Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

354 HISTORY OF THE BANKGovernment. In June the Minister of Finance notified thebanks that he would require to borrow from them, on fourmonths treasury bills, from seventy to seventy-five millions forwar purposes. Not all the banks joined in making this loan,but The Canadian Bank of Commerce found $12,000,000 asits share. In October more money was required, this time fora period of two years, the amount being $73,720,000. AgainThe Canadian Bank of Commerce carried rather more thanits proportionate share.It was in October that the announcement was madeof the fourth domestic Canadian War Loan, known as theFirst Victory Loan. This was the first loan of a really popularcharacter, in which wage-earners, farmers, business mensmall and great, indeed all classes of the community, wereasked to participate. On its success the future of the countrydepended in no small degree. At this time Canada notmerely could not borrow in Great Britain, but was evenlending money to the Motherland for the purpose of financingthe contracts for the supplies of food and munitions purchasedby the British Government in this country. Inaddition, Canada was excluded from the money markets ofthe United States by the entry of that country into the war.The Canadian banks had already advanced very large sumsto the Government, and could not be expected to supply allthe funds required for the prosecution of the war. The onlyuntouched source of supply seemed to be the savings of thepeople of Canada, and after consulting some of the ablest ofCanadian financiers, Sir Thomas White decided to try theexperiment of a popular loan. The success of the first LibertyLoan in the United States, issued in May, 1917, was a promisingomen, although the two cases were not parallel, as the Americanpeople had not felt the heavy strain of three years of loss andsuffering that had as yet brought no apparent results. Tothe Canadian banks the Victory Loan meant a genuine sacrifice,for they were called on to facilitate the withdrawal of largedeposits which it had taken much effort and many years to