The Banking Department, which we will next discuss, stands quite by itself. The first entry on the left-hand side of the balance sheet, we can see, consists of the Bank's capital. Then follows the "rest" or reserve fund, which is never allowed to fall below £3,000,000, the accretions made thereto from time to time representing the profits of the Bank, which are distributed among the stockholders in the shape of dividend after the close of each half-year on the 5th April and the 5th October. The third entry on the statement, Public Deposits, is made up of the various Government balances; and Other Deposits, which form by far the largest debit in the balance sheet, comprise current account and bankers' balances, the latter largely predominating. Since 1877 the Bank has not published the sum standing to the credit of the London bankers in its books; and as this deposit represents the reserve upon which the bankers might have to draw in the event of a panic, it seems an error of judgment not to give publicity to the figures, even if they do show how largely the Bank of England is dependent upon the other banks for its own working resources. Public or Government Deposits and Other Deposits stand in a very peculiar relation to each other, and, before discussing the October return, it is perhaps desirable to illustrate this relation. The fiscal year ends on the 5th April; consequently, the Government is busily engaged in collecting the revenue during January, February, and March. "Other Deposits" are often referred to as the market fund of cash, and as those persons who pay their taxes draw cheques upon their bankers, it follows that during these months huge sums are transferred from the bankers' balances (Other Deposits) to the credit of Public Deposits, which are consequently swollen appreciably. Bankers' balances being reduced, the banks have therefore less to lend; and if the demand for loanable capital is brisk at the time, borrowers are driven to the Bank of England, which sometimes has to raise its rate of discount in order to protect its reserve. Payment of instalments upon Government loans and large issues of Treasury bills produce a like effect. On the 5th October (four days after the date of the return under discussion) a quarterly instalment on the National Debt is due. Then credit flows from Government Deposits back to Other Deposits. The banks can lend freely again, and the Bank of England, in order to attract borrowers, may even have to lower its rates. Undoubtedly, this is a somewhat artificial state of affairs, because money at times is made either cheap or dear, not solely as the result of demand and supply, but partly according to the personality of the holders of the loanable capital when the demand arises.