26

POSTAL  SAVINGS

deposits  in  the  community  in  which  the  deposit
was  made.” 6
This  latter  provision  was  of  course  part  of  the
arrangement  for  keeping  “at  home”  money  deposited ­
  in  the  postal  savings  banks.  Funds  to
meet  withdrawals  were  to  be  paid  by  postmasters
out  of  their  daily  postal  receipts.  Each  postal
savings  bank,  moreover,  was  to  keep  a  small
working  balance  to  its  credit  at  a  local  or  neighboring ­
  bank.  The  size  of  this  “emergency  credit”
was  to  be  determined  for  each  postal  savings  bank
by  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  might  be  increased
or  diminished  at  the  discretion  of  the  board.  “If
the  emergency  credit  is  insufficient  to  meet  the
demands  of  his  office,  he  [the  postmaster]  must
immediately  report  the  fact  to  the  Board  of  Trustees, ­
  which  reserves  the  right  to  defer  payment
until  the  necessary  funds  can  be  furnished  the
postmaster.” 7  A  five  per  cent  reserve  against  all
deposits  was  required  to  be  kept  by  the  trustees
at  the  Treasury  in  Washington. 8
Thus  postal  savings  banks  were  protected  by
a  fourfold  arrangement  against  dangers  arising
from  sudden  runs.  In  the  first  place,  the  postmaster ­
  had  the  use  of  his  daily  cash  balance,  in
6  Sec-  8-  ,
7  Postal  Savings  System  Regulations,  promulgated  by
authority  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  section  16.
8  Postal  Savings  act,  sec.  9.