Everybodys Guide to Money Matters | Page 6

of course, first
ascertained that the standing of the company is such that they may do
so with safety and confidence.
As a first step we give an example of what is occurring daily in
hundreds of cases.
Miss Jane Smith is a lady who has been brought up without the
slightest instruction in business matters, indeed has rather plumed
herself on the idea of being quite above such things. Suddenly she finds
herself dependent upon others for guidance and advice. She would like
to act for herself if she only knew how to do so safely, being of a
somewhat suspicious temperament and mistrustful of advice from
friends or acquaintances. Even the highly respectable lawyer, who has
handed her a packet of documents and £500 in cash (a legacy from her
uncle), with much sage counsel, she is not quite sure about, for she has
imbibed the idea from her youth that lawyers are not always to be

trusted.
The packet of documents in the tin box as they came to her is set aside
in a safe place for the moment, but the bank-notes and gold are a matter
of serious concern to her. She fears to carry them about her person lest
she should lose them, or be robbed, and feels sure that if kept in the
house they will attract any burglars that may be in the neighbourhood.
The best thing Miss Smith can do is to go to one of the neighbouring
banks of repute - say the Blankshire Bank - and ask them to help her
out of the difficulty.
She has an interview with the Manager or Cashier, tells her story, and
is advised to leave the money at the bank and have an account opened
in her name. This course she consents to adopt, and hands over the
£500, requesting some acknowledgment that she has done so, in
common terms, "something to show for it."
Many banks provide and require their customers to use "paying-in
slips," that is, printed forms specifying the payments made to the bank
under the head of cheques, notes, gold, and silver. A form is handed in
with each payment, and the initials of the cashier placed against the
amount noted on the counterfoil, which is retained by the customer.
In addition to this Miss Smith will be presented with what is called a
pass-book - a book passing between the bank and herself, now become
a customer - in which she will find it stated in the briefest business
manner, that the Blankshire Bank is Dr. (debtor) to, or owes, Miss Jane
Smith £500. She will be told that portions of this money may be drawn
out from time to time as she may need it, but this can only be done by
cheques, or forms of request to the bank to pay out the amount
desired.* These forms, provided by the bank, are printed, blank spaces
being left to be filled up in writing, and they are made up in books of
various sizes, each form bearing a penny stamp. The customer pays for
the book according to the number of stamps it contains, but no more.
Miss Smith buys a cheque-book, and, opening it, finds the following
form in print: (* The practice with some people of writing cheques on
plain paper is discountenanced by bankers, and is to be condemned.)

--------------------------------------------------------| No. 10901. | No. 10901.
_________ 189 | | | | | _______189 | To the Blankshire Banking
Company, | | | Blanktown. | | | | | ___________ | Pay to
__________________ or bearer | | | | | | the sum of
________________________ | | | | | £__________ | £_________
____________ | | | | -------------------------------------------------------- She
then recollects that she has no money to go on with, and asks to have
£10 of the £500 she has left in the bank. The cashier offers to fill up the
blank spaces in her first cheque, making corresponding entries in the
counterfoil, and having done so asks her to sign it at the foot.
It then appears as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------| No. 10901. | No. 10901.
MarchI, 1898 | | | | | March I, 1898 | To the Blankshire Banking
Company, | | | Blanktown. | | | | | __Self___ | Pay to _Self___________
or bearer | | | | | | the sum of _TenPounds____________ | | | | |
£10________ | £10_______ JaneSmith_ | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------- The cheque is detached
from the counterfoil at the dotted line, and is retained by the cashier,
who hands over £10 to the lady together with the book containing the
remaining cheques.
"Oh! I had quite forgotten - I owe Miss Tucker, the milliner, £23 10s.
Will the cashier please to let