Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

390 HISTORY OF THE BANKCompany of the Bank of Montreal." Its articles of association,in accordance with the petition of the bank, formed thebasis of that charter, as well as of -the first charter granted inUpper Canada, namely, that of the Bank of Kingston in 1819.Thus the articles of association of the Montreal Bank becamethe basis for all subsequent charters granted to banks inboth Upper and Lower Canada.The banks in the Maritime Provinces and in BritishColumbia had an independent origin, but hi both these regionsthe experience of the banks in Upper and Lower Canada wasduplicated. As the eastern banks came into the mainstream of Canadian banking only after Confederation, theirinfluence on the development of the Canadian system wasvery limited; after Confederation they had simply to adaptthemselves to a system already well established. As weshall see, however, their influence was not wanting in theframing of the first Dominion Bank Act of 1870.In the course of the evolution of the Canadian systemafter 1817, three chief lines of influence can be traced. Thefirst of these is to be found in the criticisms based upon actualexperience of the working of the banks under local conditionsduring the gradual development of Canadian industry, commerceand transportation. The second was the bankingexperience of the other Provinces and of the neighbouringStates. The latter were specially impressed with thefinancial necessity for keeping in touch, through New York,with exchange conditions. The third influence was that ofthe British Treasury, exercised through the Colonial Office,which possessed the constitutional right to revise or disallowcolonial legislation, especially where it concerned banking andcurrency. Sometimes the tendency of the British authoritiesto direct or to restrict Canadian legislation on these subjectswas very active and persistent, while at other times therewas a disposition to allow the colonies to work out theirown salvation, or destruction, as the case might be. Thesevariations, however, in the paternal mood depended upon the