BEFORE taking up the consideration of the legislation of
1844 we may make note here, for the sake of the record, of
some items of importance in regard to the Bank. The liabil-
ity of the stockholders of the Bank of England is limited to
the amount of their stock. In 1722 the reserve fund or Rest
was established, never to be allowed to run below three mil-
lion pounds. This added to the strength of the Bank and
made it possible to equalize dividends which theretofore had
fluctuated greatly. In 1751 the administration of the debt
was entrusted to the Bank and in 1826 the Bank was given
authority to establish branches; of these, there are now ten,
located respectively at Birmingham, Bristol, Hull, Leeds,
Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth, and the West-
ern and Law-Courts Branches, London. The notes of the
Bank were made a legal tender in 1833.

In 1833 the Bank was required to render weekly state-
ments to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which statements
were to be consolidated and published every three months in
the London Gazette. The statements published by the Bank
are very meagre and do not give one a complete view of its
affairs. For comparison of one period with another, too, they
are of little value, as it is the practice of the Bank to reduce
the amount of its securities and deposits by any borrowing
which it carries out and as it probably makes other adjust-
ments which are not of public record. After 1875 it discon-
tinued publishing the amount of discounted bills which it

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