Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-09
s. B. LLOYD
On the Necessity of Saving

THRIFT Is the backbone of the Nation
i as well as of the home and is one
of the greatest necessities of the world today.
according to s. Il. Lloyd vice president OF
the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society.
"To restore the world to normalcy,' said
Mr. Lloyd. ''the cXtravagant waste which
is now going on all over the globc--a waste
of time, money, effort and even lfe-must
cease. The foundation of thrift is work,
hard work and plenty of 1t. The more
work there is to do, The more expert the
individual becomes in ing time, and time
saved means greater accomplishments ana
consequently greater material rewards
Common Sense In Spending
"uaving worked and saved, the next step
is the spending, and as the late Iheodore
Roosevelt wisely pointed out, when common
sense is applied to spending you have thrift.
''Philadelphians are, on the whole, u
thrifty people. About one out of every four
inhabitants of this city has savings account
in one of the six mutual savings banks, ana
the foresight Of these individuals was wen
rcpaid during the dreadful period OF tnanclal
depression and unemployment out of which
we are just emerging.
Zone Of the questions most frequently
asked of savings fund officials is What Is
the best way to save? There is only one
answer to this. and that answer ~ that TO
save successfully it must be done regularly
ana often, no Wv "''''N
of the individual deposit may be.
"Contrary to very general impression.
the savings banks do not in the least object
| to small deposits. 1t was to provide
depository for such savings that the mutual
| savings banks were first established. An
account may be opened in them with as
| little as II dollar and interest VII be PAID
when the total amount reaches So. Inter-
est Is thereafter paid on all multiplcs OF
| 81. All these small amounts are welcome.
Helping Small Depositors
"prior to the year of 1916 there was
no bank in Philadelphia, nor, for that mat
Ter, in the country, where small savings
| could bc deposited and draw interest. To
meet this need Of persons who could not
! bank in a large way group or prominent
| men in Philadelphia associated themselves
| together and Mt their own expense opened
| an Office and took turns behind the counter
receiving deposits and paying deposltors.
| This was the foundation Of our organiza-
| tion, and from that day, JOG years ago It
has grown until there are now 273,o"7
| dopositors and the deposits total more { han
| Slc5 100000 with total assets of more than
$lsl 10000
"The need Of such an organization in
| PHILADELPHIA was apparent from the very
| beginning and on the last day OF the year
| 1916 the deposits amounted to Sl0i352.
| II IL true that this is not an impressive
but it showed that such an institution was
| badly needed and that 1t filled public
| want.
"That this need still continues is shown
| by some of the figures Of amounts and trans
! actions which we have had. In single
| business day Col new accounts have been
| opened and on another day we completed
| 8l79 transactions on the receiving side and
have actually taken in within ten hour
| day S757 ,6S1 in small amounts. This last
| transaction occurred, too, at n time when
| there was a rule, since abolished that
| person could not deposit more than $500 in
| any one year. And ours is only one of the
six mutual savings banks in the city.
| The Mutual Savings Banks
"Why do the people patronize the mutual
| savings banks to such an extent? In the
6rst place, the mutual savings bank has no
| stockholders and, therefore, no dividends to
| earn or divide. All the assets of these
;nstitutions are used solely for the pro-
| lection of their depositors. The safety and
care of the depositors' money Is the first
and only consideration whatever money NAV
| he earned goes to make the money of the
| dcpositors more secure.
| 1.-THE deposits of mutual savings bank
are not subjected to business risks, and the
| institutions confne their Investments to the
most conservative types of Investment avail.
| able. such as underlying railroad bonds.