We have dissected that complex machine, which is called the Money Market, and of which the Bank of England is the heart. As each unit is dependent upon the strength of the whole, no bank should be allowed to trade upon the credit of the rest, for obviously it cannot exist outside the system during a time of stress unless it possess an adequate reserve of cash. Therefore each unit ought to bear its fair share of the burden when the sun is shining, and, if it refuse, it should be made to take the consequences when the storm bursts. The closer our banking system is examined the stronger becomes the conviction that the interests of all the banks are identical, and that, therefore, if banking is to be conducted in this country with comparative safety, every bank should be compelled, either by the law of the land or by public opinion, to keep a fair reserve in legal tender against its liabilities. Further, the true interests of the banks are the same as those of the public--for the good business man is always a cautious man, and if he takes the trouble to study the risks to which a banking business is exposed, he will hardly care to place his money with a company unless it be well prepared to face those storms to which its environment peculiarly exposes it. Under our one reserve system the banks must either stand or fall together during a crisis. The system, therefore, requires the support of all; consequently, the duties or obligations of each bank should be clearly defined, and this can only be done by an Act of Parliament or by an understanding between the banks. The closer the banks draw together the safer is our system of banking. CHAPTER XVII. Bank Stock. When the trade of the country is prosperous, we expect to see banking companies paying high dividends, because rising prices stimulate borrowing on the part of the public; and, consequently, as the resources of the banks are limited, the increased demand for loanable capital sends up rates, with the result that distributions are enhanced, and that the prices of bank shares advance in sympathy with improving dividends. We all know that there is a link which binds industries together, and that a depression in one trade, if it prove lasting, must communicate itself to the rest. Nor is this movement confined to any one nation. Therefore, when we hear that a depression exists in Germany or in any other great manufacturing country, it is a matter for regret rather than otherwise, because the goods of that country are almost certain to be exported here in large quantities.