within two years from the date of the acquisition of such real estate, it is lawful for the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to release by deed, or otherwise convey, such real estate to the debtor from whom it was taken, or to his heirs or other legal representatives.

It is the duty of the collectors in their respective districts, subject to the provisions of law, to prosecute for the recovery of any sums which may be forfeited by law. All suits for fines, penalties, and forfeitures, where not otherwise provided for, are brought in the name of the United States in any proper form of action, or by any appropriate form of proceeding, qui tam or otherwise, before any circuit or district court of the United States for the district within which such fine, penalty, or forfeiture has been incurred, or before any other court of competent jurisdiction; and taxes may be sued for and recovered in the name of the United States, in any proper form of action before any circuit or district court of the United States for the district within which the liability for such tax is incurred, or where the party from whom such tax is due resides at the time of the commencement of the said action. No suit for the recovery of taxes, or of any fine, penalty, or forfeiture, is commenced unless the Commissioner of Internal Revenue authorises or sanctions the proceedings; provided that, in case of any suit for penalties or forfeitures, brought upon information received from any person other than a collector or deputy-collector, the United States are not subject to any costs of suit. It is the duty of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to establish such regulations not inconsistent with law for the observance of revenue officers,

district attorneys, and marshals, respecting suits arising under the internal revenue laws in which the United States is a party, as may be deemed necessary for the just responsibility of those officers and the prompt collection of all revenues and debts due and accruing to the United States under these laws. All judgments and moneys recovered or received for taxes, costs, forfeitures, and penalties are paid to collectors as internal taxes are required to be paid. Subject to regulations, the Commissioner may, on appeal to him, refund taxes, &c. No suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax is maintained in any court. In case of a second assessment, no taxes collected can be recovered by any suit unless it is proved that the list, statement, or return which the collector, or his deputy, thought false or fraudulent, &c., was not so; and no suit is maintained in any court for the recovery of any internal tax, penalty, &c., until appeal has been duly made to the Commissioner and a decision had therein; but if no decision is had within six months from the date of such appeal, suit may be brought, without it, any time within two years next after the cause of action accrued. The Commissioner, with the advice and consent of the Secretary of the Treasury, may compromise any civil or criminal case arising under the internal revenue laws instead of commencing suit thereon; and with the advice and consent of the Secretary, and the recommendation of the Attorney-General, may compromise after suit has been actually brought; and in this case there is placed on file in the office of the Commissioner the opinion of the Solicitor of Internal Revenue, or of the officer acting as such, with his reasons therefor, with a statement of the amount of tax assessed, &c., and the amount actually paid.

Where any marshal or deputymarshal of the United States within the district for which he is appointed finds any person or persons in the act of operating an illicit distillery, it is lawful for him to arrest such person

or persons, and take them forthwith before a proper judicial officer who resides in the county of arrest, or, if none, in that nearest to the place of arrest, to be dealt with according to the provisions of law.

Every incorporated or other bank, and every person, firm, or company having a place of business where credits are opened by the deposit or collection of money or currency, subject to be paid or remitted upon draft, check, or order, or where money is advanced or loaned on stocks, bonds, bullion, bills of exchange, or promissory-notes, or where stocks, bonds, bullion, bills of exchange, or promissory-notes are received for discount or for sale, is regarded as a bank or as a banker (vide United States Revised Statutes).

A tax of one-twelfth of 1 per centum each month is paid upon the average amount of circulation issued by any bank, association, corporation, company, or person, including as circulation all certified checks, and all notes and other obligations calculated or intended to circulate or to be used as money, but not including that in the vault of the bank or redeemed and on deposit for said bank; and an additional tax of one-sixth of 1 per centum each month is paid upon the average amount of such circulation issued as aforesaid beyond the amount of 90 per centum of the capital of any such bank, &c. In the case of banks with branches, the tax is assessed upon the circulation of each branch severally, and the amount of capital of each branch is considered to be the amount allotted to it. capital of any state bank or banking association which has ceased to exist, or has been converted into a national bank, is assumed to be the capital as

