- We drew attention lately to Mr. Runciman's useful statement of
the huge number of small capitalists who have holdings in " gilt-edged " securities. The discussion by the Independent Labour Party of the nationalization of banks has led him to publish in a letter to the Press the results of .his investigations into the proprietorship of the banks. He finds that the £60,000,000 paid-up capital of the " Big Five " banks is held by over 274,000 persons, whose average holding is £219. The Daily Herald scoffs at these figures on the ground that the liability for unpaid calls makes bank shares no investment for small capitalists. But that does not affect the argument that the banks are owned by a vast number of people, and not by a few bankers. The directors, chosen as the best men for the business, administer the banks with fiduciary responsibility. If the banks were national- ized, the business would still have to be conducted by the same or similar trained men, from the clerk at the counter to the director in the parlour. Nothing would be gained, but there would be the new danger of political pressure, such as we have seen applied to the Banque de France. If the I.L.P. believed all it says of banking, it should surely take to co-operative banking on a large scale with the Trade Unions and Co-operative Societies as share- holders.
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