This section is from the book "Banking And Business", by H. Parker Willis, George W. Edwards. Also available from Amazon: Banking and Business .
Call money in some form is indispensable to every important financial center. There must be not only an outlet for the employment of funds temporarily idle, but a large volume of call and short-time money is essential to the successful and economical conduct of business. It is particularly essential to the international and domestic commercial business, but the diversion of the use of the major portion of such money to the securities markets is not in accordance with sound banking principles. It is to be noted that in no great world market, other than New York, is the call-money market so dependent upon investment securities and so susceptible to speculative influences. In other markets the reverse is true, as their call money is based principally on commercial paper upon which realization can be had at the central bank, at a price, in case of need. We have seen that in this country call loans on securities lack this essential quality of liquidity required for quick and certain realization, and that this fact has now been more generally taken into consideration by our lenders. But the safe and successful divorce in this country of the use of call money from dependence upon investment securities as a basis requires careful study in order that safe and adequate methods may be substituted for the present methods of the securities market.
 
Continue to: