1'R1".S11)I':\ I lAI. ADDKICSS SICCTION F. 169 



If rcserxc rc(|uii\'tiK'iiis sucli as these are insisted on. many 

 ,or' the ol)jections to a Ciovenimeiu issue disappear. Even Rieardo, 

 ar- austere authority, insists tliat the ])uhlic " have a direct interest 

 that the issuers should he the State." He thinks that machinery 

 can be constructed to curl) the innate wickechiess of Ministers of 

 Finance. " '[die power of issiiini;- paper monc)-," he writes, 

 "'under the ref|uisite checks of convertil)ihtv at the will of the 

 liolder. might he safely lodged in the hands of commissioners 

 appointed for that special ])urpose, and they might he made 

 totaUy inde])endent of the control of ministers" (Principles, 

 Cha{)ter .27). If, however, it is decided to regulate deposit 

 banking, existing rights might well be left to the banks as some 

 compensation for their loss of freedom, whether that con-i-t.'; in 

 re(iuirements siiuilar to those imposed in the United Sta^^es or 

 the adoption of the Canadian system of supervision bv a Bankers' 

 .\ssociation. 



Every system of regulatiim has two objects — to economise 

 gold and to avoid the evils of depreciation. From their very 

 nature it is impossible to secure ])nth these advantages to the full 

 extent. Under the -new conditions in .South Africa we shall do 

 better to aim at obtaining a small part of the advantages of 

 paper money wdiile running little risk of overissue, rather than 

 risk depreciation to avoid the expense of an af!e(|uate gold 

 reserve. 



[This address was delivered Ijefore a premium had arisen 

 on gold in countries with a de]3reciated paper currency. Present 

 conditions make stringent regulation of note issues even more 

 necessary .] 



