The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-05 00:00:00

CROSSED CHEQUES.

The bill brought in by Sir Fitzroy Kelly to
amend the law on the subject of crossed cheques is
extremely concise, and runs as follows :
" Whenever a cheque or draught on any banker,
payable to bearer, or to order on demand, shall Le
issued, crossed with the name of a hanker, or with
two tranverse lines with the words and company,'
or any abbreviation thereof, such crossing shall be
deemed a materiil part of the cheque or draught,
and shall be obliterated, or added to, or altered by
any person whomsoever after the issuing thereof ;
and the banker upon whom such cheque or
draught shall be drawn shall not pay such ch
or draught to any other than the broker
whose name such cheque or draught shall with
be so
crossed,
or, if the same be crossed as aforesaid with-
out a banker's name, te any other than a banker."
Simple as this is, however, it is said to excite dis-
satisfaction aniong the bankers from the responsi-
bility it will impose upon them. That responsi-
bility, however, would be very slight, and only of
a legitimate character. If they were to suffer
from crossings being obliterated by chymical
, means, it would simply be from their own neg-
lect in not having their cheques printed on
paper that would preclude the possibility of
their being tampered with. In other respects
nothing but ordinary vigilance will be requisite,
and if they neglect this it is right that the
consequences should fall upon themselves. Of
course, if their profits will not allow them to make
concessions to public convenience, they can decline
to receive accounts under such a state of the law,
but the joint-stock banks, at all events, are hardly
likely to adopt this plea, since they find it possible
to pursue the objectionable plan of allowing in-
terest to their customers. It would te better for
them to discontinue this practice, and to take the
ri.,l of facilitating every legitimate banking arrange-
ment for the benefit and safety of the public, and
thus to extend their general usefulness. It is urged
in some quarters that the present bill is unneces-
sary, the Board of Inland Revenue having just
given a decision which allows the drawer of a check
to secure its being paid only through a banker by
adding after the word "bearer" the additional
words, "through a banker only." The limitation,
being thus made part of the original document,r
upon
must, it is said, be attended to by the banker
whom the check is drawn, and will have a force
which the judges will not allow to belong to a cross-
n to get
cross-
ing. But the bankers have contrivedalreeadsynay g checks
exemption from the consequences of
theyt paying
would to order upon false signatures,e
pro-
bably contend that this
to a wrongful payment ofe anyx exemption applies equally '
kind in the face of
specific instructions
In that case, supposing any
.
mistake to occur, or the words to be adroitly erased,
the consequences would still fall upon the drawer.
It is apparently,
therefore, only by such a bid as
that now introduced that the public cats obtain the
complete security they desire. If under the Penny
Stamp Act it should prove that other methods are
available, those methods will be at command.
With reference to the wording of the clause above
quAed from the Attorney-General's bill on crossed
checks it is necessary to direct attention to one or
two technical points that will require alteration.
As it reads at present, the crossing "and Company"
would be of no avail, unless it were accompanied by
" two transverse lines." Again, it is stipulated

tha, the words "and Company" stall not be wide('
to after the issuing oLthe check, __This would de-
prive the holder of the power of inserting the name
of his own banker, a step which is the only true
pFecaution, since at the present time, when persons
of all descriptions can have a banking account with
a joint stock company by paying a small fee, the
mere "and Company" can impfirt only a
very limited degree of security.—Times City
Article.