The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-04-04

larger quantities than usual in order
to replenish tills after the reduction
in the amounts held on the previous
Saturday, whilst on Fridays, also, the
Withdrawals are above the average to
meet the demands occasioned by
weekly payments, such as wages,
etc.
The increased total at the close of
each quarter is occasioned by with
drawals to meet payments due on the
four quarter days, Lady day, midsum-
mer, Michaelmas and Christmas.
The large total at the beginning of
August-of late years generally the
maximum for the year-is due to with
drawals for holiday and harvest pur-
poses. whilst the low figures which
usually occur in the middle of Feb
ruary may be attributed to the ab-
sence Of any holiday demand and to
the fact that reaction after Christmas,
coupled with the comparative absence
of visitors to London, causes the re-
tail trade to be less active than in
the second and fourth quarters.
The conferences brought out the
fact that the Bank of England, con-
trary to most banking institutions, is
organized upon the principle of "One
man, one VOTE" instead of giving
votes to shareholders in proportion
to their stock holdings. 1t is neces-
sary. however, for proprietor, as
shareholders are called to have $500
of stock in order to have vote. and
as the stock is quoted at about 267
the market value of the amount re-
quired to give vote is about $500.
There is no limit to the number of
shares which may be held by any one
person, but added holdings do not
give increased voting power. There
are at present about 10000 proprie-
tors, and they are authorized to elect
the governor and directors and to
make bylaws for the conduct of the
bank, provided the bylaws are not
repugnant to the laws of the king
dom. The chief legal restriction upon
the character of the directorate is that
they must be "natural-born subjects
of England or naturalized," but in
actual practice the selection is confin-
ed to those who are or have been
members of merchantile or financial
houses. excluding bankers, brokers,
bill discounters. or directors of other
banks operating in the United King
dom. There is no inspection or act
ual supervision by the government.
but the bank is required to furnish
weekly statements of its position. AL
though the bank exercises great power
over the London money market, it's
branches are limited to 11-2 in Lon.
don and in the provinces.
Discount Not Specially.
The Bank of England does not
make such a speciality of discounting
bills for small amounts as is the case
at the Bank of France and the I'M
perial Bank of Germany. The aver
age period of maturity of bills Gis-
counted is from forty to fifty days,
but upon the average their size was
estimated by the officers at about L.
600. pounds. Two British names are
required upon bill discounted, one
of which must be the acceptor. and
four months is fixed as the maximum
maturity except in few cases. where
six months are allowed. The various
classes of marketable securities quot
ed on the London stock exchange.
with the exception of mining shares,
are accepted. and also. with discretion
good securities which are not so quot
ed. when their value can be ascer-
tanned.
All the large London banks. most
of the Scotch, and some of the Irish
banks have accounts with the Bank
of England. Provincial English banks
and branches of London banks in
towns where the Bank of England
has branches have local accounts
with the bank. The relation of the
joint stock banks to the Bank of Eng
land was discussed very candidly with
members of the commission by Sir
Felix Schuster. Bart, governor of the
Union of London and Smiths bank.
1t was pointed out that the joint stock
banks did not lean quite so much up
on the central bank as was the case
on the continent. but that they kept
their cash balances at the Bank of
England and would look to it in case
of emergency. Discussing the actual
position of the Bank of England at
the center of the system, Sir Felix
made these observations:
"The Bank of England is the central
reservoir of the whole banking sys-
tenn of the United Kingdom. Through
their holding the balances of the joint
stock banks. of the clearinghouse
banks. and the government balances,
of course they have obtained very
great power. and they can control the
market by Withholding advances. by
fixing their rates, by borrowing from
the market when they feel inclined
to do So Practically they have the
whole control of the money market
in their hands, and they are also in
touch with general movements that
are taking place. They can Judge
better than anybody else from the
state of the balances of the joint stock
banks how trade is in the country,
whether there is large demand for
whether those balances show
a tndency to shrink, or whether they
show tendency to accumulate. =
1t is generally assumed that in
times/of trouble it is the duty of the
Bank of England to grant accommo-
dation to solvent parties who have
good security to offer. The Bank of
does not openly acknowledge
such Il duty. which has never been Of