HL Deb 08 April 1812 vol 22 c235
The Earl of Lauderdale,

after adverting to the Bill now in progress in the House of Commons, relative to Bank notes, also gave notice of his intention to move for information which he considered of the utmost importance with a view to that Bill, in order to ascertain the profits made by the Bank of England since 1797, by those measures which had brought distress on the rest of the country. His object was to have an account of the price of Bank Stock in 1797, and the average price in every half year since; the increase of dividends to the proprietors of Bank Stock during the same period; and the amount of bonusses granted to the same proprietors, during the same period. He believed it would be found, that the Bank of England had derived additional, profit of 15 or 16 millions by these measures, by the operation of which the rest of the country had been so much distressed.