94 AUSTRALIA'S RELATIVE DISADVANTAGE IN 
As would be expected, this great volume of imported capital 
completely reversed the relations between commodity exports 
and imports. The effects of the great acceleration began to show 
in the figures for overseas trade as early as 1890. The excess 
of imports abruptly changed in 1892 to an excess of exports, 
a relative position that was maintained unbroken until 1914. 
So sudden and striking is the change-over, that the intimate 
connexion between capital imports and overseas trade stands 
revealed as the real heart of the problem for the investigator. 
In view of the fact that the crisis of 1893 is still regarded in 
some quarters as a banking collapse, pure and simple, a brief 
examination of the banking position will be in order. The 
monetary system at this time was so organized that a large 
expansion of the circulating medium could follow from a com- 
paratively small increase in the gold reserves. That this increase 
was not inconsiderable is proved conclusively from the figures 
of the accompanying table ; but it is a matter for wonder that, 
ander the extraordinary circumstances of the time, the inflation 
was not of a much higher order. If we have regard to the great 
flood of capital which deluged the country after 1880 it 
is surprising that inflation was not greater. One feature of 
TaBLE XVI 
Reserves, Deposits, and Advances of all Banks in Australia 
{In Millions Sterling) 
1887 
(888 
1889 
I890 
1891 
892 
893 
894 
896 
896 
1897 
Year. 
Reserves. 
14-8 
16:5 
156 | 
178 
175 
177 
177 
20-6 
1-5 
236 
1.2 
Deposits. 
Advances. 
79-9 93-9 
88-5 105-4 
92-2 118-7 
97-5 122-3 
97-6 125-6 
28-6 127-5 
95-1 120-6 
37-8 105-4 
32-0 102-8 
84-0 98-4 
R4-8 06-8 
Ratio reserves 
to deposits. 
Per cent. 
18-6 
18-3 
16-8 
18-2 
18-4 
17-9 
184 
234 
26-2 
28-1 
256 
* Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, Finance Bulletin No. 11. 
[his bulletin contains an extensive series of comparative banking statistics from 
1884,