A clearing-house is a voluntary association1 of banks for the purpose of facilitating exchanges and settlements between them. Each bank in the clearing-house has a representative there at a certain hour. He sits at a desk and receives all paper against his bank and delivers to the representative of each other bank the paper which his bank holds against that particular bank. If the bank delivers more paper than it receives it is entitled to a credit against the other bank; if it delivers less than it receives, it is debited in favor of the other bank. Settlements between banks are made either by clearinghouse certificates or in cash. If made in clearing-house certificates the manager issues to the bank entitled to a credit a certificate for the amount and charges it against the bank from which the credit is owing in favor of the other bank. Each bank has until a certain hour to return any paper upon it as not good, but those settlements are outside of the clearing-house and between the banks; yet the settlement is governed by the rules of the clearing-house. Each bank in the clearing-house is required to deposit with the clearinghouse either money or securities to secure the clearing-house certificates charged against it; or, if this be not done, certain restrictions are put upon the members as to the balances in cash which they must carry. In times of financial distress

1 Crane v. Fourth St. Bank, 173 Pa. 566. But it is not a bank, says this case. Yet it may sue. Philler v. Patterson, 168 Pa. 468. It may be sued. Yardley v. Philler, 58 Fed. R. 746. It may issue certificates or due-bills which are negotiable like bank-notes (Dutton v. Merchants' Nat. Bank, 16 Phila. 94), yet they are not currency, says the opinion in Crane v. Bank, supra, it remains for the Pennsylvania courts to unravel this tangla banks have received assistance in further certificates from, the clearing-house upon the deposit of securities with it. Those banks in a city which are not in the clearing-house, generally do their clearing through a member of the association.