We have seen that this stream of credit flows to London, and as demand throughout the country is not sufficiently strong to attract it all back again, a large fund of loanable capital accumulates in the hands of the London banks, and flows from them to the bill brokers, who employ it in discounting bills of exchange. But though by far the greater part of the London short loan fund is accumulated in this manner by the banks, other firms and companies also discharge their surplus capital into it. The pool, of course, is not a stagnant one, for capital is constantly flowing in and out. The India Council, for instance, lends large sums in the London short loan market. The numerous foreign and colonial banks in London do the same, and so, too, do many of the large insurance companies and merchants, while during slack times money finds its way from the Stock Exchange to the bill broking houses. At first sight it seems strange that bankers should advance money to the bill brokers, and so provide their rivals with capital with which to compete against them, especially as the banks have discount departments of their own. Let us, however, consider the position of the bill broker in relation to the Bank of England and the money market. Towards the beginning of the nineteenth century the broker acted as agent for the country bankers, but this connection was naturally severed when the country firms opened accounts with the London bankers, and the broker, whose knowledge of bills was extensive, then transacted business for himself. Through holding out for high rates, the London private bankers drove a large amount of business into the hands of the bill brokers, who, by confining their attention solely to this class of credit document, came to be largely trusted by the joint stock companies, which could not obtain servants with the special training of their rivals. In no other country has the bill broker such influence as in England. In Paris, for instance, the customer discounts with his banker, who re-discounts with the Bank of France; but in London, for reasons already stated, bills find their way to the bill brokers, who re-discount either with the banks or with the Bank of England. Moreover, all the best bills get into the hands of the bill brokers, who, at one time, only discounted the acceptances of the banks and the larger houses; but they now take small trade bills, and, should the banking business grow less profitable, it is questionable whether the banks might not endeavour to dispense with the middleman whom they now encourage.