Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-28
COMMUNICATIONS.
Savings Banks-What Are Their AID

Savings Banks-What Are Their Adj
vantages-And For Whose Benefit
To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
Savings banks are of no practical use or
benefit to the business community nor to
those who are possessed of property and sub
stance and not engaged in business, for these
| have experience, the time, judgment and ca
pability to make safe and sure and profitable
| investments for themselves. Savings banks
were instituted for humane, benefcent and
| wise purpose; and that purpose was to have
banks in which the savings and earnings of the
poor could be deposited and put to interest
for their benefit What are the things that
these banks do for the poor and which they
| could not do for themselves In the first
place they pay the poor depositors larger
interest for that money than they could pos
sibly obtain by their own care and manage
ment. In the second place they for the
poor the time they would have to expend in
finding an investment This is an item of
consideration, for they have not the time
which they could afford for such purpose.
In the third place they have not the expe-
| rienee, the judgment nor the capability to do
that which requires care and nice discIimina-
ton to avoid a mistake being deceived
by impostors, and thus losing part or
whole of their money. In the fourth place
they are Saved the expense incident to search
| of title and paying lawyer if they under
take to invest by mortgage and have enough
| money to avail themselves of mortgage Sc
curity, which few have; if they
| seek other modes of investment, they
must incur expense for information,
travelling and loss of time If they loan
their small earnings and savings to neigh
bors or others their security is due bill or
time note from the borrower unsecured and
pretty certain to be lost.
In the fifth place the savings bank pays
their taxes for them; this saves them time
and trouble. All these desirable things are
done for them and in a safe and secure man
her by the simple act of taking their money
to a savings bank and receiving therefor
a book as evidence of their deposits
which takes the short time of-say three or
five minutes-and they have no further care
nor thought than thrice or four times year
to go to the bank and receive their inter
est.
Now let us see what a calamity could be-
fall the poor if the directors of savings
banks should resolve to wind up and close
them up by paying to all the depositors their
money, which they unquestionably do,
and ceasing to exist or do business. What
then would the poor do with their earnings
and savings? They conld not take
care of them-that is very certain;
their savings would be expended and
lost Human nature in bank directors, who
receive no pay for the time and services they
devote and give freely for the benefit of the
poor, may say, "What is the use of trying to
help these people who withdraw their con
tidence by making runs upon the bank with
out any cause, sense or reason, and thus
accuse suspect us of being untrue and I'M
faithful to the trust reposed in US, or in other
and palmer words, of being dishonest rascals.'
Human nature cannot stand everything and
our poor people may not know nor think
what calamity and privation they might
bring upon themselves. G..