovery of a
curious fraud. The business at the Stock Exchange on public holidays
is trifling, and the buyer, instead of hurriedly depositing the
scrip in his pocketbook, had leisure to remark that there was some
irregularity about it. Mr. Martin at once stepped over to the Bank,
checked the document, and discovered the forgery.
The scheme to which this gentleman had so nearly fallen a prey was
cunningly contrived. The effeminate applicant to Mr. Martin was
the sister of Lyons, disguised in male attire,—Lyons having placed
himself in the way at the proper moment to give the necessary
character; and, had it not been for the chance circumstance
alluded to, would have profited largely by the deceit. The scheme
failed; Lyons was apprehended; and, rather than give his sister
the affliction of appearing against him, he pleaded guilty; thus
sacrificing the slight chance of life which remained, to spare the
feelings of her whom he had betrayed into crime.
In 1796 a loan for eighteen millions was proposed. The usual
inquiries were made by the interested parties, and the Chancellor
of the Exchequer positively declared that it should be conducted
upon principles of free and open competition. The day was appointed
to arrange its preliminaries. Mr. Mellish, Mr. James Morgan, and
Mr. Boyd, were competitors; and when they had assembled, Mr. Boyd
requested a few words in private with the Chancellor. The request
was granted; and the surprise of Messrs. Mellish and Morgan may be
conceived, when the Chancellor, on returning, proposed, that, if the
latter bid for the loan, Mr. Boyd should be at liberty to supersede
them on paying half per cent. above the highest offer. This was
decidedly and indignantly refused; and the Chancellor, without any
other proposition, at once agreed to take the terms offered by Mr.
Boyd, although it was fully understood by all that there should be no
final settlement on that day. The real causes of this extraordinary
proceeding are difficult to ascertain; but the excuse offered by
the Chancellor was, that Boyd had some claim on government, in
consideration of the previous loan not having entirely expired.
Allowing this, the state had no right to remunerate Mr. Boyd at the
expense of others; and as very little of the previous scrip remained
in his possession, it was, whatever partisanship might allege in
excuse, a gross dereliction of public duty, and a great misdirection
of public interest, to allot a loan without competition, at a loss
of £499,500 to the public. At any rate, the contract was notified as
open, the Governor of the Bank was authorized to declare it so, and
the Chancellor expressed no doubt upon the subject.
There was much comment at the time. There was also a curious story in
circulation of bills to the amount of £700,000 having been drawn on
the treasury in fictitious names, and with fictitious dates; and it
was asserted that, when the loan was contracted, it was absolutely
known by the Cabinet that the king’s speech would inevitably raise
the funds, and add five per cent. to the gains of the contractor.
Before the first payment, £2,160,000 was the profit on a contract for
eighteen millions.
During the loans so frequently mentioned, it was curious to witness
the bidders arising at early dawn; waiting from two until ten in the
morning, and then see them rush, with all the eager impetuosity of
gain, to grasp a share of the proffered good.
When it became known that, on the 12th of May, 1789, an insurrection
had broken out at Paris, it was but little imagined that its effects
would press upon the resources of England for ever, increase her
taxation, and embarrass her councils; and as news came from time to
time of the excesses of the mob, the destruction of the Bastille, and
the murder of the monarch, it was received in accordance with the
political principles of the listener.
The first effect of the revolution shook the state to its foundation.
A strong democratic tendency passed through Europe, and England
shared the peril. A feeling of public wrong was prevalent. A fierce
movement convulsed the populace. Debating societies were established,
and the misgovernment of the nation was exposed. The public-houses
were filled with orators, and the cry for reform was incessant. The
press teemed with warnings and appeals. Societies corresponding with
the Jacobin clubs of Paris were established. Some of the first men
in England welcomed the revolution with enthusiasm, while the masses
hailed it with delight. The Convention was congratulated; and it is
surprising that, with democratic principles, a democratic spirit, and
a numerous array of men of rank on the popular side, England should
have preserved her constitution.
William Pitt, the minister of the day, took a bold and determined
position. “It is not reform they want,” he said, “it is revolution.
They wish to react the troubles of France; to murder the king; and
establish a republic.” The people petitioned, and were neglected.
They agitated, and were punished. The youth of England clamored for
more freedom; and revolutionary principles spread far and wide.
