§ Sir F. DIXON-HARTLAND (Middlesex, Uxbridge)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, having regard to the fact that the State carries on that portion of a banking business which consists of borrowing money repayable on demand through the medium of the Post Office Savings Bank, and is responsible for 200 millions of deposits on account of which practically no reserve is kept, he will consider the advisability of arranging that the State, as a portion of the banking community, shall provide proper reserves for their liabilities.
§ MR. ASQUITHThe National Debt Commissioners keep such cash reserves as experience shows to be necessary for the requirements of the Savings Bank Funds. The conditions of the Savings Bank business are so different from those of commercial banking that I am unable to admit any analogy between the two cases in regard to the question of reserves.