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

There is, however, another way of looking at the matter, which perhaps disposes us less to insist on the Department being managed entirely as a revenue-producing institution. The advantages to the public outweigh the comparatively small annual loss which is now sustained— the loss in 1909 was £50,481— and the primary object of the founders of Savings Banks was benevolence. The Post Office Savings Bank makes no such claim, but it does aspire to be a convenience to the people of this country. The depositors are drawn from all classes of the country. Though originally intended for the benefit of the working classes, the conveniences provided appeal to almost everybody. The Post Office is always at hand in every village or town to receive small sums. Cheques are accepted for deposit, and it is found that many people use their accounts chiefly as a means by which they can dispose of crossed cheques received by them. At the back of this huge undertaking is the credit of the nation: there is complete security for every depositor, and it is difficult to conceive of a run on the Savings Bank, although a very large number of the depositors are of that class which most readily succumbs to a panic. The Head Office is at Blythe Road, West Kensington, and the size of the building can be imagined when I say that the staff consists of 3263 persons, of whom 1826 are women. The Ledger Branch, in which every depositor's account is kept, is managed entirely by female clerks. The Correspondence and Account Branches are in the hands of the men clerks, and to them falls the duty of directing and advising the depositors as to their transactions. Much of the work provides an admirable index of the ways of the British people. It has been said that a man lays by money for a rainy day, but the experience of the Controller of the Post Office Savings Bank is that he more often lays money by for a fine day. Large sums are annually deposited, only to be withdrawn at the different Bank Holidays. At Christmas time the largest amounts are usually withdrawn, and then immediately afterwards, during the first weeks of January, under the influence of the good resolutions which are usually formed at this period, vast sums are deposited, and the largest number of new accounts are opened.