New-York tribune., 1909-07-18
BIRTH OF SAVINGS BANK
CFNTENNIAL TO BE HELD
IN SCOTLAND.
Dumfries Clergyman Founded First
Such Institution = Story of
Their Development.

Next year the birth of the savings bank will re-
ceive due ccnlmemorator. The Tooth anniversary
Of the first bank established to accept deposits
in small and 10 pay cumulative interest on
them ts to be celebrated in Scotland in May, 1910
This celebration. for which preparations are al
ready making. viii fix IN the public mind the date
OF the actual beginning OF one Of these beneficial
institutions. 49,. .
There has indeed been some dispute as to when
and where eavings banks originated A French
writer has asserted that the idea- dates back TO
sugues Delestre, who proposed such an institution
In 1910 An Austrian author. on the other hand
has insisted that genuine savings bank existed IN
Brunswick in I765 Similar institutions have been as
serfed 20 have been founded in Hamburg in l79S; in
Berne l7s7: in Basic. 1872, and in Geneva. 119i
eSoBe OF these institutions. however, was in any
respect Ike ths modern savings bank The ham
burg bank. for example. merely received the saw
inEs OF domestic servants and other wage earneFs
and gave annuities 10 the members Of its assocla-
ton when they reached a certain age
The English have long maintained that the sys-
fem Of savings banks dates from the schemes OF
the Rev. Joseph Smith and Mrs Priscilla Wake
Geld The former IN I7sS- while stationed In the
parish Of wendover offered 10 receive from mem
bers Of his congregation any sum from t"opence
W 10 be returned at Christmas with one-third OF
The whole added as interest Thus was initia'ed a
little cooperative bank which was carried on for
several years. with generally about sixty sub
.crlbers who deposited from five TO ten POUNDS
every season.
The English village OF Iottenham vas the scene
AZ Mrs Wakeaelds pbilanthroPic scheme. which
xrss started In l7es for the benefit OF women and
children II was arranged that members according
Go their age should pay certain sums each month";
emitting them 10 pension after sixty years OF
age This vas really, therefore, q deferred an
.uirv bank, closely resembling the system OF vol
untary oid-age pensions issued by savings banks
as lately authorized by the Legislature OF Massa-
chusetts. In 1901 there was added q fund from
which loans were made to those who had been
members for sig months and a department for re-
ceistng savings en- which per cent paid. This
Tottenhara bank. IN 1904. regularly organized
under the name OF the Charitable Bank
The first comprehensive plan for national saw
inss bank system urged in 1901 by Samuel
whitbread, the Whg reformer, who In support
fng his poor law amendments bill' made an elo-
ouent appeal for safe and profitable investments
or the earnings Of the poor. He proposed an in
stitution that should not only take care OF their
savings and pay interest them. but which should
insure their lives their household effects and care
fer their old age His conception of the savings
bank as an institution parallel 10 the church and
The schcolhouse is similar TO that which has re-
Gently grown up n parts OF the United States.
England early witnessed the appearance Of
numerous small charitable associations and insti-
tutions which undertook invest the savings OF
their members The first modern sa+ings bank.
however. was the for whose 1Uoth anniver-
sary~ preparations now being made This
was originated BY Henry Duncan, Presbyterian
clergyman of Dumfriesshire. Scotland. friend Of
Thomas Carlyle and Of the celebrated DR.. Chal-
raers who throughout his active life was inter-
ested IN the various schemes OF practical benevo-
ierce 100. after ne had already set forth his
views the subject in The Dumfries Courier" )"
he established the Ruthwen Savings Bank. His
purposa as expressed in a memoir published by
his son IN 1856. 20 induce the mass of people
OF his time so realize the value of the little savings
which. by economy, could be put away
The Dunfries community OF lowland Scotch was
L. 60 GHTr7a Grfa aT11a TlfTr-
5ng the hrst year savings TO an amount Of $50
pounds were deposited in the Ruthwen Savings
Bank and IN the next years, III pounds and
"a pounds. respectively BY 1S4 the deposits
amounted TO s22 pounds