Lastly a word or two must be said concerning the guarantee of security of credit in the three great European countries. Much of what has already been said has a bearing on the subject, and here reference will be made simply to governmental examination and publicity.

The charters of the Bank of England and of the Reichsbank require these institutions to publish a weekly statement. The Bank of France is required to make only a monthly statement. Weekly statements are, however, the rule. But the law does not prescribe in full the details of such statements and the fullness of the information that they give thus depends primarily on the willingness of the banks to lay bare their operations. The Bank of England must also make a weekly statement to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and to the Commissioner of Stamps and Taxes, but these statements have mainly a fiscal interest. In France the finance minister may also demand information. It must be remembered, however, that in France and Germany the active management of the central banks is so broadly in the hands of government appointees that further governmental interference might be regarded as a work of supererogation.

In Germany

Other methods

Security of credit

With respect to the banks in the general market it may be said that in all three countries the only reports required are the periodical balance sheets demanded of all corporations. But in each country the larger banks make a practice of publishing more frequent reports - monthly in England and France, bi-monthly in Germany. Special preparations are made for these reports in England, where the practice is facetiously called "window dressing." Complaint of inadequate publicity is sometimes voiced in England, but Hartley Withers says that legal compulsion is abhorred by the bankers and feared by the merchants lest it involve curtailment of facilities. But what seems from the American point of view to be peculiar laxness is more than offset by high tradition. In England, for example, what we in America prescribe in legislation, the banks themselves take care of in their by-laws. This freedom from restraint has meant much for the general flexibility of European banking, and for the high tradition that has prevented the necessity for government interference European bankers generally deserve great honor.

Statements and reports

Of the central banks

Of the general market banks

Selected References

C. F. Dunbar, Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking (1906), Chapters IX, XI, and XII.

Interviews on the Banking and Currency Systems of England, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy (Volume 1, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

E. W. Kemmerer, Statistics for United States, Great Britain, Germany, and France (Volume 21, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

C. A. Phillips, Readings in Money and Banking (1916), Chapters XXII, XXIV, and XXV.

W. A. Scott, Money and Banking (1910), Chapters XII-XIV inclusive.

P. M. Warburg, The Discount System in Europe (Volume 20, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

England

Hartley Withers, The Meaning of Money (1909), Chapters VI-XV inclusive; The English Banking System (Volume 8, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

Walter Bagehot, Lombard Street (1910).

France

AndrČ Liesse, Evolution of Credit and Banks in France, and

Maurice Patron, The Bank of France in its Relation to National and International Credit (both in Volume 15, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

Germany

Articles on German Banking and German Banking Laws (Volume 11, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

The Reichsbank, and Renewal of Reichsbank Charter (both in Volume 10, Publications of National Monetary Commission).

J. Riesser, The German Great Banks (Volume 14, Publications of National Monetary Commission).