The customer naturally does not see why he should pay a rate upon £4,000 which he has not wanted, and which, in reality, the banker has not lent, though he has created credit in his own books to that extent by two simple entries on the debit and credit side of his ledgers. Assuming that no commission was charged on the loan, £60 a half-year seems a large sum to pay him for working an account, especially as most of his rivals will bid against him for a well-secured loan. The customer, therefore, should insist upon receiving the same rate upon his daily creditor current-account balances as he is paying upon his loan, and if he consider that his banker is entitled to a commission for working his account, then he can arrange for a fair nominal charge, but he may succeed in getting it worked free. Again, when his current account is largely in credit, he can transfer a certain sum therefrom to his loan account, and, by moving balances from the one to the other, as occasion may arise, save himself an appreciable sum in the shape of interest; but he may be too busy to adopt this course, and it is evident that the first suggestion, which is better adapted to his wants, will save him both time and money. Naturally the banker will object, but the client will make it his business to endeavour to overcome such opposition, which will be either strong or weak in proportion to the nature of his cover and the desirability of retaining his account. We next come to the rate a borrower should pay upon a well-secured loan or advance, and here, again, we may touch upon a distinction between London and country banking. A banker, like any other dealer, adapts his business to his surroundings, but in a great city like London he is practically compelled to specialize more or less, and but little money is lent in the City upon mortgage, whereas overdrafts are granted freely in the country against the deeds of house property. Of course there are exceptions; and certain well-known firms, whose credit is beyond question, may not even be asked for any security when they borrow at certain times of the year, but they soon would be if the loan began to assume a permanent character; for though a banker may be willing to advance to an influential and reputable firm without cover just at those seasons when demand upon it is heaviest, he assumes that such assistance will only be required temporarily, and would instantly become nervous should it appear from his books that the firm was slower than usual in reducing the loan, whilst immediately he perceived that a certain amount of it threatened to take the form of a permanent advance he would ask for security.