Ambiguity is not the dominant note in this balance-sheet. We can see at a glance that the bank is well prepared to pay off a large proportion of its indebtedness on demand, for it holds £15 in cash against every £100 it owes. Money at call and notice (short loans to the bill-brokers and stockbrokers), which is much less liquid than cash, is stated separately, and its list of investments consists entirely of British Government securities. Moreover, we are told at what price they have been taken. The balance-sheet, though not perfect, is clear and informing; but a company that holds £4,000,000 of Consols at 90 would not be so foolish as to hide its financial light under a bushel; so when a bank modestly refers to “Consols and other securities” we may be quite sure that its holding of Consols is either remarkably small or else that its directors are exceedingly stupid. It is more probable, however, that they are astute gentlemen who reason that the luminosity of a farthing dip might call forth smiles of wonder and amazement were it allowed to shed its radiance and waste its fragrance outside the bushel. The bank we are discussing, then, held £56·2 of cash, call money and gilt-edged securities in reserve against each £100 of its liabilities to the public; and such a bank, it need not be said, is splendidly prepared to protect the balances of its depositors and the interests of its members. As a matter of fact, the real interests of both are identical; for if a bank neglects to keep an adequate reserve of cash and securities it exposes its customers to the risk of loss and inconvenience through its stoppage during a run or a panic; as, should the bank suspend payment, the customers must either suspend too, or find another banker, while its shareholders might lose all their capital and also be called upon to make good any deficit. Obviously, then, the bank which holds £56 in liquid assets to each £100 it owes is the one with which to do business. The shares of this bank return about 4½ per cent. at the present market price; and seeing that the company has minimized the risks of its members its shares will be chosen in preference to those of the institution which has accumulated a somewhat doubtful reserve of liquid assets which works out at a ratio per cent. to its liabilities of only £17·9.