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POWERS of ATTORNEY made and executed for the Sale or Transfer of Stock must be deposited at the Bank, &c. for examination, before 2 o'clock, the day previous to being acted upon; if only for receiving Dividends upon Stock, it is sufficient to present the Power of Attorney at the time when the first Dividend thereon becomes payable. Power of Attorney £1 1s. 6d., but for Bank, India, and South Sea Stock, £1 11s. 6d.

If the stock stands in the name of several persons, any one may receive the dividends, but they must unite to execute a sale. If one or more of the parties die, the stock is transferred by the survivors, without the concurrence of the executors or representatives of the deceased party. Hence if a father wished to give his son a certain amount of stock at his death, he might place the stock in his own and in his son's name, and upon his death his son would become the actual possessor of the property.

The United States of America reckon their money in dollars. To turn dollars, at the exchange of 4s. 6d. per dollar, into pounds sterling, multiply the number of dollars by 9, and divide by 40. To turn pounds sterling into dollars, multiply by 40, and divide by 9.

The French calculate their stock not by the amount of the principal, but by the amount of the dividend. Thus, 1000 francs in the French rentes, denote 1000 francs per annum. To calculate the purchase money for any amount of French rentes, first ascertain the principal. For the 5 per cents. you multiply by 20, and for the 4 per cents. by 223;-For the 4 per cents. by 25, and for the 3 per cents. by 333. Having obtained the amount of stock, and the price, proceed in the same way as in calculating the purchase money for English stock.

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By banking exchanges, I mean exchanges between bankers. Most of the London bankers who reside in the city make their exchanges with each other at the Clearing-house. At this house, which is situated in Lombard-street, in a part of the old Post-office, a clerk attends from each banking-house twice a day. First he goes at twelve o'clock with those bills which he has upon other bankers. Each bill is receipted by the house through whom it is presented, and the cheques have the name of the house written across them. He drops the bills payable at each house in a separate draw provided for the purpose, and he enters in his book, under separate accounts, those bills that may be dropped into his drawer. At half-past twelve he returns home. He goes again at three o'clock with a fresh quantity of bills and cheques, which he delivers in the several drawers as before. He then enters in his book those cheques that may have been delivered in his drawer. From three to four he receives further supplies of cheques brought to him from home by other clerks. These cheques he enters in his book, and they are then delivered in the proper drawers. As soon as the clock strikes four no further cheques are taken. He then casts up each account, and strikes the balance. These balances are then transferred to the balance-sheet. The balancesheet is a half sheet of paper, with a list of clearing bankers, printed alphabetically in a row down the middle. On the left hand side is a space for the debtors. On the right hand side is a space for the cre

ditors. The clerk begins with the house at the top of the list. If this house owes him money he places the balance on the left side of the name. If he owes money to this house he places the amount on the right side. Thus he proceeds through the whole list. He then goes to the clerk of each house, and calls the balance to him; and if they both agree, they mark it with a pen. If they differ, they examine where the error lies, and make the accounts agree. He then casts up each side of his balance-sheet, and strikes the balance. If the total amount of debits exceeds the total amount of credits, he will have to receive the amount of the difference. If the credits exceed the debits, he will have to pay the difference.

If a banker does not choose to pay a bill or draft brought home from the clearing-house, it is sent back and dropped in the drawer of the house by whose clerk it was presented. On the bill or draft is stated the reason for its non-payment: this is usually," no effects,' or" no advice;" sometimes, "not sufficient effects," or "refer to the accepter." If this draft was delivered in the first instance in the morning clearing (that at twelve o'clock) it is usually returned before four o'clock; but in all cases it must be returned before five o'clock: or else it will not be taken back, and the banker is considered to have paid it.

All this is usually done by five o'clock, when the clerks go home for a short time for two purposes: one purpose is, to fetch the money they have to pay; and the other is, to see if their balance on the sheet agrees with the balance of the books at home. At about quarter or half-past five they return, and any clerk who has money to pay, pays it to any clerk who has money to receive. It is common, however, for three or four clerks to form a sort of club, and pay principally among themselves. themselves. Hence when one member of the club has money to pay, he will pay it to some member of the same club who has money to receive, in prefer

ence to paying it to any one else; by this means his friend obtains his money earlier than he otherwise. might, and gets off sooner. It is obvious that all the money that is to be paid must be equal to all the money that is to be received. If this should not appear to be the case, there must be some error; and the clearinghouse is then said to be wrong. Two inspectors are appointed with salaries to detect errors of this kind by examining and marking off the sheets. Their signature is also necessary before any money can be paid from one clerk to another.

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All the articles in the clearing are entered at home in a book called the Clearing-book. On the left hand are entered the bills and drafts upon other bankers. These are called the "clearing out." On the right hand are entered the drafts which are drawn upon the house, and which have come in from the clearing. These are called the "clearing-in." If the clearing-out" is a greater sum than the " clearing-in," the clerks say, "the clearing brings in ;" that is, the clearing clerk will bring in money from the clearing-house. In the other case, they say, "the clearing takes out;" that is, he will take out money from the banking-house to pay away at the clearing-house. The balance of this book should agree with the clearer's balance-sheet, excepting the differences of the preceding night, which he may have settled. When this is the case, the clearer is right if not, he is wrong, and he must discover the error. The clearer may be wrong through errors made either in his own book at the clearing-house, or in the Clearing-book at home. The error at home may be either in the "clearing-in" or in the " clearing-out.' If the error be in the clearing-out, it will make the banking-house wrong: if in the clearing-in, it will not. Suppose, for instance, the clearing-out is wrong cast £1,000 too much, the house will be £1,000 over, and the clearer will be £1,000 short. But if the clearing-in

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be wrong cast £1,000 too much, it will not affect the balance of the house, because the Cash-book will consequently be £1,000 less; and these two amounts, those of the Cash-book and the Paid-day-book, (into which the amount of the Clearing-in-book is entered) are placed on the same side of the trial paper. But this error will make the clearer wrong. The way in which the clearer discovers his errors is, by marking off his book against the Clearing-book, and by recasting both the books. An error may have occurred at the clearing-house. If the clearer has placed a wrong balance on his sheet, or has wrong-cast his balance-sheet, the clearing-house will be wrong, and the inspectors will make their business to discover the error. But if the clearer has entered an article wrong in his book, and the clerk of the house upon whom the draft is drawn has entered it wrong also, then the clearing-house will be right, and both these clearers will be wrong; one being as much over as the other is short.

All the articles in the clearing-out must mark against either the Journals, the Received-waste-books, or the Lists. To secure greater accuracy, the clearing-in is entered not only in the regular Clearingbook, but also in another book by itself, which for distinction is called the Clearing-in-book. The amount of the clearing-in is entered in the Paid-day-book previous to the daily balance. On the following morning, the Clearing-in-book is marked against the debit side of the Ledger, and the Ledger-folio placed against each entry.

No gold, silver, or copper is taken to the clearinghouse; the differences under £5 that may be left between the clerks who receive and pay with each other, are carried to account on the following day,

Country notes are not paid at the clearing-house, but are taken round to the banking-houses, and exchanged for tickets called memorandums, which are passed

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