The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1897-02-20
POSTAL SAYINGS BANKS.

The subject of postal savings banks
has been pretty thoroughly discussed
in this country, and various unsuccess-
full efforts have been made to get con-
gress to utilize the postoffices as a
| medium of accommodating and trans
mitting money for the people, though
as yet the idea has not been favorably
received by our law making power.
France, England, Belgium, Sweden,
FollaLd, Russia, Austria, Hungary,
Canada and Australia have adopted
the system, and the experience with
| postal savings banks in those countries
is that the masses of the people derive
decided advantage from having among
them everywhere safe repositories for
their small earnings, managed in con-
nection with the postoffice department.
II is claimed for them that they reach
class not reached by other savings
banks, and are sort of inducement
for people to lay by small amounts
which would otherwise be squandered
and thus those who would otherwise
spend their earnings are induced to
lay by something for rainy day.
In the annals of the American Acad-
emy of Political and Social Science
there is an article by E. T. Heyne on
POSTAL Savings Banks" in which are
enumerated the advantages to be de-
rived, in the writers opinion, from add
ing savings bank feature to the
operations ofour postoffice department..
These advantages are as follows:
Postal savings banks would furnish
safe place for the earnings of the
laboring classes and stimulate them to
habits of saving. At present such
sums as they hoard are kept out of use,
to the aggregate amount of hundreds
OF millions, thus producing q scarcity |
of money, whereas if their savings |
were put in bank they would be re-
stored to active use. After few years. |
the amount deposited with the post
Office department would approach |
81 ,0O0, ZOO, 900, and if applied to the re-
tirement of government bonds would |
wholly extinguish the public debt to
bondholders. Not only would the
moral tone of citizens be improved by |
becoming depositors, but the stability
by the practical interest depositors
would have in its welfare.
In the United Kingdom deposits are
now received at II 900 postoffices from
9 A. NJ. to 6 P. NJ. The depositor re-
ceives from the postmaster passboOk,
in which are recorded the deposits and
Withdrawals. Any sum from cents up
to $3.50 may be deposited in one year.
and interest is paid on any sum that
is a multiple of S. and is compounded.
Withdrawals may be speedily effected,
by telegraph or otherwise. A de-
positor may, if he chooses, have his ac-
cumulated deposits invested in gov
ernment bonds. Small savings may
be made by the purchase of postage
stamps, which, when they reach GER
tain amount, are recorded as deposits.
There are 5000 schools in which the
children are encouraged to save
the machinery of the post
office, clerk coming to the school at
to receive the stamps and
furnish passbooks. The aggregate de-
posits in postal savings banks at the
end of 1898 was $402, 500, 900, the years
increase being S23,50O,OOO. Besides
this. SO, l31 depositors held s31, 5000
Of government bonds. One out of
every seven. persons in England is now
a depositor in the postal banks. In
1893 there were 1888. 1913 deposits made,
aggregating s123, 100000, and with
lrawals aggregated s1OS, 100000.