The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1888-01-26

That he welfare and thru q Z nasln dspsnds
upou the welfare and thru g ID Individual co.,
sfleuents. and hat thsss are gEsatly pe10ossd BY
the habit ofsavtng, 90 tzuts0A How then can We
imsss cur psopss wisa -. nseis g ..ins e
the countryf Savings banks which shall Be In
dubitably safe and readily accessible nom early
morn tili the Close Of day. Thee questions 6nd
. ready answer In the practice Of tho British
Government, whose minor post ofacos are most
frequently in the grocery stores DO, and most ire
are also the 0overnment's savings banks, where
sums - low - shilling and where even pos
tage stamps (wben - penny ones afnxed to
blanks provided BY the government arc received
on deposit.
A friend writes mel wsll rscollecs few
years since, when the p o. Dept. of the United
States distributed the Baby Bonds Of so each
seeing the long line of poor women and children
whe vere eager to put their savings into these
banks and / have no doubt many of them are
now held by the original purchasers. have
two Of them, bought by person now dead, with
the intention of having something laid up for
lines of the poor (some ofthem indeed hired by the
rich to gobble up the bonds of the government
waiting for hours their turn to express their conf
dence in the Government and TO secure the ad-
vantage for the investment of their small saw
ings, which the government thus afforded them.
For some occult reason the Government never
again, believe. opened It's Golfers TO receive the
shower ofsmall sums which would have per-
ennially rained in upon it.
A distinguished rector Of New York. to whom
had sent The p. o. saving bank blanks, writes
me: :" A glance at the Implements If may
call them such, actually employed in the prsc.
volume Of description. The main argument
against introducing similar institution here
would be, l imagine, in the shape of protest
against whatever looks like paternal govern.
ment You are aware, dare say, that this
very scheme forms one of the planks in the
platform Of our United Labor party. This fact,
however, ought not to damage the enterprise
but doubtless will do 30 at first in the eyes Of
those who can not conceive Of any good thing
coming out of this Nazareth. Yet when we
look back at the programme OF the chartists, it
is instructive to note that almost all the demands
thought BY the conservatives of 40years ago
80 revolutionary are practically conceded in the
England of to-day. That there is tinge OF so
cialism in the P. o. savings banking system,
cannot. think be denied but thea there is the
question whether a good deal of what is stigma
tlzed as socialisie legislation, be not in reality
nothing more than is demanded by the political
economy of the New Testament the proper leg
islation of the Kingdom Of God"
l send you what the rector, by good meta
phor, calls the working implements" Of the
p. 0. savings bank, and if you cannot find
space to reproduce these blanks, perhaps you
will at least reprint the legend. There are earn
est efforts being made over all our country TO
abaie the evils OF intemperance, and perhaps
chief among the instrumentalities to promote
thrift and temperance is the establishment of the
post Office savings bank. Twenty-Five cents is
too small a sum to do anything effective with,
and the temptation TO a man with that sum 10
his pocket to spend it for drink or tobacco IS too
strong frequently to be resisted. II an unmar-
ried man does not carry his money with him his
trunk is liable to be robbed, and it may really
seem to him safer to spend it, as being thus only
sure OF its enjoyment. What shall young
woman do with possible $25 she may be saw
ing up in anticipation Of marriage? And the
negro farm laborer, what shall he do with his
small earningsf Now, the very possession of a
bank book and the sense that the money is per-
fecHy safe and is growing, is q constant ncen-
tive to save pennies that would otherwise be
squandered. Once the thought of the possibility
and the habit of saving are engrafled new mo-
tive sezee the individual and wasteful indul-
gencies are restrained. We have seen how eager
and how competent even the lately enfranchised
freedman was to save his money; and though
his confidence and his instinct 10 save had a
rude shock by the failure of the Freedman's
Bank, these tendencies would quickly revive un-
('er the confidence inspired by the certainty that
he was banking with the National Govern
ment.% Too often, alas, the industrious and
economical poor have lost their savings through
the inef1ciency, or worse, of savings bank man.
ayers, while in the hands of the government the
few dollars of the poor would be as safe as the
bonds of the rich. BY all means, then, let petit
tons be signed and sent up 10 Congress urging
the adoption of the postal savings bank.
Horace J. SMITH.
MoNTREUx, SWITZERLAND, Dec. %, 1887.
= 1t seems but justice that the bill introduced
by member of Congress from North Carolina,
providing for the repayment in full of the de-
positors OF the Freedman's Bank, should be
passed. as the negro thought he was protected
by the United States Government II is polite
also for the South to promote this bill, as the
funds would be disbursed in their own section
ARTICLE IL
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