The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1914-11-14
POSTAL SAVINGS
ARE INCREASING
WAR IN EUROPE PROVES BIG
BOON TO UNCLE SANS
BANK


The war in Europe is proving a
big boon to postal savings in this
country. From the very day hostili.
ties opened across the seas postal
savings receipts began to increase
by leaps and bounds and withdraw
al fell of. a result quite contrary to
the predictions of many well-inform-
ed persons, who, in their magma
ton, saw lines of feverish deposit
ors at post office pay windows anx-
lous to again return their savings
to the bootleg and body belt depos-
itories whence they came before en-
trusted to Uncle Sam. But the fore
casters failed to reckon on the alb
solute confidence of the American
citizen, regardless of the flag that
first met his eyes, in the ability and
purpose of the government to carry
out its obligations, not only among
the nations of the earth, but with
the humblest citizen Of our land.
Two important results have fol-
lowed; thousands of people, largely
OF foreign birth, accustomed to send
their savings abroad, are now pa
irons of u postal savings system
and enormous sums of actual cash
nave been released for commercial
uses among our own people at a
time when the need for every avail
able dollar is pressing.
The growth of postal savings in
the United States has been steady
and healthy and the system has fill
ed an important gap between the
tin can depository and the factody
paymaster. On July 1, when affairs
were running smoothly here and
abroad and the transmission of
money across the Atlantic was safe
and expeditions, there was approx
mately $4,000, 900 of postal savings
standing to the credit of about 1885,
600 depositors. Since then over
$10,000,OOO of deposits have been
added and the number of depositors
has increased enormously. This
unprecedented gain is the more
striking when it is considered that
the net gain in the last three months
is larger than the gain for the en-
tire fiscal year 1914. Scores of of
fees have done more postal savings
business since the war has been
going on than was done by them dur
ing the previous existence of the
service. The increases are confined
to no special localities, but have been
felt in every nook and corner of the
country. New York City alone made
a gain in September of more than
a million. while Brooklyn showed a
relatively big increase. Chicago re-
ported a larger gain in the past
three months than for the previous
twelve months. More than 1000
new accounts were opened during
the period, bringing the number Of
depositors in that city up to over
1000.
The unexpected increases in pos
tai savings business has not only
added greatly to the general admin
istrative duties of the system, but
has brought up many new and inter-
esting problems which have called
for the careful personal considera-
ton of Postmaster General BurlesOn
and Governor Dockery, third assist
ant postmaster general. But their
task has been lightened somewhat
by the promptness of depository
banks in the country, which have
heretofore declined to qualify as de-
pOsitories for postal savings funds,
are now among the eager applicants
for them.
According to Postmaster Rosen-
thai, there is at present standing to
the credit of the SGT patrons of the
postal savings department of the
Goldfeld p~ostoffice the sum of $685.
9S3. In addition to their savings,
Goldfeld depositors hold United
States government bonds to the to-
tai value of $4,000. purchased
through the local branch of Uncle
Sans banking institution. Dur
ing October deposits amounted to
$1O,436 and disbursements $9,061,
an increase of $1,375. Forty-one
new accounts were opened during
October.