F U N
515
F U N
induced, by subsequent offers, to accept of perpetual annuities,instead of the former terms. The debt, for which perpetual an-nuities are granted, is called the redeemable debt, and the otheris called the irredeemable debt. Although the debts thus con-tracted by government are seldom paid for a long term of years;yet any creditor of the public may obtain money for what is due'o hint when he pleases, by transferring his property in the fundsto another; and regular methods are appointed for transactingthese transfers in an easy manner, By these means, the stocks be-come a kind of circulating capital; and have the same effect, insome respects, as the circulating money in the nation. When astockholder transfers his share, he may sometimes be able to ob-tain a greater price than the original value, and at other times beobliged to accept of a less one. The value of the funds dependsOn the proportion between the interest they bear, and the benelitWhich may be obtained bv applying the money to other purposes.It is influenced by the plenty or scarcity of money, and by thegreatness or smallness of the public debt; audit is impaired byany event which threatens the safety, or weakens the credit, of thegovernment. The business of stock-jobbing is founded on the'variation of the prices of stock. Persons possessed of real pro-perty mav buy or sell stock, according to their notion that the va-lue is likelv to rise or fall, in expectation of making protit by thedifference of price. And a practice has taken place among per-sons who often possess no property in the funds, to contract for thesale of stock against a future day, at a price now agreed on. Fordistance: A agrees to sell B 1000/. of bank-stock, to be trans-ferred, in twenty days, for 1000/. Alias, in fact, no such stock;hut, if the price of bank-stock, on the day appointed for the trans-fer, should be only 118 per cent, A may purchase as much as willliable him to fulfil his bargain for 1186/. and thus he gains 20/.hy the transaction; on the contrary, if the price of bank- took be*25 per cent, lie w ill lose 50/. The business is generally settledw ithout any actual purchase or transfer of stock, by A paying toor receiving from him, the difference between the' current pricehf the stock, on the day appointed, and the price bargained for.F his practice, which is really nothing but a wager concerning theprice of stock, is contrary to law; yet it is carried on to a great£xtent. In the language of Exchange-alley, where matters of thiswind are transacted, the buyer is called a bull, and the seller adear. As neither party can be compelled by law to implementfeese bargains, their sense of honour, and the disgrace and loss offuture credit, which attend a breach of contract, are the principlesdy which the business is supported. When a person declines toPay his loss, he is called a lame duck, and dare never afterwardsa Ppear in the alley. This opprobrious appellation, however, ishot bestowed on those whose failure is ow ing to want of ability,providing they make the same surrender of their property volun-tarily, which the law would have exacted if the debt had been en-t'fled to its sanction. T he interest or dividend on the stock isPaid half-yearly; and the purchaser has the benefit of the interestriue on the stock he buys, from the last term to the time of pnr-c dase. The principal funds established at different periods are,Aggregate Fund, the South Sea Fund, the General I und, theoinking Fund, and the Consolidated Fund. The Aggregate I 1 und^as established in the year 171.5, and had this name given to it,because it consisted of a great variety of taxes and surpluses o(axes, which were in that vear consolidated, and given as thesecu-j'fy for discharging (he interest and principal of all the Exchequer'Us then outstanding, and of some other public debts; ami like-Jfhe for the payment of 120,000/. per annum to the civil list. The°uth Sea Fund was established in 1711*, and was so called be-®**” 5 e appropriated to pav the interest and allowance for manage-*ent 011 q^,, capital of the South Sea Company . 1 lie Generalfj'Oid wjs also established in 1710, bv making perpetual various"“ties which had hetat granted for thJ term of thirty-two years,
