Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1897-10-29

has engaged not only in the savings
banking business, but the insurance
business, the brokerage business and
the telegraph business. If those who
today to things British would keep this
in mind they might quiet some of. their
fears and take with good grace the
esta blishment of postal savings banks
in the United States which is sure to
come at an early date.
AS we have said, the British govern
ment is, through the postal savings
banks, the peoples savings bank,
throue h the same system the peoples
insurance company and the peoples
broker for the purchase and sale Of
government consols (bonds) and life
annuities. And the insurance business
is conducted 60 as to protect the un-
fortunate, not defraud the unfortunate,
as IS the practice of our life insurance
companies In our great insurance
companies the man who insures his
life and defaults in some annual pay
ment too often loses all he has paid in;
the British government gives full credit
for all payments in the event of de-
fault.
The British government only does
insurance business on a small scale; it
only issues small policies, but it never
takes advantage Of any misfortunes
that may overtake the policy holders.
Because Great Britain has adopted
the savings banks system is indeed no
reason why we should adopt it. We
ought not to take things merely be-
cause they are British, or refuse them
because they are not. But we should
profit by British experience, by the ex-
perience of all other nations, and the
fact that postal savings banks have
served the needs of the people of
foreign lands better than private banks
should certainly incline us to give trial
to postal savings system. Once give
it a trial and it's advantages will become
so manifest, it will take such deep hold
upon the affections of our people that
it will never be abandoned.
So, even if our present savings banks
gave ample facilities for the deposit Of
savings, gave ample security to de-
positors and encouragement to saving,
there would be good reason for the
establishment Of a postal savings bank
system, for no work of man is so good
that something better cannot be de-
vised, and even if our present savings
system was satisfactory, we should
spare no pains to make it better. But
it is not satisfactory, does not give the
fullest security to depositors against
loss, does not provide ample facilities
for making deposits, does not encour-
age saving as a postal savings system
Our attention is often directed to the
great increase Of savings deposits in
the United States, a growth unparal-
eled in any other nation, growth that
IS put forward as an argument against
postal savings banks. Such unparal-
eled growth shows, we are told, that
we have no need of postal savings !
oanks that our people have all the
facilities for the deposit of savings that
hey require. But let us analyze the
Of savings deposits in the
United States. In the year 1895 SO, (no
specific date can be given, for the re-
ports of the different savings banks
gathered by the Comptroller Of the
Currency of the United States are for
lifferent dates) the deposits in the
avings banks of the United States
we're $1,9O7, 1927, the property of
J, ,065, 494 depositors. It is worthy of
emark that the number of depositors !