Chapter 378: Underwriters of Treasury Bonds

Chapter 375 Underwriters of the National Debt

“Arthur, let me introduce you to Mr. Francis Thornhill Baring, a member of the House of Commons and the present chairman of the Committee on Public Works.”

In a small cafe on Oxford Street, Arthur looked at the gentleman in front of him, who possessed an amiable smile at such a young age that even his hairline had grown rather out of place, and took off his gloves to shake the other man’s hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Balin. Although this is the first time I’ve met you, I’ve been using your family’s products for many years.”

Amused by Arthur’s joke, Balin spoke, “It’s always a pleasure to be recognized by a customer, and if you hadn’t opened your mouth to ask for additional public debt, I’m sure I would have been happy to keep you for dinner.”

Baring, for a 19th century Englishman, was a surname that could not be gotten around from birth.

Whether you’re happy about it or not, you’re always going to use the family’s products in your life.

The reason for this was simple: they owned a bank, and they did it very well, and they had the right to issue banknotes in England.

Of course, unlike those little banks in the nooks and crannies, the Bank of Bahrain’s reputation is strong enough to make it even more popular than the banknotes issued by the Bank of England.

If there is any banker in the City of London who dares to take on the Rothschilds on the same stage, the first person who will come to mind will definitely be the gentleman’s brother in front of him – Alexander Baring.

Just like the Rothschild family’s history, the founder of the Rothschild family, Meyer Rothschild, started out as a small antique dealer in Frankfurt.

Of course, the Baring family only ran a bank, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have interests in other industries.

As the bankers with the largest liquidity in the United Kingdom and good relations with many countries, the Baring family has long been in control of the lifeblood of the transatlantic trade between the United Kingdom and the United States through the provision of liquidity loans.

And it’s not just Britons who believe in their credibility, even their arch-rivals across the Channel, the French, and Britain’s North American inverted sons, recognize the might of the Baring Bank.

Although these actions once incurred a cabinet investigation and domestic public opinion accusations, but this group was labeled as a traitor to the French Bahraini ultimately passed the financial review of the Parliament on all fours.

When the Americans purchased Louisiana land from France, the transaction was brokered by the Baring Bank. They provided millions of dollars worth of financing to the Americans, and then in the end, after charging a 12.5% fee for their services, they credited Napoleon with the $10 million that the Americans used to purchase the land.

Salomon, the second, came to Vienna to open up business for Roche in the Austrian Empire.

And the British, Austrian, and Prussian delegates at the Congress of Vienna agreed that without the Bank of Bahrain’s guarantee for the French government, the treaty on the negotiating table was almost as good as scrap paper.

And they had an advantage that the Rothschilds could hardly beat – they were not Jews, but Germans who had immigrated to England from Hamburg in the early 18th century.

For his part, the oldest, Nathan, had made a name for himself in London, becoming by far the strongest of the Rothschilds.

The founder of the Baring family, Johanna Baring, on the other hand, was a Hamburger backslider who sold cheap linen from the German countryside to Britain, and then sold cheap wool from Britain to Germany.

Not only did Tomfamen not affect the British cabinet’s trust in them as usual, it even allowed them to reap the high praise of the French.

Because of this, after the failure of Napoleon’s restoration, the Bank of Bahrain and logically to the huge war reparations can not get France to provide a huge amount of loan business.

The oldest four Karl came to Naples in the Apennine Peninsula and turned his hand to the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

At that time, the French negotiator, Mr. Talleyrand, even declared, “This loan provided by the Bank of Bahrain is a strong guarantee of peace in Europe.”

More than that, they even became the largest underwriter of British treasury bonds during the Napoleonic Wars.

Each of the elder Rothschild’s five sons ran a branch of the family.

The oldest, Amschel, stayed in his hometown of Frankfurt to sit in charge.

And so it was that the Baringers not only reaped goodwill with this payout loan, but also took advantage of the opportunity to make a whopping £720,000 profit.

In response, the Frenchman could only sigh, “Today in Europe there are six great powers: England, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia and the Baring’s.”

And the two old German men had one thing in common: they had some good sons.

The oldest, James, is one of the favorites of the current French king, Louis-Philippe, and the Paris branch of Rothschild is the most important financial tool to maintain his rule.

As for the Bahraini side, naturally, it is no less important.

John, the eldest son, aspires to a career in politics, while Francis, the second, has shown an amazing talent for business activities.

With the accumulation of his father’s generation, Francis started from a variety of industries such as dyes, rouge, diamonds, etc. And in the process of operating the real industry, Francis discovered the importance of financing and decisively began to go from real to virtual.

He established the first private commercial bank in the history of the world, John and Francis Baring & Co. in 1763, despite opposition from within the family.

