* * * Mr. McKenna, the Chairman of the Midland
Bank, addressed his shareholders on Tuesday. The special subjects he chose were Currency Values, the Volume of Credit, and Gold Control. What strikes us as one of the most important things in this illuminating study is the remark that on the matters indicated above we are still in the stage of enquiry rather than of positive opinion, and that there is no formulated body of doctrines generally regarded as orthodox. We agree, and it is on that ground that we press for an enquiry into the subject of the Bank of England, and our Banking System, and the allied subjects of Legal Tender, the Gold Standard, the Gold Reserve, and the proper definition of Sterling. Before we take any action such as is involved in the restoration of a free market in gold, and the risk it involves of recourse to a raising of the Bank Rate, and conse- quently the restriction of Credit, we need the most careful investigation. Mr. McKenna went on to give a most valuable account of " the meaning of Money." He fully realizes that Money is a memorandum of barter transactions—not wealth, but only the record of wealth, except for the value of gold, silver or copper in the arts and industries. Mr. McKenna ended with a pane- gyric of the Gold Standard, to which we may readily give our assent. We must not forget, however, that the Gold Standard and the return to a free market in gold here are different things.. Once more, before we take action which may kill the revival of trade, let us have full consideration.
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