The Banks in the Clearing House. By William Howarth. (Effing-
ham Wilson. 3s. 6cL net.)—The Clearing House is supposed tc be about one hundred and fifty years old, though the first definite notice of it quoted by Mr. Howarth is dated 1773. In 1854 thirty banks belonged to it, twenty-five being private and five joint-stock banks. There is now only one private bank in it, the total number being eighteen. Interesting histories are given of the institutions, the contrast between the small beginnings and the present magnitude being very striking. Of course this can be seen only in the joint-stock concerns which have always published their accounts. In 1834 the London and Westminster Bank seems to have made a profit of £3,540; in 1904 it must have been at least a hundred times as much. Martin and Co. is the oldest bank in the House, possibly the oldest in London, the rival claimants being Coutts and Child (neither of these is in the House). It has the distinction of being immortalised in verse. "When not a guinea clinked on Martin's boards," says Gay.
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