The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-21
Savings of the People.

The records Of the savings banks AMI
of the building and loan associations
of the country afford by their evidences
of successful management probably as
true an index to the real condition of
things, from a business or trade point
Of view, as any purel. onomic insti-
buttons which prevar. The savings
banks in the several states perform i'm
portant functions, and the schedules
which they leave behind. month by
month and year by year, cannot be
misunderstood 50 far as the measure
of their true industrial value is con-
cerned.
Some very interesting figures have
recently come to the surface in con-
nection with both beneficial and loan
associations and savings banks. The
American Yankee has always enjoyed
reputation for being near" when it
came to a monetary transaction. and
his ability to chase a revolving copper
penny down hill has grown to be some
what legendary because of the antiq-
uity of this peculiar quality of fame
But it is a commendable characteristic,
keeping many a pot boiling that other
wise would be of little service to any
one either in an individual or a COM
munity sense.
From a recent compilation Of stats
tics it is evident that the savings bank
is popular American institution, and
that it's economic value is enc Of grad
ual progression. We have been in the
habit Of turning to France when we
sought an object lesson in the line of
savings. But the tendencies Of the
United States have had the effect of
fostering this method of accumulation
This is especially true throughout the
period directly following the close of the
Civil war. From 1920 to 1870 the num-
Der of savings banks in the United
States increased from 10 in the first
named year to 517 in the year last
named, with $685. depositors in 1870 and
1,e30,S46 ir 1870. The amount of depos-
its III 1920 was only s1,13S,5 while in
1870 the sum had risen to s549,S74,35s,
with an average deposit in 1920 of
Si31.SG and in 1870 of $337.17. This was
the record Of fifty years. But advanc-
ing by decades we find the number of
banks in 1880 to be e29, with the num-
Der of depositors increased to 1885, $50,
with the amount Of deposits swelled to
SSl9, 1851 JAP, with an average amount
for each deposition Of s352.73. In 1880
the increase in the number of savings
banks attained 921, with 4,25S,893 de-
positors, representing an aggregate
IN their Of
average per capita among those who
patronized the institutions being
$358.03. Abandoning here the progw SIS
by decades, we find that in 1897 the
total number Of savings banks was
$50, with 5,201 1872 as the number Of de-
positors, the sum of 81, 1886, 376, OBS as the
aggregate amount, with an averaga Of
S372.SS per head. This is certainly a
handsome showing.
An interesting feature in connection
with the study of this economic condi-
ton, as compared with the records of
other countries, is discoverdble in some
data recently supplied by a, New York
statistician. AS mentioned above,
France has usually been selected as a
typical nationality in the matter of
accommodating savings. Accepting the
approximate figures for the current
period, we find that, while France has
savings banks depositors to the num-
Der of S.9S6,631, the aggregate amount
of deposits is shown Of record to be
1929, 783,735, OF an average of only
$9233
Some figures afford an illustration
Of the ability of certain thrifty peo-
pie in different parts of the earth to
accumulate their savings, as, for in
stance, in Canada, where 175, $50 depos-
itors have a per ctpita average deposit
of S327.97, an aggregate amount Of
S57, 576,975, While $685. 07 depositors in
Prussia, with 1898, 757 $50 to their credit
supply a per capita record Of only
$150.23; in the United Kingdom 1861
1926 depostors roll up a total volume
as Indicative of their thrift of $815,-
6S6,75O, or an average of only $102. So
per head, and in Hungary, 995, 1897 de-
positors, of s226, ISL, $780, or a per capita
average of S22719
The United States shows a record of
80 per cent Of all the savings of the
world in this particular line of depos-
its, and New York, California, Rhode
Island, Connecticut and Iowa possess
the highest averages and in the
order mentioned. Meanwhile there
has been pronounced gain in the num-
Der, as well as in the resources, of the
beneficial ard loan associations of the
country. The five years of depression
between 1892 and 1897 had their ad-
verse effect upon these organizations
but, strangely enough while the num-
bers diminished, the membership of the
surviving organizations multiplied.
and there has been a revival during
the past year in sixteen of the
states of the Union whereby 119 new
associations have been added to the
general list, with an improvement in
resources Of more than 100000, 900, and
an average advance in share member
ship from S34S to 1866.
For obvious reasons the building and
loan associations have not secured that
strong hold upon the communities of
the West which has long prevailed in
the Eastern cities. Iowa, however, as
will be seen above, is coming into the
more advanced ranks Of these pro-
gressive institutions. They are in
creasing in favor as time goes on. and
IS the people in this section find them
selves more qualified to apply their
money to such funds. Many of the
smaller Western. towns, both in Min
nesota and the Dakotas, owe much in
the way Of their construction to the
i
power, safeguarded by supervisory