The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-13 00:00:00

" the cost of some•little labour, and some degree

of attention.

"Yet," says he, "these are - the

laws.which it is expected that the industrious
classes—they who live by the sweat of their
brow should thoroughly understand. Of
course, practically speaking, this is impossible,

and the mere report, or popular rumour, must
be the guide of those who invest in Savings'
Banks the savings of a life of unrerntajng toil."

Under such circumstances, it is not a matter
of surprise, that we should find, that although

population and wealth have greatly increased

within the last ten years, the operations of

Savings' Banks have not extended. A stinted
rate of interest, mismanagement; unfair restric-

tions as to investments, and serious.defalcations,

have caused the industrial classes to decline to

countenance or patronise them. In verification of
this statement, we may just mention, that in 1841,
the deposits in Savings' Banks throughout the
United Kingdon, were 40,965,1601. 4s. 2d., while

in 1854, they had decreased to 33,408,1751.2 s 9d.
Furthermore, the entire security given upon the
latter sum, by managers, trustees, paid and
unpaid officials, amounted only to 771,59Lq., or
51d. for every twenty shillings deposited. But,
as a further evidence of the unpopularity of
Savings' Banks in this country, we may remark,

that while, in Great Britain and Ireland, out of
a total population of 27,104,394, only one in
twenty-one is a depositor; in the United States,

the proiortion is one in sixteen, and in Vienna,

Geneva, and Neufchatel, one in two an 1 a-half.
The proposed measures of the Chancellor 'of
the Exchequer provides a guarantee to the
depositors in Savings' Banks, 'upon condition
that the trustees shall place themselves under the

treasury yoke, submit to a, further extension of
" centralization," and give their consent to obey
whatever rules and regulations it may hereafter

consider expedient to promulgate and enforce,
To this proposal, we find a meeting of Saving&
Bank Trustees and Managers held in London

On Wednesday last, objected, and for the simple
reason, that they were entitled to act independ-

ent of Government control, alleging, that while
defalcations arising from the neglect and dis-
honesty of officials connected with Savings'
Banks, had been extremely alight in amount, not
less than 5,000,0001. had been swallowed up by
the manipulations of the treasury, and 200,0001.
by a defective audit. Great as this evil may be,
there is a still greater monetary enormity than
the loss of the above named sum. 'We allude to
the withdrawal from the wants, the employments,
and the advantages of the community of the
large amount of circulating medium represented
by the total deposits 0f33,408,1751. 2s. 9d. Under
the present system, all the deposits are despatched
to London, not conferring benefit on any one,
save the paltry per tentage of 31. Os. 10d., paid
to the depositor—but inflicting pecuniary harm
on every one. By a wiser mode of investment,
savings could be made to beget savings, " the
money never withdrawn from the place where it
i 3 accumulated —be always available, locally and
personally, to the place where, and the people by
whom it is saved." Again, if it was made avail-
able, unhampered with restrictions, for legitimate
purposes, the money saved would benefit
every one concerned—the person who saved
and the parties employed. Trade would be
increased, the prosperity of the people
encouraged, and not one penny uselessly
engaged. This, however, cannot be, so long as
Savings' Banks are governed according to the

existing laws.

Referring to the debate which ensued upon
the resolution moved by the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER, we find that his intended Bill will
not differ in any material respect from the mea-
sure proposed by him in the last Session of
Parliament. With respect to the Government
guarantee, which is the main feature of the Bill,
there is much in favour of the idea of insisting
in return that all Savings Bank officers should
be subject to its most stringent control. Past
experience tells us that nothing less would keep
it safe from " defalcations." Periodical visita-
tions and casual inspections of books cannot be
deemed sufficient to detect negligence, or well-
laid plans of conspiracy, deception, and fraud.
The late Bank swindles amply demonstrate the
truth of this assertion. The unfortunate share-
holders in the Royal British Ban k might have gone
in and inspected the books of that concern, but
would have been unable to detect a single item of
the frauds which were daily perpetrated behind
the curtain in the " Manager's" room. For these
reasons, we think that the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER is correct in seeking from all persons
who administers the affairs of Savings' Banks a
satisfactory guarantee in consideration of the
obligation and responsibility he undertakes on
the part of the nation. Whilst thus approving
of this princip'e of the Bill, we consider it defec-
tive in its provisions as regards investments. The
people are not satisfied with the interest on their
deposits by law, i.e., 3/. Os. 10d. But small
though that may be, it is not paid to the depo-
sitor ; for we find that the expense of managing
the 584 Savings' Banks in the United Kingdom
amounts to 6s. Bd. per cent., making a total
.of
101,3601. 1 Is. Bd. The Savings' Bank law
allows only 4s. 2d. per cent. for management,
which would amount to 69,6001. 7s. 31d. The
difference between these two items, showing that
no less a sum than 41,7601. 7s. 31-d. is spent
over and above the sum authorised by law to
cover the expense of management. This is
caused by a want of unity of sykenr. Separate
establishments, heavy rents, unauthorised by Act
of Parliament, have to be borne by the tax-Paying
portion of the community.
As a matter of course, the rate cf interest paid
to depositors suffers by the increased expendi-
ture ; hence we find that no less a sum than
36,192/. 33. 91d. per annum is deducted from
the interest payable to depositors, so that the
actual rate may be set down at about 2/.lBs. Bd.
per cent. After all, it becomes a question

whether the people could not, by some well•
devised scheme, manage Savings' Banks Institu-
tions better themselves than under the control
and sanction of Government. To the considera-
tion of this topic we shall return on another