The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-06 00:00:00

BANKING BUSINESS.

Recent occurrences seem to have produced an idea
that the business of a banker is attended with some
speculations and uncertainties beyond those to which
other commercial pursuits are exposed. As no impres-
sion could be more erroneous, and as the subject is one
on which it is by no means desirable that error should
prevail, we subjoin a plain exposition of the case, di-
vested of all technicalities and mystery, for the informa-
tion of the general reader. We shall not attempt to
analyse or discuss what are termed the " principles of
banking," but simply give such a general explanation of
facts as will be easily and popularly intelligible.
The original or primary notion of a banker is simply
that of a money-dealer. Money is not only the medium
by which sales and purchases are effected, but it is an
article of purchase and sale itself, and the banker is the
tradesman who deals in it. But how, it will be asked,
is any one to buy money, when money is the very thing
by which every commodity is bought ? The answer is,
that money is bought with credit—in other words, it is
lent out to use upon the faith of the borrower, and on
the condition that it shall not only be repaid, but be
repaid with the addition of a certain sum in considera-
tion of the loan. This sum is called "interest," or more
expressively sometimes in popular language " use-
money." This it is from which a banker, in the original
conception of the trade, would derive the profits of his
business, and upon which he would live. In order,
however, to lend money he must first possess it—that
is to say, he must have a capital ; and this is what is
meant when it is said that certain sums or properties
are embarked in a banking business. Two or more
persons possessed of private fortunes put their money
into a common stock, with a view of making profit
by lending this stock out piecemeal, and receiving it
back again with interest. Up to this point, therefore,
the hazards of a banker's business, whatever they might
be, would affect none but the bankers themselves. If
they lent their money so carelessly or unluckily that they
could not get it back again they might be ruined, but
the ruin would be simply their own.
The extension of trade, however, and the development
of commercial transactions add new features to the bank-
ing business. A man in trade requires another trades-
man to manage his money concerns for him, to receive
such moneys as are due to him, and to pay, according
to order given, such money as he owes. This duty is
discharged by bankers, who thus keep the "accounts
of their customers, receiving and paying on their behalf
such Km§ an are brought or demanded. The difference

