Cash Deposits.

The paid-up capital and reserve of these London banks amounted to £10,370,000 on 31st December, 1878, and £10,490,000 on 30th June, 1878.

The Economist gives the final results of totals and averages of the entire London banks for the period 1875-1878, as follows:-

Cash Deposits, 31st December, 1894.

There has been a gradual decline of net profits in recent years. Thus the purely Metropolitan banks, viz., London and Westminster, Union, Joint-stock, City, London and South Western, Consolidated, and Martins, show a net profit of 8s. 6d. per cent., whereas twenty years ago it was 22s. per cent.

Unfortunately it is impossible to give the same details showing the progress of the joint-stock country banks, because a large number of them did not publish balance sheets until quite recently, but in order to show the rapid progress of English banking, we give the following statement of 100 banks, viz.: -

Comparing 1869 with 1878 we find that the banks paying between 5 per cent. and 10 per cent. were more in 1869 than at the present time. The profits have increased with the greater activity in trade, and it is satisfactory to note that the reserves have increased more than the profits.

Total of reserves . 1869 = £12,815,000

1878 = 21,297,000 or an increase of 60 per cent. for 110 banks:-

This great accumulation of capital in joint-stock banks has taken place during the short period of fifty-three years.

It is to be hoped that these banks will steadily progress, not forgetting to increase their reserves in proportion to an increase of liabilities.

It is desirable that a uniform balance sheet should be published by all the joint-stock banks in England and Wales, because it would be of great advantage to the commercial world, as well as to the banks, which could by comparison gain some valuable information. Thus any defects in the management might possibly be discovered and remedied.