But it must not be thought that the directors discharge their duties towards the public so well from philanthropic motives. Even from a selfish standpoint it pays them to keep the Bank thoroughly prepared, as, should they allow the reserve to sink too low, an anxious period would be certain to follow, when additional profits, made by trading with too large a proportion of the deposits, would speedily be swept away by the expense incurred by borrowing back at high rates in order to strengthen the cash in hand. For a little while the interest upon the increased loans would swell the profits, but directly the foreign exchanges moved against this country, and gold began to flow abroad, even an inexperienced director would realise the folly of risking a panic for the sake of seeing the dividends rise, and he would not make such a doubtful experiment a second time. Perhaps, before bringing this chapter to a close, it may be interesting to compare the total indebtedness of the Bank of England to the public and its stockholders with that of Lloyds and the National Provincial Bank of England to their customers and shareholders. The following table will supply the figures:-- ======================================================== Name of Bank. | Total Liabilities. ------------------------------------+------------------- | £ Bank of England | 101,681,010 Lloyds | 58,411,041[A] National Provincial Bank of England | 56,444,126[A] ------------------------------------+------------------- [Footnote A: Balance Sheet dated 31st December, 1901.] ======================================================== We can now see how much larger are the working resources of the Bank of England than those of either of the other above-mentioned banking institutions, though, as the joint stock banks keep their reserves of cash with the Bank of England, the comparison loses a little of its force. Still, the preponderance of the Bank of England is most marked, a fact one is not, perhaps, so apt to realise when the Issue and Banking Departments are considered apart. CHAPTER V. The Store in the Issue Department. We next have to consider the amount of gold coin and bullion in the Issue Department--to wit, £33,617,330, and we must remember that this accumulation is the national store, that the cash reserves of all the banks in England, Scotland, and Ireland are dependent thereupon, and that, consequently, the solvency of the nation is decided thereby. The indebtedness of the English, Scotch, and Irish Banks to the public at December, 1901, as shown by their balance sheets, upon current accounts, deposit receipts, and notes in circulation, amounted to nearly £910,000,000. The liabilities of the Bank of England and of those private bankers who publish balance sheets are included in this huge total.