Her Majesty's Mails

Sums not below one shilling, and amounts not exceeding thirty pounds in any one year, may be deposited in these banks; depositors will not be put to any expense for books, postage, &c. and the rate of interest to be allowed will be 2½ per cent.--a sum which, though not large, is all which it is found the Government can pay without loss. It is not thought that this low rate of interest will deter the classes most sought after from investing in these banks. The poorer classes, as a rule, regard the question of a safe investment as a more important one than that of profits, and wisely think far more of their earnings being safe than of their receiving great returns for them. This scheme, last and best of all, must help to foster independent habits among the working population. Their dealings with the post-office banks are pure matters of business, and no obligation of any sort is either given or received. The existing banks, on the other hand, partake largely of the nature of a charity. An objection frequently urged against savings' banks with much bitterness is, that many great employers of labour are on the directorate of such institutions, and that, consequently, they are able to exercise an oversight over their characters and savings, not always used for the best of purposes. In the Committee of Inquiry to which we have already alluded, cases--designated "rare," we are glad to add--were adduced, from which it appeared that provident workmen's wages had been reduced by their employers, upon the ground of their being already well enough off. No such considerations, however, can affect the new banks: postmasters are forbidden to divulge the names of any depositor, or any of the amounts which he or she may have placed in their hands.[183] The advantages of these banks are so obvious, and the arrangements under which they are worked are of such a simple nature, that they cannot help but be increasingly useful and successful. Moreover, they are so accessible, that the working man, especially, requires nothing but the will to do that which his everyday experience tells him is so necessary should be done for the comfort of his family and home.