DEPOSITORS  AND  DEPOSITS
at  work,  without  attempting  to  weigh  them.
Among  these  may  be  mentioned:  (1)  The  distrust ­
  of  non-Government  banks  on  the  part  of
the  foreign  born  population—a  distrust  easily
understood  when  one  bears  in  mind  the  extent  to
which  our  foreign  born  have  been  robbed  by  persons ­
  (often  of  their  own  nationality)  parading
under  the  name  “banker”  or  “bank.”  The  exploitation ­
  of  our  thrifty  foreign  born  population
by  many  of  our  so-called  “immigrant  banks”  has
been  a  public  disgrace. 7  Although  considerable
improvement  has  been  made  in  recent  years  in
the  regulation  of  these  institutions,  the  situation
is  still  far  from  perfect,  and  the  distrust  among
the  foreign  born  engendered  by  the  early  abuses
still  persists.  (2)  A  second  reason  is  the  democratic ­
  atmosphere  which  pervades  most  post  offices, ­
  in  contrast  with  the  aristocratic  one  that
pervades  most  banks.  Moreover,  comparatively
few  banks  have  made  a  reasonable  effort  to  attract ­
  this  class  of  our  population,  while  the  postal
savings  system  has. 8  In  receiving  and  sending
7  Cf.  Report  of  Immigration  Commission,  on  Immigrant
Banks,  Sen.  Doc.  No.  881,  61  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  pp.  109-124.
8  Circulars  in  28  foreign  languages  explaining  the  postal
savings  system  and  its  advantages  have  already  been  issued
and  widely  distributed.  These  23  foreign  languages  are
designed  to  reach  about  97  per  cent  of  our  entire  foreign
born  population.  Ann.  Rep.  3  Assist.  Postmast.-Gen.,
1916,  p.  12.

;J  o  ?
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