c In the original accounts £75,828 and 1,445,326 Spanish pesetas, which latter were converted at the rate of 7 d. per peseta.

By reference to the first of the foregoing series of tables relating to savings banks it will be seen that the United States leads both in aggregate amount of deposits and average deposit account. The savings deposits in the United States during the current year reached $3,482,137,198, nearly 30 per cent of the deposits in all savings banks of the world. The average deposit account is $433.79. The German Empire is second in the list, with deposits of $2,639,590,400, the average deposit, however, being but $158.89. The United Kingdom, Austria, and France are third, fourth, and fifth in the list, with deposits of $996,827,464, $979,282,787, and $890,398,872, respectively. The average deposit account in the United Kingdom is $85.24, in Austria $183.90, and in France $75.66. Germany, including Prussia, leads in number of depositors, namely, 16,612,771, followed by France, with 11,767,772; United Kingdom, 11,694,918; Japan, 10,279,598; United States being fifth, with 8,027,192. In the order of highest average deposit per capita Denmark is foremost with $81.47, followed by Switzerland with $62.26; German Empire, $45.07; Norway, $42.55; and the United States, $41.13.

The second table in the series relates to postal savings banks. Including the colonies it appears that the postal savings banks of the British Empire hold over 52 per cent of the deposits in all postal savings institutions-that is, $932,697,906 out of $1,783,066,322. Postal savings deposits in France amount to $229,862,136; Italy, $206,224,600; and in Belgium, $116,052,662.

Under date of May 24, 1906, a law was enacted by the Philippine Commission establishing an institution to be known as "The Philippine Postal Savings Bank," and it was placed under the control and management of the director of the posts. The law provides that immediately upon its passage postal savings banks shall be established at Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu, authority being conferred upon the director, subject to approval of the secretary of commerce and police, to establish postal savings banks in other cities, towns, and villages as rapidly as practicable. So far no returns have been received relating to the operations of these postal savings banks.

BANKING POWER OF THE WORLD.

The banking power of the United States in 1906, as represented by capital, surplus, other profits, deposits, and circulation of national and other reporting banks, together with estimated amount of funds of this character in nonreporting banks, is shown to be $16,462,470,465. The items composing this fund are stated in the accompanying table:

a Includes Government deposits.

1,592, 122, 892 12,718, 837, 661 510,860,726 16, 462, 470, 465

b Estimated capital, etc., based on reports received from private banks.

From the latest and most reliable data obtainable, the banking power of the foreign countries is estimated at $21,952,500,000, the details being set forth in the following table:

Mulhall estimated the world's banking power in 1890 at $15,985,000,000, the United States being credited with about one-third of that amount. Since that year the banking power of the United States has increased to the extent of $11,312,400,000, or over 219 per cent; that of the foreign countries $11,117,500,000, or 102.6 per cent, and the combined banking power $22,429,900,000, or 140.3 per cent.

The statement following relating to the banking power of the world in 1890 and 1906 shows also the amounts and percentages of increase in 1906 over 1890:

MONETARY SYSTEMS AND STOCK OF MONEY IN THE PRINCIPAL COUN-
TRIES OF THE WORLD.

Statistics have been recently compiled by the Director of the Mint relating to the monetary systems and stock of money in the principal countries of the world on December 31, 1905, and which relate to 47 countries, including dependencies of the British Empire, their aggregate population being 1,324,400,000. Gold is the monetary standard in all of the countries with the exception of the Straits Settlements, the Malay States, Ceylon, Johare, Bolivia, the Central American States (exclusive of Costa Rica and British Honduras), and China, wherein silver is the standard. The stock of money is stated at $13,215,400,000, composed of $6,483,500,000 gold, $3,176,000,000 silver, and $3,555,900,000 uncovered paper currency. Nearly 75 per cent of the gold is held by the following-named countries and in the amounts stated:

United States, $1,420,800,000; France, $1,032,600,000; Germany, $917,400,000; Russia, $854,900,000; United Kingdom, $559,100,000, The per capita of gold holdings in these countries is as follows: France. $26.41; United States, $16.91; Germany, $15.14; United Kingdom, $12.79; Russia, $5.96. Fifty per cent of the stock of silver is held by the same countries, the amount and per capita being as follows: United States $686,800,000, per capita $8.18; France, $411,100,000, per capita $10.51; Germany $209,700,000, per capita $3.46; United Kingdom $111,900,000, per capita $2.56; Russia $81,900,000, per capita $0.57. In connection with the stock of silver it is noted that nearly one-third of the aggregate is held in India and China, the amounts being $603,800,000 and $350,000,000, respectively.