Persons of rank and property were alarmed, and formed associations
against anarchists and levellers. Parliament was summoned before its
time; the Alien Bill was passed; the naval and military forces were
augmented; and when the French Convention declared they would assist
the disaffected subjects of all monarchical governments, the English
ministry demanded a disavowal. The demand was refused; the French
ambassador was ordered to leave the kingdom; and, in 1793, the war
which added so terribly to England’s encumbrances was declared.
At this time the position of revolutionary France was remarkable.
From the commencement of the change, the princes of Europe regarded
it with dislike; and the death of Louis was sufficient to decide all
crowned heads against the movement. So soon, therefore, as war was
declared, treaties were formed with the principal Continental powers.
In six months, seven treaties of alliance, and six of subsidies, were
concluded. Sweden coalesced with Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The
German empire followed. Bavaria, Suabia, and the Elector Palatinate
joined the hostile league. Naples followed the example of the Holy
See; and the young republic, menaced from without and divided within,
saw her territory invaded by half a million of the most warlike
troops in Europe.
But the danger was met boldly. The combined armies which were to
destroy democracy and establish kingly supremacy were checked at the
first onset. The republic resolved to conquer, and the waste of life
was disregarded. Conscriptions were frequent; reinforcements arrived
constantly; and the army of the allies gave way. But to roll back
the tide of war was insufficient for a victorious and a military
people. The invasion was carried from their soil, and the invaders
were dishonored on their own hearths. A great man had arisen; and
Italy fell before the genius of Napoleon. Holland was conquered;
Prussia and Spain sued for peace; the savage Russ and the disciplined
Austrian alike gave way before the fierce enthusiasm of the soldiery,
and the greatness of the captain.
In the mean time, the aspect of affairs in England was alarming.
Ineffectual trials for high treason agitated the people. Every effort
to pervert casual discontent into determined rebellion was made. The
price of provision was high; the system of subsidies impoverishing;
and taxation saddened the homes and hearts of the people.
The emperor had received seven millions, Prussia a million and a
half; and a host of minor powers had coalesced from similar causes.
But if the trials of the people were fearful, the difficulties of the
government were numerous. Disaffection among the populace, a powerful
and organized opposition within the House, a general hatred of the
war without, an oratory unsurpassed in the senate, an invective
unsurpassed in the street, an empty exchequer, a starving people, and
quarterly loans, were difficulties which even the fine eloquence of
William Pitt, and the large majorities he commanded, found it hard to
surmount. Riots which endangered the royal person ensued; hundreds
of thousands clamored against the taxation which oppressed them; and
England seemed on the brink of revolt.
But a yet more dangerous era awaited the land. The navy, which had
saved us from invasion, mutinied; the gold of the country followed
her subsidies; the Bank of England ceased to pay her notes in specie;
the power of France increased; Austria only remained to check
the republic on the Continent; and Lodi witnessed a defeat which
paralyzed the Imperial power. The passage of the Alps followed; and,
within thirty miles of his capital, humiliating terms were dictated
to the Emperor of Austria.
England now stood alone against France. An invasion was threatened;
but it stirred a spirit of resistance which will long remain
a memorable passage in English history. Every village had its
volunteers, every corporation its company; and, whatever their
defects may have been in the eyes of military science, there was
scarcely a man who would not have marched to certain death to
preserve the freedom inherited from his fathers. Song and sermon
alike inspirited them; night after night watch-fires were prepared on
the lonely hills of the country; and the slightest sound or symptom
of invasion would have called forth its devoted sons and servants.
These things are greatly to the praise of our countrymen; and the
following list of subsidies, up to 1801, will prove it was no trifle
with which they contended, when they strained every power to meet the
financial difficulties of the time:—
Prussia 1794 £1,223,891 10_s._ 6_d._
Sardinia, 1793 to 1796 500,000 0 0
Emperor, 1795 and 1796 6,220,000 0 0
Ditto 1797 700,000 0 0
Portugal 1797 247,205 0 0
Ditto 1798 120,013 13 0
Russia 1799 825,000 0 0
Emperor and Elector of Bavaria 500,000 0 0
Emperor 1,066,666 13 4
Russia 545,494 0 0
Bavaria 501,017 6 0
Emperor 150,000 0 0
——————————
£12,599,288 2 10
But though England witnessed the power of the republic aggrandized
on the Continent,—though the blood she had shed and the money she
had spent were ineffectual on land,—she yet retained her ancient
supremacy at sea. The name of Nelson was a word of dread; and the
maritime force of France was crushed by that victory which crowned
a series of splendid successes in the Bay of Aboukir, and which,
known as the battle of the Nile, went like a trumpet call throughout
Europe. The despondency of the Continent passed away; the system
of coalition, so dear to William Pitt, was again called forth; and
Austria, Russia, Turkey, and Naples once more joined the victorious
island. Loans were again made. Germany had another million, Russia
half that amount, and other sums passed to other powers. But the
exertion was vain, the loans were fruitless; and in 1802 that peace,
of which it was said “every man is glad, but no man is proud,” was
concluded in the treaty of Amiens.
