Money and banking

In opinions on and criticisms of previous editions of the text which have come to my notice, some instructors are very favorably inclined toward the rather large amount of historical material included in past editions while others consider this a defect, feeling that the historical chapters are largely if not entirely superfluous. Because of this di vision of opinion, the purely historical chapters have been segregated in the revision in Part II, in order that those not desiring to cover monetary and banking history may omit that part of the text entirely. This has necessitated the introduction of a new chapter-The Banking System of the United States at the beginning of Part III, which presents a bird's eye view of the existing banking structure without reference to its historical antecedents.

It is also hoped that the present arrangement will permit the satisfactory use of the text in certain courses where an over-all coverage of the subject is not intended. In a course devoted primarily to banking, for example, Parts I, III, IV, and possibly VIII could well be used as text material, Chapters 24 and 25 in Part V could also be assigned if a brief treatment of the value of money was wanted. Where it is desired to stress the monetary aspects of the subject, on the other hand, Parts I, V, VI, and VII plus Chapters 11, 12, 16, and 17 in Part III could readily be used as a basis for text assignments. In either case, the pertinent historical chapters could be assigned or omitted, depending upon the desire of the instructor in this connection.