numbers are for your convenience and not for the convenience of the
bank. It is important that your cheque-book be correctly kept, so that
you can tell at any time how much money you have in the bank. At the
end of each month your small bank-book should be left at the bank, so
that the bookkeeper may balance it. It may happen that your bank-book
will show a larger balance than your cheque-book. You will understand
by this, if both have been correctly kept, that there are cheques
outstanding which have not yet been presented at your bank for
payment. You can find out which these are by checking over the paid
cheques that have been returned to you with your bank-book. The unpaid
cheques may be presented at any time, so that your actual balance is
that shown by your cheque-book. Cheques should be presented for
payment as soon after date as possible.

CERTIFIED CHEQUES

[Illustration: A bank draft.]

If you wish to use your cheque to pay a note due at some other bank
than your own, or in buying real estate or stocks or bonds you may
find it necessary to get your cheque certified. This is done by an
officer of the bank, who writes or stamps across the face of the
cheque the words "Certified" or "Good when properly indorsed" and
signs his name. (See illustration, p. 244.) The amount will
immediately be deducted from your account, and the bank by
guaranteeing your cheque becomes responsible for its payment. If you
should get a cheque certified and then not use it deposit it in your
bank, otherwise your account will be short the amount for which it is
drawn.

BANK DRAFTS

[Illustration: A bill of exchange.]

Nearly all banks keep money on deposit in other banks in large
commercial centres--for instance, in New York or Chicago. They call
these banks their New York or Chicago correspondents. A bank draft is
simply the bank's cheque drawing upon its deposit with some other
bank. (See illustration, p. 245.) Banks sell these cheques to their
customers, and merchants make large use of them in making remittances
from one part of the country to another. These drafts or cashiers'
cheques, as they are sometimes called, pass as cash anywhere within a
reasonable distance of the money centre upon which they are drawn.

BILLS OF EXCHANGE

A draft on a foreign bank is commonly called a bill of exchange. Bills
of exchange are usually drawn in duplicate and sometimes in
triplicate. (See illustration, p. 246.) Only one bill is colle