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Vienna at 170 marks per 100 florins; the bills are then sold in Vienna and the proceeds buy a bill on Paris at 47.50 per 100 francs what is the "arbitrated rate" between London and Paris The question would be stated thus :

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In actual operations of this kind allowance has to be made for discount or interest, besides certain charges such as Bill stamps (1 to 2 per mille), brokerage (%), and commission (to %). Merchants do not often operate in this way; such transactions are usually confined to banks and financial houses.

Re-exchange is a term used to denote that a fresh bill has been drawn in place of one which has been dishonoured. The new bill would be drawn by the holder of the dishonoured bill, on the drawer of the latter. The re-exchange account is a statement detailing the costs incurred on re-drawing, viz., charges for protesting, brokerage, stamps, commission, &c. These charges are added to the amount of the original bill, the total amount being drawn for in the new bill.

Gresham's Law. This is a term frequently met with in works on finance. It refers to a law demonstrated to Queen Elizabeth by Sir Thomas Gresham, to the effect that if two sorts of coins be legal tender in a country, of the same value in denomination but differing intrinsically (e.g., sovereigns of full weight and sovereigns of light weight), only those having the lower value will be in general circulation, the others being either hoarded or exported; in other words, "bad money drives out good."

Foreign Bills of Exchange. The question of Bills of Exchange was dealt with somewhat fully in our volume on the home trade. As the remarks there made are generally applicable to foreign bills negotiated in this country, the only further information

now necessary is in relation to the usance at which foreign bills are drawn, that is, the period for which it is customary to draw bills at or on the places named. These are as follows:

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The following information in reference to Bills of Exchange (collated by Sir Samuel Montagu, Bart., M.P.) will no doubt be useful :--

LEGAL DELAY.

Legal delay allowed for the return of Dishonoured Bills after noting or protest

United Kingdom one day.

Germany and Holland two or three days.

France fourteen days.

Russia one year.

DAYS OF GRACE.

United Kingdom: Government Bills and Bank Post Bills none; other
Bills three, unless the word "fixed" is added.

United States: Various. In some States, three; in others, none. In
New York State the three days of grace are abolished from
January 1st, 1895.

France: None; but protest must be taken out after midday on the first
working day following the due date.

Spain: Same as France.

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Germany: Same as France, excepting that protest must be taken out not later than the second working day after maturity.

Belgium: Same as France, excepting that the protest day is the second working day after maturity. Should the acceptor of a Bill fail before its maturity, the Bill may be protested and action taken on it, as if it had been dishonoured at due date.

Holland: Two days of grace.

Russia (generally): If Bills are accepted ten days of grace are exacted. The leading Bankers do not avail themselves of this delay. Unaccepted Bills carry no grace. In Warsaw, however, only one day of grace is allowed.

DUE DATE OF BILLS.

England: Bills due on Sunday, Christmas Day, and Good Friday are payable on the previous working day; on Bank Holidays, the subsequent working day.

France: Bills due on Sundays and Holidays are payable on previous day.

Germany and Holland: Bills due on Sundays or Holidays are payable the following day.

Portugal: Same as France, excepting that, calculating the maturity of Bills, a month is fixed at thirty days, consequently a Bill drawn at three months would be identical with a Bill drawn at ninety

days.

THE EXPORTATION OF GOODS

Procuring Orders. In the home trade, orders from towns other than those where the goods are manufactured are obtained by means of commercial travellers and agents who work certain districts. In the export trade orders are obtained in the same way, except that, instead of being confined to districts, the travellers have to work whole countries, whilst in distant countries, such as India, China, &c., the agents in many cases give place to branch firms. Another point of difference between the home trade and the export trade is that the latter is to a very much larger extent than the former done by telegraph.

The orders received (except in the case of orders for standard or well-known articles) are generally based on patterns or samples shown by the traveller or sent direct by a firm to their agents or branches. Each pattern or sample usually has a distinct mark assigned to it, and it is referred to by this mark. In the case of patterns sent to countries to or from which the cost of telegraphing is very heavy (such as India, China, Australia, &c.), a number is assigned to each pattern, and when goods are ordered by telegraph, as is frequently the case, these numbers are used to indicate the goods required.

Sometimes orders are sent direct by a foreign firm, and very frequently foreign buyers (from the Continent, Canada, the United States, and South America, chiefly) visit this country and select the goods they require; but in the majority of cases sales are effected as described above, by means of travellers, agents, or branch firms.

Commercial Travellers.-In several countries in Europe, and at times in British Colonies (New Zealand for instance), before a traveller or other representative of a British firm can take orders he must be in possession of a license. In the case of Switzerland, a representative of a British firm proposing to take orders in that country should first obtain a "carte de légitimation" from a British Chamber of Commerce, on production of which the police

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authorities of the first canton visited will furnish an official license. In some other countries, Roumania and Servia, for instance, this carte de légitimation serves as a license. In other countries, however, such as Russia, Denmark, Norway, and some South American countries, a license must be obtained from the police authorities or Customs officials at the first town visited, and heavy fees have to be paid. In Denmark, a traveller is not allowed to carry samples outside the principal towns; if he does, and is found out, he is brought before a police court and heavily fined. In the United Kingdom there are no restrictions of this kind, and a foreign commercial traveller is at liberty to visit all parts of the Kingdom, either with or without samples, and take any number of orders, without a license or payment of any fee whatever.

It is almost unnecessary to mention that a commercial traveller should have an effective knowledge of the language spoken in the country he is about to visit.

Passports. Travellers proceeding to certain countries (e.g., Russia, Turkey, or Roumania) should provide themselves with passports, which must be visés (at the respective Consulates) before quitting England. In most other countries passports are not absolutely necessary, but it is desirable that a traveller should be in possession of one, as it is frequently found to be of service. The following are the Regulations issued by the British Foreign Office on the subject:

REGULATIONS RESPECTING PASSPORTS.

1. Applications for Foreign Office Passports must be made in writing, and inclosed in a cover addressed to "The Passport Department, Foreign Office, London, S. W."

2. The charge for a passport, whatever number of persons may be named in it, is 2s. Passports are issued at the Foreign Office between the hours of 11 and 4 on the day following that on which the application for the passport has been received, except on Sundays and Public Holidays, when the Passport Office is closed. If the applicant reside in the country, and it be desired that the passport should be sent by post, a postal order for 2s. must accompany the application. POSTAGE STAMPS WILL NOT BE RECEIVED IN PAYMENT.

3. Foreign Office Passports are granted only to British-born subjects, or to persons naturalised either in the United Kingdom or in the British Colonies; they are not limited in point of time, but are available for any time, or for any number of journeys to the Continent.

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