Partie 69 - Draft letter from Henry Sidgwick to [Edmund J.?] Mortlock.

1 doc: draft MS letter

Refers to Mortlock's offer to procure for Sidgwick 'some information as to banking business - as conducted in London or any place when bankers deal largely in bills of exchange.' Explains that he has to write a page or two on the subject of banking in a book he is bringing out 'on the Principles of Political Economy', and finds it very difficult to obtain a clear answer from books to the questions that he wishes to ask. Refers to the belief that bankers can obtain, on that part of their resources that they employ in discounting bills, interest higher than they could get by investing in securities. Asks if a banker gets a commission or other extra payment from the trader whose bill he discounts; about what proportion of the bills discounted by a great London bank - apart from the Bank of England - are actually discounted at not more than the published Bank-rate; to what height approximately does the increased charge rise when a higher rate is charged; and is the increase, on the whole, considered to be more than a fair insurance against the additional risk attaching to bills of inferior quality. Annotations in pencil.