On the other hand, the Swiss banks, where there is always one or more to every Canton, diffuse banking rapidly.

We have seen that the liabilities of the Bank of France stand thus: Notes L 112,000,000 Deposits L 15,000,000 But the aggregate Swiss banks, on the contrary, stand: Notes L 761,000 Deposits L 4,709,000 The reason is that a central bank which is governed in the capital and descends on a country district, has much fewer modes of lending money safely than a bank of which the partners belong to that district, and know the men and things in it.

A note issue is mainly begun by loans; there are then no deposits to be paid.

But the mass of loans in a rural district are of small amount; the bills to be discounted are trifling; the persons borrowing are of small means and only local repute; the value of any property they wish to pledge depends on local changes and local circumstances.

A banker who lives in the district, who has always lived there, whose whole mind is a history of the district and its changes, is easily able to lend money safely there.