RESTRICTION AND RECESSION The chairman of Martins Bank, Mr. F.
A. Bates, developed at Tuesday's meeting an instructive analysis of the essential differences between the trade recession of 1937-38 and its predecessor of nearly to years ago. The present movement he regards as rather a slowing down from a state of great activity to one of moderate activity, with conditions in no way the same as on the previous occasion. One essential difference, in Mr. Bates' view, is the absence in the present recession of an excessive accumulation of stocks such as extended the duration of the previous depression. Credit for this difference in conditions he rightly gives to the restriction schemes which regulate the supplies of many primary com- modities and which, he says, have undoubtedly had a steadying effect. His general conclusion, therefore, was not only that the worst of the present recession has already been felt, but also that progress has been made in the search for a technique which may help to limit the severity of future trade recessions.
As a banker he is naturally anxious to lend more widely, and he expressed the hope that the new year will see a revival in the demand for overdrafts. He mentioned that the past year's decline in the overdrafts at Martins had been marked in the textile industry, in shipbuilding and in advances against Stock Exchange securities. Increased advances had been made to private customers and to those in agriculture, shipping and transport, the retail trades, and iron and steel. The general effect was that the bank's advances were now more widely spread. * * * *
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