The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-06
A POSTAL SAVINGS BANK.
GARY VIII
MAKE IT HIS PIT PROJECE

OF such an Institution In This CountrJ-Tho
Canadian asster, tho Ono &c Likes Bcut-
The Success OF Postal savings hanks.
WASHINGTON, Sept. ST. hopc to have tho
pleasure said ostmnstcr-Gene Gary to n
sun reporter, "of seeing tho establishment OF
the postal savings bank, under the care Of tho
Post oHlcc Department, before the close OF my
administration. propose to make 1t a feature
OF my work hero, and do nllI can in aid Of tho
project. To show you the need of an institution
where the people can deposit small sums of
money, I will cite the instance OF my own bank
in Baltimore. Some years ago wo found that
we had nearly 10000 dopositors, and that
the money was coming In so rapidly that
we could not take care OF 1t. We were RESPONSE
bio for 1t to tho depositors, but made nothing
out Of It ourselves, so that what was taken up
as q means of opahling the poorer classes to save
small sums, moro in tho nature OF O charity, be-
came n financial burden. So we notified tho
depositors that after n certain date they would
have TO draw out all their money over a certain
sum-. Other banks have been compelled to do
likewise. and the question of providing suitable
repositories for the small savings of tho working
classes has become a serious one.
1.-THE establishment of a postal savings bank
in this country, such as they have in all other
civilized countries. will. l hope. take place with.
In the next few years. Since 1 have been at the
head OF the department l have had literature on
this subject collected from all parts OF the globe.
l havo been in correspondence with the heads of
tho Post Offices OF tho different countries, and
they have sent me their reports and the plans
on which their banks arc operated. Part of this
matter I have already gone over. The whole OF
1t will be placed In the hands OF q commission
which i will appoint within a few days. which
will road and thoroughly consider 1t. They will
make a report to me on tho different systems,
which l shall then take up. hope to be able to
make a report to the President on this matter
when l send in my annual report. about the first
of November. l shall also prepare additional mat
ter regarding the institution Of the proposed
bank, and possibly draft a bill for this purpose.
Tho plan has many friends. among them
several Senators and Representatives, and 1
think tho chances for its success are very good.
While l am not in favor OF the Government con.
this plan, as l believe II will confer great bene-
fits on people who live in ont;of-the-way places
1t will bring out many thousands, perhaps many
millions. Of money now boarded away in chin
sands OF people an interest in tho Government.
Il is said hr that a national nal dept os ,h Is I'm national ixonSd
DO ono even more so. Every depositor in the
savings bank would have an interest in prcscrv.
thereby his patriotism would be stimulated.
There would be no fear of failure, and the people
could feel that they would be perfectly safe in
."Thay no definite plan in view yet. but so
far as have gone am OF the opinion that the
needs, The amount of the deposit must neccs-
sarily be limited to a small sum like 81 800 or
Ing the case, there could be no complaint on the
part OF the banks that the Government was en-
tering into competition with them"
The idea Of a postal savings bank originated
with a suggestion of Prof. Hancock. in 1852.
Post Office be utilized for the purpose OF n saw
ings bank John Butler. in 1856: again brought
the Huddershcid Banking Company, was prac-
tically the father OF the savings bank of Eng.
Sin EaPq Ro as "a S' Fiji IF % snG M sfSn B"in tse a S %ee%ber OF OF
Parliament. The project was submitted to Mr..
and he introduced a bill establishing the bank.
Sir Robert Pee! said OF, the bill that is was so
passing Parliament. 1t was approved by the
Queen on May l6. 1861. and went into operation
The Canadian system. Of which Mr.. Gary APP
proves highly, was instituted in 1868. Deposits
s s5s the 6ss ssnssal q once He It ao Mo1 Si,afs Fl" TSe fG aeposilcr
Is required to MI out u slip requesting that he
@is slssw to draw i9 Ses Soney = he SspS ais out y" a nSn ns
blank. and 1T is forwarded to the Postmaster:
s@s HnsTs:l who rS ssnt Ioe sIm P : shssh ee the Cash Bank fS o,
checks If they have funds enough on hand:
9 Obj I'll a.h is made DE- 1 to this ibsn sy e ;s m on the w STGuH I'd
England deposits Of I shilling are permitted.
No s;Sm ISo vi y 10 ar Is T Rs5,.,n for Nh che s, Hss Of # penny mn,y
than 81 900 can be made at any one time. and
the amount Of the total deposits is limited to
on deposits below So 1000 is 3ia per cent. having
been reduced from 4 per cent. The interest is
ISnRS's s%ollo%ine the A deposit y to the iir ss1 daS Of
the calendar month preceding the withdrawal.
the records Of the acknowledgement One
women favorably. and that is that they
are permitted to deposit in their own
dren above the age Of 10 years have also this
privilege. The system in Canada has proved a
ss2.929. They received this year s5i4.52i in
was very small. amounting to only, s5s,3 $40. in
Guiding salaries. compensation TO Postmasters.
eas aseh deDo sha and l%f' %i1hdrswa ahS was ssf "a esS SGst
, and the percentage OF cost OF management to
balance due dsp Ss 9Es WAS Oh Der cent S5;,o The 3
will come up in connection with the proposal to
States is. What will DO done with the money !
England has solved this problem by permitting
are practically stock in the British Government.
and are considered one OF the safest Investments
bond or stock. and called eonsois. In
the rate Of Interest, was reduced to 2a per
cent. and in 1908 they will be converted to
debt OF Great Britain is held in consols. Through
the facilities offered by the Post Office OF Great
more ns'tSt than e on SeGp,s e OF the o'e eonsol po'. Any one Ss
wishing to do so can begin the purchase OF con.
coils by depositing the sum OF ono shilling. and
can continue to purchase until he has accumu.
lated $4,000 worth, which In all that can he sold
70 any one person. Not more than III 900 can
DO bought In any one year by one depos.
|, itor, and the total of 81. 800. with the
limit Of $1,000 on the deposits. makes
IS. 500. the total that a man can save by tho
bank. This Is usually sufficient. for when a
man IN, ordinary circumstances. accumu-
! lates this amount he. ms q rule. desires
: 70 invest II in q homo or in some business.
The operation OF the postal savings, bank in
/ England has been q great success, and has prac-
: tically broken up boarding. In 1895 1t had
: 9s4b3,6 97 depositors, who put in a34, 3Ol 2O5.
They withdrew sos. 68s. 29G, leaving a balance
, of R87. 1858. 975. In the same year FL, III, OI8 OF
consols were purchased through the bank.
All the colonies Of Great Britain have tho
> postal savings bank, and most civilized coun.
tries have a similar system. Belgium was
the fret to establish such a system after Eng
lands had proved n success. In Belgium the
postal savings bank was instituted In 1865. In
Austria, Hungary. Sweden, Switzerland. France,
Russia, Italy, ana even Japan, the postal saw.
4 inRh hank has proved q success. In unMniI