The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-09-20 00:00:00

Obserinr,

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3 ft; Tt 20th1 1884.

THE PROGRESS OFYI4 RIFT.

THE popular estimation of Blue-books is, it
may be feared, a very low one, these reposi-
tories of information being regarded by the
general public as dry compilations trom
which as little that is of interest is to be ex-
tracted as from a railway time-table. This
is howev,3r, a view which is largely a mis-
ta:ken one, and to furnish only one instance,
a Blue-book published within the last few
days may be adduced as containing much
that is worth attention from all classes. It
sets forth county by county, and town by
town in the United Kingdom, the savings
banks which have been established from
those attached to the Post Office, and from
the] mass of figures a great deal can be
gathered to show the progress of thrift
among the people. This is one of the most
gratifying items in the consideration of the
present condition of England. It has long
been a taunt against us that we are not as
other nations in this matter of thrift. The
British navvy will perist in eating meat al-
though he has often been told that his
Spanish compeer is sufficiently satisfied
when his bread is flavoured with an onion;
the British clerk continues to demand a hot
dinner daily, though his German rival is
content to eat sausage, and the British house-
wife has not yet learnt to cast all the
remnants of her cookery into the wondrous
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

pot au feu from which her French friend can
extract so many appetising meals. All
this may-be true and may continue true, and
- yet those who are accustomed to closely
watch the habits of English people cannot
• doubt that the cause of thrift is making
iciest strides. The working classes are be-
• , coming more self-reliant, and they are be-
coming so in proportion as the banks which
are established to receive their savings are
being rendered more absolutely safe. Even
if all other things were equal it is certain
that people would not be so inclined to place
their money on deposit if they did not feel
as certain as it is ever possible in this
• -world to feel that the bank is safe. The
Post Office institutions have been able
to afford this measure of security in
small towns and even in remote villages
where local concerns of the kind could hardly
have been established, while in the larger
towns the Governmet institutions are run
pretty close in popular favour by savings
banks founded to meet the growing wants of
the thriftily disposed. But ,it must not be
imagined, in considering this question that
when we have examined the figures of the
savings banks whether established by Govern-
ment or by private enterprise, that we have
exhausted the subject. There is a great
* amount saved every year which does not
• piss through such institions as these. The
amount which is deposited in old stockings
Ind odd corners, may be left out of the
calculation, for it is infinitesimally small

compared with what it was even a few- years
since • but our building societies supply an
abuniance of testimony that all the traces
of this progress of thrift are not to be found
In savings banks. The process of acquiring
house or s•uall piece of land, has been
' Mitch facilitated of late years, and there are
thousands of workmen in various parts of
" the country who are now in the proud posi-
tion of being owners instead of merely
occupiers of the dwellings which shelter
them and their families. And so. despite
the pessimism which seems the favourite
mood of some among us at the present clay,
it has to be admitted that there are many
sigzui on the social horizon which are .of
cheerful import. A thrifty working class
will do more to secure unshaken the destinies
of England than many more pretentious
anises, and all efforts to forward its growth
and continuance deserves hearty support.