ABSTRACT
In 1837 Colonel Robert Torrens had put forward a proposal to separate the Bank of England into two departments. He followed Ricardo on wanting, eventually to go one step further and ‘to withdraw the right of issue from the Bank altogether’. He was supported by two fellow members of the Currency School, Loyd and Norman. A new Parliamentary Committee was set up in 1839 but when Parliament was dissolved in 1841 it simply published the evidence without a report. Peel, in opposition, had been a member of the committee but did not attend for any of the evidence given by Tooke, the only representative of the Banking School.
