GIPE-PUNE-OIIOI2 - DSpace@GIPE

THE BANK CAPITALISM OF YOUNG BENGAL 109
the average, a minimum of about six or seven, persons in~
eluding the manager at the top. We have therefore to
visualise a bank~personnel of some five or six thousand
managers, accounts, inspectors and clerks. These
people are, it may be taken, not all graduates of the Uni~
versity. But whatever be their academic qualifications,
they belong to what is generally described as bhadralog
class, and they are all g,etting used to the technique and
transactions of modern banks. 'In any case there is no
doubt that a large number of Bengali intellectuals is being
provided for in the new institutions, which have grown
up as a result of banking adventure during our
Swadeshi period. This is another evidence of, the fact
that for the last twenty~seven years Young Bengal has
been taking to new careers and acquiring experience In
. the fields of practical commerce.
"Indian" Banks vs, Exchange Banks in India
Lest we indulge in undue self~gratification in what
we have been able to achieve up till now, it is desirable
to weigh the values of our accomplishments by a more
critical standard. Let us therefore measure our progress
in the light of foreign banking experience.
To begin with, let us compare the developments of
the joint~stock banking under purely Indian manage~
ment with those of foreign (i.e., European, American
and Japanese) joint~stock ~nking in India. The foreign
banks in India are generally known as •• exchange
banks. •• In 1905 these were 10 in number and they com~
manded deposits worth about Rs. 170,445,000. To~day