___________
"Grand total L179,926,000
___________

"The corresponding figures on July 10, 1918, as nearly as they can be
estimated, were:--

"Fiduciary Issue of the Bank of England 18,450,000
Currency Notes not covered by gold 230,412,000
___________
"Total Fiduciary Issues [1] L248,862,000
Bank of England Notes issued against
coin and bullion 65,368,000
Currency Notes covered by gold 28,500,000
Estimated amount of gold coin held
by Banks (excluding gold coin held
by Issue Department of Bank of
England), say 40,000,000
___________
"Grand total L382,730,000

"[Footnote 1: The notes issued by Scottish and Irish banks which have
been made legal tender during the war have not been included in the
foregoing figures. Strictly the amount (about L5,000,000) by which
these issues exceed the amount of gold and currency notes held by
those banks should be added to the figures of the present fiduciary
issues given above.]

"There is also a certain amount of gold coin still in the hands of the
public which ought to be added to the last-mentioned figure, but the
amount is unknown."

It will be noted that the gold held by the banks (other than the Bank
of England) and by the public has declined from L123 to L40 millions,
according to the Committee's estimate, while, on the other hand, the
circulation of bank notes has risen by L27 millions and the issue of
currency notes has taken place to the tune of L259 millions (at the
date of the Report; it is now nearly L300 millions), making a net
addition to legal tender currency of over L200 millions. When we
also remember that there has been a very heavy coinage of silver and
copper, that the Bank of England's deposits have risen by over L100
millions and the deposits of the other banks by nearly L700 millions,
and all this at a time when most of the industrial activity of the
country was going into the production of destructive weapons and the
support of those who were using them, the behaviour of commodities of
ordinary use in rising by nearly 100 per cent. seems to be an example
of remarkable moderation. With all this new buying power in the hands
of the community there is litt