The Washington herald., 1909-02-13
DAVID MATHESON.
Thirty-one Years Connected with the Postal Service
of Canada Commends Dr. Burton Bill.

Norfolk. Va. January 3. Iso9.

Norfolk. Va, January y lsS-
Dear Sir: Through the courtesy OF &
friend here I have had the pleasure OF
reading your speech. introducing 10 the
notice OF Congress a method OF handling
by certificate. instead OF pass-bOOk. saw
| ings bank deposits. as It is reported in
the Congressional Record Of the 18Th
instant. Having been directly connected
with the introduction Of the Post-ofics
Savings Bank into Canada in lsss. and
/ remaining with that institution from that
date until my retirement from the Can
adian service in 1898. and for a great por-
ton OF that period the chief controlling
/ officer OF the bank. cannot resist the
desire TO thank you for what you have
said. and 70 express my fervent hope that
Congress win recognize the merits OF the
| plan you have submitted and adopt It.
You may, perhaps. naturally ask why
I speak thus favorably. and preferably,
OF the certificate system over the pass
/ book plan. L Is OF the utmost i'm
| portance that any system devised for
handling savings bark deposits should be
simple in its nature. but lending itself
10 accuracy and economy. and 20 smooth
working in the operations II Is here that
the superior merit OF the certificate plan
lies For the depOsitOr himself there Is
as much safety in the certificate (as pro
posed as in the psss-book: indeed.
think. more. But as regards economy,
there Is no comparison: the proposed
| certificate not only takes the place Of the
4. Fe h-r
does away with the whole lsborious sys-
I tenn Of keeping depositors' accounts. and
! becomes. by It's very structure. the ac-
count itself and shows 70 the depositOr.
the moment Il is issued. not only the
amount OF the deposit itself. but likewise
/ the interest 20 which he Is periodically
entitled. a more simple, flexible. and
/ safer device than this could not, IN my
/ opinion be created for such q purpose.
! The pass-bOok system is the one adopt
ed by the British p0st-ofIice department
when IL established its savings banks in
/ 1851. and which Canada followed in 1858
and which. so far as I know. al Euro
! pean and colonial countries have since
I followed. There have been notifications
Of the British plan in minor particulars,
4 but the pass-book. that determining fac
1 tor. seems TO have remained undisturbed
/ in them ali. Now. what does this pass
/ book feature mean? II means this First
the creation Of a vast body OF individual
/ depositors' accounts al the central Office
/ Cpost-ofTice Department.. because these
] accounts can be kept nowhere else. not
/ even BY postmasters: second. an illimit-
able number OF ledgers. each post-ofice
[ having its own ledger for the accounts
/ represented by The pass-bOOks which It
! has issued. and for convenience OF han
ding. some OF the larger Offices require
several ledgers Gin the Canadian Office at
present there are over 200 ledgeUs. and
bulky volumes al that. Think what they
would mean when applied 10 the s0000
money order Offices OF this country. many
I Of which would require several ledgers;
third, the printing, storage. and issue OF
new pass-books, and the preservation OF
old and surrendered books; fourth the
labor involved TO postmasteTs IN the pre-
/ paration Inscription entriesl and issue Of
new books: fifth. the periodical transmits
sion Of the psss-bOok for comparison
/ with the depositors' ledger account and
! for the insertion OF accrued interest;
sixth. examined books have TO he care
/ fully re2ddreSssd 20 the residence given
/ on the front page OF the cover, and the
/ package assorted in the alphabetical
/ order OF the depOgitor's surname. and his
I full name and address transcribed from
/ the envelope into g register OF returned
/ psss-books, so that q missing bank lone
that has failed 10 reach the depositor as
expected may be readily traced-so many
/ depOsitOTs fail TO comply with the rule
requiring = change of residence TO have
/ a corresponding change made on the
books: and. seventh. finally. the labor
and correspondence connected with the
preparation and issue Of renewal bOoks-a
tedious thing, as Il involves reference
twice 20 the Iedgers-frst for verifcation
( Of entries, and then for She transfer 0f
particulars. Of names and balances, from
the old ledger space TO new. and Il also
/ seriously interferes with the use OF the
ledger for the ordinary purpose Of post
I ing deposits and charging Withdrawals.
Much more might be said concerning the
direct and indirect expense Of the pass
book system in this connection. but. I
think to 90 further under this head un-
necessary. The certificate plan extin-
! guishes al this, and the ledger accounts
as well.
Another and a very serious objection
20 the pass-b0ok system is the forciag
1 into existence Of an enormous number OF
I iCNSEtos ADi N4tAAtA tAt ShA"'A ttE~r-t .
tion can be provided. It is altogether too
formidable to be dealt with by ordinary
freprOof vaults. and thi~ obliges ne TO
point out a peculiar danger that attaches
20 this outcome Of the use OF the pass
book plan. I mean the placing Of the
only authentic record Of the nations Obli-
cations 20 its depositors in buildings tha
are not absolutely ireproof in themselves
and sufficiently remote from other struc-
lures Of an infammable nature. To de-
stroy or damage such ledgeTs as the ex-
isting postal banks are required to keep
/ would be a loss too serious 20 contem-
plate. The only true record gone, what
is there left to show hoWs much a de-
hposit0T has 4 right 10 claim2 Only his
pass-bo0k. which is frequently Incorrect
and which, with the knowledge that the
head office record ithe genuine one) had
disappeared, could readily be made 70
show fraudulent balances In Canada
this possible loss could be met through a
process Of building I'D the transactions Of
each account from the close Of the last
fiscal year through the medium Of the
postmaster's returns and the schedules
used in proving each days work, but
that would involve much time, and would
cause much inconvenience and delay tr
idepoSitors- None Of these difficulties and
dangers could arise under the certificate
mode Of dealing with savings bank de-