In the same year the sinking funds were united, to assist in
discharging the debts then existing; and one per cent. on loans
subsequent to 1802 was again appointed, to swell the amount. This
fund at its commencement was limited to four millions, but this
limitation was repealed; and the application of expired annuities,
and of saving by the reduction of interest, was also repealed.
In the latter part of the century, a beneficial change was made
in the provision for the naval expenses. Prior to this period, £4
per man per month was the allowance to meet the entire cost of the
department; after this time, the expenses of the navy were supplied,
like other charges, from the loans periodically raised.
Though the discontent of the English people was often roused, yet
the stories which were occasionally circulated,—of forced loans in
France,—of Parisian banking-houses being surrounded by soldiers,—of
money-chests violated, and of moneyed men plundered,—had considerable
effect in quieting them. It is probable that many of these were
inventions; some of them were understood to be so; but when it is
known that entire yearly incomes were often collected, and called
income-tax, there are few financial follies of our neighbours which
we should not be inclined to credit.
A curious proposition to pay off the national debt was very seriously
made in 1798. A profound disquisition upon the evils which arose
from it, and the ruin to which it was leading, was followed by an
intricate array of figures, a close calculation of the population,
and an analysis of their incomes. Somewhat excited by the grave
beginning, the public were not a little disappointed to find that,
by deducting one day’s provision per week for a certain time, and
allowing compound interest on it, the great financial difficulty
of the day might be overcome. The volume was privately printed,
in quarto, at considerable expense; but whether it emanated from
a lunatic asylum, or whether it sent the writer to one, cannot be
ascertained.
It must be evident from the brief record of the war just given, that
business in the funds had increased greatly. Prior to 1801, the
market of ’Change Alley, in the coffee-house where the brokers met,
was, as a public place, open to any who chose to make it his resort.
The jobber who reckoned his transactions by hundreds of thousands was
jostled by the man who was disposed, either morally or materially, to
pick pockets; while the loans which had increased the national debt
to 550 millions, the exchequer-bills, which were circulated as freely
as the government dared, and the companies, which were augmented in
proportion, formed an amount of business that, in the opinion of the
principal persons, demanded a building to bear some proportion to
the importance of its transactions. It was resolved, therefore, to
choose a plot of ground as near the Bank as possible, and to meet
the required expenses by private subscription. Whatever errors may
be indigenous to the Stock Exchange, illiberality can scarcely be
classed among them; and so successful were the proceedings, that, on
the 18th of May, 1801, Mr. William Hammond, chairman of the committee
of management, laid the first stone of the first building erected
exclusively for the business of the Stock Exchange. Beneath the stone
the following inscription, engraved on copper, was placed:—
“On the 18th of May, in the year 1801, and forty-one of George
III., the first stone of this building, erected by private
subscription, for the transaction of business in the public
funds, was laid in the presence of the proprietors, and under
the direction of William Hammond, William Steer, Thomas Roberts,
Griffith Jones, William Grey, Isaac Hensley, Jo. Brackshaw, John
Capel, and John Barnes, managers; James Peacock, architect. At this
era, the first of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland, the
public funded debt had accumulated in five successive reigns to
£552,730,924. The inviolate faith of the British nation, and the
principles of the constitution, sanction and secure the property
embarked in this undertaking. May the blessing of that constitution
be secured to the latest posterity!”
To secure respectability in the members, vote by ballot was adopted,
and ten guineas per annum fixed on as the subscription.
