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<REVDESCR>
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<DATE>2014-04-10</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140222.apex.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B16611">
<STC T="W">A335aA</STC>
<STC T="G">712.m.1[30]</STC>
<STC T="G">1888.c.11[62a]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99893587</BIBNO>
<VID>189490</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc G712.m.1[30] --><!-- alt.stc G1888.c.11[62a] -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="account">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>An ACCOUNT of the OFFICE for Transferring &amp; Di&s;counting <HI>Land-Bills.</HI></HEAD>
<P>EXperience hath long &s;ince &s;hown, That the u&s;e of Bills, or Notes of Credit, is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary in great Commerce and Traffick; becau&s;e it makes Payments of Mony ea&s;ie, quick, and certain, by pre|venting the trouble and lo&s;s of Time in telling it over, and damage from Light and Counterfei<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">-Mony.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e great Lo&s;&s;es have happen'd here in <HI>England,</HI> from the In&s;olvency of &s;everal Per&s;ons that have given out Bills or Notes of Credit; therefore great <HI>Thoughts</HI> and <HI>Indu&s;try</HI> has of late Years been imploy'd, both by the Publick and Private Per&s;ons, in &s;etling Funds of Credit to prevent Lo&s;&s;es; All which Attempts have hitherto prov'd un&s;ucce&s;sful.</P>
<P>And yet, upon due Con&s;ideration it plainly appears, that both Publick Funds and Private Mens E&s;tates, <HI>without an Act of Parliament,</HI> are very capable of being &s;o Setled, as to make a certain Fund for Bills of Credit to pa&s;s in Payment as well as Ready-Mony. And therefore, the rea&s;on that &s;uch Attempts have not as yet prov'd &s;ucce&s;s|ful, mu&s;t be &s;olely from the want of Knowledge and Skill in the Managing &s;uch Funds of Credit; by rea&s;on, per|haps, that &s;ome Per&s;ons who had great &s;hare in the contriving of the Settlements of &s;uch Funds, had no part in the Management of them.</P>
<P>Upon the&s;e Con&s;iderations, and e&s;pecially from that of the more than ordinary Occa&s;ion for Bills of Credit at this time, &s;ince the Quantity of the Mony is greatly le&s;&s;en'd by the new-coinage of it. And, to the intent that &s;o U&s;eful a De&s;ign to the Publick, and of &s;o great an Advantage to the Nobility and Gentry; As the making the Lands of <HI>England</HI> a Fund for Bills of Credit, might not be lo&s;t, from the Di&s;couragement &s;ome Attempts of this nature have met with, for want of Succe&s;s; this <HI>Office for Transferring and Di&s;counting Land-Bills</HI> was formed, and &s;etled upon the Terms and Conditions herein expre&s;s'd.</P>
<P N="1">I. That the Ma&s;ters and Managers of the Office (to be cho&s;en as is herein expre&s;s'd) will provide proper Per&s;ons to accept the <HI>Tru&s;t,</HI> and to take the <HI>Conveyances</HI> of all <HI>Mannors, Lands, Rents, Tenements,</HI> and <HI>Heredita|ments,</HI> which the Owners thereof &s;hall de&s;ire to convey, pur&s;uant to the Settlement of the <HI>Office for Tran&s;|ferring and Di&s;counting Land-Bills,</HI> which is to this effect: That the Owners of the Lands may draw Bills of Credit on their E&s;tates, as far as Three Fourths of the Value; and that &s;uch Conveyances &s;hall be made in Tru&s;t, in the fir&s;t place, for payment of tho&s;e Per&s;ons to whom &s;uch Bills are a&s;&s;ign'd, and afterwards in Tru&s;t for the Owners of the Lands. The Conveyances are to be enter'd in the Books of the Office. The Fee for Convey|ing and Settling in the Office, is Twenty Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> of the Value of the E&s;tate, and Five Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> for entering the <HI>Conveyance</HI> in the Books of the Office, and Twelve-pence <HI>per</HI> Bill.</P>