One-third, approximately, of the uncovered paper currency is in the following countries: United States, $582,100,000; Germany, $213,900,000; France, $118,200,000; United Kingdom, $116,600,000, the per capita therein being as follows: United States, $6.93; Germany, $3.53; France, $3.02; United Kingdom, $2.67. Nearly one-half of the uncovered paper currency of the world, which amounts to $3,555,900,000, is in the South American States, the exact amount being $1,437,300,000. Consolidating the gold, silver, and uncovered paper currency in all countries, it is shown that the per capita is greatest in France, namely, $39.94. The amount per capita in the United States is $32.02; in Germany, $22.13; in the United Kingdom, $18.02, and in Russia, $6.53.

Japan's stock of money is reported at $211,500,000, and the per capita $4.15. The stock of gold in the Empire amounts to $69,900,000; silver, $43,300,000, and uncovered paper currency, $98,300,000.

CLEARING-HOUSE EXCHANGES.

Revised returns to Manager Sherer of the New York Clearing House show that the amount of exchanges of the clearing houses of the United States for the year ended September 30, 1905, was $140,612,554,199. The aggregate clearings for the year ended September 30, 1906, were $157,749,328,913, a net increase of

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$17,136,774,714. With the exception of six cities, reporting a decrease in the amount of clearings of $10,584,882, there was an increase in the amount of transactions of the associations in the 112 cities in which clearing-house associations are in existence.

Nearly 70 per cent of the clearings of the country were effected through the New York Clearing House, the amount of exchanges handled in that city during the past year being $103,754,100,091. Chicago is second on the list with $10,873,546,251, followed by Boston with $8,149,377,513, Philadelphia with $7,553,273,999, St. Louis $2,934,576,620, and Pittsburg $2,630,996,408. The other cities with exchanges exceeding $1,000,000,000 are San Francisco, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Kansas City.

The New York Clearing House has a membership of 55, representing capital of $118,150,000. The average daily clearings in New York during the year were $342,422,773. The settlement of balances of the transactions for the year were effected by the payment in money of $3,832,621,024, or 3.69 per cent of the aggregate volume of clearings. Practically the entire balances were paid in gold, i. e., 99.99 per cent. In 1896 only 0.01 per cent of the balances were settled in gold.

The clearing-house transactions of the Assistant Treasurer of the United States at New York for the year ended September 30, 1906, aggregated $447,344,424, of which $422,025,604 represented exchanges received and $25,318,820 balances received from the clearing house.

The clearing-house transactions of the whole country from 1900 to 1906, inclusive, were as follows:

There will be found in the appendix to the report of the Comptroller of the Currency a table relating to the exchanges of the clearing houses of the United States for each year from 1900 to 1906, inclusive, geographically arranged.

A condensed statement is given herewith of the transactions, in millions of dollars, by geographical sections, for the years ended September 30, 1900, and 1906, together with the amount and percentage of increase.

THE ANNUAL REPORT.

The Comptroller's unabridged report is published in one volume, as was the case last year. The individual statements made by the banks under date of September 4 appear in condensed form at the end of the report. The principal items of resources and liabilities. are given as reported; bonds, exclusive of United States bonds, other similar investments, and real estate are consolidated; also amounts due from banks, exchange, and other cash items, as well as all liabilities other than capital, surplus and profits, circulation, individual deposits, deposits of the Government and of United States disbursing officers..

DIGEST OF BANK CASES.

Following the text of this report will be found a compilation of decisions in bank cases rendered by the Federal courts and published in the United States Supreme Court Reports and Federal Reporter since the publication of the 1905 edition of the Digest of National Bank Decisions.

The most important questions of general interest which appear in the compilation are the following:

Powers of States in relation to legislation affecting national banks; enforcement of liability of stockholder of national bank in voluntary liquidation; rights and liabilities of national bank on indorsement or transfer of negotiable paper; powers, etc., of officers of national bank; criminal and civil liability of officers of national banks; misapplication of funds of and false entries in books of national banks; national banks subject to control of Congress; ultra vires acts; assessment on stock of insolvent national bank; liability of shareholders determined by Federal not State statute; right of shareholders to inspect books.

AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL-BANK ACT.

Section 5146 of the Revised Statutes provides in part that every director of a national banking association must own in his own right at least ten shares of the capital stock of the bank of which he is a director. Under date of February 28, 1905, this section was amended to provide that a director of a national bank with capital not in excess of $25,000 shall own in his own right at least five shares of such capital stock.

Under date of December 21, 1905, an act was approved, supplemental to the act entitled "An act to provide for the construction of a canal connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans," providing as follows:

* *

That the two per cent bonds of the United States authorized by section eight of the act * approved June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and two, shall have all the rights and privileges accorded by law to other two per cent bonds of the United States, and every national banking association having on deposit, as provided by law, such bonds issued under the provisions of said section eight of said act approved June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and two, to secure its circulating notes, shall pay to the Treasurer of the United States, in the months of January and July, a tax of one-fourth of one per cent each half year upon the average amount of such of its notes in circulation as are based upon the deposit of said two per cent bonds; and such taxes shall be in lieu of existing taxes on its notes in circulation imposed by section fifty-two hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes.