Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-07-07
SEEKS CHANGE
IN SAYINGS LAW
Postmaster General Hays to
Coax Hidden Billion Back
to Work.
SHOULD Be IN CIRCULATION
Hopes 10 Draw Hoarded Wealth Out
Of its Hiding Places and Put II
Into Useful channels-Con-
fers With Bankers.

Sullivan, Ind. July ga billion dol
lars which should be N circulation to
assist the coming industrial revival is
being boarded in American stockings.
VIII HI. Hays, postmaster general, de-.
clared In announcing plans for revi-
sion of the postal savings system to
make it more attractive to potential
deposit9fs. ssyigSss lAssA.sssas~--
Mr.. Hays hopes to draw this hoard
ed wealth out Of it's hiding places and
into useful channels. The Present
treatment of denositors in the postal
sayings bank, he said, after confer
encss with Middle Western bankers,
ah6hnts almost to fraud" while the
government has proffeered at the ex-
pense Of the depositors to the sum, in
tile last year alone, Of 81, 100, 900.
General Approval Of Bankers.
His general plan 81 Reorganization,
which will be submitted to congress,
has been approved 81 bankers of the
East and Middle West at conferences
held in Washington, New York, Terre
Hagte and his home, here. Mr.. Hays
assured the bankers that he had no in
tention of entering the postal savings
bank in competition with private saw
ings banks, but rather hopes to make
it a valuable feeder Of established
banking institutions.
While asking congress to make the
interest rate double the average paid
now, he pointed out it would still be
below the average paid by the ma
jority of savings banks.
Private banks cannot hope to reach
the vast boarded wealth which offers
a particular field for postal savings
expansion, Mr.. Hays said. He point
ed out that 10 per cent of the present
50S,000 depositors are of foreign ex-
traction and that they as well as 9th
ers of their countrymen who are ac-
customed to postal saving systems
abroad, will trust no one but the Unit
ed States government.
Hays Proposed Changes.
To reach this field of depositors Mr..
Hays plans the following basic
changes in the present postal system:
l. Increase the interest from to 3
per cent.
2. Payment of interest on deposits
held less than one year.
3. Removal of the restriction against
depositors under ten years of age.
4. Provision for joint and trust
funds.
5. Establishment of postal savings
banks in $4,000 post offices, instead of
the present $500
6. Compensation for fourth class
postmasters on the basis of the de-
pOSits they handle.
z. Redeposit of the funds in local
banks with more liberal qualification
rules for such repositories.
s. An enlarged board of directors,
including representative of the Fed
eral Reserve bank and possibly one or
more civilians.
Are Practically "Defrauded."
The postmaster general declared
that the hundreds of thousands of
postal savings depositors are practi-
cally being defrauded because their
certificates specifically state that 2
Per cent interest is paid on deposits
and do not state that nothing is paid
on deposits held less than one year
Because of this system, he said, the
average interest paid on all money
held was only ~ per cent.
with the number of offices receiv-
ing deposits reduced from 1888 in
1912 to 6.314 in 1920, and with no real
effort TO secure deposits, the postal
savings, nevertheless, has practically
twice as many depositors as any other
savings bank in the country and pays
less than half as much interest on de-
posits," Mr.. Hays says.
Needed in Circulation.
eff billion dollars can be brought
out of stockings and closets and saved
from waste and Wildcats it will do
incalculable good. This money is
needed in circulation now. 1t will
make general bank depositors and ul-
innate government bond owners out Of
the timorous. 1t will give small CAPT
tai chance for an honest return the
same as large capital; 1t will furnish
the tonic to conclude the business con-
yalescence In the country, and will
help to make economy and thrift ma
tionI trait, which Is much needed"