The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-08
MILLION AND A HALF BOARDED BY FOREIGNERS Banks Must Change Meth ods To Get This
 Amount. HOURS SHOULD BE
 MORE CONVENIENT Foreign Speaking Employ CTS to Advise on Safe
 Investments.

l To combat a mistaken impression on the part of the public that the 1 thrift movement, sponsored by the U. g. Treasury Department, exists solely for tho sake of revenue and as such is
 to be regarded as a survival of war time activities, a Leftover" or a. nec-
 essary nuisance, the Conn ccticut War
 Savings Committee has begun pub l licity campaign whose purpose is to show that the sale of Thrift and War Savings Stamps as well as Treasury Certificates is only part of a much | broader movement growing out of | conditions which menace the eco | homie future of this country and the well-being of its inhabitants.
 i It is true that the Treasury de-
 ponds partly on the stamps and cer- tificates for the payment of the tn-
 terest on the huge war debt which in itself will be Q great public problem for many years. It is true that the
 success of the thrift propaganda Is
 gauged and must be gauged by the
 number of persons who lend the gov | ernnent their money. Nevertheless
 the government has taken the posi- ton that immediate practical returns to itself are of secondary importance to tho need of overcoming the eX- travagance of the people of this coun- try and of diverting the waste into capital, whether 1t is invested in gov
 ernment securities, endowment poll cies, savings banks. sound industrial
 stocks, real estate or any other reli-
 able investment. Consequently, a de-
 termined effort is being made to dis courage investments in "get rich quick schemes of questionable value;
 to induce families to keep some kind of budget system for the eumina- ton of waste; to increase capital available for new enterprises which will give employment to thousands; to help every workman to own his own home and to educate his chill dren; and to even up the distribution of wealth by helping the poor to be come capitalists to some extent, and therefore more independent.
 The poor man who has only his la
 bor to sell is always at a disadvan- tage with one who has capital. and in many cases he is partly to blame him. self for the extravagance which is not confined to any one class in this country. One who accumulate a lit- t1e ceI4-al is too often living witness to the truth that a fool and his money are soon partey; or as F. T. Barnum sagely observed, There Is one born every minute, but it takes two to catch him." Every year there are thousands of Americans who fall vic tins to the unscrupulous or cynical. who persuade them that black Is white. Their case is the more pitia- ble because their number is made up largely of hard-working and indus trio1S people who are most eager to better their financial condition. A man who has accumulated $500 by years of toll and self-dental will throw it away by investing it in some worthless project of which he knows little or notsg. It is estimated that $500. 100000 O year, saved by hard
 working Americans, is taken away from them by stock and bond sharks and the losers are almost always those who can least afford the loss If this money were put into thrift and war savings stamps the investors would receive 4 per cent. interest compounded quarterly and would be absolutely assured that their capital was safe in the hands of a govern ment which has always redeemed its securities at par for 1855 years Fur thermore. this sum in the hands of the government, would take care of almost half the interest which the government must itself pay annually on the liberty bond isaues.
 Frequently, the people who invest in worthless securities are those who have previously stored their capital in pockeubooks, cupboards, bureau drawers and stockings. where it earns no interest and is likely to be stolen. It is part of the Treasury Department program to induce such people to take their money out of the bureau draw CTS and put 1t into banks, endowment policies. government securities or any other good investment. In this con- nection the Savings Division of the First Federal Reserve District, Bos- ton. has just issued the following cir cular to all banks in New England: To All Banks:
 Our attention has been called to the fact that S1.50O.O00, 600 is believed to be hoarded outside of banks by the foreign-born workers in the United States. This amount is likely to be taken or transmitted to Europe. To offset this condition of affairs we of fer the following suggestions, de- signed to make our banks more at tractive to the foreign born, by ren- dering them better financial service This involves q modification of bank ing methods backed up by a thor ouEhly educational campaign.
 One of the first steps is to provide tellers speaking foreign languages, able to explain financial methods ana help these foreisp-born transact bus mess. Courtesy Is emphasized as of the utmost importance---discou to people speaking a foreign language has done more harm than the most subtle political agitation among the same class of people.
 Banking hours must often be re- arranged to meet the needs of work CTS so that they can make deposits and transact business evenings or Saturday afternoons Agencies are often needed in foreign quarters or near factories. Bank representatives can give service by calling at facto- ries at pay day to receive deposits and open accounts
 Bankers can advise foreign -born people on sound investments, such s- United States Government b~s
 War Savings Stamps, cor ion
 boards. life insurance end re ., estate. They can also advise on lsg-l matters