<P N="2">II. That the <HI>Value</HI> of all <HI>E&s;tates</HI> may be the better known, upon which <HI>Bills</HI> are to be drawn not exceeding the <HI>Value</HI> of <HI>Three Fourths,</HI> the Rates are as followeth, <HI>viz. Ground-Rents in Fee,</HI> Two and twenty Years Purcha&s;e. <HI>Lands in Fee,</HI> Twenty Years Purcha&s;e. <HI>Hou&s;es in Fee,</HI> in&s;ur'd, Seventeen Years Purcha&s;e. <HI>Lea&s;ehold E&s;tates,</HI> ac|cording to the length of the Term. <HI>Ground-Rents</HI> of Sixty Years, with a Rever&s;ion of the Improvement, Eighteen Years Purcha&s;e. And &s;o in proportion for &s;horter Terms. <HI>Improv'd Rents,</HI> a term of Sixty Years and upwards, well Tenanted, Fourteen Years Purcha&s;e. Fifty and upwards, Thirteen. Forty and upwards, Twelve. Thirty and upwards, Eleven. Twenty and upwards, Ten; with the Allowance of a Years Purcha&s;e more or le&s;s, according to the <HI>Country, Place, Certainty of the Rent,</HI> and other circum&s;tances.</P>
<P N="3">III. That if any <HI>Difference</HI> &s;hould ari&s;e betwixt the <HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> and <HI>Managers</HI> of the <HI>Office,</HI> and the <HI>Owners</HI> of the <HI>Lands,</HI> about the <HI>Title</HI> or <HI>Value</HI> of any E&s;tate, 'tis to be determin'd by a Council of <HI>Seven,</HI> to be Yearly cho&s;en by the Owners of the Lands.</P>
<P N="4">IV. That after any E&s;tate has been Enter'd in the Office <HI>Six Months,</HI> and the <HI>Bills</HI> in the interim have been once A&s;&s;ign'd, that the <HI>Value</HI> of &s;uch Bills may be the better known and approv'd of; The Bills drawn on &s;uch E&s;tates, upon giving a Months Notice to the Office, and paying after the rate of Twenty Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> &s;hall be Di&s;|counted and Paid in Ready-Mony, by the Office, without any other Deduction than a <HI>Month's Intere&s;t,</HI> payable on &s;uch Bills; &s;o that &s;uch <HI>Intere&s;t</HI> be not le&s;s than Two-pence <HI>per diem.</HI></P>
<P N="5">V. That the Intere&s;t of the <HI>Bills</HI> is to be paid by the Office every <HI>Six Months,</HI> according to the Date of the Bill: And therefore every Per&s;on, upon <HI>Conveying</HI> and <HI>Entering</HI> his E&s;tate in the <HI>Office,</HI> is to depo&s;ite a <HI>Years In|tere&s;t;</HI> and al&s;o to pay to the <HI>Office</HI> the <HI>Intere&s;t</HI> every Half-year, <HI>Ten Days</HI> before it is due.</P>
<P N="6">VI. That all <HI>Bills</HI> are made A&s;&s;ignable and Transferrable only in the Books of the Office, wherein the Habita|tions of the Per&s;ons to whom the Bills are A&s;&s;ign'd are mention'd; There being no other way to prevent Counter|feiting of the Bills; Or to know where to &s;end for the Bills when any Per&s;on de&s;ires to call for them in, and di&s;|charge his E&s;tate; which the <HI>Office</HI> undertakes to procure upon a Months Notice, and to deliver to the Parties that have &s;uch Bills, <HI>Mony</HI> or <HI>Bills</HI> of the &s;ame Value, at the Election of the Parties. And after Notice left at their Abode, the <HI>Intere&s;t</HI> of the &s;aid Bills cea&s;es, till they bring them to the Office. The Fee for A&s;&s;igning of a Bill is <HI>One Shilling.</HI></P>