The peace of 1801 was a welcome respite to all save the members of
the Stock Exchange; where it was said, “There were not commissions
sufficient to pay for summer excursions, nor confidence enough to
make a bankrupt.” Great efforts had been made to reduce the price,
which continued to ascend; although Goldsmid was said to have stood
in the market and sold to any amount at the lowest price of the time.
The attempt proved vain; and the endeavour to control public opinion
was paid for by this house to the amount of £180,000.
It was difficult to believe, at first, that war had really ceased.
There was a continued excitement until the treaty was signed; all
places of public resort were thronged with inquirers; betting ran
high about the articles; the chances of exchequer-bills and new
lotteries were discussed; and when the truce was announced in the
city, it was also announced that the preliminaries of a new loan
would be arranged. Talleyrand was talked of as having employed
his information and capacity in gaining large sums; foreigners
generally were busy in making or marring their fortunes; and it was
ascertained that, in 1803, they held upwards of eighteen millions of
government securities. When it was known that the preliminaries were
signed, the tumultuous joy of the nation is beyond expression; and
Lloyd’s was instantly crowded. The people ran about, congratulating
one another on the happy event; the different steeples displayed the
union-flag by day, and at night a general illumination took place;
consols rose from 59 to 66½, and there were twenty-one defaulters on
the next settling day.
The loan, known as the loyalty loan, attracted much attention in the
early part of the century. The period at which it was contracted
was a critical one for the empire. Abroad, Prussia and the princes
of the Empire had withdrawn from the confederacy against France;
Austria demanded assistance; Holland was bound by fear to the
French republic. Stagnation of trade, scarcity of specie, want of
provisions, and discontent among the people, marked the period at
home. The supplies for the year were difficult to obtain; an appeal
was made to the loyalty of the nation, and that appeal was answered.
Some subscribed in the hope of gain; others to curry favor; and,
with all these various interests, eighteen millions were subscribed
in a few days. As an additional inducement, it was promised that
the capital, if claimed, should be repaid within two years after a
definitive treaty of peace. The peace of Amiens came in 1802, and
the holders were, therefore, entitled to demand, on the 27th of
March, 1804, £100 sterling for each £100 stock, although the latter
was at a heavy discount. It need hardly be added, that the claim was
made; and, as money was not sufficiently plentiful, it was arranged
that, for every £100 of the three per cent. loyalty loan, £100 Navy
five per cent. should be given, and for the difference between the
money-price of the latter and £100 sterling, the holder should
receive the amount in three per cents. The whole entailed a heavy
loss upon the country, and this was more to be regretted, because
upwards of eight millions of this loan had been gathered by the Jews,
and by two city banking-houses.
A few months evinced the uncertainty of the peace. Jealous and
watchful, both powers stood ready to renew the combat. The First
Consul insulted our ambassadors; dismantled fortresses; annexed
whole countries to France; sent armies against the free citizens of
Switzerland; demanded the banishment of French emigrants, and the
abridgment of the liberty of the press; until, unable to subdue their
passions, the love of peace which had once swayed men’s minds changed
to a fierce desire for war. In May, 1803, the English ambassador
demanded an explanation, and was insolently told that Great Britain
was unequal to cope with France.
During this period great anxiety prevailed throughout London,
concerning the completion of a negotiation on which so much depended.
The more thoughtful hoped that the peace of the world would not be
disturbed; and great was the pleasure, therefore, of these good
citizens, when, on the 5th of May, 1803, in passing the Mansion
House, their attention was arrested by the following letter,
conspicuously displayed in the place usually allotted to important
information. It was short, but to the purpose:—
“Lord Hawkesbury presents his compliments to the Lord Mayor, and
has the honor to acquaint his Lordship, that the negotiation
between this country and the French republic is brought to an
amicable conclusion.”
The glad tidings soon reached the Stock Exchange, and the funds
rose to seventy on the opening of the market. In a short time,
however, suspicion was aroused. Men doubted, though they scarcely
knew why; and the price fluctuated, with a downward tendency. Many
of the members, as they arrived from their residences at the West,
where the news ought to have reached, were utterly ignorant of the
intelligence. The faith of the bulls failed them, and the boldness
of the bears increased. It soon became confidently asserted that
the news was fictitious; and when the treasury received information
of the report and its origin, a letter was sent by the authorities,
terming the important document a scandalous forgery. Amid a
confusion, an uproar, and a noise, at that period unprecedented, the
Lord Mayor communicated in person the contents of his second letter.
