The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-09-14

touches the lives Of so many people so
vitality, The whole body polite Is in
tcrcsied In the savings bank and what
1t does.
Financially speaking no other in
stItutiOn has such marked effect for
good to the individual and the com
munIty as does the bank that takes
your money Every time you cross a
well paved street, take a walk IN tho
park, send your children to school.
turn In an alarm Of IRE, draw some
water, look with pride upon your pub
He buildings. enter u well kept homo,
sou pay tribute TO the institution that
made these things possible, and that
institution is the savings bank
While the bank Of discount is an in
dIspcnsanlc part OF business life. and
sc could not do business without II.
the number Of patrons Of the banks Of
discount iB insignificant IN comparison
with the dcpositors Of the savings
banks Of the country. now numbering
over ten million.
II is well to know something about
this feature Of banking. for a savings
bank is more than "a place 10 put
money"-it Is great cooperative in
vcstmcnt institution. and inasmuch as
this is the centennial year OF the say
ingB bnnk and the event win be prop
crly celebrated by the American Bank
crs Association at its annual meeting
at Kansas city this month"; 1t is pro-
posed to outline AZ briefly as possible
in the next three or four talks on bank
ing In the present series. the funda-
mental features OF the savings bank.
mo great many other institutions
that have made for human good the
aayings bank is development. and
the origin Of the idea is in doubt.
Daniel DcfOc of Robinson Crusoe"
fame is mentioned as the original saw
ings bank man, who conceived u
scheme for the receipt Of deposits on
tho part Of the government. Nothing
came Of IT, Priscilla Wakefield and
Joseph Smith in England also had
schemes for the receipt on the part
Of the well to do. Of small savings and
the repaying OF the same at Christmas
time with bounty, contributed by the
wealthy managers; but these cndcay-
ors worked on the theory that the
poor should be encouraged W save for
the sake Of the reward offered, and
were supported ny the donations Of
the rich. which is far from the savings
bank idea. The first man to grasp the
fact that the earning power of the
money left In the care Of the managers
should support the institution. was the
Rev. Henry Duncan, Scotch preacher.
who. in the village of Ruthwell. Scot
land, opened his savings bank-th
first true savings bank. in 1910, along
the lines still in vogue today This
was the first savings bank that had in
it the essential clements Of success.
Impressed with the improvidence OF
the people OF his parish he resolved
to found an institution to receive their
small savings. invest them for the
benefit Of the deposition and after pay
ing the expenses OF management. re-
turn the balance 10 the depusitors as
interest This plan proved so sensible
and SO helpful that SAVINGS banks
sprang up all over England and Scot
land. and shortly the idea crossed the
Atlantic, resulting in the savings bank
movement in this country, which close
~ followed the lines laid down by
Duncan's bank, n brief sketch Of which
will appear in the next banking talk,