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212 that they mentioned it distinctly, and mentioned it first.

And not only is this constitution of a company the most natural in the early days when companies were new, it is also that which experience has shown to be the most efficient now that companies have long been tried. Great railway companies are managed upon no other. Scarcely any instance of great success in a railway can be mentioned in which the chairman has not been an active and judicious man of business, constantly attending to the affairs of the company. A thousand instances of railway disaster can be easily found in which the chairman was only a nominal head—a nobleman, or something of that sort—chosen for show. "Railway-chairmanship" has become a profession, so much is efficiency valued in it, and so indispensable has ability been found to be. The plan of appointing a permanent "chairman" at the Bank of England is strongly supported by much modern experience.

Nevertheless, I hesitate as to its expediency; at any rate, there are other plans which, for several reasons, should, I think, first be tried in preference.

First. This plan wouldbe exceedingly unpopular. A permanent Governor of the Bank of England would be one of the greatest men in England. He would be a little "monarch" in the City; he would be far greater than the "Lord Mayor." He would