FINANCIAL NOTES.
Some day we shall probably know whether the head- long decline in the value of the mark and the rumours of Germany being on the brink of financial and political catastrophe were well founded, or whether it has been a case in that country of organized bluff so as to obtain the evacuation of the Ruhr and the reduction of repara- tion payments to quite small proportions. If the latter theory is true, then it would seem that both political and financial authorities here have been badly informed with regard to the position in Germany, for unques- tionably the British attitude has been largely determined by the belief not merely in Germany's incapacity to meet the full reparation demands, but in the likelihood of an absolute financial collapse if pressure were exercised beyond a point. For some time past the City has come to regard the fluctuations in the mark as almost meaning- less, but none the less the fall during the past week in the German exchange to something like three million marks to the pound, and the weakness of French and Belgian currencies, have not been without their effect on markets.
Those who are troubled by apprehensions that the deflationary movement has been going ahead too rapidly may perhaps take comfort from the fact that banking deposits are beginning once more to expand. It is true that the total deposits of the " Big Five " at the end of June showed a reduction compared with the six months previously of about £28,000,000, but the decline was much smaller than in the previous six months, while during the past three months there has been a distinct upward tendency. For the month of June, for example, there was a growth in the deposits of the whole of the clearing banks of about £30,000,000, and this increase was much greater than for the corresponding period of last year, when deposits rose for the month only by £11,000,000. Moreover, there are distinct indications that the growth during the past few months may have been directly connected with the excess of Government
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