clearing-house 的词源

同时，clearinghouse这个词在1805年被创造，来源于clearing（清算）和house（机构）。最初，这个机构成立于1775年，由伦敦的银行家们创建，用于相互之间结算支票和汇票的债务；后来，这个词被扩展用于类似的机构。

CLEARING, is a method adopted by city bankers, for exchanging the drafts on each others houses, and settling the differences.—Thus at a stated hour in the afternoon, a clerk from each attends at the Clearing House, where he brings all the drafts on the other bankers, which have been paid into his house during the course of the day; and, having debited their different accounts with the articles which he has against them, he deposits them in their proper drawers, (a drawer being here allotted to each banker:) he then credits their accounts respectively, with the articles which they have against him, as found in his drawer. Balances are then struck on all the accounts, and the differences are transferred from one to another, until they are so wound up, that each clerk has only to settle with two or three others, which is done in cash, or Bank of England notes. [P. Kelly, "The Elements of Book-Keeping," London, 1805]

清算是一种城市银行家之间相互交换票据并结算差额的方法。——在下午的固定时间，每家银行派出一名职员前往Clearing House，他会带来当天在自己银行收到的其他银行的所有票据；然后，他会将这些票据记入各自的账户，并将其存放在专门的抽屉里（每家银行都有一个专用抽屉）。接着，他会将自己银行欠其他银行的票据记入相应的账户，这些票据存放在他的抽屉里。最后，各家银行的账户会进行结算，差额会相互转移，直到每位职员只需与两三家银行结算，这部分通常以现金或英格兰银行的纸币支付。[P. Kelly, "The Elements of Book-Keeping," London, 1805]