As the Bank of England holds the cash reserve of the nation, it alone can advance against securities in the midst of a crisis, and those banks which were caught short would then have to apply to the Bank for help. The Bank certainly would not lend upon any but gilt-edged securities during a time of stress, and if their customers then made a call upon them those companies which held second-rate investments would have to close their doors, as they could not obtain assistance from any other source. A strong list of securities is, therefore, essential to every bank that is anxious to protect its customers against disaster. These three assets (cash in hand and at the Bank of England, money at call and notice, and investments) constitute a bank's so-called liquid assets. The ratio of total liquid assets to liabilities maintained by the best English banks ranges from 43 to 78 per cent. The last-named figures, which are quite exceptional in their strength, were published by Stuckey's Banking Company. The remainder of a bank's resources is employed in making advances and loans, and in discounting bills for its clients, whilst a small proportion is locked up in premises. We can now form some idea as to what the short loan fund of the London money market really is. Immense sums are collected at the head offices of the banks in London through their metropolitan and provincial branches; and, as the demands of trade are always uncertain--now brisk, then slack--it is impossible for them to invest all their surplus capital in securities; consequently, a certain portion of it finds remunerative employment in this channel. A huge stream of credit is constantly circulating through the three kingdoms, and London, so to speak, is the heart of the system. In years of active or good trade this stream increases in volume, and during years of depression it contracts; yet it is difficult to say whether or not the resources of the banks (the floating capital of the country) are appreciably lessened during a period of temporary depression, although the national turnover unquestionably is, as may be seen by the Clearing House returns. During years of rising prices and increasing trade activity profits are augmented, and, consequently, the resources of the banks are swollen; but when the profits are invested within the country, a similar amount of credit is returned to the banks by those who have sold their securities, and though less capital is created when trade is dull, it is questionable whether the resources of the banks then shrink very greatly, unless foreign securities are largely purchased.