Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-19

There appears to be a growing sentI-
ment in favor Of the bill to establish pos
tai savings banks that Ia now being con-
sidered by the House Committee on Post
! Offices.
The chief advantage that would accrue
from such savings banks is that they
would be a constant invitation to the peo-
pie to save their money. They would be
as constantly before the people as the
post Office is. The amount Of Interest that
It is proposed to pay is not large, but
there would be little complaint on that
account because those who would become
depostors in them would, as a rule, be
poor people, and the amount OF their in
dividual deposits would not be large.
What the people want is place In which
they can feel that their little accumula-
lions are absolutely sale aud earning a
little interest.
AS general thing the savings banks
OF the country are sound institutions, but
they sometimes meet with disaster.
Each failure OF a savings bank tends to
weaken confidence in institutions OF that
kind, and leads people to hide their
savings. Hundreds of thousands of
dollars in small amounts are Withdrawn
| from circulation in every State. In six
years twenty-five savings banks have
failed in New York city, causing loss
| to depOsitors OF nearly S4,500,000. In
other cities the loss to depOsitors in
savings institutions has been quite large
In the same period Of time.
OF course we do not wish to be under
stood as saying that savings banks, as
they exist at present, are of doubtful
strength. That would not be true. There
are failures all the time among national
banks, State banks aud private banks,
and 1t is to be expected that once in
awhile a savings bank will fail. There
would be implicit confidence in postal
savings banks, and if they should be
established, the little accumulations now
hid away in old stockings or buried
would find their way into them.
Postal savings banks would be espe-
cially beneficial to this section. There are
comparatively few savings institutions in
the Southern States, and they are out of
the reach of the great mass of the people.
II there were postal savings bank in
every considerable town the Iaboring
class OF people would soon learn to appre-
ciate them, andit would not be very long
before there would be a large amount of
capital accumulated, which could be used
for building up the South. AS the savings
increased they would be withdrawn and
invested in enterprises of one kind and
another which would pay better interest
than the postal banks.
These postal savings banks would be
beneficial in another respect. They would
encourage people to become thrifty and
economical, and with thrift and economy
would come wealth and a desire for better
and more comfortable surroundings.
Indeed, it is doubtful if there is anything
that would do so much to improve the
condition Of the negroes, and make them
more reliable as labOrers and more desir-
able as citizens, as institutions which
would induce them to save their earnings.
Postal savings banks are not in the
experimental stage. They have been
established in England long time, and
are so popular that the people there
would not consent to be without them.