The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-11-04
POSTAL SAVINGS INCREASE.
The War in Europe Has Had SurDri.
inc Eject upon Postal savings
Banks.

The war in Europe is proving. = hi.,
boon to postal savings in this country.
From the very day hosliltics opened
across the seas postal savings rcccipts
began To increase by lcabs ana bounds
and withdrawals fell OFF, result
quite contrary to the predictions OF
many wcll-informcd persons who. in
their imagination saw lines of fcvcrish
depositOrs at post Office pay windows
anxious to again return their SAVINGS
to the bootleg and body-belt doposi-
tories whence they came before in
trusted to Uncle sam. But the fore
casters failed to reckon on the absO-
lutte confidence nf the American citi-
zen, regardless of the flag that first
met his eyes, in the ability aud pur
pose of the government to carry ont
its obligations, not only among the
nations of the earth, but with the
humblcSt citizen Of our land.
Two important results have follow
ed; 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 commercial 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 stead\ and
healthy ana the system has filed an
important gap between the tin-can de-
positOry and the factory paymastcr.
ON July l, when affairs were running
smoothly here and abroad and the
transmission OF money across the At
lantic was safe and expeditions. there
was approximately $4,000, 600 of pos
tai savings standing to the credit of
about 3SS,O00 depostors. Since then
over SlO0OO,OOO Of deposits have been
added and the number of dcpositors
has increased enormously. This un-
precedentcd 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 entire fiscal year
1911. Scores of offices have done NOR
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 con-
lined to no special localities. but have
been felt in every nook and corner OF
the country. New York city alone
made q gain in September of more
than a million. while Brooklyn show
cd a relatively lig increase Chicago
reported q larger gain in the past
three months than for the previous
twelve months. More than 1000 new
accounts were opened during the pc
riod, bringing the number OF dcpOsi-
tors in that city up to over Il 400.
The unexpected increase in posta,
savings business mas not only added
greatly to the general administrative
duties of the system, but has brou@ht
UP many new and interesting prob
lens which have called for the careful
personal consideration of POstn.p8tcy
General Burle3On and Governor Dock
cry. Third Assistant Postmaster Cen
cral. Put their task has been tighten
cd somewhat by the promptnosa Of de-
pository BANKS in furnishing addition
al security tu meet the abnormal de-
pOSits. \ number Of the very largest
banks in the country, which have
heretofore declined to qualify as de-
positories for postal savings funds
are now among the eager applicants
or them.