Montagu Norman

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26031, 7 February 1950, Page 4

Montagu Norman

Lord Norman, whose death was reported yesterday morning, was better known to the world when he was plain Mr Montagu Norman. For nearly a quarter of a century the name of Norman was virtually synonymous with the Bank of England and international finance. When Mr Norman was raised to the peerage upon his retirement in 1944, he had held the high office of Governor of the Bank of England for a record term of 24 years, and had become almost the embodiment of the institution he served. When Lord Norman retired, Britain lost a great public servant and a worker for international co-operation. As, a servant of the public, he was dis- ' interested, for the Bank of England : during his term of office was nom- j inally a private concern, not being | brought under public ownership I until 1946. Lord Norman held office

in a most difficult period of social and economic change everywhere. His main purpose was to place international trade and finance on a firm basis. Under his leadership the Bank of England’s policy was directed to this end between the two world wars. Europe’s return to some measure of financial stability and commercial prosperity after the first war was due in part to his untiring efforts. He also helped rehabilitation in Britain by the establishment of the Securities Management Trust and the Bankers’ Industrial Development Company, to link the great banks with rationalised industries. In the field of world finance Lord Norman worked to promote international co-opefra-tion through the agency of central banks in the British Empire, in Europe, and in the United States. As Governor of the Bank of England he broadened the character of its Court of Governors, modernised its internal administration, and brought it into closer relationship with the Treasury. He believed that the bank’s function was to give to the Government candid advice, based on experience; and he considered that his duty as a public servant was to perfect the bank as an instrument for this purpose. Some of the measures he advocated or put through to support his main purpose were not generally approved at the time, and they have often been criticised since. Whether Britain should have returned to the gold standard in 1925 has been hotly debated. Lord Norman has also been condemned for holding the country too long to the gold standard, although his activities helped to prevent inflation when Britain went qff gold in 1931. The steadiness with which he pursued : his policy gave rise to the suspicion among some of his countrymen tftat he put the interests of international finance before those of British industry. The wide internationalism of his outlook was not always shared by those in authority in some ! countries, who were suspicious of ■ the ramifications of international j finance. In Britain he was accused i of following a foreign policy of his ■ own. But Lord Snowden, Chancel- ; lor of the Exchequer in the first j two Labour Governments, placed I Lord Norman’s activities in their ' proper light when he said of him: “No man with great responsibili“ties ever tried more faithfully to “ discharge them with the single “aim of promoting national and “international well-being”. I