84

POSTAL  SAVINGS

town,  Ohio,  in  August,  1913,  and  the  other  was
the  case  of  the  United  States  Trust  Company  in
Washington,  D.  C.,  November  21,  1913.  This
last  run  persisted  from  noon  of  one  day  till  noon
of  the  next.  “During  the  six  days  prior  to  the  run
thirty  postal  savings  accounts  were  opened  in
the  Washington  post  office  and  $3,413  was  received. ­
  In  five  days  after  the  run  147  accounts
were  opened  and  $15,650  was  received,  and  during ­
  this  period  $24,261  was  rejected  on  account
of  the  monthly  limitation.” 23
In  all  of  the  above  instances  of  the  withdrawal
of  funds  from  local  banks  the  money  withdrawn
was  immediately  redeposited  by  the  postmaster
in  local  banks,  and  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  cases,
existing  local  depository  banks  for  postal  savings ­
  funds  already  had  deposited  with  the  Government ­
  a  sufficient  margin  of  collateral  to
qualify  at  once  for  the  new  deposits.
The  severance  of  diplomatic  relations  with
Germany,  February  3,  1917,  caused  some  alarm
among  foreign  born  depositors  in  a  few  cities  lest
their  postal  savings  deposits  might  be  seized  by
the  Government  in  the  event  of  war.  Withdrawals ­
  increased  temporarily  at  a  few  post  offices. ­
  Apprehension  as  to  the  safety  of  postal
savings  deposits  was  effectively  allayed  by  the

23  Ibid.,  p.  927.