became due and were paid, most of the cash being available for borrowers a few hours after it was paid in by the holders of the scrip which represented the loans until the definitive bonds were ready. The task of dealing with cash forming instalments of the loans was not, however, the only problem before the banks which issued them. As the scrip of each loan gradually became “fully paid” the proceeds of the loan in the hands of the banks became a very large sum. The Japanese government held the whole of it at its disposal, and might have seriously embarrassed the London money market if it had not dealt with its huge balances considerately. The Japanese government had promised not to withdraw any portion of the loans raised in London in gold, but it was under no restrictions as to how it should employ the money lying to its account. It might have kept it locked up until it had a bill for ships or clothing to pay. As might be expected, the government from the outset transferred a portion of what was deposited with the banks to the Bank of England, finding it advantageous on various grounds to do so. The remainder was lent for short periods by the banks, but for some time no means were available for lending for any considerable length of time, though the Japanese government had no immediate use for the whole of it. It was suggested to the government by its advisers that it would be a convenience to the money market, and no inconvenience to Japanese policy, if any balances which were not likely to be wanted for some months were invested in British treasury bills, and the government, after fully acquainting itself with the nature of the operation, agreed to it. The plan was found to work well; it released for definite periods money that would otherwise have been of little use to the money market, and it was of pecuniary benefit to the Japanese exchequer to the extent of the interest earned by the portion of the balances so employed. Incidentally it suited the British treasury; the Japanese demand, which became a constant feature in connexion with treasury bill issues, lowered the discount rates at which “sixes” were placed. The Japanese not only applied for treasury bills and bought them in the market, but they also took up some of the exchequer bonds issued in connexion with the South African war towards the end of their currency, thus relieving the money market of a further part of the weight of British government paper which it would otherwise have had to take on itself. A further important development of Japanese management of its London balances took place in 1906, when a portion of these balances was placed under the control of agents of the Bank of England, to be lent, or not lent, in the market as suited the Bank’s policy, which was at that time directed to raising the value of money in order to protect and increase its reserve. The plan worked very well on the whole. It was merely an adaptation of a practice initiated some years before, whereby the Bank sometimes obtained temporary control of moneys belonging to the India Council. The same idea, that of “intercepting” market funds, which were beating down the discount rate, depressing the foreign exchanges and depleting the Bank’s reserve, has been employed in regard to the clearing banks themselves, the banks having on more than one occasion agreed to lend the Bank of England a certain portion of their balances.
The discount houses, though an important body of institutions,
are not of so much importance as they were before 1866, when
they suffered a serious blow through the failure of
“Overend’s,” from which as a body they have never
fully recovered. The five The
Discount Houses.large concerns which still
exist are, however, very powerful and exercise considerable
influence on the market. They hold considerable
quantities of bills at all times; occasionally their holdings are
very large, but they turn out the contents of their bill cases
readily if they think fit. Their business is different in practice
from that of the smaller “bill-brokers,” who usually are what
their name suggests, namely, persons who do not hold many
bills, but find them for banks who need them, charging a small
commission. The small bill-brokers borrow from the Bank of
England much more freely than the big discount houses. The
latter only “go to the bank” in ordinary times perhaps once or
twice a year. During the South African War, which disturbed
the money market very much, they obtained accommodation
from the Bank more frequently than usual. The small brokers
almost always have to borrow from the Bank at the end of
every quarter, when money is scarce owing to the regular
quarterly requirements of business, and also, to some extent,
because certain of the banks make it a practice to call in loans
at the end of each month in order to show a satisfactory cash
reserve in their monthly balance-sheet. This practice is not
approved by the best authorities, for although it does no great
harm in quiet times, the banks who follow it might find it
difficult, or even impossible, to call in their loans in times of
severe stringency.
Authorities.—Walter Bagehot, Lombard Street (1873); Arthur Ellis, Rationale of Market Fluctuations; Robert Giffen, Stock Exchange Securities (1879); W. Stanley Jevons, Theory of Political Economy (2nd ed., 1879), pp. 91 seq., and Investigations in Currency and Finance; Henry Sidgwick, Principles of Political Economy, book ii. ch. ii.; Augustin Cournot, Theory of Wealth (1838), translated by Nathaniel T. Bacon; George Clare, A Money Market Primer and Key to the Exchanges; John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, book iii. ch. i.-vi.; John Shield Nicholson, Bankers’ Money; Hartley Withers, The Meaning of Money (1909). (W. Ho.)
MARKET BOSWORTH, a market town in the Bosworth
parliamentary division of Leicestershire, England; 105 m.
N.N.W. from London on a branch from Nuneaton of the London
& North Western and Midland railways, near the Ashby-de-la-Zouch
canal. Pop. (1901), 659. The church of St Peter is
Perpendicular, with a lofty tower and spire. At the grammar
school, founded in 1528, Dr Samuel Johnson was a master about
1732, but found the work unbearable. The trade of Market
Bosworth is principally agricultural, and there are brickworks.
Two miles south is the scene of the battle of Bosworth, in 1485,
where Richard III. fell before Henry earl of Richmond, who
thereupon assumed the crown as Henry VII.
MARKET DRAYTON, a market town in the Newport division
of Shropshire, England, on the river Tern and the Shropshire
Union canal, 178 m. N.W. from London. Pop. (civil parish of
Drayton-in-Hales, 1901), 5167. The Wellington-Crewe line of
the Great Western railway is here joined by a branch into
Staffordshire of the North Staffordshire railway. The church of
St Mary has Norman remains but is modernised by restoration.
The town is a centre of agricultural trade, and there are large
iron foundries. It is in the parish of Drayton-in-Hales, a name
sometimes applied to it; and it is also known as Drayton Magna.
It is an ancient town, of which the manor was held successively
by the abbots of St Ebrulph in Normandy and Combermere in
Cheshire. On Blore Heath, 3 m. east in Staffordshire, Audley
Cross marks a great battle in the Wars of the Roses (1459), in
which the Yorkists were successful and Lord Audley fell.
MARKET HARBOROUGH, a market town in the Harborough
parliamentary division of Leicestershire, England; on the river
Welland and the Grand Union Canal. Pop. of urban district
(1901), 7735. It is 81 m. N.N.W. from London by the Midland
railway, and is served by branches of the London & North
Western and Great Northern railways. The church of
St Dionysius is Decorated and Perpendicular, with a fine
tower and spire. The grammar school was founded in
1614; it occupies modern buildings, but the original house
remains, a picturesque half-timbered building, raised upon
pillars of wood. Both British and Roman remains have
been found in the vicinity. There are malt-houses and boot,
shoe and stay factories. The town is also an important
fox-hunting centre.
MARKHAM, SIR CLEMENTS ROBERT (1830– ), English
traveller, geographer and author, son of the Rev. David F. Markham,
canon of Windsor, and of Catherine, daughter of Sir W.
Milner, Bart., of Nunappleton, Yorkshire, was born on the 20th
of July 1830 at Stillingfleet, near York, and educated at Westminster
School. He entered the navy in 1844, became midshipman
in 1846, and passed for a lieutenant in 1851. In 1850–1851
he served on the Franklin search expedition in the Arctic regions,
under Captain Austin. He retired from the navy in 1852, and in
