. . .uld unquestionably be, if there were only one description of paper. A similar observation, though with some qualification, may be applied to the issues of the banks in Scotland. But in England, where, as has been said, the number of issuing banks amounts to about 250, and where at least 150 of14 these are private banks, it is obviously impossible that adequate safeguards can be provided against either the occasional dissemination of fictitious paper, or the not unfrequent infliction of severe pecuniary losses, through the failure of some of the banks of issue. We are fully aware of the high reputation which a vast majority of the country banks in England deservedly bear, both for stability and integrity; but the failure of several issuing and non-issuing banks, since the passing of the Act as well as previously, suffices to prove that this high character cannot be predicated of all of them indiscriminately. And when a single bank of issue fails to meet its liabilities,. . . Read More