calls and the total working capital that will be available when they are met are appended :—

* Includes £8,190 prepaid on account of Reserve Liability.

The paid up capital of the banking companies now operating in Australasia has increased from £14,724,587 before the crisis to £20,366,153, or by £5,641,566. In 1893, however, there were in existence two banks, with a combined capital of £900,000, which are now defunct; and it should also be mentioned that capital to the amount of £6,242,685 has been written off during the last nine years, including £500,000, the value of shares of the Bank of New Zealand issued to the Crown, and re-purchased.

LIABILITIES AND ASSETS OF BANKS.

The liabilities of the banks enumerated, at the dates which have been previously given, totalled £141,760,522, against which amount assets aggregating £168,918,615 were shown. The following table gives the liabilities of each institution to the public, notes in circulation

In some

and deposits being distinguished from other liabilities. cases small items which should be classed with "other liabilities are included with deposits, as they cannot be distinguished in the balancesheets; and in the case of the Commercial Bank of Australia (Limited), the accounts of the assets trust have been excluded :

RESULTS OF WORKING OF BANKS.

The results of working of each bank for the latest period for which information is available are given below. With the exception of the Bank of Adelaide, the Bank of New Zealand, the English, Scottish, and Australian Bank, the London Bank of Australia, and the National Bank of New Zealand, for which the figures refer to twelve months' operations, the amounts given cover a period of six months. The dates of the balance-sheets are as shown on page 771 :—

For 24 years.

+ Including bonus of 2 per cent. per annum. Includes further payment of 1 per cent. on Deferred Inscribed Stock (£12,894); purchase of Deferred Inscribed Stock (£7,417); and Officers' Guarantee and Provident Fund (£1,000). § See explanation in text following table.

The total net profit for the Bank of New Zealand was £289,502, and the interest on guaranteed stock amounted to £80,000, leaving £209,502 for distribution. Of this sum £37,001 was allocated to the various

estate and property accounts; £50,000 was paid to the Assets Realisation Board and £21,366 for dividend on ordinary shares at 5 per cent. : leaving a balance of £101,135 which must be paid to the Assets Realisation Board, while the £50,000 brought forward from the previous year was also paid to the same Board. The dividend paid by the Queensland National Bank represents a repayment to the Government of that State in terms of the scheme of arrangement, and the amount transferred to reserve fund, &c., includes £6,000 paid to private depositors' repayment fund. The net profit shown for the London Bank of Australia, and the English, Scottish, and Australian Bank (Limited), is exclusive of the interest on Transferable Fixed Deposits, Debenture Stocks, &c.; while the earnings of the Commercial Bank of Australia (Limited), include the amount transferred to the Special Assets Trust Reserve Account. The dividend tax payable by the two Tasmanian banks, the Royal Bank of Queensland, and the Bank of North Queensland has been included in the amount of dividend shown in the table.

BANKING BUSINESS OF EACH STATE.

Of the twenty-two banks operating in Australasia at the beginning of 1902, thirteen had offices in New South Wales, eleven in Victoria, eleven in Queensland, seven in South Australia, six in Western Australia, four in Tasmania, and five in New Zealand. There were only two banks doing business in all the seven states; one transacted business in six states; one in five states; two in four; two in three; four in two; and ten banks did not extend their business beyond the limits of one state or colony. The majority of the institutions, however, had offices in London.

The liabilities and assets of the twenty-two banks of issue operating in the different states and New Zealand during the June quarter of 1902 are shown in the following tables. The total liabilities of the banks are given as £116,412,626, and the assets as £135,709,401, showing a surplus of assets of £19,296,775. If the returns gave all the facts in relation to the operations of the banks, this surplus should represent the capital or funds provided out of their own resources; but as the capital and reserve funds amount to £26,420,497, it is evident that there is a balance of £7,123,722 to be otherwise accounted for. This sum represents part of the deposits obtained in Australasia and used in the London business of the banks; the British deposits with Australasian banks having decreased to about twelve millions. The following figures will convey some notion of the business transacted within each state. It should be noted that under the heading of deposits bearing interest has been included perpetual inscribed stock of the English, Scottish, and Australian Bank (Limited), to the amount of

£2,071,885, namely, £692,434 in New South Wales, £932,828 in Victoria, £313,256 in South Australia, and £133,367 in Queensland :

The preceding table shows that about 95 per cent. of the Australasian liabilities of the banks consisted of deposits, viz., £110,627,732 out of £116,412,626. The returns of the banks in each state, with the exception of Tasmania, distinguish between deposits at call and deposits bearing interest. In Tasmania, although not obliged by law to do so, a similar distinction has been made by three banks out of four, and assuming that in the case of the other bank the proportion of deposits at call to the total deposits is the same, the total deposits at call are as stated in the table, viz., £45,498,226, or 41 per cent. of all deposits.

The assets for the same period are shown below. Certain assets of small amount, consisting chiefly of Government and other securities, have been included under all debts due to the banks, and in the case of one state, technical over-statements of the assets of some of the banks have been rectified. The value of landed property in Victoria is exclusive of the interest of the Commercial Bank of Australia (Limited), in the Special Assets Trust Company (Limited). Also, under the