between the total receipts and the total payments effected
on behalf of a particular customer represents what is
termed the " balance" of the account, and bankers na-
turally desire that this balance, or the surplus money in
their hands, should be as large as possible. Accordingly,
as every customer has, or should have, a balance of his
own, the aggregate of these balances represents a con-
siderable sum, which is at the banker's disposal, like his
own original capital, for the purposes of his trade.
Sometimes these balances acquire a more permanent and
substantial form. Wealthy customers not unfrequently
deposit money at their banker's merely for safe keep-
ing, or even vanity's sake, without much intention of
touching it, and we have heard of instances of lofty
coxcombry where thousands upon thousands of 11 minds
have been left in this way for years. Here, therefore,
are large accumulations of money for the banker to
deal with, and, as the profits of money-dealing must
bear a direct proportion to the amount of money
employed, the advantages of the business are mate-
rially improved. But now comes the important point.
The additional capital represented by these balances and
deposits is not the banker's own. He may employ it,
and is, of course, presumed to do so—indeed, this is his
legitimate source of remuneration and profit ; but he is
liable to be called upon for it by the right owners at any
time, and if he cannot produce it a catastrophe ensues.
In the old commercial cities of Italy when a trader failed
to meet the demands upon him the custom was to break
the " bane" or counter over which his dealings were
conducted, and this usage gave rise to the term
" bank-rupt."
From what has been said it will be seen that a banker
deals with money of two kinds—first, that which is his
own, and which represents the original capital with
which the concern was established, and next, that which
is not his own, but his customers'. It is upon the ma-
nagement of these latter funds that the prosperity and
security of a banker's business peculiarly depends. He
must needs be a money-dealer or money-lender in any
case, for this, in fact, and nothing else, is his trade;
but, whereas in the case of his original capital he risked
only what was his own, and was liable to no control in
the matter, in the case of his customers' money he
puts out of his hands that which at any moment he may
be required to refund. If he cannot refund it, the
bank is said to " stop payment," and the usual pro-
ceedings under bankruptcy follow.
In all this this there is nothing whatever to make
the trade of a banker uncertain or dangerous ; on the
contrary, it would be very hard to find a pursuit more
advantageous, lucrative, or safe than the business of
well-established bank. The partners literally find them-
selves put in peaceable possession of other people's
money, and all they have to do is so to manage
matters that they may be able to produce this money
upon demand. For this purpose it is only necessary that
what is lent should be lent with caution and judgment,
and what is invested should be so invested as to be for
the most part within certain and easy reach. Neglect of
either of these precautions may produce disaster. If
money is lent in large sums, or to customers not suffi-
ciently responsible, or if, although placed out on security
good in itself, it is so tied up as not to be available at
the moment of need, there may not remainrfunds enough
in hand to meet sudden calls, and a stoppage of payment
must ensue. Perhaps the theory of the case would re-
quire that a banker should always be able at any given
moment to satisfy the whole body of his customers, by
accounting to them for their balances and deposits if
asked to do so ; but this is an extreme supposition. Pre-
suming nothing to have affected the credit of the estab-
lishment, it is in no degree probable that demands of
that character would be made upon it ; and even if a
bank were by some accident reduced to the necessity of
suspending its payments, notwithstanding that all the
ordinary rules of prudence had been observed in its
management, the difficulty would only be temporary, nor
need any loss ensue. If the concern was sound, the
ultimate realisation of the assets, or, in other words, the
reconversion of the investments into money, would pro.
vide the means of satisfying every customer in full.
We thus arrive at what seems the single condition of
good banking—viz., to keep always available such an
amount of funds as will answer any probable demand ;
and, though this may appear a mere truism, it really
carries with it the other maxims of the trade. The rule
cannot be observed if advances are made in very large
sums, or for very long dates, to single firms or individuals
since in this ease it is obvious that there might be diffi-
culty experienced in getting the money at need, and
bankers therefore prefer to spread their dealings in
smaller amounts and at short dates over a large surface.
It cannot be observed if money is largely invested in
securities not readily convertible, and therefore most
speculations of an equivocal kind would be excluded by
the nature of the case. Of course a banker, like any
other tradesman, is liable to bad debts, and may occa-
sionally lose the money he had lent, even on justifiable
conditions, but in this he only shares a peril common to
all trades alike, and is exposed to no greater danger in
such respects than his commercial neighbours around

THE PATENT PRINTING COMPANY

AGAIN.

•
This redoubtableecheme has at length been partially
brought to a test of experiment, in consequence of Mr.
Clay, of Bread-street-hill, having challenged Major
Benioweki to a trial of his invention, as compared with
the ordinary process. The first portion of this trial
took place on Tuesday, June 12, at Mr. Clay's office,
in presence of several members of Parliament and gen-
tlemen connected with the printing profession, when
it was arranged that a page of Parliamentary work' should
be composed by each party. Cases being provided with
letter in them, softie copy was given to the composi-
tor, Mr. W. Hughes, who composed a page of small
pica, 33 erns wide (or 77 ens small pica), containing,
according to the ordinary method of crating up, 6,006
letters, but by counting the actual letters and spaces, as
was done by Major Beniowski, it consisted of 7,020.
The trial of Major Benioweki's system took place on
Friday, June 15, at his residence in Bow-street, when
the same copy was given to the young lady who picks up
the types, being assisted by a youth who spaced out the
lines. The time occupied was__

CLAY'S. h. m.
Composition
Imposition 0 24
Readingand revising 0 12k
Proof and revise
Distribution

BENIOWSLI'S. h. m.
Composition
Correcting (on galley) 0 29
Imposition
Reading
Proof (not corrected)* 0 45
Distribution 0 56