And because of his good relationship with the then Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, he secured a position for the family as manager of the East India Company. With the Prime Minister’s support, the Bank of Bahrain began to expand its business network significantly.

But as with all boring family fortunes, after having money, the guys always wanted to get some power in politics as well.

But unlike the Rothschilds, who repeatedly hit the wall, Bahrain, because they didn’t have the baggage of the Jews, just had to take care of the money.

And this Mr. Francis Thornhill Baring in front of Arthur is the biggest culmination of the Baring family in the political arena. And the cost of the Bahraini family getting this parliamentary seat, apart from some day-to-day interactions at the human level, the rest is just a paltry three thousand pounds.

In Arthur’s opinion, the price, shall we say or not, was indeed quite cheap, almost catching up with Disraeli.

And he finally understood why Disraeli was so anxious for him to meet with Balin.

As long as the Baring family was taken care of as the largest underwriter of the British bonds, then it would be the same as getting things halfway done.

Moreover, Arthur felt that Bahrain should have no reason to hinder the issuance of this bond, after all, as underwriters, the more they issue, the more money they make, isn’t it?

Of course, there is also a premise for all the problems, that is, not to issue so much that the British government can’t afford to pay it back.

The group casually found a corner to take a seat, Arthur took off his hat and pretended to be relaxed and asked with a smile. “Benjamin, you summoned me over in such a hurry, I thought it was some kind of formal meeting with the Central Health Committee and the Public Works Construction Committee? So it’s just a private chat among friends?”

Disraeli corrected with a sniff, “Arthur, haven’t you ever heard that saying? Big things are held in small meetings, and small things are held in big meetings. Real decisions are made under the table, and if you wait until it’s public to find out what’s going on, it’s already too late. What’s on the surface is just going through the motions.”

Balin pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it, “Aren’t Russell and Dr. Barry here yet? We may not be able to get things going on the Board of Health side if they’re not here.”

Hearing this, Arthur suddenly turned his gaze to Disraeli, and soon, he saw Disraeli nod slightly.

In response to his movement, Arthur just returned a smile.

He already understood, it seemed that Bahrain had long since ceased to pose a problem here, and the real problem would have to depend on the latest report from the health committee’s side.

As expected, Bahrain had just put his pocket watch back into his pocket when he spoke.

“Let’s be blunt, Mr. Hastings. Personally, I’ve actually always been in favor of having to refurbish the major cities of the country, not just Liverpool, but Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, and London should be included in that category as well.

In recent years, due to the rapid expansion of cities and the influx of people, the level of filth in cities has increased almost exponentially. And those narrow, dirty streets can not only be a breeding ground for disease, but also add a lot of enforcement headaches for police officers like you.

Since I became Chairman of the Committee, I have been looking at past reports. The report from the London Borough Survey and Statistics Office, now known as the London Police Intelligence Service (LPIS), which is under your purview, is very forward-looking.

According to the statistics you submitted, violent crime and assaults on police officers are far more likely to occur in narrow streets than in normal areas. If we could address this issue, it would certainly help to reduce the loss of public property due to crime.

It was only at that time that my initiative to revitalize the area was rejected by the House of Commons as being too costly. At that time, MPs were of the opinion that the cost of remodeling the urban areas was far higher than recruiting a few more policemen. But the situation has clearly changed.

The transformation of urban areas is no longer only related to the reduction of the crime rate, but is also a necessary means to effectively prevent the occurrence of cholera. I don’t want you to laugh, but in fact, according to the cases reported by the Central Board of Health, the government’s plan to try to keep cholera out of the English Channel through customs and quarantine isolation under the Isolation Act of 1825 is practically bankrupt.”

Although Arthur had guessed it before, hearing the bankruptcy news from Baring still made him feel quite a bit funny.

After all, the Parliament’s tough isolation control had only been in place for a little over a month, and even if they had to surrender to the trade volume that couldn’t stop the decline, this was a little too fast.

Arthur asked, “What do you mean? Segregation control is going to be lifted?”

“That is not true. After all, both the government and the parliament are divided right now, so segregation measures should still be in place, but the standards will definitely be drastically lowered.”

Disraeli picked up, “The danger of cholera can’t be ignored, but most of the parliamentarians think that at least we’re still alive, so there shouldn’t be any need to amputate limbs. And now public opinion is really radical in its attack on cholera control, and if we continue to isolate it like this, the loss of revenue paired with the huge increase in public health spending, my God, this year’s fiscal deficit is going to break through the sky.”

Arthur stirred his coffee cup with a spoon, more concerned about how it was going to be implemented than the high-minded rhetoric of the councilors.

