Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-19
The Saving Habits of Americans
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

it does not so appear on the statistical
tables.
There has been in this period between
1911 and now a big increase in the
number of depositors. In 1911 there
were 100000 individuals who had
money on deposit in savings banks. In
1929 the number had grown to S2,-
TOO, 900.
The figures are admittedly mislead-
ing. There are great many duplica-
tons included in them. In some New
England States, where the mutual type
OF savings bank is most numerous. there
is a $1,000 limit on the amount which
any one individual may deposit. Other
banks have limits to their savings ac-
counts and the United States Govern
ment's own postal savings system has q
limit. This quite naturally results in
one individual who has acquired the
habit of saving and kept 1t up over a
term of years opening savings accounts
in more than one bank. He win deposit
to the fixed limit in one bank and then
start anew at another. So the number
of depositors, statistically given, Is mis-
leading.
Static Wealth Has Increased.
Even apart from savings bank lini-
tations there are to be found many
Implications as any banker can attest.
Certain individuals have a passion for
orderly precision in money matters.
counts for the accumulation OF FUNDS
destined to preordained purposes.
Thus, a man will start q vacation fund,
He will decide, perhaps, that only .
certain percentage of his earnings will
go into that fund. Instead OF contAnts
ing himself with q paper memorandum
he will put the money in separate
bank account. Then he will have .
fund for q new car. Perhaps he will
start accommodating another one to buy
house. Classification by source also
Is known to bankers. A man will start
a savings account into which nothing
shall go save his winnings at poker,
bridge or golf. These idiosyncrasieS &C
count for a great deal of the duplica-
ton in savings bank accounts. 1t Is
method of making the bank do ones
bookkeeping. The bank does not MIND
at all.
However the fact that It Is impos-
sible to untangle the statistics throws
conclusions out of the realm Of pre-
cision. The figures show that the saw
ings per capita have grown from SSS
in 1911 to $235 in 1929. Whether they
have or not is impossible to determine.
But the error of such figure Is on the
optimistic side-that is to say, that II
| JDeTe are u SEcdt IuAIly SCp&taNS ~
counts actually owned by the same in
dividuals, the per capita figure neces-
sarily is increased. In any event 1T
cannot be smaller than $235. This per
capita figure, Of course, is for the num-
Der of depositors of record and not for
the population as q whole.
Looking at 1t in any light, IL Is seen
that there has been an enormous gain
in the static wealth, created through
savings, upon which the Nation has to
draw. The saving habit Is growing be-
yond question. No better example
could be found than that furnished by
the school savings clubs. The sums in
voIved are not large, but. taken IS an
aggregate, they constitute Q substantial
addition to the wealth Of the country.
For example, in 1919 there were 49,
651 separate school savings accounts.
In 1929 this number had grown to
4,222935.
The rate at which interest payments
make this fund grow is almost fam
tastic Allowing interest at only 31a
per cent, the annual increment to the
American depositors in savings banks
amounted in 1929 to $685., 900, 600. Back
in 1918, the last pre-war year, savings
were so much smaller in volume that
the interest increment at the same rate
. amounted to only 1894 100000 In q
little more than 10 years 1t has trebled.