BANKING: Doomsday Passes

Britain's Tories got a horrid preview of Doomsday when the Labor Government moved to nationalize the Bank of England. Last week, as the nationalization bill was introduced into the House of Commons, Doomsday turned out to have a sterling silver lining.

If nationalization of "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street" was not painless, it was at least a well-anaesthetized operation. Said Bank Governor Lord Thomas Sivewright Catto, after reading the bill: "I have confidence in the skill and understanding of the surgeon [Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton]. . . . He is well aware of the venerable age and the worldwide prestige of his patient."

Under the bill, the Bank's 17,000 stockholders would suffer no financial loss. In exchange for their bank stock, which pays a whopping 12% on its nominal value of $58,212,000 (it has a much higher market value), they would be given $232,848,000 in 3% Government obligations. This adds up to the same gross annual return.

Actually the aim of the Government is not to strip stockholders of their wealth. Socialists believe that the Bank of England helped to wreck the 1931 Labor Government by holding back credit. They want to guard against this by controlling the bank so that credit will be available for nationalization of industries. A longtime bank employe summed up: "Won't make no difference, so long as we get paid on Friday."