68 CLEARING HOUSE. The morning clearing opens on ordinary days at 10.30; drafts are received not later than 11, and the work must be closed at noon. The country clearing then begins, drafts being received until 12.30, and the clearing closed at 2.15. The heaviest clearing, however, is that of the afternoon, which begins at 2.30. The bustle and turmoil of the work grow to a climax at 4 o'clock, the runners rushing in with the last parcels of drafts, up to the moment when the door is finally closed. On the fourth day of each month, when the heaviest work occurs, the hours are extended, the House opening at 9 o'clock. -Jevons. Stock Exchange Clearing House. The business of the Stock Exchange Clearing House is conducted very much on the same principle as the Bankers, with this difference, that in the Bankers' Clearing House, the officers have to deal with Cheques almost exclusively, and in that of the Stock Exchange with Bonds and Shares. Just as with the Bankers, only certain banks are admitted, so with the Stock Exchange only a restricted number of members are allowed to participate in its advantages, and only certain specified stocks or shares are passed through, or cleared. But the number of members admitted, and the number of stocks cleared are increased from time to time. The Stock Exchange Clearing House is a comparatively new institution, and it has been deemed advisable to proceed by slow degrees, so as to see how the system works. So far as present experience goes, it is considered to work well, and notwithstanding certain drawbacks, there appears to be a probability of its operations being extended. There are some stocks, such as Russian, Turkish, and Egyptian, which are bought and sold by a broker many times during the fortnight which elapses between one settling-day and the next following; but it often happens that the sales so nearly balance the purchases, that the difference between what he has to receive and what he has to deliver is very small indeed. And yet, notwithstanding, the smallness of this difference, it would be necessary for him (without the intermediation of the Clearing House) to deliver all that he has sold, and to receive all that he has bought. But with the assistance of the Clearing House, a broker is able to proceed as though he had only one member to deal with, and all bargains between members of the Clearing House are settled by simply passing on the "ticket day" (See Ticket Day), by eleven o'clock in the morning, a list of each stock, with the amount to take and deliver, and the names of the members in each case. If the list shows a balance to deliver, he delivers on the settling-day by eleven o'clock; if he has a balance to take up, he claims it from the Clearing House at the same time. Railway Clearing House. The Railway Clearing House in Seymour Street, Euston Square, is a large establishment, designed to facilitate the settlement of accounts of Railway Companies having running powers over each other's lines. As its operations are not much mixed up with the business of banking and commerce, it calls for no further details here. Clerical Error. CLERICAL ERROR-CLERK. 69 A clerical error is one that may be made by a clerk or educated person, as distinguished from one that is made through ignorance or stupidity. In these days when the ability to read, write, and cast accounts, is almost universal, a clerical error is regarded as blameworthy as an error through ignorance, though the latter may expose its perpetrator to the greater ridicule. Clerk. The genealogy of this familiar word is curious. Its remote ancestor is the Greek kλnpos, kleros, which signified a "lut." As the drawing of lots was one of the most popular methods by means of which the ancient oracles arrived at their decisions, and by which the diviners conducted their divinations, both the thing and the name became thoroughly familiar to the Greek mind. It could scarcely fail with increase of intelligence that men should attach more importance to the skill and learning of the priests and diviners who conducted these mystic operations, and interpreted their results, than to the operations themselves; so that in course of time, the word κλŋpos came to be applied to the sacerdotal or priestly order, rather than the process over which they presided; and to consult the oracle, or to have recourse to divination, was neither more nor less than to seek the advice and instruction of the priests and diviners, and thus, the name being unchanged, it was transferred in thought to these agents, and that so persistently, till the whole priestly or sacerdotal body, as distinguished from the laity, were called the kλnpos. Hence we have clerus, as the Latin form of the same word, and possessing the same meaning. From this we have Clericus, another Latin word derived from the lastnamed, and applied to any individual priest, clergyman, or officiator at the sacred rites. This word was used in the same sense for nearly a thousand years, and during that time found its way to