Business was immediately suspended; the guilty and the guiltless were
alike suspected; and when a price was named, it was at a reduction
of seven per cent. A subscription was entered into to assist in
discovering the parties implicated; all bargains were declared void;
and the only important result was in a number of actions at law, the
benefit of the legal profession, and the impunity of the projectors.
The 16th of May was a memorable period for the country and for the
Stock Exchange. The personal insult offered by the French Consul to
the representative of his Majesty; the evident determination of the
same people to break all ties and truces, rendered an appeal to arms
once more necessary; and on that day the fierce and fatal war which
followed the truce of Amiens,—which desolated the fairest fields of
Europe,—which crushed the ambitious man who provoked it,—and which
added two hundred and sixty-three millions to the national debt,—was
proclaimed.
In 1806, Joseph Elkin Daniels, a conspicuous character in the Alley,
and known for some time as a dealer in securities, availed himself of
the confidence of the members of the Stock Exchange, to perpetrate a
fraud as novel as it was notable. As a dealer in the funds for time,
he was well known; and his frequent transactions, combined with the
trust which his character had achieved, gave his broker a confidence
in his proceedings of which he proved utterly unworthy. The time was
an important one. The Continent was struggling against the iron yoke
of Bonaparte. Austria was making that last great struggle with her
enemy which ended at Austerlitz; rumors were plentiful, and the price
of stock varied greatly, when the man Daniels came to the broker, and
desired him to buy omnium on account. The price was high, but his
request was complied with. Omnium continued to advance, and Daniels
continued to buy, although the price increased from ten to thirteen
premium. When the broker had completed his orders to the amount of
£30,000, he grew anxious for his money, and applied for payment.
Daniels, however, quieted him by saying, he was so sure the price
would rise, that his friends would lend him on the security of the
stock, to enable him to make the most of his speculation, and that
he should, therefore, hold the entire amount. The statement seemed
a fair one. Daniels was believed to be honest, and the broker handed
him £30,000 omnium, for which Daniels gave him his draught on Smith,
Payne, & Smith.
The first part of this man’s fraudulent scheme was now acted. He knew
the check would not be presented until the afternoon, and that he
was, therefore, free from danger for a few hours. He immediately took
the omnium to other brokers, represented to them an urgent necessity
for money, sold it, and having been paid checks for the amount,
immediately presented them to the bankers on whom they were drawn,
and received the amount in cash. He then went to all whom he knew, or
would trust him, borrowed money on the security of his own checks,—a
common practice on the Stock Exchange,—with remarkable boldness,
remained in London until near the hour when he knew his own draught
would be presented and refused, and then left, laden alike with gold
and a guilty conscience.
The total amount of fraud was estimated at £50,000. Telegraphic
notices were transmitted to the principal ports of the United
Kingdom; the Lord Mayor despatched officers in all directions;
the chief sufferers went express to various places, on the chance
of detaining him; and every exertion was made to bring to justice
the man who had violated every principle of common honesty, and so
greatly shaken the honorable confidence of the members of the Stock
Exchange. Two thousand seven hundred pounds which he had strangely
left at his banker’s, were attached; two hundred guineas were offered
for his apprehension; his lodgings were examined, and the property
found was seized by the officers of justice.
The search was too active not to be successful; and Daniels was
discovered in the Isle of Man. Here a new difficulty arose. The Manx
laws protected the culprit, the governor’s permission being required
to apprehend him; and, when procured, so numerously was the island
peopled with men like Daniels, that the officers, afraid of arresting
him in open day, took advantage of night to remove their prisoner.
The proceeds of the robbery were found; and when his departure was
known, the island rose tumultuously at the violation of a right on
which the safety of half the population depended.
Great excitement was caused by his arrival in England; but, after
a careful legal consultation, it was decided that he could not be
convicted on any criminal charge; and Joseph Elkin Daniels escaped
the legal penalty of that fraud which gave so severe a shock to the
members of the Stock Exchange.
In the same year, it was ascertained that the amount of foreign
property in the British funds was twenty-two millions; and it is
scarcely out of place to mention, that, by some patient calculator,
it was found that one guinea invested at the Christian era, at five
per cent., compound interest, would have increased to a greater sum
than could be contained in five hundred millions of earths, all of
solid gold.
