ent Banking
Monopoly," for, as has been said, Mr Webb very much wants monopoly,
says that it cannot be helped, and sees the fulfilment of some of his
pet Socialistic dreams in the direction of it by the bureaucrat whom
he regards as the heaven-sent saviour of society. His very interesting
argument is most easily followed by means of a series of quotations.

"We are, it is said, within a measurable distance of there
being--save for unimportant exceptions--only one bank, under
one general manager, probably a Scotsman, whose power over the
nation's industry would be incalculable. Even in the crisis of the
war the matter is receiving the attention of the Government.

"In the opinion of the present writer, the amalgamation of banks
in this country, which has been going on continuously for a
century, though at varying rates, and is being paralleled in
other countries, notably in Germany, and latterly in the Canadian
Dominion, is an economically inevitable development at a certain
stage of capitalist enterprise, and one which cannot effectively
be prevented."

Mr Webb considers that there is no economic limit to this policy of
amalgamation, and that the gains it carries with it are obvious. He
dilates upon these as follows:--

"It may be worth pointing out:

"(a) That apart from the obvious economies in the cost of
administration, common to all business on a large scale, there is,
in British banking practice, a special advantage in a bank being
as extensive and all-pervasive as possible. Where distinct banks
co-exist, there can be no assurance that the periodical shifting
of business, the perpetual transformations in industrial
organisation, the rise and fall of industries, localities or
firms, the changes of fashion and the ebb and flow of demand,
and even a relative diminution of reputation may not lead to a
shrinking of the deposits and current account balances of any one
bank, or even of each bank in turn. Accordingly, every bank has to
maintain an uninvested, or, at least, a specially liquid, reserve
to meet such a possible withdrawal. The smaller, the more
numerous, the more specialised by locality or industry are the
competing banks, the larger must be this reserve. On the other
hand, if all the deposit and current accounts of the nation were
kept at one bank, even if it has innumerable branches,