to be repaid in gold; and realising this as a banker, may be less obdurate than his predecessors. But it would not be wise to expect much from Downing Street: if the thing is to be done we must do it ourselves. That a solution of the question is supremely necessary I am convinced, however great the initial difficulties may be; and that it is not beyond attainment if the best energies and the best brains of the banking community be devoted to it, I am also persuaded. Mr. R. H. Inglis Palgrave gives in his new book, _Bank Rate and the Money Market_—a book which every banker should possess and read—page 104, the following table:— Proportion per cent. of Capital, Deposits, Average Reserve, Reserve at and Circulation. Bank of England. Bank to Liability as of all Banks to the Public. 1872 £584,000,000 £12,100,000 2·06 Deposits, Current Accounts and Circulation of all Banks publishing accounts in the United Kingdom were:— 1894 £721,400,000 £25,800,000 3·58 1895 794,600,000 29,900,000 3·75 1896 797,700,000 34,600,000 4·33 1897 816,400,000 25,100,000 3·07 1898 838,300,000 22,900,000 2·73 1899 869,300,000 21,200,000 2·44 1900 889,600,000 21,400,000 2·41 1901 888,100,000 24,046,000 2·71 [5]1902 904,100,000 24,166,000 2·67 [Footnote 5: _Banker’s Magazine._]