Arizona republican., 1899-10-15
American Soldiers Deposited
 Over $6OO,OOO Last Year.
WILL BE MUCH INCREASED
The Tendency to Deposit is Encour- aged by the War Department and Interest Greater Than That Paid on The Last Bond Issue Is Allowed 10 United States Soldier Boys.

Washington, Oct. 14.-Uncle Sam is paying higher rate of interest to his soldier boys than on the last bond is
 sue.
 This interest-four per cent, amount ing altogether last year to almost $65O OO0-is paid on deposits, and only to enlisted men. Officers with straps
 are excluded. Any soldier not retired may deposit his savings with the pay master in sums of not less than $5. This may be done at any time, but once depositing it must remain until l expiration of his enlistment or dis
 charge. Each depositor is furnished a
 book in which each deposit, with the
 name of depositor. date. place and amount, in form of a certificate, is en- tered at time of deposit, and signed by the paymaster and company com mander. Company commanders are re- quired to keep a record of every de- posit, and on same day deposit is made must report the same to the office of the paymaster general, Washington. The paymaster each month sends to the same office an abstract of deposits, where comparisons are made and dis crepancies corrected.
 The privilege of depositing has proven a veritable boon to the soldier boys. for it not only provides an ad- mirable means of security for their surplus money. but is profitable. Be sides, it encourages them to save their earnings.
 During the past year the record of depositing has been remarkable, but it is plain that high water mark has been far from reached. For the fiscal year ending June 30 over half a mill lion dollars was deposited by the troops at Manila alone. This amount has astonished the war department. Indeed, with the increase of the army, this feature of soldiers deposits has caused the department to open its eyes in wonder, for the great record of last year promises to be vastly eclipsed. Expectations for Manila alone run as high as a million and a half, which will mean $6O,OOO interest-and many expect the amount of deposits there to reach nearly two millions.
 One reason for this anticipated in- crease is that there are more soldiers of the depositing class than lastAhed, That is, there are more '.ra Qrs.' And even the new volunteers may all most be included in the same category, for they realize that they are in for at least two years, while the volunteers last year knew their term of service would be brief consequently had no desire or incentive to deposit. For this reason the deposits were almost exclusively confined to regulars" Therefore, under the new status, it is not difficult to perceive that the amount of deposits will increase to a great degree. In some companies over half the members are now de- posting. and it is believed the fever will spread, at least in the Philippines and other distant possessions, until in the near future almost every member will be depositor. The benefit of this to the soldier can readily be seen, but it means a heap of interest. Yet there will hardly be any complaints on that score.
 There is a new condition of things however which may have a tendency to decrease the amount of deposits Last congress provided for what are known as allotments which will en- able a soldier to arrange so that a certain amount of his pay each month can be paid to his wife, or parents, or whomsOever he may nominate This will prove a great convenience to soldiers, especially those having de- pendents at home, and may, as inti- mated, lessen the amount of deposits.
 The records of deposits are kept in the office of the paymaster general and entail more labor than can be fully realized. In fact, the limited number of clerks in charge are literally swamp ed. Said a clerk engaged on this work: You have no idea to what extent this feature of soldiers deposits has grown Before the late war it was almost in but it has swollen with such tremendous strides that we are way behind, notwithstanding increased force and extra hours, and it is getting worse every day. If they don't give us further help don't know what we will Go. Why, we have just received a )aymasters abstract from Manila