Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-31
POSTAL SAYINGS B4yES.

POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS.
At the recent meeting of the United
States League of Building and Loan
Associations in this city two able papers
were presented On the question of postal
savings banks. One by julius Stern,
an eminent lawyer of Chicago, presented
an exhaustive review of the operation
of postal savings banks in countries
where the experiment has been success
fully tried. The other, by Judge Sey-
mour Dexter of New York, combated
the proposition and sought to refute the
arguments of its advocates. The pith
of Judge DeXter's paper is embodied In
the following declaration:
l an opposed to any United States postal
savings system because It is not in
with the theory and principles upon which
our institutions are founded; the domain Of
our government should be confined to guard
Ing, supervising, and educating its citizens
in the possession and handling of their own
property, rather than to become their Gus
todian and investor; to make the govern
ment the custodian and investor OF the
peoples savings tends to the growth and
development of paternalism in government;
the government is so constituted that in the
long run it cannot be a safe power to in
trust with the great responsibility that
would in time be placed upon it; local saw
ings institutions can afford substantially
equal opportunity for the accumulation of
savings, without mourning the dangers be-
fore mentioned and secure an investment
of the savings in the locality where accumu-
lated and at the same time in large measure
tend to educate the savers in the handling
and investment of their own money; the
postal savings bank would tend to retard the
growth and development of safe local saw
ings institutions.
The logic of this position may be in
harmony with the exploded theories that
would contine the functions of govern
ment to the collection Of taxes sufficient
to maintain order and pay the actual
cost of lawmaking and judicial admin
istration, but it IS not in harmony with
the conditions under which n nation of
100000 carries on it's vast commerce
and must provide for the well being of
its industrial population.
No opponent of postal savings banks
has yet discovered that it Is not in har-
mony with the theory and principles
founded for the government to borrow
money at interest from capitalists on
long time bonds or short time bonds, nor
has any opponent of postal savings
banks entered protest against the gov
eminent becoming the custodian of the
1,&1 ,a,,, T,,,~ o,. -.
even the custodian of the bonds de-
posted by national banks to secure their
banknote circulation.
If it is %paternalism to use the machin-
cry of the postottice for the safe keep
ing of the peoples savings, Is it not also
paternalism for the postoffice to usurp
the function of banks by issuing money
orders payable in distant cities or to
perform the function of the eX-
press companies in carrying and
place to place? If it is eminently proper
for III government to guard, supervise
and educate its citizens, why Is it not
also proper for the government to edu-
cate its citizens into habits of thrift and
by becoming the custodian of their saw
ings make them directly interested in
the stability of the government and the
soundness of its money? If there is
danger in ~paternalism through postal
savings banks, there is greater danger
of anarchy through toilers exasperated
to deeds of violence by the dissipation
of their savings entrusted to private
savings banks.
If the government is not to be trusted
as the custodian and investor of the
peoples money, how comes it that it is
trusted as the custodian of the millions
belonging to bankers and capitalists on
both sides Of the ocean? If the govern
ment is not safe, what safety can there
be in savings banks which reloan their
depositors' money to the government by
bond purchases?