Total

,Total ...... 4 12

It will thus be seen that from the time the compositor
took copy he had his page ready for press in less
than three hours, including the time occupied by the
reader, and that he afterwards distributed the type in
51 minutes. While, by Major Beniowski's system,
although two were engaged in the process, it required
upwards of two hours to produce the page, and a
reader was occupied 15 minutes in reading it ; but the
gallant Major, it seems (although at the outset it was
stipulated that the page should not be considered finished
till properly read and corrected), declared that there was
no necessity for reading or correcting, the type having
been read over on the galley by the fair compositor. It
appears, however, that there was great necessity for
reading, for as many error» were discovered as would
have taken 45 minutes to correct. The Major, however,
refused to have the proof corrected, considering that
there was no impropriety in dividing the word " ve-ry,"
and that a double of a word or two and a host of other
imperfections were of no consequence. Had the time of
the reader been taken into account, and had his proof
been corrected, as undoubtedly it should have been, the
compositor would have had the advantage of his two
competitors by twenty-eight minutes. Thus the
Major is on the horns of a dilemma—either it will take
longer to produce a page correctly by his system than by
the present ; or, to gain any advantage in speed, he must
entirely sacrifice correctness, which, in Parliamentary
printing especially, is so indispensable. Then, again.
the time occupied by the two boys in distributing was 56
minutes each, while that by the compositor was only 51.
This, then, is the system which threatened to produce
an entire revolution in the printing business—which was
to simplify the art so that any one able to read might
at once become a compositor—which should annihilate
the present race of printers, and supersede them as com-
pletely as the ancient scribes were by the introduction of
printing—and by which printing could be executed in
one-fourth the time and one-eighth the cost, returning
to the fortunate shareholders a profit of 300 per cent.
But on the very first imperfect trial, which was one
calculated, from the simple nature of the work to be
executed, and the plainness of the copy, to give the
inventor every advantage,l- it has displayed anything
,but a superiority over the common method. That a
number of types may be put together in a short space
of time no one doubted, but that, as every practical man
knows, is the least part of a compositor's art ; and the
" inventor" has exhibited nothing whatever to lessen the
difficulties a compositor has to contend with. What is
there, or can there be, in the proposed or any other
system that facilitates the deciphering of imperfect
manuscript, or assist in more readily punctuating ? So
far from ther being any improvement in the appearance)
of the work when executed, it is confessedly the re-
verse ' • and instead of progressing in the [art, a book
printed with the proposed types would be infinitely in-
ferior to those printed a hundred years ago ; for words
or syllables having tinfoil wrapped around them, and the
single letters having none, it is impossible to make them
range and extremely difficult to make them " lift" when
imposed, as is clearly proved by the time (19 minutes)
occupied in imposing Major Beniowski's page ; and
whilst some of the letters will be close together, others
will have a space between them ; and what the type-
founders have most striven to achieve will be destroyed.
With regard to time, it is shown by the experiment
that if the work is to be done in anything like a proper
manner, it must go through the ordinary routine of
reading and correcting, and then, in spite of two
persons being engaged instead of one, no advantage will
be gained, but the reverse; for every practical printer
knows that when work is in a burry the composition may
be facilitated by dividing it into small portions, as is
done on the daily papers ; but where much correcting is
needed there is an inevitable delay, from the extra time
occupied in reading, and from the difficulty of dividing
the work into portions ; and the time occupied in cor-
recting is very much greater with the proposed logotypes
than with the present, owing to the compositor not be-
ing able to overrun the lines or divide the words with
the same facility.
In distributing, although the "inventor" asserts that
it may be done by any little boy able to read, it turned out
that it occupied two boys a longer time than was taken
by the compositor. It is to be regretted that no inspec-
tion was made of the way in which this was executed,
for we have no doubt that from the number of compart-
ments (1620) in Maj.'. Beniowski's case (or "authoriton,"
as he terms it), the work was most incorrectly done,
an,l that after a day's work, the whole case would be
in contusion, making it impossible for the lady to proceed
with composition. Boys can distribute in the cases at
present used, and we have no doubt much better than in
those of Major Beniowski's ; but we should like to know
what compositor would consider his work facilitated by
such assistance.

