38

A TREATISE ON MONEY

BK. I

form of deposit which is not easily shifted and is likelyto remain fairly constant in normal circumstances.

Apart from difficulties of classification arising outof banking practices, the line between savings -deposits and cash-deposits is often not sharp evenin the mind of the depositor himself—especially asregards that part which is held against unforeseencontingencies. For the holder of a substantialsavings-deposit may feel himself strong enough toeconomise in the amount of the cash-deposit which heholds against contingencies. Thus a part of his totaldeposit serves both purposes, and the depositor him-self might find it hard to say exactly what proportionof his total deposit he holds for the one purpose andwhat proportion for the other. But the broad dis-tinction is clear, and can be expressed as follows :the amount of the savings-deposits depends uponthe comparative attractions, in the mind of thedepositor, of this and of alternative securities; whilstthe amount of the cash-deposits depends upon thevolume and the regularity of what he receives andpays by means of cheques and the length of theinterval between receipts and expenditure.

There is no opportunity at present to make anaccurate statistical estimate of the proportions inwhich these two categories make up the publishedaggregate of deposits. In Great Britain the banksdo not even publish separate figures for deposit-accounts and current-accounts respectively. And inthe United States , where the separate publication oftime-deposits and demand-deposits is required bylaw, this distinction does not, for various reasons,correspond exactly with the distinction made above ;in particular, all savings-deposits held at less thanthirty days’ notice reckon as demand-deposits.

There is, nevertheless, enough information, whichwill be given in detail in Volume ii., to enable us tomake a rough guess at the relative importance of the