The times., 1899-10-22

John c. Covert. the American Consul at
Lyons. has sent to the State Department
the following report on the savings banks
of France and the almost universal prac-
tlce among the people of depositing in
them:
"A report has just been made to the
J Government on the operations Of the saw
! ings banks of France for the year 1897.
! The number OF savings banks in France
! on December 81, 1886 (545), had not
/ changed during the year, but 13 had estab-
/ Iished branches, which increased the num-
/ Der of branch banks to l181. In addition
to this, 356 tax collectors had represented
/ so banks in SO departments. The number
I of bank books in use in December, 1891,
! was 6772, ,5S2. The sum due depositOrs was
! 8 427. .096, SIS francs 1861 .329 T00l. The to-
tai receipts during the year, including de-
! posfts the interest earned for depOsitors,
and the arrearages left by them on deposit,
reached S35,O16617 francs tSl5l 15S,u9D.
/ The disbursements in money, in the pur-
/ chase of Government bonds, deposits TO
/ account of Old-age pension fund. and y the
reduction of accounts passing the legal
/ limit of 800 francs tS2S950), aggregated
/ 79g 259 9S9 francs tS154 25I,1IS). The amount
( paid in interest was about Oo.GU0 600
francs ($19, 800, ,000). The sum total of de-
( posits is nearly one-tenth less than the
! disbursements.
Compared with 1896, there was an in
J crease of about 10000 eco francs tS3,96O,-
OOOJ in the deposits OF 1887.
"A law Of 1895 fixed the maximum Of de-
posits at 1900 francs (s2S9.5O), interest in
/ cluded, except for old depor Grs, for whom
the limit is 200 francs e
Among depositors, the q exceed the
women in number. the iOOting up to
/ 9, ,540,5S2; the second, 5 %. The num-
Der of minors was go 0oys and $500
I girls.
There is one deposltor for every 3 1-2
1 persons in the country, or 179 for every
! / 600 inhabitants.
Since 1885, when the enumeration Of de-
positors was begun, the increase has been
constant At that time the ratio was
per GOO; in 1860 it was 81; in 1870, IS; in
1880. 1O4; in 1890, 151.
The following details are noted among
the depositors:
Persons at the head of some agricuI-
! tural, industrial, or commercial interest
men, % 2SS; women .S33 Farm hands
all who work for wages en farms-men,
81 476; women 20.16S. Persons working in
mills. factories, at any employment not
exclusively agricultural dTessmakers
/ washerwomen, ironers. milliners even
those owning small establishments of their
oWn-meu, 1868; women. 81 G0I. Hired
/ servants, Wallets de chambre. etc.-meu,
/ 1854; women 81 .05S. Soldiers and ma
rines in which class are included not only
men who belong TO the army and navy, but
gendarmes, field guards. g8mekespers pO-
| Hcemen. and custom house emplOyes-men
4.754: women, Il70. Employees in Offices
| public administrative offices. conductors,
letter carriers. clerks, and typewriters-
men 15,516; women. 4,64I. The liberal pro-
! fessions-men. AIS. women. 2.6i3 Per
sons without professions. including married
women who have their own private bank
aacount-men. 1924; women. 56.s7S- School
children-boys, 10. .7g5; girls, 1916.
Since 1882 526.5g6 new accounts have
been opened by minors, viz. BOYS, 23I 262;
girls. 295, ,334 The excess among the lat
ter is attributed 20 the larger number Of
girls employed as dOmesrcs, living in a
family and not subjected 20 so many temp
tations for spending their money. It Is
very common for French children TO have
a bank account and they Will always tel
you, in a somewhat boastful way how
many francs or hundreds OF francs they
have in the bank
In the common schools. the children de-
posit with their teachers from 1 sou Il cent
upward. and a representative of the saving.
! hank comes around once month to collect
these little boards. If child deposits but
/ sou HI. receives in return q very small
Iivret, OF bank book. When his deposits
reach the sum Of l franc t19.5 ceuts) his
Importance entities him 10 a grand livret
Many children, or parents for them, de-
posit in an endowment fund, which is tC
provide them with a capital of 5000 Of
10. 600 francs on reaching their majority.
Nearly every father and mother en-
deayors to make provision for starting then