As there is no currency system anywhere in the civilized world so crude and inadequate as that of the United States, it is unnecessary to say that London jobbers and brokers experience none of the difficulties with money markets that occur periodically on this side. The carry-over on the other side of the water is frequently a matter involving immense sums of money, but rates fluctuate normally and are in large measures governed by automatic processes both simple and sane. Perhaps the less said about similar conditions here the better. The spectacle presented by strong and solvent houses ransacking the street for funds secured by prime collateral and bidding 25, 50, and even 100 per cent. for accommodation--something that has occurred within the last decade and may conceivably occur again--is one upon which the candid American observer does not care to dwell; such a man may well look with longing and envy to London, where capital, credit, and currency are so firmly established that the Bank of England dominates and controls all the money markets and gold movements of the world, lending freely at home and abroad whenever funds are needed, and acting as a civilizing force in supplying with British funds the commercial needs of all new countries. In this connection we may point out the method of borrowing from the banks the funds required to carry speculative commitments in London. It was formerly the practice for the banks to lend large sums to brokers, who employed the money inside the house in carrying over the accounts of their clients. This class of business is still large, but nowadays clients are not always satisfied to borrow through brokers, and not infrequently they go direct to the banks and borrow from them. This has the effect of disguising the real character of the business. To all appearances the securities have been bought and paid for, and the trade seems to be an investment, but the client has, as a matter of fact, “pawned” the security with a bank. This practice is inconvenient in a way, because where the jobbers in important markets formerly compared notes at each settlement and were thus enabled to form a pretty good idea of the condition of the speculative account, it is less easy to do so nowadays, when so many clients carry on their own borrowing. A similar tendency on the part of the public is noticeable in New York, although, of course, the daily settlement on this side obviates the necessity for arriving at conclusions in advance as to the requirements of funds.