Why "-Bills" are so caMed.

Manawatu Herald, 27 April 1895, Page 2

Why "-Bills" are so caMed.

..From the reign of Henry I, down to the period of the establishment of the. Bank of England, the legal tender money of England was fabricated out of wood. This in* strument was called an exchange tally, and, by virtue of it, the holder was entitled to receive from the Crown the value indicated, thereon, It really consisted of onethalf of ft four-sided rod or staff, on which when in its entire state, the sum it purported to represent was OftrVed in transverse notches, varying in width for thousands, hundreds, scores, pounds, shillings and pence. These signs were for the unlearned. For the Advantage of those who could read, the sum was written in ink on two opposite sides of the staff. Finally, with knife and mallet, the staff itself was split in two, longitudinally. One half, .., called the tally, or cheque (now written check), was given to the person ior whose service it was intended ; the other half, called the counter tally, was laid up for safe keeping until its corresponding tally should be brought

In by the person giving last value for it. Its intrinsic value was, of course, only that of the piece of wood of which it was composed, but, by representation, it denoted large sums. It was the current token of realinoney, and served actually to I^JmfSbute it from man to man by ' this exchange. From this primitive tally was derived the Exchequer bill, first introduced in 1696, by Mr Montague, the Qljapcellor o f the English Exchequer. The word " bill " was, no doubt, derived from the old French " bille," which means a short length of wood, or " staff." Bank postbills and bills of exchange in our own day came from the same wooden base. Soldiers in England are still said to be "billeted," because formerly they tendered wooden " billes," or tallies, to the victuallers upon whom they were quartered. In olden times officers of the army who were taken into the King's own pay were said to be put on the staff, that is, they, were paid with. Exchequer tallies, or wooden money, issued by tUe King.— N-Y. Recorder.