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 thinking that Consols and other undated or long-dated securities were nice securities for them to hold; and during and since the war—a period which covered the commercial cataclysm of 1920 and 1921, when the prices of commodities were halved—they must have had a good deal of provision to make for the consequences of mishaps to their customers in and after that appalling time.

Now, their position must be greatly strengthened by the writing down of the last twenty years, but if they propose to adopt a self-denying ordinance in the matter of future increases of dividends, shareholders who are buying fully paid shares in English banks which pay them less than 5 per cent. will perhaps feel aggrieved. They will certainly have a strong ground for arguing that part of any increased profit that may be earned during less trying times ahead should fall into the pockets of shareholders.

This view about dividends, however, does not yet seem to have crossed the border, for the Royal Bank of Scotland makes the timely announcement, as I end this chapter, of an increased dividend, following four successive increases.

Moreover, since the above was written the Westminster has announced, with its report for