The Portland daily press., 1897-11-29

sosings bank, a Portland life insuran ce
and diPany hal and Portland national bank,
great = sdd,,, IIe erection of this elevator, q
sleae addition has been made TO the
facilities of this oitv for i-o,eo s;n, ;ts
commercial development Tf the theory
1. ouaO =! .n1 postal savings banks would re-
SUN III the withdrawal of denosits from
our local savings institutions shouId nroye
ooilece, IL would necessitate a conversion
,a14-N9 80 aesoVs, ana as the authorized in
banks, is confined to the fhonds of +Ss
UnlGeo States, state bonds and tba bonds
OF ieW OF the largest cities in tha conn
Try, 10 Would Torce our aavinps hanks to
sell railroad bonds, muntcineI bnnds and
corporaGlon ponos for other purposes than
iof asse1s Oh tne postal savings banks. If
the corporation and railroad honds boId
by our banks were thrown unon tha 80
ket they would have to be sold at a ,,rioa
far below their intrinsic yaIue ard Ioes
would be entailed upon the depositors in
our banks through this operation. The
| immense accumulation of deposits in the
postal system woald demand more gov
ernment, state and municipal h0nds
| than are iikely..to be available at reasonable
prices and the effect would be, in NV iudo-
ment, that these preferred securities. Iegs1
for postal savings bank purposes, would sell
much above their intrinsic value measured
by the rates Of interest they bear. Other se
curities, like first mortgage railroad
bonds, would depreciate in convertib
value far below the prices at which they
are sold at the present time"
EDWARD A. MOVES, ESQ.
Edward A. Noyes, Esq, treasurer of
the Portland Savings bank and president
of the Savings Bank Association of
Maine, is also opposed to the proposed
system of postal savings banks. What
Mr.. Noyes has to say on the subject will
be read with interest by the people of
Portland as the opinion of one in posi-
tion to know whereof he speaks. MIR.
Noyes said Saturday:
1.-The postal savings bank bill, as pro-
posed, establishes bank which will
practically, in years to come, control the
banking system of the country. If in the
last hfty years the savings banks east OF
the Alleghanies have collected about
thousand millions of dollars, what great
possibilities there are for national saw
ings bank, which shall take the savings
OF the people of the United States. l can.
not believe that the people of this country
would be willing to place such an enor-
nous power as this in the hands of the
government, and acknowledge themselves
TO be SO feeble-minded as to need the
paternal care of the government, In all
money matters.
The effect of this BILL if carried out,
would be most disastrous in the thinly
populated states, where capital has not
yet accumulated in great amounts in the
hands OF individuals and banking corpo-
ratlons. l have no doubt that the i'm
mense growth Of manufacturing and all
other industries in New England and the
Middle states in the last thirty years can
be largely accounted for by the immense
accumulation of money in the hands OF
the savings banks. 1t is not too much to
claim for the savings banks in this city,
that scarcely an enterprise of any amount
has been started in this city, or this state,
that they have not aided, directly or in
directly, with very considerable sums OF
money. Take from this community the
aid which these banks are able to give to
individuals and corporations, in the way
OF loans. and you would find that rates Of
interest would increase rapidly. Now,
carry this out in more thinly settled parts
of the country, and suppose that every
dollar of the savings of the mechanic
farmer and laborer should be deposited
in the postal savings bank. The local
benefit of any of these deposits as they do
now, and they would consequently be re-
stricted in the aid which they could fur
nisb to the farmer and the manufacturer
in. their immediate vicinity. 1t seems to
me that 1t would dwarf the land I can
imagine postal savings bank being of
great benefit in DID, thickly settled coun-
lries. like England, France, and Ger
many, where capital has accumulated;
but can imagine no reason for the es-
tabllshment of a new system when the
old system has proved so effective and
useful in the states where it has been
tried.
1.-The postal savings law supposes, in
case the treasurer shall be unable to in
vest in interest bearing bonds of the
United States, that he may purchase state
bonds, the bonds of Municipalities and
counties in the United States. All these
desirable bonds are now selling on a basis
considerably below per cent, and most
OF them are selling on basis below per
cent. 1t is true that the law provides that
the bonds OF municipalities and counties
shall be guaranteed by the state, which
l suppose would rarely happen, but it
does propose to make no loans within the
state to individuals or corporations, or
purchase any railroad or corporation
bonds issued within that state For that
reason, as before indicated, it would de-
prive corporations of many money priv
lleges which. they now have.
Ihe present system of savings banks
in New England and the Middle states
Is American in character, supposes the
individuals residing in every community,
under proper state laws, can manage the
savings of the people prudently and give
them good rates of interest for their
money, while assisting all laudable enter
prises with the means placed at thei- dis
posal by the depositors. II seems to me
That this postal savings bank bill is un-
democratic, and not at all suited to the
atmosphere of a republic
MR.. ALPHEUS G. ROGERS.
Mr.. Alpheus G. Rogers, the treasurer of
the Maine Savings bank, is another bank
man who has expressed to the PRESS his
opposition to the postal system. Mr..
Rogers pointed out that the fact that the
governments of tho old world have estab-
l1shed postal banks is not necessarily an
argument in their favor in this country.
Old world governments are paternal in
character and in many of their character
istics opposed to the spirit of the institu-
tions of this country. To establish here
the system proposed, would in the
opinion Of Mr.. Rogers add to the govern
ment new department with an army of
office holders and a department. which