The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-12-09
THE SAVING, or the PEOPLE.

partment OF Commerce and Labor
through It's Bureau OF Statistics
amounted to over slO.50O.0OOOO0 con-
tributed by s2,G4O,OOO depositors. OF
this total the United States shows ag-
gregate deposits OF $1,000, 10000, credit
ed to I,sO5. 600 depositors. AS the figures
used in arriving at the grand totals
cover about one-half of the population
of the world viz. over s770,0OO,0OO, II
| appears that the United States, with
less than nine and one-half per cent OF
the total population considered, con-
tributes over twenty-nine per cent of
the total savings deposits recorded. OF
the total number of depositors, or rath-
er deposit accounts, the share of the
United States is somewhat less than
nine per cent, while the average de-
post per account is more than four
times and the average savings per in
habitant more than three and one-half
times the corresponding averages for
the rest of the world.
1t is interesting to note that in
Europe and even in Canada the func-
tons of the government in this field
are larger than In this country, where
the state restricts itself merely to for
mulating the general legislation per-
tanning to the subject, sanctioning spe-
cial charters for the creation of saw
ings banks, and controlling through
special officers the proper workings of
said banks. The European govern
mamie T., ~, INV soc baua chpyy, uraat r
er interest in this mode of popular saw
ing, either by guaranteeing the safety
OF deposits or by insttuting government
institutions, chiefly postal savings
banks, for the receiving and managing
of savings deposits. In some countries,
such as Russia, Bulgaria, and Rouma-
MA, the lack of private initiative and
the preponderating influence of the
State in the entire economic life of the
nation have caused the development of
public savings banks to an almost ex-
elusive extent: in other countries, such
as Germany, Switzerland, and France,
the local public bodies. such as the COM
munes or cantons. from the very outset
invited and fostered the deposits of
small savings by establishing municipal
central government is in immediate,
though not exclusive, charge of the saw
ings service. as in the United Kingdom,
Belgium, end Russia, parts of the de-
rosits are invested in government secu-
rifles, so that the public savings in
stitutjons there serve the double pur-
pose of providing a safe investment for
the capital OF the less well-to-do and
commercially inexperienced class of the
population, as well as of strengthening
the public credit of the country by at
tracing Investments on the part of
such classes, which, left to their own
initiative, might not choose this, or for
that matter any other mode of invest
ment.
The common feature of all savings
banks, no matter how organized, is that
they are not working for profit the un-
derly!ng idea being rather to make the
deposits as secure as possible. This re-
suits naturally in an interest rate on
deposits considerably below the normal
commercial rate prevailing in the re-
spective countries. The figures as
shown in the table below reveal diff
ferent degrees of what might be termed
the Saving capacity" of the different
nations, though it should always be
borne in mind thar the amounts de-
posted with savings banks by no means
represent the only savings. of a nation.
Another factor which makes compari-
sons difficult is the fact that apart from
differences in legislation, leaving to
these institutions a greater or smaller
10 nf Of Inn GA
regulations regarding the maximum
/ amounts which may be credited to one
individual vary according to country,
and that therefore the average size of
! the savings deposit casts but little light
on the general prosperity of the people
and the more or less equitable distribu-
/ ton of wealth among them.
The general social conditions of q
country, the spread of general education
and banking" habits among the
masses. existing facilities of communi-
cation, the ease and lack of formalities
with which savings are made, and last
but not least the use made by the pop
ulatlon of other modes of saving-all
these factors have to be considered
when international comparisons of saw
| lhSS SldliSiiNS uie dlltllipISh' ~ SlNe
hut a few examples: The total savings
deposits of France, as stated in the la
BILE below, appear less than those OF
Austria, while the aggregate savings
deposits of Prussia are shown to exceed
those of France by almost eighty pei
cent. Any conclusions with regard tC
the relative prosperity of these coun'
tries based on these figures would be
erroneous, as in France the savings
banks deposits constitute but a part
and by no means the larger part, of the
total savings of the nation. As mat
ter of fact, the investments of tn
French people in Russian public bond
during the most recent period only, no
to mention the holdings of the enor
nous national debt at home. ACCORDING
to the most conservative estimates ex
coed by far the amounts deposited 1
national savings institutions. In tn
case of Austria the figures given ar
: somewhat misleading, since the posta
savings banks there are engaged in tn
T general banking business. the amount
reported as ordinary deposits exceedin
those reported under the head of say
ings deposits.