The farmer and mechanic., 1911-07-18


positors-Worl Among the schooi
ChfIdren-ChanCes For Women
The Foreigners and Their Money
Government BOnds-An Idea Worth
Millions. Or How Frank Hitchcock
Has Removed the Necessity f'0r
Two Thousand Bookkee4rers.
Copyright, 1911, by Frank G- Car
penter.)
WASHINGTON, d. c.
Do you want to open an account
with Uncle sam, banker? You can
do It at several hundred dicerent
places over the Union A thousand
or more banks will have been estab-
1lshed by the time this letter Is puo-
Iished, and this number Will De eA-
tended until it covers the forty thou-
sand and odd money order poStornces
throughout the United States. Inc
postal savings bank bill was passed
only last Congress, and the business
was started with $1OO,OOO rms was
to establish forty-elght banks, eacn
State having one. When Congress met
again in the spring more banks were
started, Forty-hve additional ones
were noperation in April, thlrty-Slx
more were added in June, and from
that time on they have gone aneao
at the rate of fifty per week. Al tpe
beginning Of the year the forty-elent
which were first started had taken M
only about SIS 900, but with the new
banks the deposits have quadrupieq
and they will soon amount to mill
lion dollars or more.
Two Billions OF HOarded Treasure.
Indeed, it is impossible to prophesy
how much money will come into the
post offices. The amount will run into
the hundreds of millions. 1t can do
that and still not affect the banking
institutions which we have today. The
officials Of the Treasury department,
who keep track Of the money IN
circulation and in the banks, say that
there is an enormous sum not ac-
counted for which lies idle, either
in hiding or in the pockets or the
people. This amount is more than
two thousand million dollars. 1t IS
enough to give 500 to every family in
the United States and enough to buy
the steel trust and leave mething
over for a few railroads or SO. It is
about per cent of the aggregate
wealth Of the Nation, and If it could
be collected together into one pie
1t would almost pay the Nat1onal
debt twice over Take it out Of hid
ing and turn it into Government bonds
and we should not have to borrow
a cent from outside nations, and at
the same time would have enough
surplus capital to complete the Pan
anna Canal and dig ditch big enough
for the largest ocean steamers from
the Great Lakes to the gulf.
Similar boards have existed in all
countries, although nowhere to such
an extent as in ours. We are the
richest Of the nations, and we have
more loose money than any Of the
others. Take for instance the Hindus,
where the standard is SO low that you
can hire a man for 10 cents a day,
and where many of the people figure
on how much they will eat for supper
in order to know whether they will
have enough left for breakfast. That
country is known to have a hoard in
gold or silver or jewels hid away
under its floors, and since the British
government has established postal
savings banks there O0,000,000 have
been taken out and deposited, and the
accounts in the pOStotfiCeS are almost
one million in number.
Uncle Sans New Banking System.
But how about taking care of
business like this?
Think Of the work Of handling 40,-
900 different banks, each of which has
hundreds of deposit accounts!
Think of the deposits and with
drawaIs, Of calculating the interest
and of keeping the accounts, where |
the loss Of cent in the balance may |
set clerk crazy, as is common in |
the banks of today.
These are some of the troubles that |
are agitating the other nations which |
have similar banks and are costing |
them millions. 1t is SO in Great |
Britain. where big building at Lon |
don is devoted to keeping the books |
The banks have been in operation |
there for twenty-five years, and the !
separate accounts are one million in |
number while the total deposits now |
equal $7S1, 100000. The cost Of the !
is run at a loss. Similar |
books are kept in France Germany |
and in nearly every civilized country |
on the face of the globe
This was one of the difficulties |
Which faced Uncle Sam when he took |
hold of the problem. Our postal saw
fran S1pl SC