Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

1901 TO 1914 2514; and in Mexico, 1. Thus there were 149 branches west ofLake Superior as against 94 in eastern Canada. The balance,however, was soon to be adjusted by the purchase of theEastern Townships Bank with its 99 branches and sub-agencies,84 of which were in the province of Quebec. This put theeastern branches in a slight majority. In June, 1912, theoperations of the bank were extended to Newfoundland,Great Britain's oldest colony and now one of her overseasDominions, a branch being opened in St. John's. This was anatural outcome of the business of the bank in the MaritimeProvinces and especially in Halifax, the trade of which hassuch close connections with that of St. John's. The beginningof 1912 also witnessed the opening of a direct account by theVancouver branch with the Chartered Bank of India, Australiaand China, Hong Kong. 1This proved to be the firstsuccessful step taken to improve the bank's facilities forselling drafts on the Orient and transacting other bankingbusiness with that part of the world. Up to this time it hadbeen the custom for the head office to make arrangementswith the New York or San Francisco agencies of banks in theOrient whereby the branches of The Canadian Bank of Commercemight draw on points in the Far East, the Oriental bankfixing the rate at which the remittance to it must be made.This roundabout method was not conducive to the extensionof business, but one obstacle in the way of improving thefacilities lay in the difficulty of providing funds in Hong Kongand other banking centres in China and Japan. It is thecustom for bills of exchange against exports of goods fromAmerica to the east to be drawn in United States gold dollars,and to call for repayment in the same currency, with intereston the face amount of the bill until the approximate arrivalof the remittance in New York. These stipulations form whatis termed the "eastern clause." Occasionally a bill may bedrawn in sterling and call for repayment in a similar manner^he Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China is the oldest correspondentof the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Asia, its name appearing as early as 1889 inthe list of the bank's correspondents.