Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-30
English Banking.

haQ, Wnlle faVeIn IN England,
other instances where my letter of credit
was of incidental service to me. Twas
told by American travellers that I must
he careful not to lose my letter of
credit. They were confident that a dis
honest finder Of the letter, who should
forge my signature and draw the
money, would intict its loss upon me,
and not upon the parties who cashed it
upon a forged signature; ard they had
various stories Of how travelersin Eng
land had lost all their travelling funds
i'm this way. 1 did not believe all this.
And now, having investigated the mat
ter thoroughly, l know the statements
ITO be incorrect.
If you lose your credit letter use due
diligence in notifying parties upon whom
fit is drawn. If parties cash your bill
tupon forged signatures they lose and
mot you, provided you have not been
negligent in putting the public on
guard in the premises. This incorrect
expression to which [ have alluded
comes from a misrepresentation of a Pc
culiar law Of England. The origin and
character of this law are as follows:
! English bankers became disguised
with the law and custom requiring that
the payers of checks drawn to order
should demand an identification of the
parties collecting such checks. Checks
payable to bearer could be paid without
grisk and responsibility on the part of
the bank. But if the checks payable to
order were paid to the wrong person on
forged Endorsement or anything of the
sort, the bank was the loser. The banks
pressed Parliament to make a law put
ting both classes of checks on the same
footing. Such a law was enacted. To-
day, says a bank teller of London to
me, l pass out the money for all checks
presented as fast as [ can to whoever
Veresents them. My only care is to assure
myself that the drawers balance and
signature are all right. WhenIto him
that in Boston we demanded an identi-
fcation Of all parties collecting checks,
no matter whether the checks were pay
able to order or to bearer, he smiled.
He said they could never get through
their banking business in Londoni if they
attempted to do it in that way. l agreed
with him. Ihave seen something Of the
tear and rush IN London banking re-
gions. There are SO many people there
and so much to be done in a short time
that I hardly see how they get through
at all.
So this is the check situation in Eng
land to-day. If l drop a cheek in Lon
don streets, the first man who picks it
vup can rush into the bank and collectit
land pocket the money. But to collect
4money fraudulently is q great crime.
England Furnishes such 81 CT. me terribly.
THE severity of its laws and the prompt
mess with which they are enforced
ARE great safeguards in business
matters. The man who loses a
check in England must make lively
Hime in stopping it's payment. Till he
has stopped its payment he has just the
same as lost SO many Bank Of England
notes or soyere,gns. And the person
who loses a letter of credit in England,
or anywhere else in fact, must also
make quick time in. stopping its pay
(ment, if he would not incur great re-
dsponsibility. l found the bankers Of
England always ready to cut red-tapo
when they could do so without incur
ring toe great risks. They are willing
ITO rely upon signatures as a means of
Identification. In fact, in collecting
payments upon q letter Of credit, sigma
lures alone satisfy bankers in England
that the payments are being made to
the right party. But their customs in
these premises are lest illustrated by a
schapter from my own experience with
"a letter OF credit. Every traveller letter