Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 259, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 November 1914 — POSTAL SAVINGS PROVE POPULAR [ARTICLE]

POSTAL SAVINGS PROVE POPULAR

Forty-Four Accounts in Rensselaer Show Total of $6,460 —Growth is Steadily Increasing. The war in Europe is proving a big boon to postal savings in this country. From the very day hostilities opened across the seas postal savings began to increase by leaps and bounds and withdrawals fell, off, a result quite contrary to the predictions of m'any well-in-formed persons who, in their imagination saw lines of. feverish depositors at postoffice windows anxious to again return their savings to the boot-leg and body-belt depositories whence they came before entrusted to Uncle Sam. But the forecasters failed to reckon on the absolute confidence of the American citizen, regardless of the flag that first met his eyes, in the ability and purpose at the government to carry out its obligations, not only among the nations of the earth, but with the humblest citizens of our land. ( Two important results have followed: thousands of people, largely of foreign birth,- accustomed to send their savings'abroad, are now patrons of our postal-savings system; and enormous sums of actual Cash have been released for commercial uses among our own people at a time when the need for every available dollar is pressing. The growth of postal <savings in the United States has been steady and healthy and the system has filled an important gap between the tinman depository and the factory paymaster. On July 1, when affairs were running smbothly here and abroad and the transmission of money across the Atlantic , was safe and expeditious, there was approximately $43,000,000 of postal savings standing to the credit of about 388,000 depositors. Since then over $10,000,000 of deposits have been added and number of depositors has increased enormously This unprecederited gain is the more striking when it is considered that the net gain in the last three months is larger than the gain for the entire fiscal year 1914. The increases are confined to no special localities, but have been felt in every nook and corner of the country. ( New York City alone made a gain*in September of more than a million, while Brooklyn showed a relatively bi& increase. Chicago reported a larger gain in the past three months than for the previous twelve months. The unexpected increase in postak«avings business has not only added greatly to the general administrative duties of the system, but has brought up many new and interesting problems which have called for the careful personal consideration of Postmaster General Burleson and Governor Dockery, third assistant postmaster general. But their task has been lightened somewhat by the promptness of depository banks in furnishing additional security to meet the abnormal deposits. A nuirtber of tjre very largest banks in the Country, which have heretofore de clined to qualify as depositories for postabsavings funds, are now among the eager applicants for them. The growth of postal-savings at this office is Steadily increasing, and we now have forty-four accounts, the amount on deposit be Ing $5,460.