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it existed immediately before it ceased or was converted as aforesaid. Whenever the outstanding circulation of any bank is reduced to an amount not exceeding 5 per cent of the chartered or declared capital existing at the time the same was issued, said circulation is free from taxation; and whenever any bank which has ceased to issue notes for circulation deposits in the Treasury of the United States, in lawful money, the amount of its outstanding circulation, to be redeemed at par, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury prescribes, it is exempt from any tax upon such circulation. By the laws of February 8, 1875, chap. 36, every person, firm, association other than national bank associations, and every corporation, state bank, or state banking association, pays a tax of 10 per cent on the amount of their own notes used for circulation and paid out by them; and every such person, firm, association, state bank, or state banking association, and also every national banking association, pays a like tax of 10 per cent on the amount of notes of any person, firm, association other than a national banking association, or of any corporation, state bank, or state banking association, or of any town, city, or municipal corporation, used for circulation and paid out by them.

A true and complete return of the monthly amount of circulation of deposits and of capital (which does not include money borrowed or received from day to day, in the usual course

of business, from any person not a partner of or interested in the said bank, association, or firm), and of the monthly amount of notes of persons, town, city, or municipal corporation, state banks, or state banking associations, paid out as aforesaid for the previous six months, is made and rendered in duplicate on the first day of December and the first day of June by each of such banks, associations, corporations, companies, or persons, with a declaration annexed thereto under the oath of such person, or of the president or cashier of such bank, &c., in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, that the same contains a true and faithful statement of the amounts subject to tax as aforesaid one copy is transmitted to the collector of the district in which any such bank, association, corporation, or company is situated, or in which such person has his place of business, and one copy to the Commissioner. In default of such returns, the amounts are estimated by the Commissioner upon the best information he can obtain; and for any refusal or neglect to make return and payment, the defaulter shall pay a penalty of $200, besides the additional penalty and forfeitures provided in other cases.

National banks or associations for carrying on the business of banking may be formed by any number of natural persons, not less in any case than five, who enter into articles of association which specify in general terms the object for which the association is formed, and may contain any other provisions not inconsistent with law which the association may see fit to adopt for the regulation of its business and the conduct of its affairs. These articles are signed by the persons uniting to form the association, and a copy of them is forwarded to the Comptroller of the

Currency, to be filed and preserved in his office. The organisation certificate made under the hands of the parties uniting to form the association specifically states (1) the name of the association, which is subject to the approval of said Comptroller; (2) the place where its operations of discount and deposit are to be carried on, designating the state, territory, or district, and the particular county and city, town, or village; (3) the amount of capital stock, and the number of shares into which it is to be divided; (4) the names and places of residence of the shareholders, and the number of shares held by each of them; (5) the fact that the certificate is made to enable such persons to avail themselves of the advantages of the national bank laws. The organisation certificate is acknowledged before a judge of some court of record, or notary public; and is, together with the acknowledgment thereof, authenticated by the seal of such court or notary, transmitted to the Comptroller of the Currency, who records and carefully preserves it in his office. Upon duly making and filing articles of association, and an organisation certificate, the association becomes, as from the date of the execution of the organisation certificate, a body corporate; and as such, and in the name designated in the organisation certificate, has power (1) to adopt and use a corporate seal; (2) to have succession for the period of twenty years, unless sooner dissolved, according to the provisions of its articles of association, or by the act of its shareholders owning twothirds of its stock, or unless its franchise becomes forfeited by some violation of law; (3) to make contracts; (4) to sue and be sued, complain and defend in any court of law and equity, as fully as natural persons; (5) to elect or appoint directors, and by its board of directors to appoint a presi

dent, vice-president, cashier, and other officers, define their duties, require bonds of them, and fix the penalty thereof, dismiss such officers at pleasure, and appoint others; (6) to prescribe by its board of directors by-laws, not inconsistent with law, regulating the manner in which its stock shall be transferred, its directors elected or appointed, its officers appointed, its property transferred, its general business conducted, and the privileges granted to it by law exercised and enjoyed; (7) to exercise by its board of directors or duly authorised officers or agents, subject to law, all such incidental powers as are necessary to carry on the business of banking, by discounting and negotiating promissory-notes, drafts, bills of exchange, and other evidences of debt, by receiving deposits, by buying and selling exchange coin and bullion, by loaning money on personal security, and by obtaining, issuing, and circulating notes according to the provisions of the national bank laws. But no association shall transact any business except such as is incidental and necessarily preliminary to its organisation, until it has been authorised by the Comptroller of the Currency to commence the business of banking. A national bank can purchase, hold, and convey real estate for the following purposes only (1) such as is necessary for its immediate accommodation in the transaction of its business; (2) such as is mortgaged to it in good faith by way of security for debts previously contracted; (3) such as is conveyed to it in satisfaction of debts previously contracted in the course of its dealings; (4) such as it purchases at sales under judgments, decrees, or mortgages held by the association, or purchases to secure debts due to it. But no such bank shall hold the possession of any real estate under mortgage, or the title and pos

session of any real estate purchased for a longer period than five years.

