Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

1901 TO 1914 261the counterfeiter himself realized that hishandiwork was bad,for only three of these counterfeits were ever seen.In the spring of 1914 the shortage of farm labour in theprovince of Ontario became so serious as to force the ProvincialGovernment to take action, although the war was subsequentlyto make the situation infinitelyworse. In an effortto overcome the difficulty, the bank instructed its managersin Ontario to assist the work of the Bureau of Colonization,established by the Ontario Department of Agriculture tobring farm labourers from the United Kingdom. This cooperationtook the form of keeping at the various branches asupply of application forms, and assisting farmers to fill themout, and forward them to the Government.Before closing this chapter it will not be amiss to reviewthe progress made by the bank in the period with whichit deals. The following figures taken from the statementspresented at the annual meeting held in June, 1901, whichincorporated the figures of the Bank of British Columbia, andfrom the government return of July 31, 1914, will speak forthemselves :May 31, July 31,1901 1914Paid-up capital $ 8,000,000 $ 15,000,000Rest 2,000,000 13,500,000Note circulation 5,446,773 11,767,475Deposits 48,004,599 191,944,909Loans 49,050,667 184,948,833Total assets 67,553,578 252,179,071Number of branches 67 379 1Number of staff 575 3,536*At the end of 1914 the shareholders numbered 6,147; thefigures are not available for the earlier date.These figures, however, eloquent as they are, do not tellthe whole story. The year 1901 was the climax of a period of'As in January, 1915. the nearest date available.