_ consolidating them with some other duties into one furA. It•'s appropriated chielly to the payment of the interest on various*fnis_ raised bv lotteries during the reign ol Queen Aline. (hedik'ng Fund" consisted of the surpluses ol the three lunrlsjust-gJ e ntioned, whenever the produce of the taxes coin posing them°old he greater than the charges upon them. J he estuldish-'7 1 ' 1 of these funds formed part of a plan for a general reduction,1 l 'e interest-payable on the public debts, and this being effected,c Onarge on each of the three funds was of course lessened con-
siderably, and the future overplus was directed to be carried intoa fourth fund, to which was given the name of the Sinking Fund,because appropriated to (he purpose of redeeming or sinking thepublic debts. The act of parliament by which this fund was esta-blished, expressly ordained that it should be applied to the dis-charge of the public debts, and “ to or for none other use, intent,or (impose whatsoever;” yet in the course of a few years manyencroachments were made upon it, and ultimately it became amere nominal distinction, the whole produce of it being tsuallvtaken tow ards the supplies of the current year. The ConsolidatedFund was established in consequence of a new arrangement of thepublic accounts in the year 1786, when the funds above-mention-ed were abolished, and the whole of the public revenue, (except,the annual grants) included under this general head. Out of thisfund are paid the interest and expences of management of all thepublic debts, the interest on Exchequer bills, the civil list, pen-sions to the royal family and others, salaries and allowances to va-rious public ollicers, and some miscellaneous annua! expences'.The surplus of the produce of the fund, after satisfying all thesecharges, is annually granted by parliament as part of the ways andmeans for raising the supplies voted. The debts bearing a certainrale of interest payable till the principal shall he redeemed, aredenominated, in the language of finance, perpetual annuities, orredeemable annuities; but, in tire common course of business, theyare called funds or stocks: a small part of the public debts consistot annuities fora certain term of years, commonly called long orshort annuities: there are also some life and tontine annuities stillexisting; but the whole of the terminable annuities bears a verysmall proportion to the permanent debts. The perpetual annui-ties are distinguished according to the rate of interest they pay, orthe time or purpose of their creation; and when by a new loan go-vernment contracts an additional debt, bearing a certain fixed in-terest, the capital thus created is added to the amount of that partot the public debt which bears the same rale of interest, and theproduce of the taxes imposed for payment of the interest of suchnew debt being carried to the fund established for pa\ ing the in*,tercst of the former capital, the old and new debts are consolidat-ed, and the whole interest made payable out of the general pro-duce of the fund; hence we have three or four per cent, consoli-dated annuities, according to the rate of interest payable on thecapital. The interest on all the public debts was formerly paid atthe Exchequer; but the bank being found a much more conveni-ent place for this purpose, nearly the whole is now payable there,the company receiving a certain allowance from government formanaging all business relative to the public funds. The differentdenominations of the funds transferable at the Bank of England ,with the days on which the transfers are made, and (he times w henthe interest or dividend becomes due, are at present as follows:
•Funds. Tr;
Consolid. 3 per C. An....Tues.Three per C. An. 1726...Tues.
Navy 5 per C. An.Mon.
Bank Stock.Tues.
5 per C. An. 1797, 1802..Tues.4 per C. Consolid. Ah....T ues.Reduced 3 per C. An. ...Tues.
Fong Annuities.Mon.
Imperial 3 per C. An.Mon.
Imperial An. 25 years_Tues.
Irish 5 per C. An.Tues.
Irish Terminable An.Tues.
ansfer da vs Divid. due,
W ed. Th. and Fr. „ ,
andThurs. *• f d
Wed. and Fr. $ Jul - V 5>
Th. and Fr.^
Th. and Fr. I . •, - .
Th. and Sat. 5 >, and
Wed. Th. and Fr. I U<:t - ,0 ‘
Wed. and Sat. J
Wed. and Fr. ) May 1, and
'I’ll, and Sat.j’ Nov. 1.
'I h. and Sat.) March 25, and
'I’h. and Sat.) Sept.
V>.-,
Transferable at the South Sea House.
South Sea Stock.Mon. Wed. and Fr. \ Ja "' , 5, ?" d
{ July j !
New South Sea An.Tues Th. and Sat.j Jan. 5, and
Three per Cent. An.l ues, and Tliurs. { Julv 5.
Old South Sea A'n.Mon. Wed. and Fr. ... j
A‘- the prices of the several funds are continually fluctuating,and there is frequently a considerable difference in the interestproduced bv investing money in different hinds, the followingtable of the prices which eacli fund should be at to produce an
■ . equal