They were likewise troubled with legal difficulties, as the position of the shareholders of such banks was merely that of a common law partnership; and consequently, in any action, the exact names of all the shareholders had to be given, and all were parties to the action. This inconvenience was remedied by an Act passed in 1838, which allowed a banking company to sue or be sued in the name of any of its members; but the position of its shareholders still remained the same as to their unlimited liability, and it was not until the year 1858 that an Act was passed allowing joint-stock banks to take advantage of the system of limited liability; a system which was first allowed to ordinary joint-stock companies by an Act passed in 1855. Another inconvenience with which these banks had to contend was occasioned by the enactment providing that no such partnership could accept bills having a less date than six months. Various expedients were tried to circumvent this difficulty, but none were successful, and it was not until the year 1844 that joint-stock banks were released from this incubus. In spite of so many embarrassing and hindering circumstances the joint-stock banks more than held their own, and gradually increased their wealth and importance. From small beginnings they gathered strength as the years rolled on, and little as the originators of the movement may have imagined to what colossal proportions the business would attain to-day, the joint-stock banks of England and Wales together hold deposits from the public exceeding the enormous sum of £600,000,000; a sum nearly equal to our National Debt. The number of our banks, both private and joint-stock, has been decreasing for many years. This is owing partly to the failure of the weaker banks of both classes, but chiefly to the numerous amalgamations of recent years. At the close of the year 1849 there were ninety-nine joint-stock banks established in England and Wales, at the close of 1892 there were one hundred and two, and at the close of 1902 only sixty-eight, not including the Bank of England. These banks then held deposits amounting to no less a sum than £600,333,000. The decrease in joint-stock banks in the last ten years, from one hundred and two to sixty-eight, is remarkable; but this does not necessarily imply any lessening of banking accommodation to the public; on the contrary, the reverse is the case, owing to the great increase in the number of branches which have been established.