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60 of William, upon the site of which arose the building illustrated below. Only once in its history has it passed a dividend, in 1837, when the legislature prohibited all banks from paying dividends. Six per cent, was the rate for several years, but the extra dividends declared at various times makes the average upward of eight per cent. It went under the National system in 1865, since which time the current dividends have been ten per cent.

About the same time the Bank of New York went into successful operation the merchants of the city formed an association for the purpose of providing a business center for the commercial community, and named it in honor of Tonti, a Neapolitan, who introduced a similar scheme into France in 1653. The Tontine Building was erected in Wall Street, corner of Water Street, between the years 1792 and 1794, at a cost of some $43,000.



The establishment of financial institutions in the street gradually affected its architecture, as well as its business and general character. The following quotation from a "description of New York in 1800," written