Oo-x 



11 I 



2. The Post Office Savings Bank Systera of Canada. 

 Bij J. Cunningham Stewart. 



The history of Pest Office Savings Banks in a new country heinfr waiitinj: ii 

 what — as applied to the Post Oiiice Savings Banli system of Great Britain— niiu 

 be teime'l tlie ' jmvliistoric element,' the records of the Post Otlice Saviii;,'g Bank 

 in Canada are witliout llioso earlier annals which are so attractive in tliu ,stud\ 

 o^" the parent system. They k^como a someAvhat hald statement of figures, ami u\ 

 results achieved since the year 1808 when, ])aijlic attention having been directed! 

 the success of the Post Ollice Savings Banks in iMigland, a scheme, in its mnin 

 features a reflection of the British system, received legislative sanction in C'nnada. 



From 18G8to 187S tne progress of the Post Otilce Savings Banks in Canada wa.> 

 slow. Shice 1878, and up to tlie present time (July 1884), t lie increase has ktii 

 rapid. There are now .■)4.'! Post Ofiices authorised to receive deposits, with GG,G8:' 

 depositors' accounts in the ledgers of the Bank, and the balance standing to their 

 credit is ,{?13,L>45,uo2, an aveiage of ,^in8.(i;j (say 40/. sterlinir) in tlie name of eacL 

 depositor. There have been in all 852,143 dejiosits and 41(),i'5i) withdrawals; 

 22;J,8;{4 persons have opened accounts, of which 157,152 were stihsequeutly closed. 



The deposits were held among the following classes, arranged in the order nf 

 the most numerous and wealthy ; viz.. Farmers, Marriid women, Siiit/le women. 

 MeehcDiics, Trustees ami 7)i!ii()rs, Lalxmrcrs, Widows, ('lerl;n, Trarlesiium, Mi'i- 

 eellaneous. Farmers are one-fifth of the wliole numerically, and own one-third 

 of the entire deposits. 



Tlie proportion of depositors to population is: — 



In Ontario 1 to .•{4; in t^uebec 1 to I5G. 



In measuring the success of the Post Office Savings l»ank by that of its proto- 

 type, the diflerent conditions of the two peoples — the old nation and tlir young- 

 must be borne iu mind. In the older country social and class lines arc stroiiirh 

 marked, and trades and callings arc itiirsued in such fixed grooves as to narrow tlic 

 outlet for imlividual energy. In the new dominion, on the other hand, tiiciv area 

 restliissness and a movement which are destructive of artificial barriers. There are 

 openings which attract the energetic and ambitious, and to every man are there 

 possibilities in the acquisitinn of real pn^perty, .-ufllcient to absorb all surplii- 

 wages. The wonder, on examinatii)U. is that the Canadian Postal Savings I'aiil;- 

 have attained measurable s;;''(t'ss at all. 



In addition to the ;^i;i,000,Ol)l) accumulated in the Post Office Savings llaiik 

 the Chartered Banks and their 222 agencies have deposits amounting to i{sr,U0O,00O, 

 although what proportion of this is in the Sariiu/.i Jhinh dejiartments of the Bank-;, 

 does not appear. Then there are ninety-three Building and Loan Societies re- 

 ceiving deposits at interest, whose liabilities to upwards of ;i(),(iOt> (li-posltor;;. 

 aocordiug to latest returns, were ,!? 15,000,000. Tiie old-established Saviiij-s Banb 

 in the cities of Montreal and Quebec have, in I'ound figures, ^'?i),250,00l) in the 

 names of 42,297 depositors. 



The plan of collecting the iiH/ziiinnu deposits (one dollar) by means of postage 

 stamps affixed to a form provideil for the pnrjiose, has not commended itself to the 

 Canadian authorities. Neither in this way, nor in the issue of pamphlets dii thrift, 

 has the department attempted a paternal treatment f)f the people, which WDuld 

 hardly be understood in Canada. 



Tiie Post Office Savings Banks in Canada are maintained at a cost to the 

 country of 4-1, per cent, on the balance due to depositors. Of this cliavge the 

 hiterest allowed to depositors represents about ."/85 per cent., and the t^xpeni-es of 

 management 0-25 per cent. The declared rate of interest is 4 per cent., no interest 

 being allowed for any period less than one calendar month. 



The absence of loss is noticeable. Fourteen out of the sixteen years of the 

 Savings liank'i history have been absolutely free from casualty. 



The mode of computing interest, also the form of Depositor's Ledger Account, 

 are noticeable features in the Canadian system. Interest is computed prospectively, 

 a decimal system and a 4 per cent, rate rendering the (-omputation of interest by 

 thi.s method remarkably simple. The plan of computing interest prospectivehv 



