"Do you guarantee the bills you discount, and what is your charge per cent.?—No, we do not guarantee them; our charge is one-eighth per cent. brokerage upon the bill discounted but we make no charge to the lender of the money.
"Do you consider that brokerage as a compensation for the skill which you exercise in selecting the bills which you thus get discounted?—Yes, for selecting of the bills, writing letters, and other trouble.
"Does the party who furnishes the money give you any kind of compensation?—None at all.
"Does he not consider you as his agent, and in some degree responsible for the safety of the bills which you give him?—Not at all.
"Does he not prefer you on the score of his judging that you will give him good intelligence upon that subject?—Yes, he relies upon us.
"Do you then exercise a discretion as to the probable safety of the bills?—Yes; if a bill comes to us which we conceive not to be safe, we return it.
"Do you not then conceive yourselves to depend in a great measure for the quantity of business which you can perform on the favour of the party lending the money?—Yes, very much so. If we manage our business well, we retain our friends; if we do not, we lose them."
It was natural enough that the owners of the