No such association shall be organised with a less capital than $100,000, except that banks with a capital of not less than $50,000 may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, be organised in any place the population of which does not exceed 6000 inhabitants. No association shall be organised in a city the population of which exceeds 50,000 persons with a less capital than $200,000. The capital stock is divided into shares of $100 each, deemed personal property, and transferable on the books of the association as the by-laws or articles of association prescribe. No change is made in the articles of association by which the rights, remedies, or security of existing creditors of the association are impaired. At least 50 per cent of the capital stock must be paid up before the association is authorised to commence business, and the remainder is paid by instalments of at least 10 per cent monthly from the time it is authorised to commence business; and the payment of each instalment shall be certified to the Comptroller under oath by the president or cashier of the association. From time to time, as deemed expedient, the capital may be increased, if the articles of association provide for such increase. But the maximum of such increase is determined by the Comptroller. By the vote of shareholders owning two-thirds of the capital stock, the capital may be reduced to any sum not below the amount required to authorise the formation of associations as stated, but the outstanding circulation has to be provided for, and the proposed reduction must first be approved by the Comptroller of the Currency. Each share has a vote, and voting can be by proxies in writing. The affairs of each asso

ciation are managed by not less than five directors elected by the shareholders at a meeting held at any time before the association is authorised by the Comptroller to commence business, and afterwards at meetings held on such day in January of each year as is specified therefor in the articles of association. The directors hold office for one year, and until their successors are elected and have qualified. Every director must, during his whole term of service, be a citizen of the United States; and at least three-fourths of them must have resided in the state, territory, or district in which the association is located for at least one year immediately preceding their election, and must be residents therein during their continuance in office. Every director must own in his own right at least ten shares of his bank; and when he ceases to own that number, or becomes in any other manner disqualified, he thereby vacates his place. When appointed or elected, each director takes an oath that he will, so far as the duty devolves on him, diligently and honestly administer the affairs of such association, and will not knowingly violate, or willingly permit to be violated, any of the provisions of the national bank laws; and that he is the owner in good faith, and in his own right, of the number of shares of stock required by said laws, not hypothecated or pledged in any way. oath to this effect, subscribed by the director and verified by the officer before whom it is taken, is immediately transmitted to the Comptroller of the Currency, and filed and preserved in his office.

The

The shareholders of every national banking association are individually responsible, equally and ratably, and not for one another, for all contracts, debts, and engagements of such association to the extent of the amount of

their stock therein, at par value, in addition to the amount invested in such shares; but shareholders of any banking association, under state laws at 3d June 1864, having not less than 5 millions of dollars of capital actually paid in, and a surplus of 20 per cent on hand, both determined by the Comptroller of the Currency, are liable only to the amount invested in their shares, the said surplus to be kept undiminished and to be in addition to the surplus fund of 20 per cent which national banks have to accumulate by setting aside one-tenth of net profits of the preceding half-year, before the declaration of a dividend, and to keep. Persons holding stock as executors, administrators, guardians, or trustees, are not personally subject to any liabilities as stockholders. National banks designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as depositaries of public money (except receipts from customs), or employed as financial agents of the Government, have to give satisfactory security, by the deposit of United States bonds and otherwise, for the safe-keeping and prompt payment of the deposited public money, and for the faithful performance of duties as financial agents. State banks can be organised as national banks.

By the Act of July 12, 1882, any national banking association organised under the national bank laws may at any time within two years of the date of expiration of its corporate existence, with approval of the Comptroller of the Currency, extend its period of existence by amending its articles of association for an additional term of not more than twenty years. This amendment shall be authorised by the consent in writing of shareholders owning not less than two-thirds of the capital stock, and the board of directors shall cause such consent to be certi