Turning now to the return of the Banking Department, the first item which appears is _Proprietors’ Capital_, which stands at the enormous figure of £14,553,000—enormous in itself, and enormous in comparison with the capitals of other and competing banks. From the original sum of £1,200,000 with which the Bank commenced business in 1694, the capital has gradually increased until it amounted to the present figure in 1816, since which year there has been no alteration. The _Rest_ in the Bank of England Return is an accumulation of undivided profits, and compares with the Reserve Funds of other banks. It now stands at about the same figure at which it stood in 1844; and it is never reduced below the sum of £3,000,000. The Bank has also a further reserve in the valuable asset of its premises in the City—the very finest site in London—no credit being taken for the value of this item. Taking the Proprietors’ Capital and Rest together, we see that the Bank has a total working capital of about seventeen and a half millions, which is far above that of any other Bank, both in amount and in proportion to liabilities. This large capital forms, of course, an element of great strength, but the profit which is earned is so spread out on such a sum, that the actual dividend paid is small in comparison with that of many ordinary joint-stock banks. The dividend paid during the last ten years has averaged 9½ per cent., having been at the rate of 10 per cent. since the end of 1896. The price of Bank Stock has fluctuated between 311 and 367 during the same ten years. _Public Deposits_ include the balances of the Exchequer, Savings Banks, Commissioners of the National Debt, and Dividend Accounts. This is a very variable item, and its fluctuations at certain seasons of the year have a marked effect on the Money Market. On the 14th of January, 1903, Public Deposits stood at just over eight millions, and on the 25th March, 1903, at over sixteen millions, this increase being due to the collection of taxes at this season of the year, which gradually sweeps away a portion of the balance of other banks, and draws a large sum from the pockets of the people. The increase of the balance of Public Deposits reaches a maximum about the end of March, when the collection of taxes comes to an end.