Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1875 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VI. THE THEORY OF BANKING. 1. The business of Banking is often supposed to be peculiarly mysterious and incomprehensible, but the considerations we have presented in the preceding chapters, will have cleared awtiy all the difficulties and obscurities of the subject. We have shewn that the true key to Economic Science, is the clear understanding that the word Property means a Right, and not a material Thing: and that there are three distinct species of Property, or Rights; Rights to things which have come into actual possession; Rights to Services, or Labour; and Rights to things which will only come into possession at some future time. But all these three species of Rights, or Property, are the subjects of Sale or Exchange, or are vendible Commodities. Many eminent Jurists, Erskine, Ortolan, Lord Mackenzie, and others, have pointed out that Jurisprudence has nothing to do with the actual things themselves, but only with the Rights to them; so Economics has nothing to do with the actual things themselves, but only with the Rights to them; and while the object of Jurisprudence is to define, and ascertain, and protect these Rights from injury, the object of Economics is to determine the Laws which govern their exchangeable relations. We have shewn that in Roman Law abstract Rights, severed from any material things, are termed " Pecunia," "Bona" "Res," "Merx," Wealth, Goods, Property, Merchandise, because they can be bought and sold, or form the subject of Commerce. We might quote many passages from the Digest, and the great Civilians, if necessary, but these we have already cited are sufficient. It is exactly the same in English Law. A Right of action for a sum of money is termed a Debt, or chose-in-action, in English Law, and is...
