STAMPS ON BANKERS' CHECKS. (Hansard, 1 February 1810)

§ Mr. Giles

rose, pursuant to notice, to submit a motion to the House, for leave to bring in a bill to amend the 48th of the King. In apportioning the duties upon stamps on bills of exchange, the fair principle had ever been, that the rate of the stamp should vary according to the amount of the bill. All those bills were, however, exempted from this equitable principle, which were drawn upon a banker ten miles distant from the residence of the drawer—a former act had provided that a penalty of 20l. should be inflicted upon any person drawing a draft upon his banker at that distance without a receipt. He admitted this act had been evaded, and that many persons had drawn drafts without stamps upon their bankers who did not live within 100 miles of their place of residence. Last year, however, at a very late period of the session his right hon. friend had introduced the bill which he now proposed to amend; it was speedily passed into a law, at a time when the attendance of members was thin; and after the termination of the session, people were taken by surprise, in the month of August, on discovering that they could no longer draw a check upon their banker unless it was upon a stamp. In that bill, his right hon. friend had imposed the same duty as in the original bill. But a material alteration had been made in the penalty, for instead of 20l. as in the former it was 200l.; the penalty he thought rather excessive, and the restriction to ten miles rather circumscribed. He was sure that in point of revenue this regulation would not be at all productive, because, in the first place, it would be so very easily evaded—or he should rather say, avoided; a man could so easily transfer his cash from a banker without the distance to one within the limits of ten miles. So far he felt it necessary to say as to produce; then as to inconvenience, he was persuaded it would be found extremely severe. Gentlemen could not, at all times, get stamps in the country; besides a man regularly residing within the due limits, should he take a ride five miles from his house, and there have occasion to draw on his banker, he must draw upon a stamp, or otherwise fall within the penalty. Another evil consequence that resulted from this act, was, that of increasing to an enormous amount the number of country 268 banks. He knew of a small circle of country, within which no less than ten of those banks had lately sprung up; it tended, of consequence, to increase the issue of country bank notes. As to the inconveniences resulting from the operation of the act, he instanced the case of a person who lately removed his money from his banker in London to a bank at Hertford; his dealings were extensive, and there was scarce a market he frequented in which he was not at more than ten miles distance from his bank. The only feasible object it could pretend to have in view, was the prevention of frauds; but even in this view he did not think it would be successful. The most prominent objection, however, seemed to him to be that of the limitation of distance to ten miles. He thought it would be wiser to regulate this restriction by the analogy of the privilege of members of that House to frank their letters. This privilege extended to forty miles distance from the place dated from. He should propose, therefore, that the distance of the residence of the drawer from the bank drawn upon, should amount to upwards of forty miles, to subject such person to the penalty in case he did not make his draft upon a stamp. The other regulations which he intended to introduce would come before the House in the course of the progress of the bill, if the House would allow him to bring it in. He then concluded by moving, For leave to bring in a bill to regulate and amend the 48th of the king.