the extent of their holding of cash—legal tender money—and balance at the Bank of England; since they have to consider the proportion between their cash holding and their liability to their customers on current and deposit account. The amount of their cash holding depended, before the war, on the amount of gold that was in the country, since legal tender was then gold or a Bank of England note; and the amount of their balance at the Bank of England depended largely on the action of the Bank of England in creating credit by lending and investing, which it had been left free to do at its own discretion by the Bank Act of 1844, which had tied its hands so tight in the matter of note issue. And now we have to look at a pre-war specimen of the Weekly Return issued by the Bank of England:—
Bank of England.
Account for the Week Ended Wednesday, July 15th, 1914.
Issue Department.
| Notes Issued | £56,908,235 | Government Debt | £11,015,100 |
| Other Securities | 7,434,900 | ||
| Gold Coin and Bullion | 38,458,235 | ||
| £56,908 235 | £56,908,235 |
