NORMS AND TRENDS IN EXPENSES 105 
ratios essentially agree as to the 
years which are “low,” “mod- 
erate,” and “high,” the percent- 
age deviations from such levels 
for the respectives ratios being 
positively correlated; (3) the 
year-to-year changes in the ra- 
tios for the respective groups of 
banks are coincident with re- 
spect to time, and positively 
correlated with respect to direc- 
tion and amount; and (4) the 
positions of the district ratios 
for the two classes of banks, 
relative to their respective 
yearly levels for the country as 
a whole, coincide as to time and 
vary directly as to amount. 
A graphic picture of the rates of change from year to year of 
the district ratios for all member banks, for national banks and 
for state bank members, is given in Chart 21. The manner in 
which it is drawn is as follows: 
TABLE %% 
Disagree 
1. The vertical positions of the lines for the different types of 
banks and for the total membership for each district, and also for 
the several districts, have no significance when compared with 
each other, the respective lines being drawn so as to reduce as 
much as possible any overlapping. This was accomplished by 
beginning the lines for each district equally distant apart in 1919. 
Accordingly, the relative size of the ratios is #zo¢ indicated. It 
is the relative rates of change, indicated by the slopes of the lines, 
which are shown for the banks in each district, the percentage 
amounts of increase and of decrease being drawn to the scales 
shown on the right-hand side of the chart. 
2. The short lines at the left of each district indicate the seven- 
year average ratios for the types of banks to which they apply— 
the distances above or below such lines, for the respective types 
of banks, indicating the percentages by which the ratios for the 
different years are greater or less than such averages. 
From the chart it is apparent that (1) there is marked uni-