Evening star., 1914-05-24

man offered 81 800 to the same postmaster.
Upon learning of the restrictions, he bought
81 500 worth of moneyorders and started
them on their way to Italy.
|nEPOSITING in European postal saw
ings banks by means of American
moneyorders has been the common practice
New York postoffice show this beyond any
doubt Many Italians like to hoard their
savings until they accumulate large sum,
and then send it to Italy. Some of them
have gone to the postofflce of the metropo-
lis with wads of bills stuffed in their bosoms,
containing from $500 to 5000, to send
abroad. A few months ago two Italians
called on Joseph Elliott, superintendent of
moneyorders, with bills amounting to
SO 600, which they wanted to send to the
postal savings system in Italy. The bills
were so soiled and faded that the cashier
thought some of them were counterfeit.
The men were asked how the banknotes be-
came so dead-looking. They explained that
| they had kept the money buried in the
ground.
At Youngstown, Ohio, $4,000 worth of
foreign moneyorders were bought in three
days because of the 500 limitation and $500
restriction. Although the local postofice
showed an increase of several thousand dol
lars in deposits, more than $780, in liquid
cash was turned away after two-days' run
on local bank.
Under the law depositor may exchange
his deposits in amounts of $40 and multi
piles thereof for United States registered or
coupon bonds bearing interest at the rate of
two and half per cent, and postal savings
deposits that have been exchanged for bonds
are not counted as part of the maximum
allowed one depositor. Yet, although the
issues at the end of 1913 amounted to nearly
S., ,OOO, 600, three-fourths of which was in
the registered form, clearly indicating that
they were purchased for permanent invest
ment, the practice has not been popular
among persons not converSant with bonds
or experienced in banking or negotiable
paper 1t has been held that the average
man who cared to deposit thousands OF
dollars in the postal savings system with
the intention of buying bonds would save
time and trouble by investing at the begin
ming in United States bonds.
THE postal savings system, like every
L other service that benefits the people,
is always subject to development in various
ways l have been informed that an educa-
tional movement is about to be launched in
the public schools of this country, so as to
afford the pupils an opportunity of learning
the value of thrift and the importance of
conserving their cash resources. Pupils of
the Detroit public schools will be the first
to be given advantage of this opportunity,
as soon as the board of education of that
city has approved plans that are being
formulated by the associated banks of De-
troit. The same plan has been under con-
sideration in Baltimore, and E. G. Nc
Williams of New York, secretary of the
savings section of the American Bankers
Association, who recently appeared before
the school board of Baltimore, had this to
say in reference to the school savings sys-
tenn:
Il ventured to suggest that if it could be
shown that this system possessed no educa-
tiona1 value, aside from the mere saving of
money, or that it would add to the labors
of the teachers or take from the pupils time
in classrooms, the postal savings bank sys-
tenn was unworthy of further consideration;
but if, on the other hand, it could be shown
that the school savings system possessed
distinct educational value aside from saving
money, in that it furnished interesting
practical problems in arithmetic, besides
teaching the boys and girls practical bank.
ing methods and the proper manner of
making out certain forms in daily use, such
as checks, deposit slips, ETC., and that all
this could be done without adding one bit
A.. e IL