Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

356 HISTORY OF THE BANKbut withdrawn shortly afterwards. The condition of thenotes showed that they had been very little hi circulation,and additional proof of this was given by the consecutivenumbering of the ten notes first mentioned. They furnishedvery interesting evidence of hoarding, in the one case forabout thirty years and in the other for not less thaneighteen.In addition to giving direct aid to the Dominion Governmentas outlined above, the bank participated during 1917 ina loan of $50,000,000 made by the Canadian banks to theImperial Munitions Board against the security of treasurybillsof the Dominion of Canada, and in what was known asthe "Second Wheat Loan" of $100,000,000 to the BritishGovernment, also shared by the other banks. In addition,it renewed an advance of several millions made the previousyear to the Imperial Munitions Board, and granted a largestanding credit at the New York Agency for the purchase ofthe sterling bills of the Wheat Export Company, Limited,which acted as agent for the British Government in its purchasesof wheat. It also invested from time to time in treasurybills of the Governments of Great Britain and the UnitedStates (the latter being now a partner in the war), and in thefollowing issues brought out in the United States:United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland, $250,000,0005H% Secured Loan Convertible Gold Notes due 1918-19.United States Government, First Liberty Loan,$2,000,000,000 15-30 year 3^% Gold Bonds.Dominion of Canada, $100,000,000 5% Gold Notes due1919.An interesting feature of the year was the aid extendedby the bank to the finances of Italy. It will be rememberedthat during the previous year it had become a shareholderin the British Italian Corporation, Limited, formed to fosterthe trade of Italy with the other Allies. In March, 1917, thebank was designated by the Italian Treasury to receive subscriptionsfrom Italians in Canada to the Italian Government