Finally, some banks, we know, issue pass-books to their depositors instead of receipts. It sometimes happens that, at a depositor’s death, the book is with the banker. Unless, therefore, his own people chance to know that he had a deposit account, all traces of its existence are obliterated, for the banker, who has the book in his possession, is not compelled to give any notice. After the publication of one of my books my publisher received a letter from a lady complaining bitterly that a certain bank had treated a kinswoman of hers in this manner. Should the relations of a deceased man or woman have reason to suspect that money has been saved and placed somewhere, they should go to every bank in the town where the deceased resided and inquire whether any sums are standing to his credit in the books of the banks. Their application cannot be refused, and the result may possibly be somewhat surprising, while they will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that their kinsman’s savings are not being devoted by the banks to their own use. As the law now stands, a deceased customer’s balance is, to a certain extent, at the mercy of his banker; but whether these unclaimed balances would in the aggregate amount to the huge total at which some people are disposed to estimate them is rather doubtful. That the law urgently requires amending cannot, however, for a moment be questioned, for persons whose own interests conflict with those of the public can seldom be trusted to judge impartially; and it is quite evident that directors, who are imbued with the commercial instinct, are not exceptions to the rule. The aggregate, no doubt, would be represented by a large sum, but the public, where money is concerned, generally looks pretty smartly after it, so one would imagine that this total would consist principally of numerous small balances, and that large windfalls must be few and far between. These so-called “unclaimed” balances are, we have seen, in reality _unpublished_ balances, and steps certainly ought to be taken to compel the joint-stock banks to advertise in certain London and local papers the names and last known addresses of those individuals in whose names sums of moneys, in excess of say £5, have been standing intact in their books for any period in excess of five years. The banks might also be made to hang a list of these names in a conspicuous part of their offices, so that those who are entitled to these sums should at least have an opportunity of claiming them. Were the companies compelled to adopt this course, we should hear very little more of unclaimed balances, for the thought of publicity would be distasteful to them, and they would immediately take steps to put themselves in communication with either the customers or their kinsfolk. One would think, too, that the Government had a better claim to these balances than the banks. Mr. Asquith, for instance, might find them useful as a basis for his old-age pension scheme!