The declaring of dividends is usually done by the trus tees, but unless the charter or statutes of the state require them to act, there is nothing in the nature or importance of the declaration to forbid action by the directors.

2. Auditing Committee. As the duties of the loan and finance committees have been described, we need add only that the duties of the auditing committee are to examine and audit the vouchers for all payments, to count the cash at regular intervals, and, in short, to do everything properly pertaining to an audit. In truth, in most banks, where an auditing committee exists, the work is usually done in a perfunctory manner. We have elsewhere remarked concerning them: "They are very seldom thorough, very seldom go to the bottom of the figures which they are supposed to examine. Having ascertained that a certain amount of payment is supported by the proper vouchers, they very seldom inquire whether this is the entire amount of payment to be accounted for, which simple omission completely destroys all utility of the examination. The officer whose work they are supervising has only to withhold all questionable or improper vouchers from their examination. Such committees seldom take the time necessary for the proper performance of their duties, and seldom possess the ability. They ought, in justice to themselves and to their trust, to employ skilled assistants to point out, at least, the way in which to do their work more thoroughly." 1

3. Examining Committee. The duty of the examining committee, where one exists, is to ascertain the precise condition of the bank at the close of stated periods,-six months, once a year, or other period. This work is done in various ways, well or ill, depending on the conscience 1 Bolles, Practical Banking, 11th edition, page 361.

and ability of the examiners. They usually submit the results of their work in writing to the trustees.

4. Directors. Many banks are so organized that most of their work is committed to a board of directors consisting of seven or more of the trustees. The by-laws carefully define their duties, unless these are defined by the charter.

When the management of a bank is thus committed by the trustees to a portion of their number, they meet often enough to transact its business. In truth, they meet quite as frequently as the directors of banks of discount.

5. President. The president of a savings bank may be the chief manager, or he may not be. In the large cities he is often a salaried officer and devotes all his ability to his official work. In the smaller places the president is usually a nominal officer, having light duties and still lighter remuneration.

6. Treasurer. - In banks where the president serves in a nominal capacity the treasurer or secretary is the chief officer, usually the first. He exercises a general direction over all the business, manages the deposits in other banks, and signs the checks for their withdrawal; collects the rents on property it may own, and receives applications from borrowers, and lays them before the trustees or directors.

Besides these duties are others relating to the hiring of clerks, fixing their salaries, directing the modes of keeping accounts, the depositing and withdrawal of deposits; in short, he is the active officer who plans the methods of doing business and directs the institution.

In a few states savings banks make temporary loans on the pledge of stocks, and whenever this is done, the treasurer is the proper officer for making them. Wherever he can thus act, there are limitations on his power;

he can not lend on more than ninety per cent of their par value, and in every case the amount must be at least ten per cent less than their market value. As such loans must be negotiated without delay, if at all, the treasurer is endowed with the requisite authority. The borrower deposits his security, and the treasurer is responsible for its genuineness.

All the documents, relating to loans, except the application and the abstract of title, are kept in a single envelope headed with the number of the loan, which is never changed. Semiannually the treasurer collects from mortgagors the interest due on their loans. He sends to each one of them, about twenty days previous to those dates, a statement of the amount of interest due, the computations for which are usually made by some other officer. This statement is so arranged as to constitute when signed and returned by the mortgagor a letter of. transmission accompanying the pay. ment to the treasurer. The bank requires the mortgagor to sign it, even when he pays in person, as evidence that the amount is correct. For a return, the treasurer gives a receipt.

7. Tellers and Bookkeepers. -The duties of paying and receiving tellers and bookkeepers are in many respects like those in banks of discount and therefore need not be more fully described.

XXVI. THE SECRETARY

1. Bank Correspondent. Many of the larger banks have besides a treasurer a secretary. In these his principal duty is that of an accounting officer.

His duties may be divided into three branches: correspondent of the bank, recorder of the board of trustees, and accountant of the bank. On each of these heads a word may be added.

The letters relate to loans, deposits, borrowers, especially delinquents. In many cases special forms are printed, as a letter of transmission to an attorney with a check for a mortgage; another to a depositor with a remittance on account; a request to a depositor to present his pass book for the tracing of an error and to be written up; another to delinquent borrowers; lastly, notices to trustees of meetings.

2. Recording Officer. As recording officer of the board of trustees, the secretary performs the ordinary duties of keeping the journal or minutes, and filing and preserving documents. He submits to the board at each meeting a report relating to the dealings of the bank with its depositors, giving all the statistics of the number of depositors, amount of receipts, payments, and averages.

3. Accounting Officer. As accounting officer, which is his larger duty, he has no custody of any money or other property, but makes either directly or indirectly all records. of the transfers of money. Thus he is an auditor of every department of the bank; he also keeps personally, or

through assistants, all the general books, but not the accounts with the depositors.

a. Daily Cash Book. The business of the bank has three different units of time, the day, the month, and the half year, and each of these has its historical record, its counterbalancing proofs, and its final statement of results or balance sheet. The daily transactions are brought to a focus upon the page of the daily cash book, and are also repeated in various forms in special ledgers, namely, the deposit ledger, mortgage ledger, loan ledger, stock ledger, real estate ledger, and rent ledger. For information, there is also kept in the daily cash book, below the cash entries, a daily statement of profit and loss and a daily balance sheet, so that at the close of each day the exact status of the bank, as near as can be ascertained, is recorded.

b. Interest Record. An accurate account is kept, in this book only, of the interest, to the nearest fraction of a cent, which is earned on each class of investment, and this is added to the accrued interest account daily, and also credited to the income account.

Similarly, the accretion of rents and any other profits is recorded. On the other hand, the exact daily amount is apportioned for payment of salaries, of taxes, of dividend as estimated, of general expenses, and for the extinction of the premium on bonds as they approach maturity.

Each of these elements produces its effect on the profit and loss or surplus account, and equally on some branch of the resources or liabilities, actual or estimated, so that the business of the day results in a balance sheet; the cash transactions appearing above, of course, are taken into consideration.

c. Verification of Balances. The balance of each department of the cash, and also of the cash as a whole, is