Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-03

postal savings banks on a single day was
f172.5 on the 18th of December last year.
It Is supposed that the money was wanted
for the purchase Of Christmas presents.
The savings bank system OF England Is
not confined to the post office department..
There are private institutions and char
tered corporations in all the larger cities
and manufacturing centers, which pay
higher interest in many cases than the
gov eminent rate. which is ~ per cent. and,
although I have not been able to obtain
the amount of their fnterest-bearing de-
posits, they are said to aggregate nearly as
much as is in the hands Of the govern
ment. but they are mostly trust funds, and
the money of men of means who are de-
barred from the government system be
cause postal deposits are limited to $4,000.
There are almost every conceivable kind
of provident and mutual assurance societies
for the encouragement OF economy and
saving, ard they are under the strtctest
scrutiny from the government Occasion
ally some shrewd swindler invents new
scheme to rob conf1ding depositors, but
there is no country in the world where the
financial interests of the poor are SO well
protected and encouraged by the govern
ment.
The smallest amount received at a post
Office for deposit is 1 shilling. The largest
amount, as 1 have already stated, Is $1,000.
To encourage the saving of pennies, par
ticularly OF children, however. the govern
ment has adopted system of savings
bank cards. A person who desires to save
penny, OF any sum unOeT L SMILING, Is
permitted to purchase ordinary stamps and
stick them upon the blanks that are ruled
upon the card. When the card is FULL or
&C ntains stamps valued at a shilling, 1t
can be presented at any post Office, where
the stamps are Cancelled and a deposit book
is issued in exchange, with credit for that
amount. These cards furnished by the
bureau of education to school teachers
throughout the kingdom, who are instruct
ed to give their pupils a lesson in practical
economy at least once week, and at all
times to encourage them to spend their
pennies for stamps instead of confectionery:
thrift in schools has. however, apparently
sackened whether from lack of interest
among the teachers or for other reasons,
l cannot say. for the number of school
stamp cards presented during the last year
was 5000 less than during the previous
year. Out CT 10000 elementary schools in
England alone there are s,66S penny banks
kept by the teachers, in addition 10 the
any scholar amounts to more than a shl-
ling it is transferred to the nearest post
office and a credit book issued. In the
technical schools of London, which are
6,99S postal savings bank depositors, and
the amount of their deposits last year was
$JG,4iS.
The rules of the army require that 10 per
cent CT the monthly pay of each soldier
shall be withheld until the expiration of
his term of enlistment. There is similar
regula ton in the United States army, to
discourage desertion and furnish discharged
soldiers with funds to keep them until
they have obtained other employment.
During the last year 17.2S1 discharged sol
diers Immediately transferred their de-
ferred Fay from the paymaster generals
office to the postal savings bank, which
amounted to the sum of 81, I0I.4S
1t will thus be realized that the postal
savings system of the British government
is utilized by many classes of people, and
supplies an absolutely SAFE as well as con-
venient form of investment for small
sums that is not enjoyed by the people of
our country. At the same time, it is a
small but increasing source of revenue to
the government. 1t is intended that the
system shall be only self-sustaining. but
the net profits last year. which were $S4,915.
would have been three times as much but
for large expenditures that were made in
acquiring lands and buildings. The depos-
its invested in 3 per cent consols of the
government, which leaves a margin of cne-
half of one per cent to pay the expense of
maintenance, after giving the depositor