FORGED EXCHEQUER BILLS. (Hansard, 20 February 1843)

§ Mr. Hume
wished to call the attention of the right hon. Gentleman to the case of a gentleman to whom some Exchequer Bills had been assigned which happened to be forged, and who was a most innocent holder of them. That person had suffered the serious loss of 6,000l., and he thought as they had been purchased without his knowledge something should be done to give him relief.

§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer
knew, that the hon. Member was alluding to the case of Mr. Inglis, to whom he was most anxious to shew every attention which was not inconsistent with his public duty. His case certainly stood on a different footing from the most of those in the same schedule. In his case Mr. Rapallo, the chief instrument of issuing the forged bills, had placed s considerable amount of them in the hands of the Messrs. Morgans, whom Mr. Inglis had employed as his brokers. Before he left England, he had placed in their hands the sum of 7,000l., to be employed by them for his advantage. After the forgery was discovered, and not before, Morgan, who then held 20,000l; of Exchequer Bills, assigned 6,000l. of them to Mr. Inglis. But there was no evidence—no memorandum—no account whatever of the assignment. As the bills never had been formally assigned to Mr. 1024 Inglis, he looked on the loss that gentleman had sustained, as caused not by his being the innocent holder of forged Exchequer Bills, but by the abuse which his agent had made of his confidence. It was not, therefore, in his power to place the name of Mr. Inglis amongst those to whom compensation was to be given.

§ Dr. Bowring
asked whether the present bill would be quite sufficient for its purposes, as he understood that it would not secure to the holders of the bills both their capital and the interest of their capital?

§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer
explained that the effect of the bill would only be to give the holders of the Exchequer Bills the amount of those bills which they held—it would go no further, and give them interest from the date when the bills commenced. It would be necessary, hereafter, to pass another vote to pay the parties interest on the Exchequer Bills from the time they came into their possession. The parties must not, however, expect to receive 5 or5½ percent, interest, but the market interest which Exchequer Bills bore. They had not given any premiums on these bills, and they must not expect, therefore, to receive any premiums.