El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-15

M Do YOU want to open an &C
count with Uncle Sam, bank
err You can do it at several hJIndre'
different places over the union.
thousand or more banks will have Deel
established by the time this letter il
published, and this number will be ex
tended until it covers the 10000 ant
odd money order postoffices Throughout
the United States. The postal savings
bank bill was passed only last congress
nd the business was started with 500,
00O This was TO establish 48 banks
each state having one. When congress:
met again In the spring. more banks
were started Forty-five additions
ones were IN operation in April, SO more
were added IN June, and from that time
on they have gone ahead at the rate
of so per week At the beginning OF
the year the 48 which were first started
had taken in only about $4,000, but
with the new banks the deposits have
quadrIpled, and they viii soon amount
To 81 .000, 600 or more.
Two Billions of Hoarded Treasure.
Indeed, it is impossible 10 prophecy
how much money will come into the
postoffices. The amount viii run into
the hundreds of millions. 1t can do
that and still not affect the banking
institutions which we have today. The
officials CT the treasury department,
who keep track OF the money in circu-
lation and in the banks, say that there
Is an enormous sum not accounted for
which lies idle, either in hiding or IN
the pockets of the people. This amount
is more than two thousand million dol
lars. 1t is enough to give 500 to every
family in the United States and enough
to buy the steel trust and leave some
thing over for a few railroads or so. 1t
is about percent of the aggregate
wealth of the nation, and If it could be
collected together into one pile 1t would
almost pay the national debt twice over.
Take it ont OF hiding and turn it into
government bonds and we should not
lave 10 borrow cent from outside ma
tions. and at the same time would have
enough surplus capital TO complete the
Panama canal and dig a 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
exlent as in ours. We are the richest
of the nations, and We have more loose
money than any Of the Others. lake
for instance the Hindus. where the
standard Is so low that you can hire
man for 10 cents a day, and where many
of the people figure on how much they
will eat for supper In brder to know
whether they will have enough left Tor
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 pos
tai savings banks there $500, 000,000
have been taken out and deposited, and
the accounts in the postoffices are al
most one million In number.
Uncle Sans New Banking System.
hs,rr- oh 20 linz cora Of hrrcf.
ness like this?
Think of the work of handling 10000
different banks, each of which has hun
dreds of deposit accountsl
Think of the deposits and withdraw
ais, of calculating the interest and of
keeping the accounts, where the loss of
a 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 a big building at London Is de-
voted 70 keeping the books. The banks
have been in operation there for 25
years. and the separate accounts are
1,000, 600 in number. while the total de-
pOsits now equal 1871, 100000. The cost
of the machine is such that | under
stand the business is run at loss. Sim
liar 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 savings bank
business is bound to be twice as large
as that of any other nation, and, should
We carry it on in the same way, Theo-
dore l. Weed, the chief clerk of the
postoffiee department. and the secretary
of the board of banking trustees. tells
me, we should have TO establish. in time.
great accounting system here at
Washington, with a great force of CLERKS
to keep track of the moneys in these
thousands of offices scattered over more
than 100000 square miles.
Nevertheless, we have begun the bust
ness without a cent of additional ex-
pense for clerical hire And. moreover. |
the prospect is that it win be carried on |
without any material change in our gov
eminent machinery when the deposits
are hundreds of millions, and that aft /
an expense which. in the light tof its /
sost 10 other nations, will be ridiculous /
~ small.
An Idea Worth Millions.
For the invention which has done
away with this enormous bookkeeping. /
Uncle Sam is indebted to Frank Hitch |
cock, his postmaster general. 1t is an, /
invention worth millions, for it is esti- |