Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

396 HISTORY OF THE BANKof His Majesty, resident in the province. For the first timeauthority was specifically given to establish branches whereverthe directors might decide, with the stipulation that a branchmust be established in York within two years if two thousandshares were subscribed in the Home District. The first referenceto the denominations of the notes appeared in this Act,fixing the minimum amount at ten shillings, or two dollars.The Bank of Montreal and the other banks of Lower Canada,as also the Bank of Upper Canada at Kingston, issued notesfor five shillings or one dollar and the next charter granted inUpper Canada fixed the minimum at five shillings. Nomention was as yet made of higher denominations. It was providedthat, if the statements required by the legislature wererefused, the corporation might be dissolved. The onlyimportant new feature was the provision that if the bank shouldrefuse, within banking hours, either at the head office or any ofthe branches, to redeem its notes in lawful money of theprovince, all its business should, on pain of forfeiting thecharter, be immediately suspended until it resumed theredemption of its notes. This feature was continued in thesame form in several subsequent charters in Upper Canada,and naturally bore heavily on the banks, leading to varioussubterfuges to escape the inconvenient necessity of redeemingnotes at the various branches. Apart from this, there wasno essential difference between the bank charters of Upperand Lower Canada, although subsequently, through politicaland economic influences, some important differences developed.For various reasons, unnecessary to state here, the Bank ofKingston did not come into operation.The new Bank of Upper Canada, at York, had alsoreceived a charter in 1819, 1 althoughit was not confirmeduntil 1821. With the exception of the fourteenth section,granting permission to issue notes for a minimum of five shillingsinstead of ten shillings, this Act was almost identical withthe Act establishing the Bank of Kingston. The third section5 Geo. m, 1819, c. xxiv.