126 BANKS. 



Act, the latest Act on the subject, was passed. By this Act the only remain- 

 ing vestige of the Bank of Ireland's monopoly (beyond being the Govern- 

 ment bank) left by the Act of 1820, whereby banks with more than six 

 partners were prohibited from transacting business in Dublin and fifty Irish 

 miles therefrom, was swept away, and the whole country was thus thrown 

 open to joint stock enterprise. Joint Stock Banks, so established, were then 

 empowered to deal in bills at any less date than six months. The Bank of 

 Ireland was to manage the public debt of Ireland free of charge : the interest 

 on advances made by it to Government was reduced to 3 ^ per cent., which 

 became 3 per cent, in 1 865 ; the offensive oath formerly required of its 

 Directors was abolished : it was entitled, in the event of any bank relinquish- 

 ing note-issue, to increase its note-issue by the amount relinquished ; but 

 the relinquishing bank could not thereafter resume the power so surren- 

 dered. Bankers uncertified by the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes 

 were prohibited from issuing notes ; limitation of note-issue was provided 

 for ; Bank-notes for fractional parts of a pound, or for a pound and a frac- 

 tion, were prohibited, under a penalty of i^20 for each note issued ; issuing 

 banks were required to render weekly accounts of their note-circulation and 

 stock of specie at the head office or principal places of issue to the Com- 

 missioners of Stamps and Taxes, who were also empowered to cause an 

 inspection of books ; public officers were allowed to become partners in 

 banks ; banks were bound to return once a year to the Stamp Office, Dublin, 

 a list of the names, addresses, and professions of their partners ; power was 

 given to sue and be sued by their public officers ; promissory notes or bills 

 of exchange for sums under a pound were made negotiable ; such are the 

 chief provisions by which banking, as we now understand it, was settled to 

 be conducted in this country. This Act also decided the doubts which had 

 arisen, and on which the most eminent counsel were divided, as to whether 

 Bank of England notes were legal tender in Ireland. It enacted (which 

 will be information to many) that they were not, but that 



*' nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the Circulation In Ire- 

 land of the Notes of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England 

 as heretofore." 



Bank of Ireland Notes are legal tender only in payment of Revenue. 



Present Position of Irish Joint Stock Banks. 



The deposits and cash balances in the Joint Stock Banks at the close of 

 December, 1901, as shown in Table I., stood at ;^42,923,ooo (exclusive of 

 ;^ 1, 83 1,000 Government and other Public Balances in the Bank of Ireland), 

 as compared with ;^43,28o,ooo at the corresponding period in the year 1900, 

 being a decrease of £"357,000. This is the first time since December, 1887 

 that the figures in this Table show a decrease, there having been, comparing 

 December with December, a continuous annual increase throughout the 

 intervening period, amounting in the aggregate to i^i 3,509,000. It should 

 be noted, however, that although the amount for December, 1901, is 

 ^357.000 — only 0.8 per cent. — less than that recorded for December, 1900. 

 the amount for the latter year was the highest ever reached. 



In Table I. (a) the amounts of deposits and cash balances are compared 

 by half-years : it shows that as usual there was an increase in December as 

 compared with June. 



