"Britain has been conquered only twice in its history. The first time was by William the Norman in 1066 and the second by Montagu the Norman in 1931."
So cried Socialist Harold J. Laski in 1940. The British professor, making a routine denunciation of the Bank of England (much as a New Dealer attacks Wall Street), hoped then that "the reign of Montagu the Norman" would now "ebb peacefully to its close."
Four years later the reign ebbed. Last week, after a quarter of a century in which he dominated every move of the world's greatest banking institution, Montagu Collet Norman, 73, resigned the Governorship of the Bank of England, and prepared to go into permanent retirement.
Into his place stepped a hardheaded Scotsman, 65-year-old Thomas Sivewright Catto, First Baron Catto of Cairncatto,* a British businessman of worldwide experience, who during the last three years has been joint advisor, with John Maynard Keynes, now First Baron Keynes of Tilton, to his Majesty's Treasury in Whitehall.
So close has been the association of Catto and Keynes—sometimes referred to as Lords Catto and Doggo—that some observers predicted a revolution in Britain's financial policy. In fact, Lord Catto's appointment was simply one more instance of Britain's genius for adapting all kinds of talent to the service of King and country.
It was given to Montagu Norman to attempt to reconstruct a worldwide financial system after World War I. Last week few doubted that Britain had chosen well and shrewdly in selecting Lord Catto to shoulder the even tougher responsibilities that will emerge out of World War II.
The Old Lady. Technically Lord Catto heads a private bank. Actually, few institutions have cast a more pervasive influence on history than the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, which rises like a fortress from the center of the City—London's bomb-scarred financial district.
Founded in 1694 in the reign of King William of Orange, expressly to make credit available to that hard-pressed monarch in his wars with the French, the Bank of England is the heart and center of Britain's far-flung financial system. Under its leadership the pound sterling became, in the 19th Century, a universal currency.
World War I shattered this system, broke up the gold standard, left England burdened with debt. But the war also gave one man his supreme opportunity. Montagu Norman, descendant of three generations of bankers, veteran of the Boer War (wounded, D.S.O.), had entered the Bank's employ in 1907, fresh from an apprenticeship with Brown, Shipley.
Norman the Man. It was Norman's ambition to re-establish the world system of trade and investment which the war had shattered. In 1920 he became the Bank's Governor—until then by precedent usually a two-year job. Shy, retiring, yet possessed of an iron will, Norman held office for twenty-four momentous years. During these years his motto was: "Never explain, never apologize." He prided himself on not being a theorist. His rare speeches were poorly delivered generalities. He rarely wrote anything for publication. Though bitterly attacked, he never retorted to criticism.