Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1914 — Page 3 Advertisements Column 5 [ADVERTISEMENT]

Postal Savings Deposits Growing. The war in Europe is proving a big boon to postal savings in this country. From the very day hostilities opened across the seas postalsavings receipts began to increase by leaps and bounds and withdrawals fell off, a result Quite contrary to the of many well-inform-ed persons who, in their imagination, saw lines of feverish depositors at post-office pay windows anxious to again return their savings to the boot-leg and body-belt depositories whence they came before intrusted 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 of the government to carry out its obligations, not oni.v among the nations of the earth, but with the humblest citizen of our kind.

Two important results have followed; thousands ot 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 of every available dollar is pressing.

The growth of postal savings in the ITiited States has been steady and healthy and the system has filled an important gap between the tincan depository and the factory paymaster. On July 1, when affairs were running smoothly here and abroad and the transmission of money across the Atlantic was safe and expeditious, there was approximately $4 3,000,000 of postal savings standing to the credit of about. 3X8,000 depositors. Since then over $lO, 000,000 of deposits have been added and the number of depositors has increased enormously. This unprecedented 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 1!>14. Scores of offices have done more postal-savings business since the war has been going on than was done by them during the previous existence of the ser vice. 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 big increase. Chicago reported a larger gain in the past three months than for the previous twelve months. More than 7,000 new accounts were opened during the period, bringing the number of depositors in that city up to over 21,000. The unexpected increase in postalsavings 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 Post-master-General Burleson ami Governor Dockery, third assistant, post- ( master-general. But their task has been lightened somewhat by the ( promptness of depository banks in furnishing additional security to meet the abnormal deposits. A nnim-J be r of the very largest banks in the