, 1874-01-21
MONEY AND COM MERGE.



ply Of exchange mhle against ehlpmonta Of
nra;r, and some ipaux Of moncy from tho coun" |
try In tho WAY Of merchants COLLECTIONS, and Of
amounts sont In BY country banks to lonn OH |
ro,,atorss or nycst In commercial paper In tho
opcn market. But 1t canltot bo expected TINT
there will bo my very great inoroaso OF loanablo
funds In this market until tho pork-packors aud
enooulators ship OF and sell l,art of tho Hovoral
million t1oara' worth OF pork aud cut meats now
being hold here by thom.
: Tho banks arc accommodating all thcir regular
rustomors at 10 por cent, but arc taking
very tistc outside paper. In the open market
money Is to 10 lal at IA per cont on primo col
,atorals, though ii por cent Is patd IN many
instances.
Now York exchange was little firmer to-day
than yesterday, aud aola botween banks at 70
cents Per 1900 discount.
TIE mEonAN1cs' NATIONAL BANR.
The Executive Committee of tho Chicago
the Mechanice' National Bank OF this city to
withdraw from its membership, tomorrow, Jan.
a.. Thia ts only = polite @ mnde of ex.
gus1een ind .Ss sysntqdS Wana y nv will + r0Dss ss
bank. The bank was believed to DO in 9, vory
unsatisfactory condition before The panic, though
not sufficiently 80 to warrant either the BANK Ex-
.ainer or tho oIsaring- -Houae Committee ae;u In
,nce ID business. The ranic:. Of course. only
nndo it's condition worse, but tho other banksin
The city lnyo been aispoacd until now. to ut
snH rema ia
House, partly because they wore afraid to dis
turb the recovery Of public confidence from the
effects Of tho panic. and | partly because they
With viii - tho o''e general Improvement Of affairs
mont, however, in its condition appears to
have boon mado since the panic. According to
only about 10 per cont Of its deposits in caah Its
aoana IRE understood to DO now just about whore
they wero two months Or more ago. It Is alleged
tho bank has been unable to reduce them, bo-
pnpcr which Is past due and cannot be collaeted
without great delay. AB tho Executive Com
mittee Of tho Clearing, House dig not examine
the dotaile Of the condition Of the Mechanics
known what tue s17s, 900 Of i" bills payable ii
the published statement Of tle bank
irepresonts but whatever alse it is, it is an
'evidence that tho bank has increased tH liabili-
ties in some other way than than the
deposits, md only sllows tho moro necessity
that 1t should be put into the hands Of Re-
sewer and wound up.
But il tho condition OF tho Mechanics Nation
u Bank il disgrace to the city, it is not 80
sreat an outrage on tue public as tic order Of
,hs BANKRUPT Court that all bankrupt funds in
she hands Of Aab}gnecB should bo deposited III
the Mechanics Nationnl This order was, wo
believe, subsequently modified, 30 as to include
tho National Bank of Illinois, but, even with
this modification, tho Keeping Of bankrupt funds
ring for their own benefit. The Assignees
in Bankruptcy arc n part OF 1t, ana it
zeems now to be an acknowledged
fact. that mono but = few hangers -on-of tho
Register in Bankruptcy, can be appointed to
those Offices. Ono OF tho results OF this ring
management is TINT n largo amount Of bankrupt
funds *havo been locked up, for nobody knows
bankrupt concerns, whose affairs havo boon to q
great extent adjnlicated, would have paid dlyi-
dentls to their creditors long ago, only that tho
Dicchanlcs' National has not been able to pay.
Ts fire. ,1 o ssttaF up u hb1nas estates
faras the National Bank Of Illinois ia concerned,
OF courso, nobody has any objection to it's conli-
ton. II is, We believe, a sound, well-mauagod
hank, but has no right to any monopoly Of the
bankrupt funds in the banda OF Asuignoes.
"cuEQuE DAyk."
new kind Of financial institution las beon
started in England, called cheque bank"
tho effect Of which ie to make larger circu!a-
tion Of bank checks in place OF coin, thus in
ono sonse making an increasing supply of cur
1encY, aud econonlizing the uso Of coin for all
small payments. 10 tie small tradeameu, ar
small 10 be very desirable to the larger commer-
cial banks, It's conyenicnces arc very great. 1sa
popularity is that, instead of being = competi-
tor OF other banls. 1t in fact co-operates with
them, 80 that Au the other metropolitan banks
are practically made branches Of tic cheque
bank. Chambers Journal gives the following
"details of its operation:
when y money Il is Deposited, tbs only receipt
The amount lodged. Tho largost amount Tor
which any one olock can bo drawn is E10 II
VIC deposit .E100 ne receive q cAecIl-book con-
tanning ten ohecls for Ei0; we may however,
Now, ne can draw only to the amount Of our Do
poslt and no further, for, in the corner Of each
check, ita value is perforated in words, thus be-
ing indeibly fixed. 1n this way it ia q sheer inl-
Enough We may make out chock for any
less amount than TINT specified On it,
wo cannot for greater. This is great
advantage. as there Gun never be any check ro-
turned to tho payco with mo fun1s' inscribed
On it. aB too often ia the case with the old aya-
TEN. II, thon. re make out como checks for q
less amount than that specified, thore must bs a
balance standing At our credit Wien the oheck-
towards q new book, or, it ne like, may draw it,
On eurfonlering tho counterfoils OF the old
cheok-book. All cLecks are made payable to or
dor, aud are croaHod bcaides; ao that, before re-
cciyinE payment, tho check must have boon in
dorsod. This puts such IN onectual barrier to
unfair dealing, that the risk run by the Oheque
Bank is comparatively insignificant. Each book
Of checks contains ten. for which the uniform
pI1Co ~ oua suIl4IL- bu1u6 luF tufcrtl-
ment stamps, and the odd twopence being di-
vided between tho expense of tho paper and
bank commission. The way in which the book
is kept IL pocullar,, and saYeR an enormous
amount Of tlmo md trouble. Instead Of each
check being entered IN tho books some half
chechs paid out is placed In the books. And to
avoid III risk, the checks arc 80 carefully in
doxed and put paat, that ton years honce chook
cauhed now will be found quite readily also
their checks arc cleared daily, thus avoiding the
necessity of passing through the bankers' Clear
ing- House.
t'Tlc leading peculiarities Of this now institu-
ton are: /. No interest Is allowed on deposits
2. 1t does not keep lts own caBh. 8. 1t trana-
acts no financial business whatever. 4. Being
Intended only for small accounts Gus no interest
ia giyen) It is essentially bunk for the million.
5. It discounts no bills.
t'Tho SOURCES OF profit to the stockholders are
!. Tho interest on tho El00 ono rsserye fund ln-
veated 10 government consols.: Large returns
cannot be looked for here, the be ut security,
and not high percentage issought. 2. The dlyi..
dends arising from tla Investment OF the do