GIPE-PUNE-OIIOI2 - DSpace@GIPE

THE BANK CAPITALISM OF YOU~G BENGAL 157
able feature is furnished . by the . item that the
co-efficient in regard to the total of 382 loan
offices of Bengal, namely 5'0, is the same as that
of 29 banks in Greece. If the co-efficient 5 be taken to
be low enough to be "safe" from the standpoint of depositors
the general level of bank management may be
regarded as marked by prudence and cautiousness; for
not more than altogether nine loan offices have exceeded
this limit. It is to be noted also that the Central Bank
of India which for 1929 happens to have somewhat under
5,.precisely 4'8, as the co-efficient, has as a rule very often
had something . above 5 and thus belongs in bank~
administration to the same. group a~ the average Bengali
loan office and average Greek bank. But all the same,
the premier •• Indian" bank appears to be' more modest
and cautious than its Italian colleagues, namely. the
Commerciale and the Credito. Statistically, it is not
possible to describe Bengali or other . Indian banking as
rash or reckless in so far as deposit-seeking is concerned.
Altogether, it is clear that the deposit policy of.
Bengali loan offices makes them akin to the credit institutions
of the most diverse groups of nations. It is very
doubtful if on the basis of statistical experience one can
hit upon any range of co-efficients as the ideally best for
this or that bank or this or that group of economic regions.
By the world-standard in bank-administration the
managers and directors of Bengali cottage banks have
been acquitting themselves fairly well. As a rule,. they
h~v~ succeeded in avoiding the mania of deposit-nunting
bey~nd the limits of reasonable busi~ess expectancy.,'