THE END OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE

the owners of the capital, i.e. the shareholders,are almost entirely dissociated from themanagement, with the result that the directpersonal interest of the latter in the makingof great profit becomes quite secondary.When this stage is reached, the generalstability and reputation of the institution aremore considered by the management than themaximum of profit for the shareholders. Theshareholders must be satisfied by convention-ally adequate dividends ; but once this issecured, the direct interest of the managementoften consists in avoiding criticism from thepublic and from the customers of the concern.This is particularly the case if their great sizeor semi-monopolistic position renders themconspicuous in the public eye and vulnerableto public attack. The extreme instance,perhaps, of this tendency in the case ofan institution, theoretically the unrestrictedproperty of private persons, is the Bank ofEngland. It is almost true to say that thereis no class of persons in the Kingdom of whomthe Governor of the Bank of England thinks43