The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1909-08-27
TO URGE POSTAL BANKS
Taft VIII Ask Congress to Garry
Out Republican Promises.
IT WOULD YIELD MILLIONS
BY Establishment of Banks Government
Would Get Huge Sum With Which
to Retire 2 Per Cent Bonds.

Beverly, Mass.-President Taft in
Dictated in talks with callers that IN
his message TO congress next pecem-
Der, he will strongly urge the early
establishment of postal savings bank
system. The president realizes that,
there is strong opposition to such leg
islation at this time and while ne does
not propose to rush congress on too
many matters at once, he will ask
that the platform declaration Of the
republican party in favor OF postal
banks be fulfilled as speedily as pos
sible.
Influential members of both the SEN
ate and house are urging that the
matter be left over until the monetary
commission has made it's report and
ensuing financial legislation has been
disposed of. 1t has even been said
that the relation between the subjects
to be dealt with by the monetary COM
mission and the postal banks is so
close that the two should be handled
together.
President Taft believes that several
hundreds of millions would be placed
at the disposal of the government
through postal svaings banks. 1t is
suggested that this money might well
be employed in taking up the $780,
OOO, 900 or 700,000,000 of government
2 per cent bonds which are outstand-
ing and which have given much con-
Germ to the treasury department Off
! cials. Already the per cent bonds
I are selling below par and there is fear
OF further depreciation in view OF the
8 per cent issues which have been
authorized and which soon may be
placed on the market.
The money which postal banks
would draw, the president believes, Is
that which is sent abroad each year
by foreigners who insist that the gov
ernment's guarantee shall be back of
any bank in which they place their
hard-earned savings and which is Sc
creted in stockings and mattresses
and not sent to any bank at all. The
president believes that the postal
banks would appeal only to those tim
i'd persons who are afraid to trust
the ordinary banks and who would
rather get the 2 per cent or less in
terest which the government would
give than to place the money in the
regular savings banks, where it would
draw from to 4 per cent interest
each year.
BY placing the interest to be al
lowed by the postal banks at less than
2 per cent, Mr.. Taft is convinced that
no harm would be done to the ordi-
nary banks of commerce, for discrim-
mating persons who now place their
In MI nd
ciatiVe of what these banks are doing
for the community would not with
draw money drawing high rate and
place it under government care at
half the interest offered by the ordi-
nary savings banks.
The morley obtained through postal
banks, the president and several of
his closest banks, the president and
several of his closest advisers believe,
would offer happy solution of the 2
per cent bond problem. Idle funds
would be placed at the disposal of the
government at an exceedingly. low
rate of interest. The government. 5
guarantee, it is believed, would dam
the steady flow Of gold across the At
1Rntic to foreign banks under govern
ment control.
President Taft expressed himself
again, as he did so often during the
campaign of year ago, as unalter-
ably opposed to guarantee of bank
deposits. Mr.. Taft said he did not
believe in making one set of bankers
stand responsible for another set, and
he does not think the national govern
ment or the states should undertake
to extend guarantee to institutions
which are not under government con.
y troll and direction.
AS to the charge of paternalism re
hected in the postal bank idea, Pres.
ident Taft, in stating his position, de.
clared he thought it far-fetcheds