Banks.—There are three banks in the Colony. The Western Australian Bank, established in 1841, a Joint Stock Company managed by a Board of Directors in Perth, having a capital of £50,000 in 5000 shares. It has a branch at Geraldton and an Agency at Fremantle. Its agents in London are the Bank of South Australia, 54 Old Broad Street, as also in South Australia; the Bank of New South Wales in that Colony, Victoria, Queensland, and New Zealand; the Oriental Bank Corporation in India, Mauritius, and Singapore; the Commercial Bank of Van Dieman's Land, and the Chartered Bank of India at Batavia. In the times of financial difficulty in the Colony, previous to the introduction of convicts, this Bank assisted the Government with loans.
The National Bank of Australia, was established in Victoria and South Australia in 1858, and in Western Australia in 1866. This is also a Joint Stock Company under the management of a Board of Directors at Melbourne, having a paid-up capital of £750,000 and a reserve fund of £250,000. The London Office is 149 Leadenhall Street, E.C., where there is also a Board of Directors. It has branches at Fremantle, Geraldton, and Albany within the Colony, as also 40 Branches and Agencies in Victoria, and 39 besides the head office at Adelaide, in South Australia, where also are Local Directors. Its Agents are the National Bank of Scotland; in Ireland the Provincial Bank, the National Bank, and the Ulster Banking Company; in New South Wales the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney; also the Queensland National Bank, the Bank of New Zealand, the Commercial Bank of Van Dieman's Land; in India and China, the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, the Agra Bank, the Chartered Bank of India; also the
