business is no one's; and where money of all things is dealt in, and its loss made possible by an absence of proper organisation, no establishment, having such inherent defects, can expect to obtain any position in the public estimation, or to succeed. Every officer should have a defined position written and agreed upon, and when each part is perfect the whole will be.

PERNICIOUS EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH COMPETITION IN COMMERCE AND BANKING-PROPOSED CHECK.

The facilities which in these times are afforded by the numerous banks and companies to any one with the smallest means who chooses to dabble in business matters, foster to a most hurtful extent those elements which have for some time past acted most injuriously against the steady and natural fluctuation in the price of credit and capital in this country. The broad area of commercial affairs has of late years been immeasurably extended, with undue and unsafe rapidity. The new ground has been occupied by saplings, which in many, if not most cases, strike out into extensive engagements before their roots have got hold of the ground, and are swept away by the first breath which may be produced by unexpected

agitation in the commercial world. New companies, which are supported by the profits derived from such sources, may survive a few summers; but when the traders, upon whose business their existence depends, are struggling to establish themselves upon ground that is already occupied, they can only expect a brief career, progressing to a certain point which will not be considered satisfactory by the shareholders for any length of time, and the inevitable winding up will be the only course left open.

To decide to what extent precisely, both banks and merchants can be established with benefit to themselves and the community at large, is a matter which is beyond the capacity of almost any tribunal; but it appears strange that commercial disorders follow one upon the other, without doubt most materially influenced by the evil to which I allude, without arousing the serious attention of those who are so damaged and occasionally ruined by its effects.

There are so many ways in which the eyes of the public may be blinded to the real position which a firm occupies, that it seems almost incomprehensible that merchants generally-most of whom we may presume wish to see their

profession exalted, and the mercantile community in their own country signalised by a system which will exclude incompetent and we may say dishonest persons from interfering with the proper and legitimate fluctuations in the rate of interest charged for the use of capital, &c.-do not combine for the purpose of checking and endeavouring to remove so great an obstacle to the progress of sound commercial business.

Now that the merchants and trading ranks of all denominations are so much increased, it stands to reason that a larger number of eyes and hands are incessantly watching and ready to grasp any description of business by which a profit may be made; and in consequence the profit upon almost everything is lowered by incessant competition, and the means by whose aid all business is carried on are raised to a higher price by the increased number who seek its assistance.

Political economy tells us, that populations increase in proportion to the means of subsistence. Pestilences and plagues occasionally sweep numbers from the face of the earth, and we may reasonably conclude that such means are employed by the Almighty for regulating the increase of mankind when they progress beyond the capacity

of the land where they are born to support them. A commercial crisis sweeps away the weak merchants who will make business in places beyond the capacity of those places to support them. The discretion of man in both cases being too little exercised, he loses sight of those principles by which his actions should be governed.

The undue increase in the number of merchants and traders must of necessity exercise a hurtful influence, sooner or later, upon those institutions whose business it is to furnish credit and capital to those who may require it. An increased number of applicants raises the price, and more lending institutions are established, which in their turn encourage speculative and dangerous trading, and in this way every department of the commercial system becomes weakened by too rapid and not sufficiently consolidated extension; and when any at all exceptional causes are at work to agitate mercantile affairs, the weak houses not only ruin themselves but bring down the institutions who encouraged their efforts, and whose existence in a measure depended upon their support.

The last few years have shown the high rate to which interest' has been forced in the London

market, by more than one cause, not the least of which is the great competition for accommodation which is constantly pressing upon the market. We have seen on several occasions, when the minimum interest charged by the Bank of England has receded to a moderate rate, a legion of undertakings, which have been waiting their opportunity, press forward; and the only means of driving them off is by making the charge more than they can bear. In extreme cases of disorder, of whatever nature, the first suggestion that presses itself upon us is, to contrive a combination of forces that will overcome and destroy whatever evil effects we may desire to get rid of. Banks as a body are established not only for the benefit and profit of those who establish them, but for the general convenience and assistance of all classes of the community. In quiet times when all works well and smoothly, the banks are left to make the most of their opportunities; but it is also expected by the public that they should at the same time not forget that the period will arrive when they must be prepared to assist and protect their supporters. This is only reasonable; and passing over any comments as to how far certain institutions have fallen short of what was expected of them in