Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-06-13
PEOPLE WHO SAVE MONEY.
A Saving Bank Teller Says Germans Make
the Most Den osits.

/
the Most Deposits.
Savings bank, as you probably know,
were started, not as money-making in.
situations, but as places where the
poorer people might safely invest the
surplus of their earnings. FOR mum
Der of years deposits upon which in
terest was paid were not limited in
amounts. but by a comparatively
recent act of the Legislature, individual
accounts upon which interest is paid
NAV not exceed $4,000. / mention
these facts because they must be borne
in mind in order that the peculiarities
of some depositors may be shown"
These remarks were made by Mr..
Maynard, the paying teller of the
Brooklyn Savings Bank, to an Eagle
reporter who had come to him in quest
of information.
People OF what nationality, Mr..
Maynard, patronize savings banks the
mostp"
The Germans are by long odds our
best customers. AS race they are
thrifty and saving The moment a
young German begins to earn money
he almost invariably begins to save it,
no matter how small wages he may be
getting. Nor when he has once begun
does he stop. His deposits flow in in a
constant stream until they reach the
limit, or until the young man has saved
enough with which to start in business
for himself Yes, our German citizens
are the most thrifty. and of all our de-
positors give us the least trouble"
What do you mean by giving
troubled"
Il mean that even the poorest Ger
man can read and write and so have
some intelligence. This is far from
being true of all depositors. Next to
the Germans / think you may place
those of Irish descent, so far at least as
saving is concerned. When opening
an account they keep the fact secret.
even to the members OF their own
families. Many of them OF course, are
servant girls, who save great deal OF
money. some of them accommodating Us
/ high as 81, 000."
What nationality averages the
largest deposits?"
The Germans deposit the most at
! time and also more frequently. A
Young German will scarcely ever put
in less than $40 or $25 at once, and
when he has gone into business for him.
self his deposits average 5000"
The Italians. continued the cashier,
'save an enormous amount of money,
living as they do. Deposits of $50 to
800 at time are not uncommon
among people of this race. We do not
prize them, however, rs customers, be-
cause they are too ignorant TO make
dealing with them an easy matter.
Some five years ago there was Il run of
Italians upon this bank and l can tell
you we had trouble enough for two or
three days. Not being able to read or
write, and in most cases ignorant Of
the English language, it was exceeding
" difficult to make them understand
| anything. After that experience the
bank decided to take no more deposits
! from Italians, except in cases where
they could write their own names and
speak English"
do such runs occur oftenp"
Yes, upon ar average of once in
every eight years. You see there are
no people more sensitive to rumors
affecting a bank than the classes who
support savings institutions. One in-
discreet item in newspaper for in
stance, is pretty apt to precipitate a
run. OF course such runs make us q
great deal of work, for people with
their drawn deposits keep them out a
week or two and then as soon as things
quiet down they bring them back"
Saving money is habit that eYentu.
ally takes a strong hold upon person,
is it not?n
Indeed it is. l have an instance
illustrating that point in my mind now.
For many years little old harness
maker of this city has been depositing
money here until be has about $4,000
to his account, upon only 50, DOC
of which he can draw interest. This
man lives in very humble way and
has got enough money to keep him in
comfort for the remainder of his life;
still he keeps on depositing. Time
and again / have eXpostulated with
him, telling him he should invest his
money, so that it might bring him in
an income, but all to no purpose. It's
the old story over again. He will
keep saving until he dies and then his
relatives will fight over and squander
his money. In this connection | may
say IhaJ we nave NUMBER Ol SlHlllcT
accounts of people who have never
taken their money anywhere else and
who can not he induced to-"
How do Yankees and Americans
generally rank as money savers?"
Not verS well. To be sure. there
are many thrifty people among them,
but as rule the young American does
not save TO any large extent. The
reason for This is undoubtedly because
they have too much pride and are not
satisfied with living in humble way or
with wearing poor clothes. They seem
to want to enjoy themselves as they go
along"
Among working people what oc-
! cupation possesses the most savers?"
with us mechanics and storekeep-
ers have the largest accounts. Natur-
ally we do not have many professional
men as customers, but among the
comparatively few that patronize saw
ings banks doctors seem to lay up the
most money. Lawyers generally keep
their money in national banks, as the