ABSTRACT
The function of banks, as well as their operations, have been pointed out in the chapter on "Credit and Banking." Banks are the agencies through which currency systems operate. Prior to the Civil War there were different kinds of banks which issued notes. The Bank of France is the fiscal agent of the government, keeps the public funds, administers and records the public debt, and lends funds to the government. There is a maximum legal limit to the notes the Bank of France may issue. But this limit is virtually a dead letter as it is far in excess of the usual issue, and is modified in times of need. State banks, during the Civil War period, were redeeming their notes in greenbacks. The original act and its later amendments provided that every national bank should deposit registered United States bonds in the treasury, whether it issued circulating notes or not.
