power of attorney, and get a ticket that will authorize him to have the same amount of stock put in to his name in Ireland. The stock in England is then transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt. He may go to the Bank of Ireland in Dublin and reverse the operation. Several Acts of Parliament have been passed with reference to this subject. The last is the 25th Vict. c. 7, passed in the year 1862. When there is a great difference in the price of stocks in the two countries, operations of this kind may be very profitable.

This power of transferring Government stock from one country to the other has a tendency to equalize the price in both countries. It also serves the purpose of a medium of exchange. A transmission of stock has the same effect in rectifying the exchanges as a transmission of gold. And doubtless the exchanges between England and foreign countries might, to a great degree, be adjusted in the same manner.

There is a Stock Exchange in Dublin similar to that of London, established for the purchase and sale of Government stock, bank stock, railway shares, &c. No person can transact business there unless he has obtained a licence from the Lord Lieutenant. The number of these persons is at present about fifty-six. The borrowing and lending of money on stock are matters of daily occurrence. This is not always done through brokers. Individuals often effect these transactions directly with the banks. The general rule is that the lender shall have a margin of 5 per cent. on the value of the stock, and shall be entitled to call for additional security whenever the market price falls below that difference.

We have noticed the different meanings given to the word "circulation" in England, since the passing of the Act of 1844. By the Act of 1845, it is enacted that this

word shall have the following meaning in Scotland and Ireland: :

"Section 17.-And be it enacted, That all bank notes shall be deemed to be in circulation from the time the same shall have been issued from any banker, or any servant or agent of such banker, until the same shall have been actually returned to such banker, or some servant or agent of such banker."

The Exchanges between the Banks.

Since the Act of 1845-when other banks besides the Bank of Ireland acquired the power of issuing notes in Dublin-a system of clearing, or, as it is called, of exchanges, has been established, similar to that established in Edinburgh. The following is a copy of a clearing balance-sheet ::

It may be stated here that the circulation of the Issue Department of the Bank of England is at present £15,000,000 more than the amounts of gold and silver held in that department. The amount of the circulation in the hands of the public is found by deducting the amount of bank notes in the Banking Department from the amount of circulation of the Issue Department.

Here we may observe that all the banks that clear are banks of issue; and the clearing in Dublin includes all the banks of issue in Ireland, although three of these banks have their head-quarters in Belfast. Two of the Belfast banks clear by their agents. The Bank of Ireland is the agent for the Northern Banking Company, and the Ulster Bank has a branch in Dublin. It will be observed that the Bank of Ireland-the chartered bank-is a member of the clearing; and, in fact, the clearing is held daily, in one of the rooms of that establishment. The differences are paid daily, in exchequer bonds. The following are the amounts required to be held by each bank :—

Those banks in Dublin that are not banks of issue are not members of the clearing. All the non-issuing banks, however, have accounts with the Bank of Ireland, and pay into that establishment the cheques they may have on the other banks. The issuing banks which attend the clearing have no account with the Bank of Ireland.

This system of clearing appears to work very satisfactorily. The following is an extract from a letter I received from an Irish banker on the subject:

"The settlement of our 'exchange balances' in Dublin, through the use of exchequer bills, works very well. The great evil, previously, was, that when these balances were of magnitude, Dublin was such a limited money market, there was difficulty and expense in raising the needful quantity of Irish money for the purpose. If you antici

pated the balance to be heavy against you, it was requisite to prepare some time before, and to have your funds lying idle and unproductive until the crisis arose. Now, we have exchequer bill interest for our surplus, and the power of replenishing our stock account whenever required by drawing on London, thus possessing the unbounded advantages of the greatest money market in the world. In point of fact, the arrangement has virtually changed the venue, and made London the actual and final place of settlement, through machinery worked in Dublin."

RULES,

Amended and Revised March, 1873, governing the Exchanges at Dublin. Established December 8, 1845.

1. The hours for making the exchanges to beForenoon-For notes and cheques, 10 o'clock. Afternoon-Final clearing for cheques, 2 o'clock. Except on

Saturday, when the hours to be 9.30 a.m., and 12 o'clock

noon.

In order to establish punctuality, any bank not represented in the Clearing Room fifteen minutes after the hours specified, to be excluded from that exchange.

2. The payments of the balances shall be made in exchequer bonds, except for the fractional parts of £500, which may be paid in notes of the particular bank debtor.

3. The exchequer bonds, which are not to be used for any other purpose, shall bear the distinguishing mark "Dublin Exchanges," and the stamp of the original holders, and shall be received at par, with the interest that may be due, when a transfer takes place.

4. The amount of exchequer bonds to be kept in the circle is fixed at £400,000, and is apportioned as follows:

And each bank shall maintain its quota at all times, as hereafter provided.

5. The exchequer bonds to be as nearly as practicable nine-tenths of £1,000, and one-tenth of £500.

6. The amount of exchequer bonds held by each bank shall be stated every day in the Clearing Room.

7. No bank shall be obliged permanently to hold more than one-third above, or be allowed to reduce more than one-third below its fixed quota of exchequer bonds; when, however, exchequer bonds have accumulated with some banks and are required by others, it shall be imperative on the banks so situated to buy or sell; the bank holding the greatest amount in excess of its quota, being bound to sell to the bank deficient the amount required for the legitimate purposes of the exchanges; no bank, however, in such case being bound to reduce its stock below its original quota, and the bank seeking to purchase shall buy from the bank holding the greatest proportionate amount above its quota.

8. When exchequer bonds have accumulated with any bank to more than one-third above its quota, it shall have the power to call upon the bank or banks holding the smallest amount in proportion to their quota, to purchase; but it shall not be imperative upon any bank to purchase