Australian Banks.

Banking in Australia differs somewhat from the systems in other countries. There are no private bankers or national banks, all foreign exchange, letters of credit, and government business being arranged by the ordinary banks. Their business has been very profitable, one institution having for seventeen years paid dividends of 25 percent per annum, and accumulated reserve funds exceeding its paid-up capital by more than 50 per cent, its $100 shares standing at $600 on the Stock Exchange. The funds in the hands of the banks were in some cases twenty times as great as their own capital, these funds being placed with them by the public, repayable in from one to three years, and at rates of interest of from 3.5 to 4.5 percent, per annum.