13th April, 1933

Dear Mr. Byrne,

In reference to our conversation yesterday afternoon, 
I have not up to the present taken the "pound for 
pound" business very seriously, but as, apparently, 
Lord Tavistock is putting it forward at each of his 
meetings, perhaps it ought to receive attention.

It is, of course, simply another way of stating that 
the present banks are to be shut down, since under 
this scheme a bank could neither lend nor borrow 
since it would have to consult all its depositors 
every time it lent money, reducing their deposits by 
the amount lent, and it would, therefore, have to 
become a safe deposit for paper bank notes of the 
intrinsic value of 4/-per thousand, which does not 
seem to require so elaborate a mechanism.

As you know, I consider the administration of the 
present banks admirable, and I think to put forward a 
proposal of this kind is either to court the 
accusation that it is not understood by its sponsors, 
or else to raise up a wholly unnecessary and 
additional antagonism on the part of orthodox 
bankers.

Yours sincerely,
C. H. Douglas
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