The Principles of Banking, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 24Everything Changes, and Nothing Changes: Excerpts from a Timeless Work¹

Abstract

We demonstrate that key principles of banking are timeless, with reference to a work published in the UK in the 19th century.

In this final chapter of the book, ignoring the companion website details, we're going to travel back in time to show how the principles of banking don't change very much from one century to the next. That is one reason why, in Chapter 1 when we defined the art and practice of banking, we didn't let ourselves be distracted by the form of customer interaction, the medium of exchange between bank and customer, or indeed the form of money itself. The core principles of banking are not as impacted by new developments in finance as certain media commentators might believe.

George Rae (1817–1902) spent a 40-year career working at the District Union Bank, including time as manager of the Oxborough branch.² He published a monograph under a pseudonym in 1850, and the text in that book was revised and enlarged to become the book we are quoting from now. This book was published in 1890, with the title The Country Banker: His Clients, Cares and Work. His writings on banking were based on his experience as a practitioner in banking, and he was writing during an era when ...