The post office and its story an interesting account of the activities of a great government department

Occasionally there appears in the press a demand for the popularisation of Consols, and it is suggested that the Post Office should be the medium of selling across the counter to the British public scrip for small amounts of Government Stock. There should be no book transactions with the public, and the scrip could be disposed of at the price of the day, when the owner wished to sell. The people who make this demand usually show a lamentable amount of ignorance as to what the Post Office does in this matter. They argue as if there were no opportunities for the British public to invest in Consols in small amounts, as the French do in their own Government securities. It may come as a surprise to many people, who are inclined to entertain favourably the proposals I have mentioned, that considerably over £23,000,000 Stock is held already by depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank, and that the average amount credited to each person is about £140 Stock. The facilities for purchase and sale are as easy as it is possible to arrange.