A SUPPLEMENT TO THE REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEE OF SECRECY: CONTAINING, I. A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE.SOUTH-SEA STOCK, COMMONLY CALL'D THE FICTITIOUS STOCK. II. A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE EXCEEDINGS OF THE RULES, MADE FOR REGULATING THE SEVERAL LOANS ON SOUTH-SEA STOCK. III. A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE NAMES OF SUCH PERSONS, TO WHOM LOANS HAVE BEEN MADE.

[South Sea Company]

Published by Printed for A. Moore, London, 1721

48pp. Folio. Modern green paper boards, printed label on front board. Minor wear to spine. Lightly foxed and stained, small hole to gutter margin of first three leaves. Very good. The results of the Parliamentary inquiry into the South Sea Company, after the "South Sea Bubble" nearly collapsed Britain's economy in 1720. The South Sea Company was a joint- stock company founded in 1711. Early on, it was granted a monopoly on the slave trade with the "South Seas" and Spanish colonies in the Americas. Despite the middling success of their first few voyages, King George I became governor of the company in 1718, dramatically boosting public confidence. Share values soared, and the company was employed to take on England's national debt. Speculation soon spiraled out of control, and the value of South Sea stock increased by nearly ten times in the first half of 1720 before falling to below previous levels just as quickly. The market collapsed as a result of the "South Sea Bubble" and great numbers of investors were completely ruined. A Parliamentary Committee of Secrecy was initiated to look into the events surrounding the disaster. The committee's task was no simple one; after the South Sea Company surrendered their books and records, the committee found that in some, "many false and fictitious entries were made; in others, entries with blanks; in others, entries with razures and alterations; and in others leaves were torn out." Regardless, their investigation, the results of which were printed in a variety of forms including the present work, uncovered rampant insider trading, political bribery, and financial gymnastics. This SUPPLEMENT is essentially a digest of the Committee's full report, printing the most salient resolutions and excerpts that tell the story of what they found. One of the more gnarled branches of this financial scheme was the use of stock to back itself - company money was used to deal in its own shares, and selected individuals purchasing shares were given cash loans backed by those same shares to spend on purchasing more shares. This supplement also prints a full list (to the best of the committee's knowledge) of those who received such loans, and for how much. While most of those involved got away unscathed, a few members of the South Sea Company and the House of Commons were thrown on the pyre; they were arrested and all assets earned over the two years prior were seized "to be applied for, and towards the relief of the unhappy sufferers in the South Sea Company, and for deterring all persons from committing the like wicked practices for time to come." SABIN 88204. KRESS 3443. ESTC T12347. Seller Inventory # WRCAM57243

Bibliographic Details

Title: A SUPPLEMENT TO THE REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEE...
Publisher: Printed for A. Moore, London
Publication Date: 1721