(pp. 1-17); and concerning the election of their Directors (pp. 17-23); also, definitions of certain terms used in the Revised Statutes (pp. 23, 24); also, the Statute of 1827 (Revised Statutes), entitled "Of the general powers, privi- leges, &c., of corporations" (pp. 24-28); also, the Statute of 1829, called the "Safety Fund Act" (pp. 29-39); the Statute of 1830 (Revised Statutes), called the "Restraining Act" (pp. 39-50); the Statutes of 1830 (Revised Statutes), entitled "Of proceedings against corporations in equity" (pp. 50-64); and "Of the voluntary dissolution of corporations" (pp. 64-75); also the Act of 1830, concerning bank notes (pp. 75, 76); V. The General Banking Law of 1838, as originally passed, with VI. The General Banking Law as altered by subsequent legisla- VII. All the Special Statutes passed since 1838, amendatory of the General Banking Law (pp. 107-208); also the statutes relating to Foreign Bank Notes (pp. 107, 193, 206); to suits by or against banking associations (p. 125); to Receivers of banking associations (pp. 127, 134, 135, 144, 145); also the statute to enforce the responsibility of Stockholders in certain banking corporations, &c. (pp. 155, 205); relating to unclaimed dividends and deposits (p. 173); to the distribution of funds held by the Comptroller (p. 175); to the establishment of the Bank Department (p. 178); VIII. The Appendix contains the Restraining Acts of 1782, foreign corporations (pp. 240-253); to promissory notes and bills of exchange (pp. 253-260); to interest of money (pp. 260, 261); to usury (pp. 262-265); and to dividends on stocks held by the State, or by literary or charitable institutions (p. 231); also, the provisions of the Constitution. (pp. 284, 285); and from 1829 to 1838, under the Safety Fund System (pp. 286-289); and from 1838 to 1855, under the General Banking Law (pp. 289-295); also the names The Appendix contains also, an account of the CLEARING INTRODUCTION. THE origin of Banking dates far back. At first it was entirely a hard-money operation. The variety of coins used by different nations, gave rise to the class of money-changers,—the bankers or brokers of that day,-through whom the unavailable coin of other countries could be changed into that which was current in the land. In Greece, where violence often prevailed and property was insecure, treasure could be safely placed only in some spot held sacred by all. Hence Delphi became a place of deposit, and its celebrated temple was the seat of a bank as well as of an oracle. In Rome, also, there were bankers (argentarii), with whom the revenues, not only of individuals but of the State, were deposited. To the Jew bankers of commercial Lombardy we are indebted for the term. The progenitors of our spacious and splendid banking-houses were very simple things: a bench (Italian, banco) was set up in the market place, for the exchange of money. b The first public bank dates from A. D. 1153, and Venice claims the honor. (a) There is something of romance and glory in its origin, for it was founded to aid that heroic republic in the wars of the crusades. This was a bank of deposit only. With advancing commerce, Florence subsequently became the centre of the monetary transactions of Europe, and the business of banking was necessarily enlarged. Two hundred and fifty years after the establishment of the Bank of Venice, the Banks of Barcelona and of Genoa were founded. Two centuries more went by, before the growing commerce of Northern Europe obtained the Banks of Amsterdam, and Hamburgh, and Rotterdam, and Stockholm. The Bank of England dates from 1694. Like its Venetian predecessor, it sprang from the exigencies of war. Yet its origin was humble. When one thinks of that vast government engine as it now exists, its huge bankinghouse, its army of officers and clerks, its tons of gold and silver, and its operations that reach and affect every quarter of the globe, he can hardly read without a smile the title of its incorporating act: "An Act for the granting to their Majesties several rates and duties upon tonnage of ships and vessels, and upon beer, ale, and other liquors, for (a) Levi on Mercantile Law, pp. 199, 200; McCulloch's Dict. (Amer. ed), article "Banks (Foreign)." |