France and Britain. For some time prior to the Norman conquest, whatever learning or science existed in these countries was monopolized by the clergy, and especially the knowledge and practice of law; the judges were selected from the higher orders of the clergy, "persons of wisdom and authority," says the Grand Costumier, "such as archbishops, bishops, canons of cathedrals, abbots and priors of the churches." All the inferior offices were filled by the lower clergy; and to them fell especially the labour of writing, copying, and similar duties. So universal was this rule, that at the time of the conquest, all work of this kind was done by the clerici, or as we say the clergy. Hence, Clerc, the Norman-French form of this word, which signified still a clergyman, although restricted in its application to the lower clergy; and finally Clerk, the Anglicised form of the same word, which continued to be used, with the same signification, till the arts of reading and writing became so widely diffused as to render clerical work as easy to the laity as to their sacred predecessors; when the title was given them simply in virtue of those accomplishments. Dr. Mackay questions the correctness of the common opinion respecting the origin of this word, and thinks it ought to be referred 70 CLIENT-CODICIL. to the Celtic tongue. He says the origin of the Latin clericus lies in the Celtic languages, and in the religion of the Druids. It was the duty of the Bards to celebrate in poetical composition, which they recited to the music of the harp, the great deeds of heroes, and to preserve by these means the history of bygone times, and impress its lessons on the minds of their contemporaries. The name of their harp was clar, from whence came clarach, pertaining to the harp, and clarsair, a bard or harper, which ultimately came to designate the priest who took part in the musical celebrations of the fane or temple." (CHARLES MACKAY, in Notes and Queries.) Without admitting that this is the true origin of clericus or clerk, it seems exceedingly probable that both words may have been in extensive use, and that we have here a key to the twofold pronunciation of clerk and clark about which we often hear some people talk in a very positive manner. Client. Latin, cliens, a dependant, one who looks to some powerful personage for protection or support. In Roman law, a client was one who depended on some renowned orator for defence, and as this defence, was undertaken without fee or reward, except the honour and influence resulting from it, the position of a suitor was strictly that of a dependant. The fiction of working without hire is still kept up in our courts of law; the fees paid to counsellors and advocates being regarded as a simple gratuity or honorarium, for the receiving of which, says Blackstone, they can maintain no action." It is only in recent times that the customers of a banker or broker have been called their clients; formerly they were called customers, but there is something of a professional ring about the name of client, which seems to make it more acceptable to certain persons, who like to feel themselves distinct from the class of tradesmen; a distinction which is regarded by them as one of some importance. 66 Cobang. Japanese, gold. (See Kobang.) Codicil. Latin, codicillus, the diminutive of caudex or codex, which meant origi. nally the trunk or body of a tree. It came afterwards to signify anything made of wood, and especially a book, which, before the invention of parchment, was made of wood, sometimes covered with wax, for the more convenient reception of the letters. The name was retained after the invention of parchment and paper, and applied to a scroll or volume, or the main portion of any piece of writing; just as the word pen (from the Latin, penna; German, Feder, a feather) continued in use when pens were made of steel instead of quills. From codex, we have codicillus, a small book, a letter, a billet, and especially a small portion appended to a will. A codicil is a piece of writing appended to the main body of a will or testament, and is necessarily made after the will itself, and sometimes explains or even alters the will. In law, it is considered as forming a part of the will, and whenever it falls to a clerk or accountant to examine a will, equal care should be bestowed on the codicil or codicils appended. In the counting-house, however, neither wills nor codicils are often seen; Certificates of Probate (which COIN-COLOGNE MARK WEIGHT. 