Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/25

* CLEARCHUS. 13 CLEABING-HOTTSE. iiizeil as c-oiimiaiider-iii-chief when the rotrcat luul begun. He was, however, treadierously seized by the Persian general, Tissaphernes, and put to death. CLEAR'FIELD. A borough and the county- seat of ClearlieUl Comity, Pa., 172 miles east by nortli of Pittsburg: on the west branili of the Susqiiehanua Kiver, and on the Pennsylvania Kailroad (Map: Pennsylvania, C 2). It is situated in a fertile agrieultural region, in whieh there are also deposits of coal, limestone, and fire - clay, and has several lumber - mills, fiouriug-mills, brickyards, and shijis out fomidry products, tanned leather, etc. Clearfield was set- tled in 1805, and in IS-tO was incorporated as a borough. Population, in 1800, -2248; in 1900, 5081. CLEARING-HOUSE. Clearinghouse asso- ciations are iniions of banks, for the purpose of securing a speedy settlement of the claims of banks against one another. The oldest of these is the London Clearing-House, which appears to have been established about 1775. The most important clearing-house in the United States is that of the city of New York, which was estab- lished in 18.53. Before the establishment of clearing-houses, the process of settling the mutu- al claims of banks upon one another was cum- bersome and tardy. Each bank was forced to send out runners, carrying to every other bank the checks and claims that it Jiad upon them. As each bank settled periodically its bills with every other bank, there was a continual inter- change of money between them. All this has been obviated by the establishment of clearing- houses, in which representatives of the several banks meet daily, for the purpose of adjusting the claims of the banks upon one another. An insight into the workings of clearing- houses can best be obtained by a brief descrip- tion of the methods pursued in the New York Clearing-House, which may be taken as typical of all the rest. The banks represented send daily to the clearing-house at least two clerks — a delivery-clerk and a settling-clerk. At the clearing-house, each bank has a desk at which the settling-clerk or clerks are seated. They bring to the clearing-house in bundles the cheeks, drafts, and other obligations due them from other banks, each bank being represented by a separate package. They bring also a list of the amounts due them from each of the banks in question. Before clearing begins, transcrip- tions of these lists are handed to the inspec- tor. The sum total represents the aggregate amount to be settled for the day. Promptly at 10 o'clock, the delivery-clerks begin passing from one desk to another, delivering to each the pack- age of claims of all sorts that their banks have against other banks. These claims are accepted in bulk, without examination of the items. As soon as all of the packages have been delivered, they are carried back to the banks, where an examination of the items takes place : and if there are any that are not valid, the adjustment takes place between the bank which has received them and that which presented them, without intervention of the clearing-house or rectifica- tion of the accounts drawn up there. When all of the packages have been received by the set- tling-clerks at the clearing-hoise, the hitter draw up a statement of the demands made upon them. As these never balance the claims made by their banks, it is obvious that at the close of each day's business some of the banks will >c en- titled to receive money and others obliged to make ])aynients, to settle the accounts. When each clerk has made up his account, he forwards a statement of the aggregates, with the amount of the balance to be paid or to be received. When all have forwarded their accounts to the manager, and the accounts are ]]roved by the equality of the debit and (-redit aggregates and balances, the manager certifies the amounts vhich each bank owes to the associated banks, or is entitled to receive from them. In the London Clearing-House, for the settle- ment of balances a dilVcrent rule ])revails. Debit lialanci's are settled by checks on the Bank of Kngland in favor of the associated banks, and credit balances by similar checks drawn by the associated banks in favor of the creditor banks. In Xew York the amounts due by debtor banks are paid in cash to the elearing-iunise manager, who in turn pays the creditor banks. Por this purpose gold certificates issued by the United States (iovernment are used, and also clearing- house gold certificates, which represent gold coin deposited with the clearing-house, and whieh are valid only in the settlement of clearing-house balances. By the aid of the clearing-house, each bank can settle all of its relations to the banks of the city by a single payment, instead of adjusting its relations with each bank separately. Further- more, settlements are effected by the transfer of a much smaller quantity of cash than would be otherwise required. Thus, in the first year of the New York Clearing-House, average dailv clearings of $19,104,594.94 were effecteld by average daily payments of $988,078.06 — but 5.17 per cent. In some years tht percentage of bal- ances paid in money has fallen as low as 3 per cent., and during the entire history of the New York Clearing-House has never reached so much as 7 per cent. The aggregate New York clear- ings were $5,750,455,987 in 1854, and $77,020,- 072,494 in 1901 — the year of maximtnn ex- changes. The aggregate exchanges refiect not only the growth of the city in importance as a commercial centre, but also the business condi- tions throughout the country — rising in times of notable prosperity and sinking in eras of de- pression. Thus, we mav contrast the clearings of .$35,401,052,826 in 1873, $48,565,818,212 in 1881, and $37,600,686,572 in 1890; with clearings of $22,000,000,000 in 1874, .$25,250,791,440 in 1885, and $24,230,145,368 in 1894. The New York Clearing-House is by far the most important in the I'nited States. The excel- lence of the system embodied in it and the facili- ties which it affords to banks have been so gener- ally appreciated that the institution has been widely copied, even in some of the smaller cities. On September 30, 1901, there were in the United States no fewer than ninety clearing-house or- ganizations, which had, in the year ending on that date, transacted clearings to the extent of $114,190,226,021. It nuist be said. howeveT, that five-eighths of the aggregate belonged to New York City. Abroad, the London Clearing- House transacted business in 1901 to the amount of $9,561,169,000. Clearing-houses exist on the Continent of Europe, though the use of checks in daily life is far less frequent there than in England and in the United States, and the clear-