§ MR. FIELDTo ask the First Lord of the Treasury, in view of the facts that the value of the Bank of England stock has of late years declined from 342 to 284, or equal to £60, and that the values of limited bank shares have hardly depreciated during the same period owing to the existence of Leeman's Bank Act of 1867, which protects these stocks from bear operations, what steps does His Majesty's Government intend to take to protect the Bank of England stock and other trust securities; and whether the Government will adopt the same effectual legislative measures to apply to all these stocks as Leeman's Act does with limited bank shares, in order to stop a continuance of the systems of bull and bear financial gambling operations in fictitious shares, with the object of protecting the interests of bonâ fide shareholders.
(Answered by Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman.) I doubt if Leeman's Act produces all the effect that the hon. Member attributes to it, and I am not prepared to take the action that he suggests.