The Washington socialist. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1914-1915, 1915-05-27
COUNTRY SAVERS MAY
DEPOSIT BY MAIL

ten years or over may open an ac-
count in postal savings bank
after July LIST, according to an irstruc.
tive leaflet on the Postal Savings Sys-
tenn just issued by Postmaster General
Burleson. This important extension
of the service will be mado possible
by permitting persons living In com
munities SO sparsely settled as not to
justify the designation of their local
post offices as regular postal savings
banks to open accounts by mail
Governor Dockery, third assistant
postmaster general, who has direct
supervision of postal savings, was so
impressed by appeals from all over
the country to open postal savings
accounts by mail that he took up the
task some weeks ago of working out
feasible and safe method for meet
ing demand we'll illustrated in a let
ter from a Saline county Missourian,
who resides many miles from a post
al savings bank.
Having few hundred dollars
saved from fifty years of hard and
assiduous labor and skimping econ
omy on the part of my wife and my
self, we concluded to deposit 1t in the
postal savings bank Of. We
wrote to the postmaster at that place
and received reply to the effect
that none but patrons of that office
could deposit in that office which is
very disappointing news to us. Our
little farm is not large enough to sup
port us and land is so high that it is
impossible for us to buy more with
what little we have saved and we are
SO old that we can't labor much now
and we would be so glad to lay by at
least enough to put us away In
decency."
Under the plan adopted by the post
master general for opening accounts
by mail an intending depositor, resid-
ing where there is no regular desig-
mated postal savings bank, will apply
to his local postmaster who will see
that necessary identification data is
prepared and forwarded to a nearby
postoffice authorized to accept de-
posits. The intending depositor will
then be given permission to forward
his first and subsequent deposits by
money order or registered mail d.
rect to the postmaster at the banking
point for which receipts or GER
tificates will be issued He may with
draw all or any part of his postal
savings by mail and on demand to-
gether with any interest that may be
due him.
The new leaflet points out that any
person ten years or over may open an
account in his or her own name;
that an account may be opened by a
married woman free from any con-
troll or interference by her husband;
that postoffice officials are forbidden
to disclose to any person, except the
depositor, the amount of any deposits;
that Withdrawals may be made with
out previous notice; and that the gov
eminent guarantees to repay all de-
posits on demand with accrued in
terest.
The leaflet will soon be printed in
% different foreign languages for dis
tribution through local postoffices
The foreign-born citizen has taken
very kindly to postal savings, and
literature in his own language will be
of great assistance to him. In rec
ent article, Postmaster General Burle-
son commented on the foreign born
depositor as follows:
Upward of 100000 depositors now
have accounts in the Postal Savings
System and they represent every ma
tionality on the earth. They also
represent almost every known occu-
on-professional men, theatrical
people, mechanics, laborers, fisher
men, pack peddlers, etc. But the ma
jority are wage-earners, and of this
class the foreign-born largely FREEDOM
mate. A census of depositors taken by
the postoffice department shows that
approximately 40 per cent (200,000) of
the depositors are foreign born citi-
zens and they own more than so per
cent. of the deposits-splendid evil
dence of the confidence of our newly
acquired citizens in the ability and
good faith of their adopted country
to fulfill obligations.
There is another reason which led
immigl ants, unfamiliar with our Ian
guage and business methods, to turn
to the government to gafeguard their
humble savings and that reason is the
disastrous experiences many of them
have had by the failures of bogus
private banks" offered by swindiers
OF their own tongue who have preyed
mercilessly upon their loneliness and
credulity."
ostal savings receipts have broken
all records the past year. During
the eight months prior to April list
there was a net gain in deposits of