<P N="7">VII. That the Bills drawn on E&s;tates in Hou&s;es, may be of the &s;ame Value as Bills drawn on Land; the Hou&s;es, before they are Convey'd and Enter'd in the Office, are to be In&s;ur'd from Fire: And to that intent there is an Office for <HI>In&s;uring Hou&s;es from Fire,</HI> wherein &s;everal Hundreds of Hou&s;es are In&s;ur'd, annex'd to the <HI>Office for Transferring and Di&s;counting Land-Bills.</HI></P>
<P N="8">VIII. And that all Bills, after they have been Di&s;counted by the Office, may be of a more certain Value, there is Ten <HI>per Cent.</HI> of the Stock of the Office, and One <HI>per Cent.</HI> of the Value of all E&s;tates, Convey'd, (which is to be depo&s;ited at the time of Conveying and Entring the &s;aid E&s;tates) Appropriated, and made a <HI>Fund</HI> or <HI>Security</HI> to make good all Lo&s;&s;es, if any &s;hould happen, to &s;uch Bills. And to di&s;tingui&s;h them from other Bills, a Stamp of the Office is to be &s;et upon them, after they are Di&s;counted.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e the Care of Safely Lodging and Di&s;po&s;ing of Mony is not much le&s;s trouble&s;ome to &s;ome Per&s;ons, than the Care of Wanting to others; tho&s;e that lodge their Mony in the Office, &s;hall have Bills Di&s;counted by the Office A&s;&s;ign'd them, and their Mony repaid upon a Months Notice, without paying for their Di&s;counting. And if they A&s;&s;ign tho&s;e Bills to a third Per&s;on, they are to be allow'd Ten Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> by the Office.</P>
<P N="9">IX. That there may never be wanting in the Office a Sufficient Sum of Mony to Di&s;count the Bills, and to Reimbur&s;e the Stock of the Office; the Ma&s;ters and Managers of the Office are to call for in equally, <HI>Ten</HI> or more <HI>per Cent,</HI> of the Value of all the Bills drawn on E&s;tates Convey'd and Enter'd in the Office; for which Mony Bills are to be A&s;&s;ign'd; and after Six Months, upon a Months Notice, tho&s;e Bills are to be again Di&s;counted by
<PB REF="2"> the Office. And tho&s;e Per&s;ons as &s;hall refu&s;e or neglect to pay &s;uch Proportions of their Debt as &s;hall from time to time be call'd for, or neglect to pay their Intere&s;t, when due, the Ma&s;ters and Managers are to call for the whole Sum due on &s;uch E&s;tates: And after Six Months demand, and not paid, the Tru&s;tees are to &s;ell the E&s;tates, by the publick Sale of the Office.</P>
<P N="10">X. That it may be the Intere&s;t of the Owners of the Lands to a&s;&s;i&s;t and promote the Circulation of their Bills, by making their Payments by Bills of the Office; the Owners of the Lands are to be Sharers with the Office, in the Profit of the Di&s;count; that is, for every Hundred Pounds that the Owners of the Lands pay into the Office, they are to have Bills A&s;&s;ign'd them: And upon Rea&s;&s;igning the &s;aid Bills to a third Per&s;on, they are to be al|low'd Ten Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> by the Office.</P>
<P N="11">XI. That the Owners of the Lands, having a joint Intere&s;t with tho&s;e that are Sharers in the Office, to &s;up|port the Credit of the Land-Bills, have Power, by the Settlement, to hold General Courts, and make &s;uch <HI>Rules</HI> and <HI>Orders</HI> for the Advancing the Credit of their Bills, and promoting the Circulation of them, as they &s;hall from time to time think nece&s;&s;ary. And al&s;o chu&s;e Annually among their number Seven Per&s;ons, who are the Council of Appeals, and are to determine all Differences betwixt the Owners of the Land, and the Ma&s;ter and Managers of the Office, about the Title or Value of any <HI>E&s;tates</HI> Convey'd and Enter'd in the Office.</P>
