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,