in which it has been negligent in selecting agents for

collection.

2. This bank will not be responsible for the excess paid on any altered or raised check which has been altered or changed so skilfully that it can not be detected by the exercise of ordinary care by the paying teller.

3. The checks of depositors drawn on sufficient funds will be paid, notwithstanding the death of the depositor, or at any time within ten days after knowledge of the event has come to the bank unless otherwise directed by the executor or administrator of the estate of the deceased.

4. Checks will not be paid beyond thirty days after their date unless satisfactory reasons are given for the delay in presenting them, or authority has been directly given to the bank by the maker after making them to pay the same.

5. Deposits made by two or more trustees, executors, administrators, or other persons acting in a joint capacity, not including partnerships, can be withdrawn only on the signed order of all of them, unless a satisfactory reason is given to the bank for paying on the order of one, or a less number than all.

6. Depositors should examine their pass books, checks, and other vouchers within ten days after their pass books have been written up and returned with accompanying vouchers to them, and this bank will not hold itself responsible for any mistake made in paying on a wrongful signature if such examination is not made within the time mentioned, unless the depositor was sick, absent, or otherwise unable to perform his duty, or unless the bank was wilfully negligent or wrong in paying without adequate authority.

7. When a check is presented and the funds of the

maker are not sufficient to pay it, the bank may pay whatever amount it may have belonging to him, either taking the check and indorsing the amount thus paid on the back, or taking a receipt therefor, describing fully the check on the authority of which the amount is paid.

8. If two or more checks are presented either directly over the counter or through the clearing house at the same time for payment, and the maker's deposit is insufficient to pay the full amount of all, his deposit may be applied pro rata on each and indorsed or receipted for as described in the foregoing by-law.

9. All checks, notes, or other deposits credited as cash, in whatever manner they may be indorsed, may be charged back in the event of their non-collection.

10. Checks and other instruments deposited for collection may be sent to the drawee bank to be collected, if this bank shall so determine. Checks and other instruments deposited for collecting may be sent to the drawee bank to be collected when there is no other reputable bank or banker in the same place.

II. In making collections, this bank considers itself fully authorized in taking other checks in payment drawn on a reputable bank in another city than the drawee bank.

12. In collecting time drafts secured by merchandise to which the bill of lading or other title thereto is attached, the bank may surrender the same on the presentation and acceptance of the draft, unless it clearly and unequivocally states that this shall not be done, or instructions to that effect have been received from the owner.

13. Notes and other obligations made payable here will be regarded as a direction to pay them, which will be done whenever the maker's deposit is sufficient for that purpose.

XV. THE RECEIVING TELLER

1. Deposit Tickets. - Deposits consist of various kinds of money, checks, and documents representing money. The depositor is required to state the details of his deposit on a slip prepared for that purpose, which is called a deposit ticket. This is sometimes done by depositors before they come to the bank; in other cases they fill up the tickets at desks provided by the bank. A teller will not receive deposits without such a ticket.

2. Kinds and Qualities of Money. - One of the most difficult duties of a receiving teller is to determine whether all the money delivered to him is good or not.1 Some tellers have a great knack for detecting counterfeit money; others, none at all. Though a great deal has been written on this subject to enlighten money receivers, the counterfeiter is still flourishing. Much can be learned from a careful study of the different kinds of money. Paper differs greatly in quality, and a receiving teller ought to familiarize himself with all kinds of notes. Besides, he should seek to get all the information possible concerning counterfeits, and to that end cut out and keep all newspaper items relating to spurious issues. Many tellers determine the genuineness of a note by the feel of it, the

1 The government forbids indiscriminate collection of counterfeit money, fearing they may be scattered into circulation. Bankers are accustomed to make such collections for the purpose of familiarizing themselves with bogus money. But they are not permitted to do this without authority. For regulations of the Treasury Department, see 66 American Banker, page 33.

way it slips through his fingers; this test is acquired only after years of experience.

Another difficulty in the way of detecting forged notes is the brief time the teller often has to examine them. This is especially true at the close of the day, when a long line of depositors are waiting to make their deposits and hurry away. What time has a teller to examine the money offered? In some banks it is not even counted. In one respect this is a better practice for the bank, because the teller then has time to examine all the notes and coin left by depositors. But there are other difficulties growing out of this practice of leaving the count entirely to the teller that are objectionable, that will readily occur to the reader. There is no check on his action; he may make a mistake, and, still worse, may attempt to abstract a note or two. Consequently the practice prevails almost everywhere of an immediate count, and if this does not agree with the amount recorded on the deposit ticket, the error is at once rectified.

3. When a Depositor can draw against his Deposit. As soon as checks and other instruments are entered to the credit of the depositor he is permitted to draw at once, if he wishes, against them as though they were cash. This is not done by every bank, and the practice should be condemned, as we have elsewhere shown. There are other consequences growing out of such entries that remain to be considered. The checks are regarded as belonging to the bank, at least it has a lien on them for the amount of its advances, if any are made. Every now and then a bank incurs a loss from thus dealing with deposits as though they were cash. A bank in the state of New York not long since received a check drawn on another bank that was sent to a third bank for collection, which

collected the amount and sent a draft on a fourth bank in payment. As soon as the draft was received from the third bank the check was entered as paid in the account between the second bank and the depositor. The draft, however, was not paid, and the second bank then attempted to charge the amount back. The court said it could not do this. Having taken a draft from its agent, the third bank, in payment, and entered the check as paid, it could not afterward reverse its action. This example should prove a warning to banks to be very slow in entering checks as cash and permitting depositors to draw as though their collection had been completed.

Why, then, are such entries made? Partly to save time. It is much quicker than to prolong the real state of collections on the books. Banks, therefore, seek to close them up as soon as possible, and prefer the risk of losing something now and then, as in the case mentioned, to the work of making more entries describing the exact status of every check until it is actually paid. This risk could be greatly lessened by one of the rules suggested to be incorporated in every depositor's pass book, to the effect that every check received for deposit, in whatever way it may be entered in any book, shall not be regarded as actual cash until the money has been actually received.1

Such a by-law or regulation would greatly lessen the losses and snarls from the crediting and collection of checks.

4. Examination of Signatures.-The receiving teller should examine the signatures, indorsements, dates, and other features of checks, the same as the paying teller. Depositors who are perfectly honest may be cheated by others, and deposit fraudulent or kiting checks. The depositor should indorse his name below all others on the back of each 1 See page 198 for a full statement of the proposed rule.