“So how far will the deregulation go?”

“Not sure about the rest of the world at the moment, but a draft of the new controls for London has already been drawn up.”

Balin spoke up, “Ships arriving in London will remain at Sandgate Bay, Telford, on the south bank of the Thames, for ten days, during which time the authorities will send a doctor on board to instruct on cleanliness and hygiene regulations, and for the last three days of the quarantine period the ships will be opened under supervision, the spaces between decks will be ventilated, and all crew members’ clothing and linen will be washed and dried. ”

Arthur heard this and took a sip of his coffee, “It does sound much softer than before. The traders will be happy that the quarantine is only for 10 days.”

Disraeli waved his hand, “In fact, the council is still criticizing the latest policy as being on the conservative side, and many are advocating for the quarantine period to be lowered to five days. After all, cholera usually develops quickly, and five days is more than enough time to screen sailors for the disease or not.”

A few people were chatting away when suddenly, the tinkling wind chime rang out.

Immediately afterward, they saw two middle-aged gentlemen with haggard faces push open the door of the café and walk towards them.

Those were none other than the two medical members of the Central Health Committee: William Russell and David Barry.

As early as last year, these two doctors had been selected by the British government as medical experts to go to St. Petersburg to study the cholera pandemic that had occurred in Russia, and to learn from the experience and lessons of the Russians in preventing and controlling the disease.

But now it seems clear that they were either not very successful, or they were actually very successful in what they learned, except that what worked in Russia could not be transferred wholesale to Britain.

The newspapers were full of the famous words of Paulette Thompson, M.P., in the House of Commons-that if the compulsory preventive recommendations were shown to any English gentleman, the Englishman, in view of his traditional habits, would submit to these rules for a week at the most.

It was after this wave of public opinion that the Central Board of Health officially collapsed a few days ago, and in the reorganized Board the isolation-control faction, led by Drs. Russell and Barry, is comprehensively out of power.

Not only that, but most of the councillors were kicked out by the committee, and a large number of doctors who had practiced on the front line took their place.

The newly appointed chairman of the committee, Edward Stewart, on the other hand, advocated that anti-cholera measures should be formulated in accordance with the principles of avoiding conflict, respecting the rights of citizens, and guaranteeing the stability of society and its own structure.

The Sanitary Commission also declared that “the coercive measures generally practiced on the European continent are the source of all evils, and that interactions which may endanger the lives of others can be avoided by proceeding from the competence of the medical profession, supplemented by practical measures, and relying on good judgment and emotional as well as moral support. In most cases, provided the proper regulations of cleanliness and ventilation are observed, and the environment is kept hygienic and good, cholera will seldom spread within the family, unless it has some special predisposition to do so.”

The fact that the committee made such an almost one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn is also a good indication of the extent of the internal differences of opinion and the intensity of the struggle.

And it was also evident from this dying look on the faces of Dr. Russell and Dr. Barry that the two of them should have been really screwed up lately.

Bahrain looked at the haggard appearance of the two doctors and opened his mouth to suggest, “Why don’t you two have a cup of tea first?”

Russell covered his mouth with one hand as if he was dry-heaving a little, “Thank you for your concern, Mr. Balin. But we can’t swallow anything right now, and if I must have something to eat, why don’t you go and cook the gang from the Board of Health for me.”

Barry’s hair was wet as he sat down and let out a long breath, “You don’t know, it’s like hell inside the committee right now. I’ll bet you that the cholera cases will absolutely explode as soon as the controls are deregulated.”

Disraeli couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when he heard this, “But what about it? Dr. Barry, do you know to what extent the finances are already strained?”

Barry said helplessly, “Of course I know about the difficulties, but this is not caused by isolation, but due to the debt owed in the field of public health for so many years before. Mr. Disraeli, let me give you an example. According to the Leeds Local Health Board report, there is a large local compound of 34 houses containing 57 rooms and 340 inhabitants, but there are neither paved roads nor sewers repaired there. Just in the past month, we have hauled 75 loads of feces from 32 of these houses. And before that, the feces hadn’t been cleaned for 30 years.”

Russell complained, “What is this? This is not a bad situation in Leeds. The Edinburgh Board of Health report that they’ve just spent £280 on employing over 30 scavengers to do a complete sweep of the streets and cul-de-sacs of the Old Town, resulting in a total of over 3,000 cartloads of filthy garbage being removed from houses, basements, and open spaces. In this case, I’ll be damned if there isn’t an outbreak of cholera! God knows what they are usually doing, usually do not pay attention to the management of public health, and then when the cholera outbreak occurs, they want to blame the quarantine measures are too tight, is it the fault of us, the professional doctors?”

(End of chapter)