STAB-SPANGLED BANNER, THE 59 STATE BANKS Key on board the frigate "Surprise" in the course of the bombardment of Fort McHenry, Md., by the British fleet in 1814. The words on Key's suggestion were sung to the tune of "Anacreon in Heaven," which is supposed to have been composed by John Stafford Smith about 1773. The anthem, as soon as it be- came known, attained great popularity and the first public singing is said to have taken place in a tavern near the Holiday Street Theater, Baltimore, the singer being Ferdinand Durang. The moving character, both of the sentiments and the melody, has placed it among the most thrilling of the national hymns of any country. "The Star-Spangled Ban- ner" (Washington, 1914), by 0. G. T. Sonneck describes the evolution of the anthem, and contains different versions of the text and music. STARVATION or INANITION, the physical effect produced by the total want of food and water. The symptoms of starvation in man are: an increasing loss of weight, severe pain in the stom- ach, loss of strength, sleeplessness, great thirst, in some cases stupor, and in other cases nervous excitement with convulsions. Death occurs in about eight days. With a good supply of water, however, life may be prolonged, in the absence of solid food, for a period of two or three weeks, and cases have been known of persons surviving for two months and more. Gradual starvation may result from continued low percent- age of nutritive elements in the daily diet. STATE, a whole people united into a body politic; a civil and self-governing community. Also, any body of men con- stituting a community of a particular character in virtue of certain political privileges, who partake either directly or by representation in the government of their country; an estate; as, The Lords spiritual and temporal and the Commons are the states (or estates) of the realm in Great Britain. In the plural, the legislative body in the island of Jersey, England. It con- sists of 55 persons, including the bailiff of the island, who is ex officio president. The lieutenant-governor has a power of veto, and the States may not be con- vened without his consent. Guernsey has an analogous body, the Deliberative States, and a more popular assembly, the Elective States. In both islands the States deal only with questions of in- ternal administration. Also, one of the commonwealths or bodies politic which together go to com- pose a Federal republic, and which stand in certain specified relations with the central or national government, and, as regards internal affairs, are more or less independent; as, the State of Penn- sylvania. STATE BANKS, financial institutions doing a banking business under the su- pervision of the State, which guarantees its integrity to a greater or lesser ex- tent, according to the individual State's laws, the relation between the bank and the State being similar to the relation between a National bank and the Fed- eral Government. The State bank had its origin in New York, in the Free Banking Law of 1838, which terminated an evil system, or lack of system, un- der which banking corporations and private individuals were granted char- ters through special privileges, often by bribery and subterfuge. The law of 1838 extended banking privileges to all corporations willing to conform to its provisions, and so laid the groundwork on which the national banking system was based by Federal legislation. Since it is impossible to describe even super- ficially the characteristic features of the State banking systems in all the States, an outline of the National banking sys- tem, which is based on the original laws of New York and Massachusetts, will give a more concrete idea of underlying principles, more especially since the banking legislation of the younger States has been in turn taken from Fed- eral legislation. The first of the various acts of Con- gress constituting the legislation on which rests our National banking sys- tem was passed in February, 1863. which authorized certain banks to issue notes on bonds deposited in the United States Treasury. In June, 1864, this law was revised and amended and a bureau was established in the Treasury Department, in charge of the Comp- troller of the Currency, which was to supervise the newly created National banking system. In cities of six thou- sand population or over banks must have at least $100,000 capital. In smaller communities $50,000 was the limit, though this has since been reduced to $25,000. No bank could begin business before half of its capital stock had been paid in, and then the balance must be paid in within 5 months, in monthly installments. At least 30 per cent, of the paid in capital must be converted into United States bonds and deposited in the United States Treasury, 90 per cent, of whose market value could be represented in notes issued by the bank. The entire amount of these notes, how- ever, was then limited to $300,000,000,
