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A History of Banking in All the Leading Nations, Vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) [1896]

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A History of Banking in All the Leading Nations, Vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) [1896] The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) [1896] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) Edition Used: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations; comprising the United States; Great Britain; Germany; Austro-Hungary; France; Italy; Belgium; Spain; Switzerland; Portugal; Roumania; Russia; Holland; The Scandinavian Nations; Canada; China; Japan; compiled by thirteen authors. Edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin. In Four Volumes. (New York: The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, 1896). Vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada). Editor: Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin Author: Pierre des Essars Author: Arthur Raffalovich Author: Byron Edmund Walker About This Title: A four volume set edited by the by the “Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin” in New York city. It consists of: Vol. 1: “The United States,” by W.G. Sumner. Vol. 2: “Great Britain,” by H.D. Macleod; “The Russian Empire,” by A.E. Horn; “Savings Banks in the United States,” by J.P. Townsend. Vol. 3: “The Latin Nations,” by P. Des Essars; “The Banks of Alsace-Lorraine after the Annexation,” by A. Raffalovich; “Canada,” by B.E. Walker. Vol. 4: “Germany and PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) Austria-Hungary,” by M. Wirth; “The Netherlands,” by R. van der Borght; “The Scandinavian Nations,” by A. Jensen; “Japan,” by J. Soyeda; “China,” by T.R. Jernigan. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) Table Of Contents Banking In the Latin Nations. Part I.: Banking In France. Chapter I.: Its Status Before the Revolution. Chapter II.: The Bank and “system” of Law. Chapter III.: The Discount Bank—la Caisse D’escompte. Chapter IV.: Assignats—the Basis of Their Issue. Chapter V.: The Bank of France. Chapter VI.: Banks and Bankers After the Revolution. Chapter VII.: Banking In the French Colonies. Part II.: Banking In Italy. Chapter I.: Primitive Banks. Chapter II.: Banking Under the Unification of the Kingdom. Chapter III.: Italian Co-operative Banks. Chapter IV.: The Bankers of Florence. Chapter V.: Banks and Bankers In Sicily. Part III.: Banking In Spain. Chapter I.: The Earliest Banks. Chapter II.: The Bank of Spain. Part IV.: Banking In Belgium. Part V.: Banking In Switzerland. Part VI.: Banking In Portugal, 1750 to 1891. Chapter I.: The First Great Banks. Chapter II.: The Bank of Portugal. Part VII.: National Bank of Roumania. Part VIII.: The Latin Monetary Union. Part IX.: Dynamics of Circulation. Part X.: The Banks of Alsace-lorraine After the Annexation. * Banking In Canada. Author’s Preface. Chapter I.: Currency Expedients. Chapter II.: 1817-1841. Banking Under Joint-stock Charters. Chapter III.: 1841-1867. Banking In Old Canada. Chapter IV.: Banking Under the Dominion. Chapter V.: Scope of Existing Laws. Chapter VI.: Land Banks—loan Companies. TREATISES IN VOL. III. A HISTORY OF BANKING IN THE LATIN NATIONS, by PIERRE DES ESSARS; and of PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) THE BANKS OF ALSACE-LORRAINE AFTER THE ANNEXATION, by ARTHUR RAFFALOVICH; A HISTORY OF BANKING IN CANADA, by BYRON E. WALKER. new york. 1806. A History of Banking IN THE LATIN NATIONS; NAMELY FRANCE, ITALY, SPAIN, BELGIUM, SWITZERLAND, PORTUGAL, AND ROUMANIA. BY PIERRE DES ESSARS, chief of the department of economics of the bank of france. NEW YORK. 1896. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 7 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) [Back to Table of Contents] BANKING IN THE LATIN NATIONS. PART I. BANKING IN FRANCE. CHAPTER I. ITS STATUS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. ANCIENT BEGINNINGS. THE business of banking and loaning money at interest has existed from the earliest forms of civilization, because it responds to an imperative need of society. It was conducted in Athens, probably in Carthage, and certainly in Rome; but, after the establishment of Christianity, it encountered serious obstacles. Profits derived from loaning capital—which was regarded as including money, whereas money is only a representative of capital—were regarded as illegitimate; which is virtually the position assumed by modern socialists. “Money,” it was said, “is in its very nature sterile, and not reproductive.” Profits accuring from the sale of merchandise or the establishment of a productive industry were held to be just and proper; but it was not conceded that a loan of that capital, which could immediately be transformed into merchandise or instruments of production, entitled the lender to remuneration. This course of reasoning seemed to be supported by the Gospel injunction that we loan to the needy without hope of recompense. These prejudices, which have continued to our own day, cast a shade of suspicion upon all commerce in money and caused it to be carried on clandestinely and by men constituting a distinct caste, such as Jews and Lombards. Lenders at interest, or usurers, being always exposed to the hatred of their creditors and victims of the cupidity of governments, made it their constant care to keep their capital in the form most readily convertible into money and least likely to attract attention. THE JEWS AS MONEY-LENDERS. Thus it is that we find the Jews, in all ages, following the pursuits of money-changer, goldsmith, dealer in precious stones, to which they have added that of lender on pawn. Community of language and of origin and exposure to the same dangers impelled them to seek one another out, to establish the closest relations among themselves, though dwelling far apart, and to invent divers means of transmitting money from one to another, the earliest being the bill of exchange. We find an indubitable instance of the bill of exchange in 1246, that by means of which the Pope, Innocent IV., sent 25,000 marks of silver to the pretender, Henri Raspon, an amount which was paid to PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 8 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2239 Online Library of Liberty: A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3 (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada) him at Frankfort by a Venetian banking house. Even earlier than this, in 1202, the Crusaders had given to Henri Dandolo, Doge of Venice, bills payable to order as security for 85,000 marks, in silver, demanded of them by the Venetians in return for vessels furnished to carry them to Syria. It was to pay this immense debt that the Crusaders aided Dandolo to recapture the city of Zara in Dalmatia.
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