Several of the most important Joint-stock Banks appear to have
suffered rather severely from the recent failures, more especially that of Messrs. Collie. The London and Westminster has declared a dividend of 10 per cent. on the half-year instead of 20, and has placed half a million of its reserve in a suspense account ; the London Joint-stock Bank has applied £52,000 of undivided profit to meet possible losses on bills, amounting in all to £89,0176 ; the Union Bank of London has set aside £61,124
of its profits and /38,876 of its reserve for the same pur- pose ; and the City Bank lessens its dividend 2 per cent. and deducts £35,000 from • its reserve. The Economist says all losses of this kind are due ultimately to the difficulty of using the large sums of money attracted by the interest paid on deposits, but that difficulty must be one mainly of detail. If the bankers will but follow the course of trade, and lend only where business is carried on at a profit, they must make money out of the -difference between the interest they pay and the interest they get. It is impossible to believe that money obtained at 1 per cent. ainder Bank rate need be idle.
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