4. Stock Book

There are several other books kept by a bank for its own more especial use-. First is the stock book in which is kept a record of all the shareholders, the number of shares held by each, and the transfers.1

5. Collection Register

Then another record is made of the collections. All the checks received are of two kinds, - those on banks in the same city, and others on banks in other places. The former are speedily settled by taking them to the clearing house and effecting a settlement there; the out-of-town checks are sent to other banks for collection; and in the larger banks many persons are employed in conducting the correspondence and recording the business, which will be explained in the next chapter. The principal record of this work is called a Collection Register, in which appears the account between a bank and every other to which checks are sent for collection.

1 See Chapter V.

6. Discount Register

Again, in every bank is a book or series of books relating to the notes discounted. The first to be mentioned is the Discount Register, in which are entered all the particulars, date of discount, name of maker, name of indorser, date of note, time of payment, running days, number of payments made, remarks. Here may be mentioned the "Tickers" - very important books and oddly named. No one seems to know the origin of this strange name, but it is supposed that they were perhaps called tickers as the entries are ticked or taken off the Discount Register. There is one for each month of the year, and one or more pages for each day, and a record of all the notes discounted properly arranged in these books so that the bank can easily keep its eye on the maturity and collection of each note. If no other record was kept save the Discount Register, in a large bank especially, it would be difficult to keep the notes in their proper order of payment. It is of course highly essential to make prompt demand on the maker of every note when it becomes due, otherwise, among other ill consequences, the indorser will be discharged. Indeed, for many reasons, it is needful for a bank to exercise the utmost vigilance in its collections, and the Discount Register and Ticker are the books in which the entries of these matters are made.

7. General Ledger

There are several minor books that need not be mentioned, some of which are kept and some are not. There is one other, however, that must not be omitted, - the General Ledger. In this is entered all the items relating to the general business of the bank ; in the way of example may be mentioned the capital account. That, of course, is a debit when received and as long as the bank exists. Another account is the profit and loss, in which the profit is a debit until it is paid to the shareholders. In like manner may be mentioned the surplus fund, the circulating notes, and, with many banks the largest item of all, the deposits. Besides these may be mentioned the loans, which are credited to this account when they are made, the bonds held by a national bank, as the basis of its circulation, the value of its banking house, and other items. Enough examples have been given to show the nature of the General Ledger. It is in this book that the aggregates of the bank's business appear. Lastly may be mentioned a Daily Statement Book, in which the balances of various accounts are brought together tor the purpose of showing the exact condition, as far as it can be told in figures, at the close of each business day.