The San Francisco call., 1897-10-10

WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. 9.-Pur-
suant to your instructions [ saw Postmas-
ter-General Gary at the department to-
day and asked him to express, through
THE CALL, his views on the proposition TO
establish postal savings banks. 1he Post
"a aster- General is personally one OF the
most popular mem bers of the Cabinet.
Especially is he popular with the news
paper correspondents OF Washington. lie
is always "at home" and willing to assist
them in any way. L ke the Secretary OF
Agriculture, he s the least bit eccentric in
his manner. When his views were re-
quested, he asked, abruptly:
How much money have you got In
your pocket"'
"On.y five or six dollars, and l need
that" dlscreetly replied the newspaper
interviewer.
"Oh. 1 don't want to borrow it," said he,
which raised laugh at the expense OF the
correspondent.
THE sum OF money you have in your
pocke ct represents the amount held by
each individual (maD, Noman and child
in this great republic, so you can see that
as far as money in the hand or pocket
goes. YOU are a pretty respectable repre-
sentative of the average good citizen, and
the average good citizens are the bulwarks
of the nation"
The Postmaster-General, to illustrate
his text (for it was evident he intended to
preach a sermon), here recited the lollow
ing lines from the deserted Village:
Princess and lords may flourish or may fade,
breath can make them, as breath has made;
But a bold peasant try. their country's pride
When once destroyed. cannev,r be supplied.
Ye frien DIS to truth, ye tatesmen who survey
The rich mans joys increase, the poor's decay,
'Tis yours to Judge, how wide the limits stand
Between splendid and happy land.
Now" continued Mr.. Gary, "of course,
when l say bold peasantry' l am merely
taking poetical license. l mean the pro-
ducers, the laboring classes and all of the
plain people in the walks of every occupa-
ton. Each man, woman and chlld in the
United States has, on an average, about
SIS in his possession. There are, l believe,
about seventy millions of people in this
country.
Therefore there is scattered among the
people about $3.50 600, 600. 1t is not locked
up in the banks, it is not invested in real
estate or in any business enterprise, but it
is loose among the people. An old woman
may have few dollars tied up in the
corner of stocking; an honest old farmer
may have few hundred hid in the rafters
of his barn or in tomato-cans under the
floor OF his dwelling.
Now, why not establish a secure place
for their savings? Many an old farmer
who is afraid to put his money in the bank
would willingly intrust it TO Uncle Sam,
for your average farmer and plain citizen
IS patriotic and has confidence in his Gov.
ernment. They would be perfectly con-
tent with depositing their savings in Sc
cure place and with receiving small rate
of interest. The individual who daily or
yearly lays by some of his earnings makes
a better and more contented citizen tEan
he who is improvident. Soon he will be
able 10 build little home. The cities of
Philadelphia and Baltimore are striking
examp es of what the building and loan
associations have accom- plished in thi.
line.
"The man who owns a home will pro-
tect it with his life. He is foe to an
archy. With the millions of savings OF
the plain people safely invested with the
Government there would be no more bond
issues, no more anarchy. Where would
Organism be then? Not tooth IN it's
skull to mock its own grinning.'"
Mr.. Gary here entered upon a more
serious decussion OF the details of the
proposed system. There are a number
of problems in connection with the SUBJ
ject that are not to be easily solved. but l
hope within the next few weeks to have
worked cut the details of system that