<P N="12">XII. That the <HI>Stock</HI> of the Office is divided into Five hundred and Twenty Shares, each Share being <HI>Fifty Pounds,</HI> with a Power, by the Settlement, for the Owners of the <HI>Stock</HI> to enlarge it when they find Occa&s;ion. The <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">overn|ment of the St<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ck</HI> is by a Ma&s;ter and Ten Managers to be cho&s;en Yearly. But for the better e&s;tabli&s;hing of the Office, the Ma&s;ter is appointed by the Settlement, for the fir&s;t two Years: And every Per&s;on that has <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">es</HI> is to be one of the Managers for that time. And becau&s;e there is no pre&s;ent Occa&s;ion for Mony, Bills being not to be Di&s;counted by the Office till after Six Months; therefore there is only <HI>Five Pounds</HI> for each Share to be paid to the <HI>Ca&s;hire,</HI> at the Admi&s;&s;ion into the Office; And the re&s;t is to be paid when the Ma&s;ters and Managers &s;hall call for it.</P>
<P N="13">XIII. That there is a publick Sale to be appointed, once a Year, or oftener, by the Ma&s;ter and Managers of the Office, for the Selling of <HI>Lands</HI> and <HI>Hou&s;es;</HI> which will be found to be of great Advantage to the <HI>Owners of Lands,</HI> who are often forc'd to Sell their <HI>E&s;tates</HI> at <HI>&V;ndervalue,</HI> for want of Cu&s;tomers; And of as great Benefit to the Purcha&s;er, who is too often impos'd on in the <HI>Value</HI> of the <HI>E&s;tate.</HI> Whereas the <HI>Value</HI> of <HI>Lands</HI> Enter'd in the Office will be well known. The <HI>Fee</HI> for Selling <HI>E&s;tates</HI> is Ten Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> of the Value the <HI>E&s;tate</HI> is Sold for. And all <HI>E&s;tates</HI> Convey'd and Enter'd in the Office are to pay Ten Shillings <HI>per Cent.</HI> whenever they are Clea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">'d and Di&s;charg'd of the Office.</P>
<P>The&s;e are the Chief Conditions of the <HI>Settlement</HI> of the <HI>Office for Transferring and Di&s;counting Land-Bills.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Advantage</HI> to the <HI>Publick</HI> by this Office is; That by this <HI>Settlement</HI> the Lands of <HI>England</HI> are made a Fund for Bills of Credit; which makes &s;uch Bills undeniably certain, and will prevent Lo&s;&s;es: For the Per&s;on that draws the Bill, the <HI>E&s;tate,</HI> the <HI>Credit of the Office,</HI> and the <HI>Fund of In&s;urance,</HI> are all engaged for the Payment of the Mo|nies due on the Bills. And had this De&s;ign been &s;ooner thought of, it might have prevented the Lo&s;s of near <HI>Three Millions of Mony,</HI> which have been lo&s;t within the&s;e Thirty odd Years, being within the time &s;ince Gold&s;miths Notes have had a <HI>Credit.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Advantages</HI> to the Owners of the Lands are very great: They may have Mony on their <HI>E&s;tates,</HI> after the fir&s;t Charge of Entring them in the Office, as far as Three Fourths of the Value at Three <HI>per Cent.</HI> And if they make all their Payments by <HI>Bills</HI> in the Office, they may &s;ave that Intere&s;t. Be&s;ides, they may pay off and di&s;|charge any part of their Debt, at any time, without Notice: Which <HI>Single Conveniency</HI> will pre&s;erve many a Fa|mily from Ruin; for, by tho&s;e Whole&s;ale Mortgages, the Mony being all to be paid together, and being too great a Sum to be ea&s;ily borrow'd, the Owners of the Lands are too often foreclo&s;ed of the Equity of Redemption, and lo&s;e One Fourth Part of the Value of their <HI>E&s;tates.</HI></P>