In the early part of the present century an attempt was made to
resist the tax paid to the city, of forty shillings per annum,
by stock-brokers, as unreasonable and unjust. Various members of
the body refused to pay; the corporation and the brokers were at
issue; and, in 1805, a hundred summonses were applied for, though a
few only were granted, to test the disputed right. Among these was
one to Francis Baily, who undertook the championship; and from the
conviction that the claim was unjust, refused in the above year to
pay the sum demanded. As the justice, though not the law, is yet
doubted by some, a brief retrospect of the various acts affecting
brokers may not be out of place.
The act of 8 and 9 William III., c. 32,—alluded to in an earlier part
of the volume,—was the first that could affect stock-brokers, as in
that reign they and their misdeeds began to flourish. The following
forms a portion of the preamble to the act:—
“Whereas divers brokers and stock-jobbers have lately set up and
carried on most unjust practices, in selling and discounting tallies,
bank-stock, bank-bills, shares and interest on joint stock, and
other matters, and have and do unlawfully combine to raise or fall
the value of such securities, for their own private advantage; and
whereas the numbers of such brokers and stock-brokers are very much
increased within these few years, and do daily multiply,—be it
enacted, that from and after May, 1697, no person shall act as broker
until licensed by the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen of the said
city of London.
“That the number of brokers shall not exceed one hundred, and that
the admittance fees shall not exceed 40_s._
“That the names of the brokers shall be publicly affixed on the Royal
Exchange, in Guildhall, and other public places in the city.
“That any persons acting as brokers without being admitted as
aforesaid, shall forfeit £500, and persons employing them £50; and
that any person not being a sworn broker acting as such, shall
forfeit £500, and for every offence stand three times in the pillory.
“That all brokers shall keep a book, to be called the Brokers’-book,
to enter contracts, and in cases of omission, forfeit £50 for every
offence.
“That they shall not receive more than ten shillings per cent. for
brokerage. That, if they shall deal in any articles on their own
account, they shall forfeit £500, and never act as brokers again.
“That no person buying or selling tallies, corn, or any other
provision, or coal, shall be esteemed a broker within the meaning of
the act.”
In 1707, this, which was for ten years, expired; and although
various petitions, according to the interest of the petitioner, were
presented, it was not renewed. A new act was then brought in, by
which a yearly tax of forty shillings was levied against all brokers;
and it is doubtful whether this would have been passed, had not a
deficiency been created by the repeal of one concerning specie.
In 1711, a committee of the House was appointed to consider the acts
relative to brokers; and a recommendation ensued to revive the act of
1697. In compliance with this, a bill was brought in, read a first
and second time, but was not passed; and in the reign of Queen Anne,
the charge for brokerage of 10_s._ per cent. was reduced to 2_s._
9_d._ It is now 2_s._ 6_d._
In 1746, and in 1756, new bills were brought in, but rejected, which
materially affected stock-jobbers; and in 1765 it was ordered that
a bill be brought in to restrain the ill practices of brokers; but
this, like the others, was not passed.
The ground of defence occupied by Mr. Baily was somewhat subtle. In
1806, this gentleman published a pamphlet, called “The Rights of
Stock-jobbers defended,” in which he explained his principles of
action, and detailed the course which had been taken. He says:—“The
right of the city of London to call upon stock-brokers to be sworn
in before the Court of Aldermen, has long been contested and opposed
by that body. It is resisted by them, in the first instance, under
the impression that they are merely agents, and ought not to be
considered as brokers more than many other persons, who, under the
name of tailors, merchants, and tradesmen, act by commission in the
purchase and sale of goods.”
With these ideas Mr. Baily contested the right, not, as those who
knew him will readily credit, from narrow views or confined notions,
but because he believed he was supporting a principle founded in
justice. These views, however, he found it impossible to maintain. A
case was produced by the city, in which it was decided that a person
buying and selling stock came within the meaning of the act; and the
efforts of Mr. Baily proved futile.
For those who feel disposed to investigate the subject, a list of
acts relating to brokers will be found in the Appendix.
In 1807, Lord Henry Petty proposed a new plan for a sinking fund;
which, however, was only a revival of the principle of borrowing with
one hand and spending with the other; and, as the ministry which
planned it were not long in office, it was not continued after the
first year.