Once again, then, the imaginative vigour of these prophets was overrated. It was not equal to the strain of foreseeing the probable effects of unexperienced causes. The position was tackled, not by pedants, but by practical minds; not by nervous pedagogues, but by bold experts. And the shallow-minded and timid amongst us were amazed. We were veritably awe-stricken by the cool skill of our financial mariners steering us in safety in the unchartered waters of an unknown sea. The prolonged Bank holiday, the indefinite closing of the Stock Exchange, were also decisions that in prior contemplation would have filled with terror the hearts of pundits, who unhesitatingly would have pronounced the doom of the mighty British Empire. The closing of the Stock Exchange would, in their convictions, so have stricken down confidence that it might never arise. Then there was the subsequent arrangement made whereby those who had made loans to the Stock Exchange could obtain from the Bank of England advances up to 60 per cent. of the value of the securities held by the lenders against loans outstanding on July 29th. The Bank of England was not to press for the repayment of these advances until one year after the conclusion of peace, or after the expiry of the Courts (Emergency Powers) Act, 1914, whichever should happen first; nor would it demand in the meantime further margin. This arrangement has also been highly successful. The fixing of minimum prices for high-class securities on the Stock Exchange was another prudent step. It was artificial, but no one will pretend that the position in this country and throughout the world was a natural position. Measures of precaution and of defence were as necessary to protect the financial as the military citadel. Were they not taken, the consequences that might have followed might in all probability have been immeasurably worse than the consequences of restricted liberty. These minimum prices prevented attacks from the enemy, and, therefore, destruction by the enemy. The defensive position was greatly strengthened by the further restrictions imposed by the Treasury when the Stock Exchange reopened. These were designed to prevent wholesale selling by enemy countries and investors; and capitalists in this country were thereby saved from the incalculable losses such sales might have occasioned. All the measures taken by the Government in this unprecedented crisis must be tested by their success. Two or three years hence we shall be able to survey them in clearer perspective and in truer proportion. But we can say with assurance even now that they have been successful. The real measure of that success we may calculate with greater certainty some day.