TASK OF THE BANKER.
Particularly good was his definition of the respective tasks of British bankers and the British public in furthering these developments. It is not, of course, as he said; the special responsibility of banks to ensure the provision of permanent capital for the development of Empire resources, for to do so would be inconsistent with the responsibility of bankers to their depositors as regards keeping their resources liquid. On the other hand, it is possible for the banks to do very much in supplying floating or circulating capital and in granting credits for the handling of exports and imports. If this is done and the trade of our Domin- ions with the Home Country increases, not only is the volume of the resources of the investors here available for taking up oversea loans increased, but the greater prosperity of the Dominions gives confidence in the loans themselves. There will then, as Mr. Goodenough said, be a "growing disposition on the part of the investing public to supply more permanent capital as further developments are needed.'
Previous page
