Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1914-11-07
POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS.

| The war in Europe is proving big
boon to postal savings in this country.
From the very day hostilities opened
across the seas postal-savings receipts
began to increase by leaps and bounds
and Withdrawals fel. of. result quite
contrary to the predictions of many
wellinformed persons who, in their i'm
agination. saw lines of feverish deposi-
tors at postoffice pay windows anxious
to again return their savings to the boot.
leg and body-belt repositories whence
they came before intrusted to Uncle
Sam. But the forecasters failed to rec
kon on the absolute 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, mot only among the
nations of the earth, but with the humb-
lest citizen of our land.
Two important results have followed I;
thousands of people, largely of foreign
birth, accustomed to send their savings
abroad, are now patrons of our postal
savings system; and enormous sums of
actual cash have been released for COM
mercial uses among our own people at a
time when the need for every available
dollar is pressing.
The growth of postal savings in the
United States has been steady and
healthy and the system has filled an i'm.
portant gap between the tin-can deposi-
tory and the factory paymaster. On
July !, when affairs were running
smoothly here and abroad and the
transmission of money across the Allan
tic was safe and expeditions, there was
approximately S43,0OO,OO of postal saw
ings standing to the credit of about 1885,
600 depositors. Since then over $l0,-
000,00 of deposits have been added and
the number of depositors has increased
enormously. This unprecedented gain
is the more striking when it is consider
ed that the net gain in the last three
months is larger than the gain for the
entire fiscal year 1914. Scores of Offices
have done more postal-savings business
since the war has been going on than
was done by them during 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 gain in September of more than
g million, while Brooklyn showed a
relatively big increase. Chicago report
ed 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 81 GOO.
The unexpected increase in postal
savings business has not only added
greatly to the general administrative du.
ties of the system, but has brought up
many new and interesting problems
which have called for the careful per,
sonal consider alton of Postmaster Gen
eral Burleson and Governor Dockery,
Third Assistant Postmaster General.
But their task has been lightened some
what by the promptness of depository
banks in furnishing additional security
to meet the abnormal deposits. A num-
ber of the very largest banks in the
country, which have heretofore declined
to qualify as repositories for postal-say-
ings funds, are now among the eager
applicants for them.