l crises would cease, have not
been realized.

The number of changes in the bank rate from 1876[3] to 1906 in England,
France, Germany, Holland and Belgium were as follows:--

England. France. Germany. Holland. Belgium.
183 27 110 55 77

There has been frequent discussion among bankers and occasionally with the
government as to the advantage it might be to grant the Bank of England an
automatic power to augment the note issue on securities when necessary,
similar to that possessed by the Bank of Germany (_Reichsbank_). One of the
hindrances to the success of such a plan has been that the government,
acting on the advice of the treasury, required an extremely high rate of
interest, of which it would reap the advantage, to be paid on the advances
made under these conditions. Those who made these suggestions did not bear
in mind that the mere fact of so high a rate of interest being demanded
intensifies the panic, a high rate being associated as a rule with risks in
business. The object of the arrangement made between the _Reichsbank_ and
the treasury of the empire of Germany is a different one--to provide the
banking accommodation required and to prevent panic, hence a rate of only
5% has been generally charged, though in 1899 the rate was 7% for a short
time. As is often the case in business, a moderate rate has been
accompanied by higher profit. The duty on the extra issue between 1881,
when the circulation of the Bank of Germany first exceeded the authorized
limit, and the close of the year 1906 amounted to L839,052. Thus a
considerable sum was provided for the relief of taxation, while business
proceeded on its normal course. The proposal made by Mr Lowe (afterwards
Lord Sherbrooke) in 1873 was to charge 12%, a rate which presupposes panic.
Hence the negotiations came to nothing. The act of 1844 remains unaltered.
The issue on securities allowed by it to the Bank of England was originally
L14,000,000. This has since been increased under the provisions of the act
to L18,450,000 (29th March 1901). Hence against the notes issued by the
bank less gold by L4,450,000 is now held by the bank than would have been
the case had the arrangements as to the securities remained as they were in
1844.

The Bank of England has, from the date of its establishment, possessed a
practical, though perhaps not an absolutely legal, monopoly of issuing
notes in London. It became gradually surrounded by a