The Newtown bee., 1908-07-10

quiry of Congress covered a perlof
 from 1896 to 1906 inclusive. Reports
 were obtained from Great Britain,
 France, Belgium, Italy, The Neither
 lands. Austrla-Hungary, Sweden, Rus
 sia, Egypt, Bulgaria and Japan. With
 out exception all have made tremen'
 dous progress in the number of depos'
 itors and in amount of deposits. lr
 Europe the system was most popular
 in France and Italy. France in the ten
 years added l,700,0OO depositors and in.
 creased deposits S7s,00O, 900. ltaly's
 increase in depositors was 2,6O0,0O0 and
 in deposits sl25,0O0,00O. Depositors
 were paid two and one half per cent in
 Great Britain, in France three per cent.
 and in Italy little less than three per
 cent.
 In 1906 the number of depositors in
 the postal banks of the United King
 dom was 9,673,7l7 and the amount of
 deposits $72l, ,Sl9, ,296. Our nearest post
 al banking neighbor, Canada, on No
 vember 30, 1906, had l69, 334 depositors
 and deposits amounting to $47, ,092, 5l4.
 The number of post offices in that coun-
 try having Postal Savings banks was
 1,0l1. The same proportion of depos-
 its, supposing we had postal savings
 banks in operation at our 49, 100 money order offices, would give an aggregate of $2, 22l, ,0S5, 800 deposits.
 Postmaster General Meyer, in rec ommending a postal savings banks sys- tenn for the United States insists pri- marily that tis to encourage thrift and economy and to afford place of depos- it, free from doubt and suspicion, for vast sums of money, which might otherwise be hoarded and through igno- rance and loss of confidence, be kept out of circulation.
 Foreigners recently immigrated here are extremely shy of placing money in any bank. The Postmaster General called attention to the fact that the postoffice department, during the fis- cal year ended June 30, 1907, sent to European countries in the form of money orders alone S72,l10, 74S. 94. the bulk of it going to Italy, Austria-Iun- gary, Great Britain and Russia.
 The United States at the close of the fiscal year 1907 had over S94 per capita in circulation, while Great Brit ain had but $17; yet with this greatest per capital circulation in our history, on gold basis, and with an unprecedent- ed production of gold, we are worse off than Great Britain in the operation of our financial system, and that is ac- knowledged to be because we have no recourse, as has Great Brit ain, and as has France, where wealth is better distributed among the people than in any other country. The world is familiar with the fact that the people of France readily handed out from their own homes the billions for the Franco-G German war indemnity of 1870. Reflection finds it passing strange that a government belonging to the people should not be able to persuade the people to take money out of boarding places, prevent their own embarrass- ment, revive dropping industry, restore the involuntary idle to remunerative and stimulate all enter prise by pledging the credit of the people for their own security. It is firmly held by the friends of the postal savings banks proposition that should such institutions be established through the good faith of the Government and it's assurance of absolute security, there would ensue such a general prev alence of frugal habits among the people that the aggregate amount of savings would grow to mammoth pro- portions and the United States would show a new wonder to the world.
 ' PARCELS POST.
 There has been no little awakening n the matter of the parcels post depart nent. For the last few months the question has been seriously considered oy Postmaster General George Won L. Meyer. He realizes that the prefect- onGf possible) of this department would be great boon for every patron )f the postal department; this in vertue, comprises in mass, every thor oughly live American citizen. The time is past and gone when problems affecting the rural districts chiefly are brushed aside carelessly by the nations elected or appointed guardians.
 Whether we have gwen the subject any deliberation or not, that does not alter the fact that the parcels post en- sers primarily into the industrial, com nercial and domestic life of any civi- ized community. From this stand point alone, if not from any other, we nave every reason to manifest an inter- est in this subject. A perceptible re- luction of the rates of transportation )f packages plus readiness in the postal department to assume charge of heavier packages, would mean in arge measure, an economy and need d relief to the complicated regulations )f the parcels department.
 Previous to the year 1863 the weight init of a parcel for transmission through the mails was three pounds. That year the weight limit was made our pounds for deliveries in the United States. No increase has been made | iince that time except on parcels des- ined to foreign countries. We have low conventions with 33 foreign coun- ;ries. With nine countries the limit of weight is four pounds, six ounces while with "A it is Il pounds. The post lge in all but four cases, Chil, Peru, Ecudor and Bolivia. is 12 cents per pound. sasrsM S
 To illustrate the inconsistencies in with the parcel posts serv- ce, l will draw your attention to the al 1o,,,,,,or oooJ,4,on, ou