Omaha daily bee., 1897-11-15
FOR POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS.
| Postmaster General Gary Recom-
mends They ne Established.


| WASHINGTON, Nov 14.-The hrst annual
report of Postmaster General Gary was made
public today. lis feature was the strong ad-
vocacy of postal savings repositories as
scheme upon which the postmaster general
has worked for several months over the
formulatiors to be presented to the president
and congress. He recommends that the adop-
ton of a we'll organized system would confer
great boon upon a large number of people
and ultimately be of haestlmable benefit to
| the whole country.
The estimates OF the revenues and expen-
ditures for the fiscal year ending JuEe 80,
1899, are: Total postal revenue for 1897,
$50 ,665, ,462.73; add Ier cent, S133.27S.13;
estimated revenue for 1898, $50. 1893 735. SO add
Z per cent, s6,o75 ,911 81; total estimated rev.
enue for 1899, s92,S7464737; estimated ex-
| penditures for 1898 SOS, ,922, ,760 deficiency for
1899, estimated. S6.O4S, 112.63.
Following Is an abstract of the report.
The Increase of the postal deficit for 1897
is largely reflection CT the depressed busi-
ness conditions which prevailed all over the
| United States the first three quarters of that
period. There has been no extravaganza Of
expenditures. save that obligated by law.
Reiterating the injustice Inflicted upon the
postal revenues and peaqle by second-class
mail matter carriage regulations, the enact
ment by congress of some measure TO remedy
the wroog, similarly pointed out by past
postmasters general, is urged. AS to this
| the postmaster general says:
If this were done there would be an end
to postal deficits and the service could be
enlarged and popuarized by a bread ex-
tension Of free delivery without infringe
ment upon the general resources of the gov
ernment and eventually result in the much
desired reduction of letter postage to l cent
per ounce"
No method of perfect organization for the
postal service has proved more effective than
| the consolidation of postoffices. Legislative
restrictions on it's development are to be re-
gretted and a fve-mile limit consolidation
measure from the 1896 postal appropriation
bill is recommended.
Experimental rural free delivery has been
generously appreciated. Few expenditures
have conferred greater benefits in proper
ton and it has unquestionably proved a
potent factor in attaining what should be a
| chief aim of government, granting the best
| possible postal facilities to the farming class.
! The report reviews in detail the opera
tions of the various branches of the de-
oartment. The portion on the subject of
postal savings banks in brief follows:
Many millions of dollars is undoubtedly
| secreted by people who have little or no
| con fidence in ordinary securities and none
| tary institutions organized by private citi-
| zens, 1t is dead capital, but II its owners
| could be inspired with absolute confidence
in the security of an investment 1t is alto
gether probable that tbs bulk Of this fund
| WOulu IGlu ltS WHY INTO LIE CnhHItIS Oi ITdue
| and commerce. If the government undertook
this task the service VIC aid be gladly accepted
| by the PEOPLE Their fcith. In the govern
ment is unbounded. Their Iittles savings,
| which separately could hardly be put out at
| interest would amount N the aggregate to
sum that could be invested to their advan-
| tage. 1t would tend to cultivate thrift in a
| large class realizing the advantages OF de-
posting with the government instead Of
! wastefully and uselessly expending 1t would
| tend to better citizenship, bring into closer
relationship the government and its citizens
| and develop practical and enduring patriot
| ism.
This growth of patriotic sentiment and good
| citizenship cons titutes a powerful appeal to
craftsmanship to make a way for these be-
nefcent consequences The proposition is ar
accomplished fact in nearly every country
in Europe in the British dependencies OF
both hemispheres, and even in Hawaii. In
Great Britain 1000 600 depositors nave up
ward of $3.50, 100000 in savings accumulated
during thirty-fve years, and in ten fewer
| than 10000 Hawaiian deposltors saved nearly
| 81 600. Deposits in Canada in twenty
years exceeded $22 900 ,000.s
| Their vast accumulnt tiOns have been made
| with the least possible losses to the govern
ments which guarantee their repayment, and
with a minimum of cost to the millions of
| depOsitors. More than 1000 postal savings
accounts in European offices are held by
minors, and over two-thirds by those of the
| IlUSl nuEnDle CdlllnSs. III Is essentially inc
hank of this class. Postal savings would not
conflict with other savings banks. but would
| encourage savings rather than accumulation.
| The conversion of the money order offices
| into savings repositories would afford more
| facility for receiving interest-bearlng de-
| posits than the interest-paying banks do now.
| The most aggressive opponents are among the
! private institutions engaged In somewhat sim
/ ilar enterprises though associations of the
| larger cities recognize in 1t valuable feeder
! to the financial currents of the country. Sc
curity, and not the rate Of interest is the
| primary and essential condition of such a
| system, and bonds of states, counties and
| municipalities and real estate furnish an IL
| limitable field.
Comparing other countries the postmaster
general says every country permits its most
popular coin the minimum amount of de-
pOsit, varying from cents in India to cent
in Canada Maximum deposits vary from
S285 in France to $2,435 in New Zealand,
Deposits over these amouots are nonnterest
bearing and in several countries the surplus
is by law invested in national bonds. Both
deposits and accounts are usually small,
France made a profit In 1895 of $4,000 in
handling 25OOO0O accounts, aggregating
$4,000 600, after paying 3 per cent inter-
est Great Britain earned a surplus of $685.
600 after paying 21k per- cent interest on
s4S3 900 900, made up OF $500 900 accounts.
Tho average commission paid TO postmasters
is / cent per Deposit ANY account may be
in the country. The telegraph is coming
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