On the other hand, so long as Government does keep its balances at the Bank of England, it cannot afford to allow the Bank to fail, even were there the risk of it doing so. But holders of Bank stock, like the holders of shares in any other bank, would be paid last should the Bank be wound up, however remote a possibility that may be; and seeing that their capital is not a prior charge upon the assets of the Bank, and that, therefore, £100 of stock is worth £326 only so long as the Bank of England is a going concern, it is difficult to see why Bank stock should be considered a desirable holding for trustees. It seems to me that, valuable though the security undoubtedly is, it does not possess a single one of those characteristics which should distinguish a "trustee" stock, for dividends are fluctuating, and capital is a _last_ charge on the assets of the Bank. In fact, the stock is a kind of guarantee to the customers--and a splendid guarantee too, for it is the Bank's large capital which makes it the safest bank for depositors in the land. But that the holders of a "trustee" stock should, in the event of a company being wound up, get the _last_ look in is surely somewhat odd. However, this is only another illustration of the confidence the public has in the Bank of England, which, people are convinced, will exist as long as the nation. The Bank, because the public imagines that it is connected more closely with the Government than in reality is the case, naturally suffers in credit when its patron does. Consequently during 1899, when the British reverses in South Africa increased the difficulties of the Government and depressed Consols, Bank stock, although dividends were maintained at ten per cent. per annum, fell in sympathy with Government securities, despite the fact that the shares of the large English banking companies were not appreciably affected. Of course this depreciation, which has proved lasting, was not the result of sound reasoning, for so long as the war continued money was sure to be dear, and dear money plainly indicated that the Bank would support its dividend of ten per cent. Further, the large Government borrowings constantly compelled the outside market to borrow from the Bank, which, had it so decided, could have charged exceptionally high rates, and thereby have added considerably to its profit; but, with its usual moderation, it wisely refrained from exacting excessive rates from those who, when Lombard Street was temporarily denuded of surplus capital, were compelled to apply to it for loans. The Bank, during the trying period in question, certainly did not attempt to make extra profit out of the nation's misfortune, as it assuredly might have done had its directors been actuated by a grasping spirit. Is there another bank in the land that would not have profited by the occasion? There may be; but I am disposed to doubt it, and I certainly should not care to attempt to name the institution.