which was once quite general, is now falling into desuetude. When notes are paid, a certified check may be used, or money. When a note is paid, the bank stamps thereon "Paid," with the name of the bank at which this was done.

5. Making Notes Payable at a Bank. Many incidents and irregularities happen in this department, perhaps more than in any other. Makers forget the day on which their obligations mature or the amount due. The practice is becoming common for persons to make their notes payable where they keep their bank account, which are paid by the institution and charged to their account, thus relieving the makers of all thought of them. The only thing for them is to keep a bank account ample enough to cover all contingencies. When this is done their bank will not hesitate to pay all obligations made payable there which are presented for payment and so their credit is easily preserved.1 6. Protest of Unpaid Notes. When the day is over, all unpaid notes are delivered to a notary public for protest, except those having no indorser. As the object of protest is to hold the indorser, it follows that unindorsed notes need not be protested.

7. Mode of Protesting. The protesting of a note consists in presenting it by the notary public at the place of business of the maker, or wherever it is made payable, and demanding payment. After his refusal to pay, the note is attached to a printed legal form containing the following particulars: first, a true description of the note fixing its identity; second, an assertion that it has been presented to the maker on the day of payment at the place therein mentioned and dishonored; third, that the holder looks to

1 Concerning the payment of notes by the bank at which they are made payable, see Chapter X, Section 28.

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the person notified for payment. The notary then sends a notice to all the indorsers advising them of their liability. Should he neglect to send the notice, they would be discharged. When notes thus presented by the notary are paid, he returns the money to the bank the next morning. 8. Liability of Bank for Negligence of Protesting Official. -The courts are divided on the question of a bank's liability for the manner in which a notary discharges his duty in protesting bills and notes. The more general rule is, a bank which has exercised due care in selecting a notary has fulfilled the law and is not therefore responsible for his negligence. Wherever this rule prevails the notary is not a mere agent or servant of the bank, but a public officer. Says Justice Lumpkin: "He owes duties to the public. which must be the supreme law of his conduct. Consequently, when he acts in his official capacity the bank has no longer control over him, and can not direct how his duties shall be done. If he is guilty of misfeasance in the performance of an official act, the bank is not liable. That the notary is also an employee and agent of the bank does not alter the case. There is still a sharp dividing line between his duties as agent and his duties as a public offiWhen his public service comes into play, his private service is, for the time, suspended." 1

cer.

1 May v. Jones, 88 Ga. 308. For other points relating to protest, see Chapter X, Section 22.

XVII. THE DISCOUNT CLERK

THE duties of a discount clerk in some banks, especially smaller ones, are united with those of the note teller.

1. Discounts. · A discount is a loan in which the interest, calculated on the face value of the note, is paid in advance, being deducted from the amount due the borrower. Thus, on a hundred-dollar note, payable one year after date, the bank would receive six dollars for a loan of only ninety-four dollars, which is more than six per cent.

2. Bank Discount. It was long ago decided that banks could deduct the legal rate of interest in advance, in the manner described, without rendering themselves liable for usury. This mode of calculating interest is sometimes called bank discount.

3. Offering Book. The discount clerk keeps the record of the notes offered to the bank in a book known as the Offering Book, and also of the disposition made of them by the directors. When paper is immediately discounted by the president, the record is different. In all cases, however, the notes discounted are entered in a book, usually termed the Dealers' Discount Book, which is so ruled that entries can be made in the following order: first, the maker's name, then the names of the indorsers, the place of payment, due date, running days, discount, and net proceeds. After further entries in different books concerning them, crediting the amounts to the borrowers, etc., the notes are put away, those of each day in a separate package.

4. Bills Receivable. The discount clerk has charge of the greater part of the bills receivable, which are kept in a compartment of the vault assigned to him, and are taken out the next morning by himself. If any of the officers wish to examine notes, they do so in his presence, or require him to show them. In this way his responsibility for them is preserved. He comes into frequent intercourse with borrowers, for they often apply to him to learn the fate of their applications.

XVIII. THE BOOKKEEPER

It is not intended in this chapter to describe fully the methods of bookkeeping, as excellent books exist on the subject in general, and also on bank bookkeeping.

1. Tendency to lessen Records. We shall, however, describe the principal books used in a bank. It may be remarked that even in this regard some banks use far more books than others. The tendency clearly is to cut down the records of banking transactions to narrower limits. Yet every bank uses ledgers in which are recorded all of its business. First of all is the recording of the business of the bank with every depositor. The first record, as we have seen, is the deposit ticket. Many banks post directly from these tickets into ledgers. When money is drawn out, the depositor usually gives a check, though it may be paid out in discharging his note. But in either event there is a written record for the payment, which serves as the basis of the posting of the other side of the account.

2. Ledgers. The recording of these transactions of a bank with its customers forms by far the larger part of its bookkeeping. In a small bank a single ledger may suffice for several months, perhaps; in a very large bank it is needful to use several ledgers at the same time, and the methods of dividing the record depend on the amount and character of the bank's business. A very common method is to divide the accounts alphabetically, all names, for example, from A to D in one ledger, all