POSTAL SAVINGS-BANKS. 161 



the last of the month preceding the withdrawal, but no interest is paid 

 on any sum that is less than a pound or not a multiple of a pound. 

 The interest is added to the principal on the 31st of December of each 

 year. 



The methods used for the receipt and repayment of deposits are 

 simple and take but little of the depositor's time. One is not limited, 

 in making deposits or withdrawals, to the office in the town in which 

 he lives. If at any time he desires to do so, he may make deposits in 

 other offices, provided he does not go beyond the total sum allowed a 

 single depositor ; his accounts will all be kept together in London, and 

 he can withdraw his money on short notice at any office. These pro- 

 visions for deposit and withdrawal are sometimes a great convenience 

 to travelers and laborers who make frequent removals. The absolute 

 secrecy which is " enforced upon all officers connected with the banks " 

 leads many working-men to deposit their savings with the Government, 

 who could not be induced to deposit their money with private or ordi- 

 nary savings-banks where their employers might find out that they 

 were laying by money. 



Good results almost always follow the opening of one of these sav- 

 ings-bank offices. Numbers of men and women, boys and gii'ls, are 

 gradually induced to become depositors ; money that would otherwise 

 be spent in needless indulgence is left at interest with the Government, 

 and habits of thrift and economy are formed. From December 31, 

 1874, to December 31, 1884, the number of depositors increased from 

 1 ,668,733 to 3,333,675, and the deposits from £23,157,469 to £44,773,773. 

 Trust funds and the funds of charitable and friendly societies, for 

 which special provision is made, are deposited in considerable amounts, 

 so that a large number of persons are interested in the banks in this 

 way. 



Since the era of the great frauds which led to the establishment of 

 the postal savings-banks, the ordinary trustee savings-banks have been 

 more carefully managed and guarded. While their number has de- 

 creased from 653 in 1861 to 411 a year ago, their depositors have not 

 decreased, numbering more than a million and a half, nor have the 

 deposits fallen off. The slightly higher rate of interest which they 

 pay and the prominent and influential persons who are sometimes 

 connected with their management have made them quite popular in 

 some communities. The funds are invested in Government securities 

 and the chances for fraud are slight. The limit to the amount which 

 one person may deposit in the postal savings-banks has prevented their 

 interfering seriously with private banking enterprises. The proposi- 

 tion to extend this limit has been strongly and, thus far, successfully 

 opposed, the opposition coming chiefly from private bankers. It is 

 generally conceded that, without interfering with established institu- 

 tions to any considerable extent, the postal savings-banks in Great 

 Britain and Ireland have furnished the working classes with excel- 



VOL. XXTIII. — 11 



