Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-10-30
POSTAL SAVINGS
BANK INCREASE
$50 New. Accounts Opened
Here Since July Bring
ing Out Idle Money.

Since July l last $50 new accounts
have been opened in the Newark
Postal Savings Bank and $122,7S has
been deposited. Much of this increase
in business is due directly TO the
European war and the inability OF
foreign residents Of this city to send
their money home, as was their
custom.
There is now on deposit in Newark
$3.50, 762 in 1850 accounts, and on
August last only New York,
Chicago, Boston and Detroit had
greater postal savings deposits than
Newark. At present New Jersey is
thirteenth on the list of States,
with total postal savings deposits OF
Sl.075, 021.
Local postal savings business was
making big strides, however, before
the war began. The fiscal year ends
June 30, and on July l, 1918, there We're
LOGO accounts, with an aggregate OF
s124,S05 on deposit. On July l, 1914,
there were $3.50 deposits, representing
total of $237,976. This made the gain
for a normal year of Lao accounts
and $113,171 in deposits.
During the month of August $4,000
was deposited in the local bank, and
September showed even bigger results.
and the flow of money still is on the
increase
The same situation prevails
throughout the country, as may be
seen from the following official bulle-
tin of the postoffice department.:
''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 fell off, result quite
contrary to the prediction of many
well-informed persons who, in their
imagination, saw lines of feverish de-
positors at postoffiee pay windows.
anxious to again return their savings
to the bootleg and body-belt deposit
tories whence they came before in
trusted to Uncle Sam. But the fore
casters failed to reckon on the abso-
lutte confidence of the American citi-
zen. regardless of the flag that first
met his eyes, in the ability and pur.
pose of the government to carry out
it's obligations, not only among the
nations of the earth, but with the
hum olest citizen of our land.
1.-TWO important results have fol-
lowed; thousands of people largely Of
foreign birth. accus,t med to send
their savings abroad are now patrons
of our posLaA. savings system; and
enormous sums Of actual cash have
been released for commercial uses
among our own people at time
when the need of every available dol
lar is pressing.
THE growth of postal savings in
the United States has been steady
and healthy and the system has filed
an important gap between the tin
can depository and the factory pay
master. On July l, when affairs were
running smoothly here and abroad
and the transmission of money across
the Atlantic was safe and expedi-
tious, there was approximately $43,-
000,0 900 of postal savings standing TO
the credit of about 5000 depositors.
Since then over 100000 600 of deposits
have been added and the number of
depositorS have increased enormous
ly. i7iis unprecedented gain is the
more striking when il is considered
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 posta1-sav-
ings 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
q 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 100 new ac-
counts were opened during the Pc
Rod. bringing the number of depos-
itors in that city up to over 21,000.
1.-THE unexpected increase in pos
tal-savings business has not only
added greatly to the general admin
istrative duties of the system. but
has brought up many new and in
tercsting problems which have called
for the careful personal consideration
6f Postmaster General Burleson and
Governor Dockery, third assistant
postmaster-gene But their task
has been lightened somewhat by the
promptness of depository banks IN
furnishing additional security TO
meet the abnormal deposits. A num-
Der of the very largest banks in the
country, which have heretofore de-
clined to qualify as depositors for
postal-savings funds, are now among
the eager applicants for them"