We are at a loss to conceive how there can be any
saving in the expense ; for we have seen that while the,
whole time occupied in composing, reading, and correct-
ing a page for pre-.s by the pro,ent method was only 31
hours, that taken by those engaged in the new process
was so less than 51 hours, to which, if one hour necessary
for reading and correcting be added, will be 0 hours,
or nearly doubled. Major Beniewiski however, it seems,
relies for cheap production aot so much on the actual
time consumed, but on the very low wages he would pay;
but in this. he displays a knowledge of political economy
and the laws which regulate wages about as complete as
Los knowledge of printing ; for if the enormous number
of hands he represents were to be brought into requisi-
tion, the demand for their labour would compel him to
raise their wages ; besides, he would find a much greater
amount of skill necessary than he seems to imagine, and
this would cause another rise, for when a lad found
himself useful he would demand an increase of wages,
which must be given in proportion to the difficulty there
might be in supplying his place. Also let any one read
the truthful description of the protracted labour necessary
for the production of a blue book, given in another
column, and say whether it would not be the greatest
inhumanity to condemn boys to such unceasing toil.
It, then, the appearance of the work would be far in-
ferior to that at present executed ; if, instead of gaining
time it should be the reverse ; if correctness is to be
disregarded, and a slovenly system substituted, what
inducement can there be for a Government to adopt the
extraordinary course of buying the patent from the
" inventor l" If the system possesses any portion of the
merits its advocates claim for it, it needs no patronage
from Government for its success—on the contrary,
all our most important inventions have been brought
forward by private individuals, who have never found
difficulty in providing funds for any scheme possess-
ing merit ; and if its promoters are so confident,
why do not they give in a tender for the execution of
Parliamentary printing, and realise the fortune we are
told they might
We should think that the fact of there being found no
practical master printer to advocate the invention (while
so many condemn it), would be sufficient proof to the
committee that no improvement could be effected by the
if the
iptroduction of the proposed method, for whatever may
be said of the opposition of journeymen to any
limprove-
ment in their art threatening to supersede them, surely,
if, as the patrons of Major Beniowskes scheme state
(among other calumnies), the master printers
oar held
additional reason
f
their employ, that would only be an ad those in
a state of thraldom by the combinationjoystera
which
why they should be eager to adopt aneype
iasy
;Wall.) d.this,h,
ooludldhapurodmeisceantobeesmots2:p;
support from the r
Con-
sequently, the withholding of theirrits
strongest
condem-
e.
sent scheme must be considered
nation.
But although we consider.,
the recent trial, so far as it
apparatus to b e a complete
went, of Major Beniowsk
'insorder full
failure, we contend that, In
various
to test its merits,
trials should be Inadet sot kind a kinds of work • not
only should the ailup.e be
ssenn fed
selected, which, we
done on either sstem b
admit, may but man script y persons of but
little experience, , of various kinds should
• d and tabular matter
be tile , should be composed ; for if,
the syst •
as is stated, , ern 15 applicable to Parliamentary
printing, jet tee various kinds of matter usually com-
prisedsuch work
be tried. When the comparative
merits of sailing vessels are tested, trials of the various
methods of sailing are made=as, before the wind,
aasinst the wind,
&c. We contend that, in the present
instance, similar .
trials should also be made, and we are
confidentthat •
on every trial the absurdities of the pro-
posed scheme would be more apparent, and that in a
short time it would be condemned to oblivion.—Typo
gAtpkicai circular.

* This was the lowest calculati•n, and does not include
the reader's time for revise, or the Major's for correcting
revise.
-I. The width of the measure, an awkward one for a corn•
positor not used to it, was in favour of Major Beniowski's
system, as giving fewer lines to pass and space out; and
this
who, by the lady compositor,
upon by
made each answer
wcaosafruarrtyhetro improved
ermovuedal u
commence a paragraph, instead of running it on after the
(paestion. .

HARROW SegooL.—A number of the old pupils of
Harrow dined together at the Freemasons' Tavern on
Wednesday evening, The hall was elegantly decorated
for the occasion. The chair was occupied by Sir Robert
Peel, Bart., supported by the Hon. F. Ponsonby, Mr.
A. Stafford, M.P., Lord. Garlies, the Rev. Francis
Trench, Rev. T. 0. Blacks.% Capfain-Sapte, Rev. J. N.
Simpkinson, Rev. W. Oxenham, Rev. J. Drury, Messrs-
J. P. Broughton, F. A, Hanky, 0. 6!
CHar. Haggard,rerc C.