71 see) usually furnishing the authority required for the discharge of his functions. Coin. Old French, coigner; Italian, cuniare; Spanish, cunar, to wedge or to coin. Both Menage and Spelman derive these words from the Latin, cuneus, the iron wedge (punch or die), which, on being struck, impressed the device on pieces of money; but the word cuneus, or wedge, may have been applied to the money itself, as it was formerly common to use the word wedge in the sense of bar, ingot, or plate of metal, as in Joshua vii. 21. From cuneus comes the Spanish cuna, and French, coin. Muratori endeavours to show that the word is really derived from the Greek, ektov, an image, whence the Latin, iconiare, in the sense of coining money. Pieces of money having impressed upon them a device or legend, or both, by some recognized body, mostly the supreme government of the country. In Numismatics, everything about the shape, composition, and marking of a coin is of interest. In Economics, the points of chief importance are the fineness, and the weight. Other points, though not so important, should not, however, be lost sight of, and Professor Jevons enumerates four principal objects which should be aimed at in deciding upon the exact design for a coin :— 1. To prevent counterfeit. 2. To prevent fraudulent removal of metal from a coin. 3. To reduce the loss of metal by legitimate wear and tear. Collateral Security. Collaterals. From the Latin, lătus, lateris, a side, and con, with: whence collateral, side by side with anything. Collateral Securities, often called for the sake of brevity Col laterals, are documents deposited with a creditor as additional security for a debt or loan. Of course, in all business transactions, the chief security of a creditor is the character and means of the person with whom he deals. But, as a protection against loss through bankruptcy or other misfortune, it is usual to require, especially in the case of loans, some additional or collateral security, which commonly takes the form of a deposit of Bills of Exchange, Bills of Lading, Bonds, Policies, or other objects of value. Stock so deposited is often said to be put in pawn, or to be pawned, but the formalities connected with the mere deposit of securities are less rigorous than those accompanying a pawn, and the laws relating to them are different. Collect, To. To collect a Bill, Note, or Draft, is to present it for payment as agent for the holder. To collect coupons implies the additional work of listing and presenting them. Hence it will be seen that the term "To Collect" is used in a purely technical sense, since none of the above things said to be collected, are ever collected, but the money payable upon them. Cologne Mark Weight. 3608 grains Troy. 72 COMMASSEE-COMPOSITE COIN. Commassee. An Arabian copper coin, but contains a little silver: 60 to a dollar at Mocha. Commission. Latin, committere, to entrust, consign, commit; from con and mitto. (a.) Primarily, commission signifies the act of committing to any one the discharge of some duty for which he is supposed to be specially fitted. (b.) Secondarily, the term is applied to the payment made for the service rendered, and in financial circles this secondary meaning has almost entirely overridden the primary. Hence, by commission is most commonly understood a sum paid for the performance of a given service, and especially that of buying and selling on behalf of a principal. Commodatum. Latin, commodo, commodare, to lena, to accommodate for a length of time; used by the best writers for things which are themselves returned, as books, clothes, a sword; and is thus distinguished from Mutuum (which see). Commodatum in mercantile law signifies a loan of such things as are expected to be returned, and not to be repaid or replaced by an equivalent. In loans of Bonds, Share Certificates, and the like, bearing numbers which the lender wishes to retain, it should always be stipulated that the same identical papers are to be returned; if this precaution be not taken, there may be a difficulty in reclaiming them in a court of law. Commodities. Objects of any kind which can be bought or sold. It is commonly, but rather inconsistently said, that money is a commodity as much as cotton, iron, or sugar. Nothing but a rash desire for generalization could lead to such an assertion; for all our leading economists have made a clear distinction between them. Money furnishes us with a unit in terms of which the value of commodities may be expressed, but no commodity is ever used (except for the sake of some passing illustration) to serve as a unit by which to estimate the value of money. Compensation. From the Latin, penso, to weigh, and con, together: penso is the frequentative form of pendo, to hang, to hang down, like the scales of a balance: compensatio is a balancing, whether of services, advantages, or values: exchange; barter. Compensation is a word used in ordinary speech, bearing the general meaning of requital, satisfaction: or in the sense of an equivalent for loss, damage, or suffering. It is used also in a technical sense, with the meaning of Set-off (which see). Composite Coin. Coins consisting of two or more substances, metallic or otherwise, each substance retaining its distinctive character, and not as in ordinary coins fused into one homogeneous mass. Louis, King of France, had one- and two-dime pieces made of silver wire fixed on pieces of leather. The silver wire gave the value, the leather bulk. Various attempts have been made to diminish the |