Evening journal., 1910-08-30
UNCLE SAM TO OPEN
POSTOFFICE BANKS
Twenty-Five or Fifty to be
Installed by NOvem-
Der lSt
TRUSTEES TO TEST
EFFICIENCY OF PLAN

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.-Notwith- |
standing the smallness of the approp- |
ration. the trustees OF the postal saw
ings banks system are arranging to in !
stall between 25 and so banks in as
many sections Of the country by
November ].
The service at first afforded will
necessarily be limited, inasmush as
Congress only appropriated 100000
with which to inaugurate the whole
system. Out of this sum the prelimin-
ary expenses. such as providing forms
stamps and instructions must be paid.
There will be little left for any other
purpose
The trustees believe, however, that
few banks can be financed out OF
the sum, and these will be installed
purely as experiments. AS soon as It
is determined how much additional
help will be needed in the various
postoffices and how great will be the
cost OF operating. Congress Will be
asked for more money.
in the course of time 1t Is arranged
that the whole system shall be self
sustaining Only per cent. interest
will be paid on deposits, and the
banks and trust companies acting as
repositories for the funds collected by
the Government will be required un-
der the law to pay IL per cent. in
terest The quarter of ] per cent
-eill represent the only profit the Gov
eminent will make, and this will go
entirely toward maintenance and re-
serves.
Plan of Location.
Instead Of locating the first 25 or
Sc banks in the rs or so largest cities
of the country, the trustees will prob
ably pick out 25 or so sections Of the
country where industrial conditions
are varied This will be done for the
purpose of testing efficiency OF the
new banking system and Of determin-
! ing the response which may be ex-
pected on the part Of the different
classes of people served.
An improvement in the continnen-
tai system of issuing pass books to
depositors will be inaugufated by tho
Government. Instead Of the book, as
provided by the privit banks, card
will be issued to the depositor show
ing by the perforation the amount Of
money deposited
This card will be a duplicate of a
similar one perforated at the same
time and kept in the postoffice. the
latter to furnish an absolute record OF
the funds receipted for. Should a
card he lost by the depOsitor a dupli-
cate can be secured uIon application
to the office issuing tee original
II will be made perfectly pain that
tsese cards are .non-transferable and
negotiable. They cannot be
traded In OF passed about as legal
tender. They must he held by the
party making the deposit and presen
ted by that party whsd il is lesired L
: withdraw any or ali of the funds de
, posted.
, To Punch Deposit Cards.
A machine similar TO a cash regis
ter. in operation. will be used L
, punch the deposit cards. This mean
that the record will be me -hanicall.
/ accurate. and since both the depos
itor's card and that held by the Gov
? ernment are punched by the sam
act. no discrepancy can possibly exist
The committee of postal expert
are still meeting day and night Il
their effort to perfact the new system
They expect to be able to lay most O
the details before Postmaster Genera
Hitchcock upon his return to Washin
ton next month He will, in turI
call an early meeting of the trustee
4 to approve of the preliminary work.