Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-02-15
P. 0. Savings BANKS
POSTMASTER GENERAL Meyers
ON THE SUBJECT.
The Postmaster Genera, Addre SSeS
the Pennsylvania Bankers As.
SOCiatiOn on Advantages TO Bank.
erS That would ERSug II pOStal
Savings Banks We're Established.

Postmaster General Meyers ad-
dress at the banquet of the Pennsyl-
vania Bankers Association last week
was concerned in the main with con-
futatiOns of the arguments advanced
against the Postal Savings Bank bill
on behalf of the financial institutions
of the country. The Postmaster Gen.
eral was able to show that there is
no danger that the establishment of
postal banks would inju. ::ou5;y af-
feet the business of privately man
aged savings Institutions; on the
contrary, whenever the system of
postal banks has been introduced the
deposits in savings banks have in
creased in a ratio greater than be-
fore. In Austria the postal deposits
increased between the years 1898 to
1905 eighteen and a half million dol
in other savings banks increased six
hundred and eighty million dollars;
in Canada the postal savings deposits
| increased only two million dollars in
the four years from 1904 to 1907, in
elusive, while in the same period the
deposits in private saving h"n'-s in
creased $165, 100000.
There seems to be a limit to postal
bank deposits, which being attained,
they grow very slowly thereafter. EX-
cluding interest credited TO deposit
ors,, the net increase of postal saw
ings bank deposits in ENGLAND was
only thirty-eight million dollars in
ten years. The argument nat the
withdrawal of deposits f4Om private
institutions in time of panic would be
encouraged by the existence of postal
banks is met by the counter argu-
ment that panic would cause with
drawals in any event; but if boarded
the Withdrawals would disappear
from circulation, whereas, If rede-
posted in a pOstoffice the same would
Immediately go to the banks which
are government repositories and in
stantly become again part of the ma
tional currency.
In his affirmative arguments Post
master Meyer has it all he own way.
The postoffice as a depository would
bring facilities for banking and
saving to the large proportion of the
peiple who live in communities too
small to maintain bank; the postal
banks would draw most of their de-
positors from the ranks of those who
have never been savers before-near-
ly one-half the depositors in the Eu-
ropean postal banks being school
children. Over twenty million dol
lars were sent by postal orders to
Italy last year, and large part was
actually remitted for deposit in the
postal banks of Italy. Had there
been an institution of similar char
acter in this country most of the
funds SO remitted would have re-
mained here. The Italians are fa-
miliar with and have trust in the
system of governmental postal saw
ings banks, and the mistrustful Of
any other. This is true of other for
eigners as we'll as Of the Italians, and
a greater part of the remittances for
deposit abroad could probably be re-
tanned here by the creation of SINH
lar governmental establishments and
it could be done in no other way.
There may be objections to the de-
tails Of the bill now under discus
sion in the United States senate, but
with regard to the principle of postal
savings banks there is scarcely any
| room for discussion