It is a very common pract...
It is a very common practice, in the present llole of doing business at the Bank of England, to make entries of 1 stock in the joint names of two or morepersons, where ajoint interest exists, and this practice has becn supposed to be a complete security for the principal invested, that it cannot be sold out without the consent of all parties. There is one exceprion to this rule, whieh is in cases where the stock is held by the husband and wife, by the insertioni of both their names in the books at the Bank ; and, however obvious that exception -may ba to lawyers, some conse- quences resulting fromi that form of in;vestment haYe re- cently come to light, wlhich may make it usefuil to put the community at large on their guard respecting it. During the life of the husband, the addition of the name of the wife gives her no power whatever over the stock, but it may be sold out at his pleasure, witlhout any legal neces- sity for uniting her name to the transfer. An instance in point has lately occuried, wvherein a husband, desirous to convert stock so invested into money, attended at the pro- per office, alone, to make the transfer. On its being ob- served that another signature besides his own was requisite, he proved that the seconid naine was that of his wife, who could have no rights which he diid not in his own person represent. His claim, wvhen once stated, was so evi- dent, that the Bank could not interpose, and the stock was transferred without firtlher difficulty. We have been re- qnestcdl by personis having mueh practical acquaintanice with the various motles of investing stock, to mnake this fact, whiclh is by po meanis an isolated one, mole generally known. Such investments as tbat just mentioned are extremely common; and it is considered as far from all im- probable event, that property held in trust might unad- vise,lly be exchangead for an investment in Government se- curities, in the joint names of the husbanid aned wife, which changeuf investment would frustrate the object for which I tie trust was originally created, and place the property en- tirely at the htisband's disposal.