THE WORLD'S GREATEST BANK.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 104, 5 November 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE WORLD'S GREATEST BANK.

This is. of course, the Bank of England, the Governor and Company of which institution consist of about twenty-five wealthy City men, who have generally invested pretty heavily in Bank stock, the £IOO shares of which now stand at about £250. These gentlemen constitute the board of directors ; the entire body meet every Thursday in the court-room to consider whether any change is necessary in the bank rate, and to transact any other business of moment. The director's fee is £SOO a year. The Governor and Deputy-Governor, who are supposed to he in daily attendance, receive respectively £2.000 and £1,500 a year. Each of the directors has in his gift two nominations to clerkships annually, which are eagerly sought after. The fortunate recipients of these, who must be between the ages, of 18 and 25 years, must pass an examination in such subjects as arithmetic geography, dictation, etc., and must satisfy the Bank's medical representative that they are in good health. Having succeeded in the above, they are marshalled before tlie court to lend an attentive ear to the Governor's address, who impresses upon them the necessity of carefu" v safeguarding the Bank' 6 secrets. <itc. F and dismisses them to find a surety for £2,000, which bond they must keep up till they are fixed permanently in the service at about the end of two years. A new clerk is placed upon what y termed the unattached list, and is drafted from one department to another, till he presumably acquires h knowledge of the whole—which, by the way, he never does. If at the end of his period of probation, his conduct and record are satisfactory, he is then fixed permanently in one of the various offices; as to which it depends entirely on the amount of influence he can bring to bear on his interests. If his director is an influential man, who takes an interest in his nominee (most of them take none whatever), he will probably find himself placed in a wellpaid department, and is assured of a really good income for life. If lie must depend upon his ability alone, he will never rise to the top of the tree in the Bank, any more than he would outside. The annual pavroll of the Bank amounts to about £200,000, the salaries ranging from £BO a year, paid to the newlv-appointed clerks, to £3,000 a year paid to the Chief Cashier. All clerks must retire at the age of 65 when they receive as pension two-thirds of their former salary. Those who, through ill-health or other causes, are compelled to resign before that age, are generally dealt with liberally by the directors, who are also generous in the matter of sick leave. The Bank allows no interest on deposits, and those who have the privilege of keeping an account there must maintain a balance of not less than £so °- , , « , On the upper floor of the Bank are the printing-rooms, where five presses are turning out banknotes at the rate of several thousands a day. The rupee notes for the Indian Government are also printed there, and the postal notes for the Government are here run out to the number of nearly half a million daily. The most interesting machines are the automatic scales for testing sovereigns. The coins are fed at the rate of about one a second, through a long trough, on to a small inclined plate that shoots the full-weights out in front, and throws the light-weights out at the side. About a hundred thousand sovereigns are taken in and weighed daily, of which about 2 per cent, are found deficient in weight. These are clipped, and sent back to the mint. If, in paying money into the Bank, the shortage in weight'of your gold amounts to over three grains per sovereign, you must make good that loss. The gold is stored in vaults in the basement, rrom which it is hoisted to the issue depart, ment by lifts. In the bullion yard, approached from Lothbury, gold is taken in or loaded out by the Bank. Here, too, the clerks of the different banks who largo quantities of gold, are accommodated. A note when once paid into the Bank, never goes out again; it is cancelled, relegated to its proper • place, stored for seven years, and then burnt; all notes lost in any way, such as by shipwreck, fire, etc., mean a pure gain to the Bank, which, in spite of its manv expenses, big salary roll, etc., makes a clear profit of over £1.500.000. Most of this, of course, is the interest on the vast sums of money the Bank is always lending to its customers in the various parts o? the world. Started mainly with a view to supplying monev to the Government at reasonable interest, the Bank lias often, in addition, lent a helping hand to other commercial houses, temporarily embarrassed. It was the Bank's prompt and generous assistance that saved the house of Baring in 1890, and averted a national disaster. As a financial institution it is incomparable. Ks stability and intense conservatism have made'it the stronghold of British commerce, and have earned for it the unshaken confidence of the nations of the world.