Evening star., 1913-11-25
The Postal Service.
V.-The Posta! Savings
Banks.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

Founded for the purpose OF encouraS-
ing thrift among the people whose saw
ings were too small TO make It seem
worth while to the ordinary banking in
stitutions to go after their business, the
postal savings system of the United
States is proving greater success than
oven it's friends predicted. There are
TODAY upward of 1000 post offices where
the people may bring Their deposits Tor
saving. and with every passing month
,hev are adding about $1,Uuo,OGU TO their
nermanent savings. Today they have
more than x34 UvO,OOO on deposit with
Cncie Sam.
A most pathetic and yet inspiring story
is told by the figures showing the SAFE
OF saving cards and stamps Inc la~
saws the minimum deposit III poStai
savings bank shall be 81. But 1t does not
cos. Ihe door of the bank to the girl or
poy VINO cannot 6et ~ uoiiar loeetheT.
IL provides d method most e1ectlVe IN
helping tne,n 20 aiiis.ss their nrst ooIidr,
their second anu so on. Inc sosei iiiieii.
provides a stamp card with room on IL
,or lucent Stamps. i lie !'cI son VINO must
save by p.tIances rather tnan py uoiidi D
and who mas only dime at liuie " 10Y
as de- goes TO the post oi1ce anu pays Q
dime for card and one stamp. nc
next time he gets dine To spare ne
nuvs another stamp, and so on untl the
card is fui Then he takes II TO the post
ONCE and gets credit lor uoilai, ', Gnu
opens an account with the government
or me United states in mis- own maine.
oa,y;ns tbe last cent of q nation 5 credit
pledged 10 return 1t when ne heeus H.
Every day thousands of poor people ana
little children, who cannot get dollar
together at a time, go
TovinC Au,av to the post Office and
invest their dimes il
the OlmeS. stamps. Last March
10000 dimes We're saved from candy ana
soda and street car rides, and by other
forms of self denial. to be converted into
postal savings stamps, and then into
postal savings accounts. Could each of
those dimes tell of the frugality and the
denial that brought it out there
would be, indeed, an epic of the art OF
saving.
And then there is another set of figures
which shows how patient are the poor
in the development of their savings ac-
counts-how slowly, even with all theii
self-denial and their frugality, they are
able to rise to the point where they hav.
a dollar with which to become depos!
tor known by name to Uncle Sans saw
413 COG dimes were represented in stamps
that were held by people who had not
yet saved enough dimes to open an ac-
count or to deposit another dollar. In
other words, it was taking the average
small patron of savings bank three
months to gather a dollar in dimes.
But all the savings do not come from
those who must save in dimes. There
are those who ca
Average Account put their money
Is $1O2. while II the dime saw M
ers have been laying aside at the rate
nearly $4,000, or a million and hal.
dimes a year, the people who save dol
lars saved them to the total OF som.
$24 100000 during the last year. There
are about 331. 600 depositors, and tn.
average account In June was $1O2.
Heretofore the postal savings system
has been somewhat handicapped by the
provision of the law which limits the
savings that may be deposited in any one
month to S1O0, and to a grand total of
$500. Postmaster General Burleson advo-