<P>But by this <HI>Settlement</HI> of the <HI>Office</HI> the <HI>Lands</HI> there Convey'd and Enter'd are as good as Ready-Mony; for tho' no <HI>Bills</HI> are to be Di&s;counted by the Office till after Six Months; That does not le&s;&s;en the Value of the Bills, be|cau&s;e they may be A&s;&s;igned in the Interim, and will be accepted and taken, if they are of Value, according to the Settlement: And if they are not of &s;uch Value, they ought not to be Di&s;counted by the Office. And as to the Charge of One <HI>per Cent.</HI> for Di&s;counting them, that cannot prejudice the Value of the Bills; for the Intere&s;t of the Bills may, for the mo&s;t part, pay it: But if not, the Bills cannot be reckon'd wor&s;e than &s;o many Guineas; for they change their Value <HI>Two-pence</HI> or <HI>Three-pence</HI> a Guinea once or twice a Year, in the mo&s;t &s;etled times of Payment, and yet no man refu&s;eth them; becau&s;e there may be a Lo&s;s of One <HI>per Cent.</HI> by taking them; nor are the Bills the wor&s;e becau&s;e they are not to be Di&s;counted without a Months Notice, becau&s;e, in all Dealings, Pay|ments within a Month are reckon'd as Ready-Mony.</P>
<P>It is not de&s;ign'd by this Office, to make the&s;e <HI>Land-Bills</HI> better than <HI>Ready-Mony;</HI> for if it were po&s;&s;ible to manage Funds of Credit, which are not Mony, by Bills with Intere&s;t, all <HI>Payable on Demand,</HI> and to make the Payments in Mony certain, &s;uch Bills were better than Ready-Mony; becau&s;e of the Intere&s;t of the Bills, which Ready Mony does not produce. But, how can tho&s;e Payments be made certain, when it is uncertain what will be demanded? Unle&s;s the whole Mony owing lay in a Che&s;t, or the Directors or Managers had <HI>Midas</HI>'s Power, that whatever they touch'd, they could turn into Gold.</P>
<P>But &s;uch a Power the Ma&s;ters and Managers of this Office do not expect, and therefore have placed the Belief of the punctual Payments of their Bills upon this Probability: That having always a Month's Notice of what they are to Pay, they may the better provide to comply with their Payments, e&s;pecially when it is in their Power to call for <HI>Ten</HI> or more <HI>per Cent.</HI> of their <HI>Bills,</HI> whenever the Office wants <HI>Mony;</HI> And when it is the joint Inte|re&s;t of the Owners of Lands, as well as of the Office, to &s;upport the Credit of their Bills; And &s;o ea&s;ie for the Owners of the Lands to comply with the Occa&s;ions of the Office; becau&s;e, if they have not Mony, having Bills, which are real Security, A&s;&s;ign'd them, they may ea&s;ily borrow it; and much ea&s;ier borrow Part, than the Whole&punc; which in all other Mortgages they are forc'd to do whenever the Mony is call'd for; and e&s;pecially &s;ince tho&s;e Bills are again to be Repaid and Di&s;counted by the Office, after Six Months, upon a Months Notice. For the&s;e Rea&s;ons it is very probable the Office can never want Mony to Di&s;count their Bills.</P>
<P>And &s;ince by this Account of the Office the Directors and Managers of other Funds may &s;eem to be reflect|ed on, by &s;aying, <HI>That the want of Succe&s;s was for want of Skill in Management;</HI> if any Di&s;plea&s;ure &s;hould from thence ari&s;e, to cau&s;e &s;ome Retaliation: It is hoped that it is out of the Power of Anger or Revenge to le&s;&s;en the Va|lue of the&s;e <HI>Land-Bills.</HI> And as to the Punctual Payment of them, the Ma&s;ter and Managers will be content to fall under the Severe&s;t Cen&s;ure, whenever any Per&s;on comes twice to the Office for his <HI>Mony,</HI> after once his <HI>Bills</HI> are due.</P>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<P>&rindx; The Office for Transferring and Di&s;counting Land-Bills, <HI>is kept by the Hercules-Pillars in Fleet&s;treet, near Temple-bar.</HI> Together with the Office for In&s;uring Hou&s;es from Fire.</P>
</DIV1>
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